WEEKLY WHINE

Integration by parts

It seems that dividing things into parts is probably the best way to do things. In some cases, it's the best way to integrate a function, as the title suggests. It's also the best way to do a physics quiz, since that's the way that they're written. It's not always the best way to search for flyers, since there's nothing really that can be done to divide that task into parts. One person can't drive around and the other hunt for flyers - that defeats the entire purpose of seeking them.

Dividing things into parts just makes sense. Computers aren't just computers, they're a compendium of a motherboard, a processor, a floppy drive or two, a couple of extra drives, a few expansion slots, and whatever you plug into them. Even a paper clip can be split into the part on the outside and that little part in the middle that completes the deal. For some reason, instead of the word "deal", I managed to type the word "dare" instead. That always seems to happen.

The task of typing itself can be divided into parts. First, I must think of whatever it is that must be typed. The brain then processes that in order to determine the appropriate keystrokes and the appropriate way to make the fingers hit those keys in that order. Then, the fingers are instructed to do so. Then, they actually do so. These steps are all very difficult, and the slightest mistake in any leads to a typographic error. In turn, that causes authors to go off on tangents.

Fortunately, I have a great advantage over other authors in this respect. In most cases, I begin typing Weekly Whines with no idea what they will be or the topics they will cover. If you are saying to yourself, "What?! This guy is babbling incoherently!" you're right. There is to be no common thread that follows an entire Whine from beginning to end. I should probably write one that does, like maybe about the return of professional basketball, but I don't care. Except that I see that the 76ers have won their first two games. From whence did that come?

On the "out of nowhere" topic, I am currently listening to Enigma's "Principles of Lust", which offers some helpful advice in the lyrics. Techers especially will benefit from this. I will simply remark that I can name some right here, but instead I will blackmail them.

Usually, these incoherent Whines seem to be the shortest, because I don't have to worry about "finishing a thought". I can just ramble on until I burn out. I think that is coming soon, in fact. There don't seem to be any more ideas.

I was out most of the day today, celebrating my younger sister's birthday. Well not really "celebrating" per se, but I knew that it was her birthday, so that qualifies. The California Space Development Council, in conjunction with Caltech SEDS and the Caltech/JPL Mars Society, both of which are organisations that I inhabit, sponsored a bunch of seminars today. The best speaker was André Bormanis, who serves as the science consultant for Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He mentioned that the writers sometimes want to use too much technical dialogue and other times not enough. He mentioned that for the past two seasons, Voyager has been using much more digital effects. Terry Hancock and JPL's Dr Charles Beichman talked about extrasolar planet searches. Donna Shirley, former director of JPL's Mars exploration program, had much to say about the state of Mars. Bottom line: Mars is in good shape for now.