Oh, and if you want to add a whole new level to the entertainment that is MITA then you should check the wikipedia article for MITA (it has to do with the Incas)
"Mita (Quechua: mit'a) was mandatory public service in the society of the Inca Empire."
June 29, 2008
June 28, 2008
On Blogging
I've been blogging since October of 2005 (almost three years) which isn't as old as some blogs but is long enough to establish it as more than one of those "on a whim, I'll create a blog that will last for about three posts and then turn into internet waste" blogs. I've learned a lot about the internet since starting blogging, things I don't think other people have noticed. I'd like to share some things with everybody, advice that's not necessarily meant to criticize but to inform and educate. You may realize you do some of these things, either believe my words or not, but know that I spend enough time on the internet to know what generally accepted practice is.
1) People will read what you write on the internet. If you want to hide it from specific people, DON'T PUT IT ON THE INTERNET!
Example: Look what I found: Click
I don't know who these people are, what this website is for, or why there is AN ENTIRE THREAD DEVOTED TO ME! People out there read things you write, never assume otherwise.
2) It's annoying as hell if you switch your blog every 2 weeks. Pick a host, pick a name, and write a blog! Don't rename, move, and "start all over again" every two weeks, it defeats the entire purpose.
3) Simplicity is elegant. Loading the sidebar with 8 million things that you know nobody is ever going to see all of is just a waste of space. Put a couple of things on the sidebar and then leave it.
4) Scheduled posts rarely work out. That's not to say that they're bad, I love knowing when I can expect new blog entries, but it's just very hard to keep to a rigid schedule.
5) If you upload videos to YouTube, don't be surprised if nobody likes the videos you think they will but instead the lamest videos you upload become wildly popular. It doesn't matter how much you promote certain ones on your blog. The internet is weird that way.
Example: Here's a video I made on my camera during a fire alarm at my school. It shows a kid getting led off by a cop in the distance for pulling the fire alarm. All in all, a relatively dumb video. 9,000 hits, 40 comments, and a five star rating. What!?
Here's another, a video of a video encoding issue my iPod touch had when I first got it. Almost 20,000 views, 127 comments, and a 3.5 star rating. WHAT!?
6) You will lose every ounce of internet credibility conceivable if you ever post a link to any kind of "Which ____________ are you? Take this quiz to find out!" Don't do it. Ever.
7) You cannot force your blog to be popular, nor will it immediately be popular. I went MONTHS without a single comment and very few readers. Over time you work your way up in Google's index, people find it more while searching, they'll show friends, and eventually readers just happen. Write because you enjoy writing, not because you expect readers.
8) Commenting on your own blog entries is REALLY REALLY ANNOYING! Seriously, this bugs me almost more than anything else. The only reason I write in the comments of my MIT blog at all is because I have to. If I had it my way I'd answer all questions in entries or via e-mail if people left their e-mail address for me. Those comments are for readers, not for writers.
9) Long gaps in blog entries (weeks or months) are the best way in the world to lose readers. Seriously, nobody will read your blog if you don't update frequently, it just isn't worth their time. Every 2 or 3 days is optimal.
10) Don't let people tell you what to blog. Ever. It's your blog, blog what you want, that's why the internet exists. If they want something out for people to read, let them post it. Your blog got the way it is because you made it, not because you let other people run it.
1) People will read what you write on the internet. If you want to hide it from specific people, DON'T PUT IT ON THE INTERNET!
Example: Look what I found: Click
I don't know who these people are, what this website is for, or why there is AN ENTIRE THREAD DEVOTED TO ME! People out there read things you write, never assume otherwise.
2) It's annoying as hell if you switch your blog every 2 weeks. Pick a host, pick a name, and write a blog! Don't rename, move, and "start all over again" every two weeks, it defeats the entire purpose.
3) Simplicity is elegant. Loading the sidebar with 8 million things that you know nobody is ever going to see all of is just a waste of space. Put a couple of things on the sidebar and then leave it.
4) Scheduled posts rarely work out. That's not to say that they're bad, I love knowing when I can expect new blog entries, but it's just very hard to keep to a rigid schedule.
5) If you upload videos to YouTube, don't be surprised if nobody likes the videos you think they will but instead the lamest videos you upload become wildly popular. It doesn't matter how much you promote certain ones on your blog. The internet is weird that way.
Example: Here's a video I made on my camera during a fire alarm at my school. It shows a kid getting led off by a cop in the distance for pulling the fire alarm. All in all, a relatively dumb video. 9,000 hits, 40 comments, and a five star rating. What!?
Here's another, a video of a video encoding issue my iPod touch had when I first got it. Almost 20,000 views, 127 comments, and a 3.5 star rating. WHAT!?
6) You will lose every ounce of internet credibility conceivable if you ever post a link to any kind of "Which ____________ are you? Take this quiz to find out!" Don't do it. Ever.
7) You cannot force your blog to be popular, nor will it immediately be popular. I went MONTHS without a single comment and very few readers. Over time you work your way up in Google's index, people find it more while searching, they'll show friends, and eventually readers just happen. Write because you enjoy writing, not because you expect readers.
8) Commenting on your own blog entries is REALLY REALLY ANNOYING! Seriously, this bugs me almost more than anything else. The only reason I write in the comments of my MIT blog at all is because I have to. If I had it my way I'd answer all questions in entries or via e-mail if people left their e-mail address for me. Those comments are for readers, not for writers.
9) Long gaps in blog entries (weeks or months) are the best way in the world to lose readers. Seriously, nobody will read your blog if you don't update frequently, it just isn't worth their time. Every 2 or 3 days is optimal.
10) Don't let people tell you what to blog. Ever. It's your blog, blog what you want, that's why the internet exists. If they want something out for people to read, let them post it. Your blog got the way it is because you made it, not because you let other people run it.
Puzzle Solver
Hey all, so I just found this INCREDIBLE puzzle solver online. It's called MITA and it's actually smart. A lot of puzzle solving programs brute force things and can only solve particular varieties of puzzles, but MITA actually takes the rules into consideration, examines the puzzle, and logically thinks through it until arriving at an answer.
MITA can solve any type of puzzle, sometimes as fast as a couple of minutes, sometimes in a few days, but it always gets it. I'm going to try feeding it a puzzle and seeing what happens! Wish it luck.
MITA can solve any type of puzzle, sometimes as fast as a couple of minutes, sometimes in a few days, but it always gets it. I'm going to try feeding it a puzzle and seeing what happens! Wish it luck.
June 27, 2008
Be afraid
Be afraid, be very afraid. If you're a resident of either Conner 3, Conner 4, Conner 5, or a prefrosh participating in REX this fall, you should be prepared for what Conner 2 wields. You see, you may think you're safe, but we are prepared. We have armed ourselves. What you see here is just a taste of what we have to offer. There is more, and we will use it.
June 24, 2008
OMG A TIGER
There was some serious LOLing after I watched this video. The people running from the store is priceless!
June 22, 2008
Shirt
I want this t-shirt but I'm afraid that nobody would understand it.
Kudos to those who know where this is from!
Kudos to those who know where this is from!
New Shades
Back in 7th grade my family and I discovered a wonderful exploit of eye insurance: Free Sunglasses. I wear contacts and have a prescription, but it's a fairly weak prescription, weak enough that I can be wearing contacts, put on prescription glasses, and it won't bug me a ton. My parents also got eye insurance through their jobs. Turns out there was an eye doctor relatively near my house that sold Oakley Sunglasses . . . prescription Oakley Sunglasses . . . for a ridiculous amount of money.
Luckily, money was no object, because as long as those glasses were prescription, I could use eye insurance on them. That meant free Oakley sunglasses for Michael!
I loved those sunglasses! I took them everywhere and wore them all the time. I had them from 7th grade all the way up through the summer before college. Then, something terrible happened. I was cleaning the road in front of my house and picking litter out from the brush. My mom was with me, and she picked up a piece of plastic.
"Michael, isn't this a piece of your sunglasses?"
I went over and looked at it. It was indeed half of the sunglasses frame, silver with a little green "O" looking at me sadly.
AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!
As we continued picking up litter we continued to find pieces of my sunglasses. Nearest we can tell, they somehow ended up on the side of the road and were then mowed over by a brush mower that was cleaning the sides of the street. To this day we still don't know how they got to the side of the road, but they did, and they were crushed beyond all repair.
I made it all the way through freshman year in college without sunglasses but it wasn't a good time. Sure, the winter was fine because it was dark and gloomy, but those periods of time wrapped around the winter were miserable. That is why yesterday I decided it was time to bite the bullet and invest in a new pair of sunglasses.
I have an affinity for Oakley sunglasses so I knew that I wouldn't be happy with any other kind. Unfortunately, Oakley doesn't sell the kind I used to have, so I was forced to improvise. Half-jackets were the closest thing but they didn't have the right color. Oakley, the company that they are, thinks of everything and actually lets you design your own sunglasses, so that's what I did. I spent some time messing with color combinations before finally settling on my brand new sunglasses. Here they are, in all of their glory!
They should be here in 10-15 days (they have to build them and ship them) and I'll make sure to blog their arrival!
Luckily, money was no object, because as long as those glasses were prescription, I could use eye insurance on them. That meant free Oakley sunglasses for Michael!
I loved those sunglasses! I took them everywhere and wore them all the time. I had them from 7th grade all the way up through the summer before college. Then, something terrible happened. I was cleaning the road in front of my house and picking litter out from the brush. My mom was with me, and she picked up a piece of plastic.
"Michael, isn't this a piece of your sunglasses?"
I went over and looked at it. It was indeed half of the sunglasses frame, silver with a little green "O" looking at me sadly.
AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!
As we continued picking up litter we continued to find pieces of my sunglasses. Nearest we can tell, they somehow ended up on the side of the road and were then mowed over by a brush mower that was cleaning the sides of the street. To this day we still don't know how they got to the side of the road, but they did, and they were crushed beyond all repair.
I made it all the way through freshman year in college without sunglasses but it wasn't a good time. Sure, the winter was fine because it was dark and gloomy, but those periods of time wrapped around the winter were miserable. That is why yesterday I decided it was time to bite the bullet and invest in a new pair of sunglasses.
I have an affinity for Oakley sunglasses so I knew that I wouldn't be happy with any other kind. Unfortunately, Oakley doesn't sell the kind I used to have, so I was forced to improvise. Half-jackets were the closest thing but they didn't have the right color. Oakley, the company that they are, thinks of everything and actually lets you design your own sunglasses, so that's what I did. I spent some time messing with color combinations before finally settling on my brand new sunglasses. Here they are, in all of their glory!
They should be here in 10-15 days (they have to build them and ship them) and I'll make sure to blog their arrival!
June 14, 2008
Conservation of frosh?
Psh, I'm not a freshman anymore. How can I prove it? Go to http://www.mit.edu
Go to the search box and make sure "people" is selected. Search for "Snively" and hit enter. What do you get?
That's right, I'm year two and a Mechanical Engineer! What now!?
Go to the search box and make sure "people" is selected. Search for "Snively" and hit enter. What do you get?
That's right, I'm year two and a Mechanical Engineer! What now!?
June 12, 2008
June 05, 2008
EPIC FAIL!
Go ahead and just skip to the last 30 seconds or so of this video. The guy is about to 5-star Through the Fire and the Flames on GH3. Watch what happens on the last note!
June 01, 2008
Hole
I've decided to skate around Boston a bit today so I took a shower and threw on some clothes. That's when I realized that I had a huge hole in my jeans and probably couldn't wear them in public. I also realized that I didn't have any other jeans in my closet so I was kind of stuck. Then I remembered that I'd spent the last semester of my life sewing ElectroPlushies and that there was a needle and thread sitting on my desk. 10 minutes later . . .
Time to go into Boston!
Time to go into Boston!