Mattfedder.com - Comment Feed

SUS

SUS ME — Mon, 20 Dec 2021 19:35:39 -0800

TRANSALET :-. . ...- . .-. --. --- -. -. .- --. .. ...- . -.-- --- ..- ..- .--. -. . ...- . .-. --. --- -. -. .- .-.. . - -.-- --- ..- -.. --- .-- -. -. . ...- . .-. --. --- -. -. .- .-. ..- -. .- .-. --- ..- -. -.. .- -. -.. -.. . ... . .-. - -.-- --- ..- -. . ...- . .-. --. --- -. -. .- -- .- -.- . -.-- --- ..- -.-. .-. -.-- -. . ...- . .-. --. --- -. -. .- ... .- -.-- --. --- --- -.. -... -.-- . -. . ...- . .-. --. --- -. -. .- - . .-.. .-.. .- .-.. .. . .- -. -.. .... ..- .-. - -.-- --- ..-

Just squeeze them please.

Luis — Thu, 28 May 2020 08:59:06 -0700

Just squeeze them please.

I suppose I left that part out

Matthew Fedder — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 21:34:35 -0700

There's a little mini-canyon that runs up to the back of my house - the bird was perched on a dead bush (looks like it might have been a scrub oak) down there.

fluffy boy

Cindy — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 09:00:28 -0800

I love how the light catches on the wings in the bottom middle pic. Beautiful! Where was this taken?

Electoral College

Abhiyan Sapkota — Thu, 26 Apr 2018 09:27:35 -0700

From what I found out about the electoral college, it is a process in which a certain number of people (electors) allocated from each state who get to vote for the President of the United States, who are chosen by the people of that state. So, in fact, when the American citizens vote during the Presidential election, they actually get to elect the electors who represent the people of their respective state, not the President. The citizens while voting get to choose between the candidates when do pick a candidate, that’s like an instruction to the electors to cast the vote on their behalf. People expect their votes to reach out to their candidates, they expect their pick to get that vote. But that might not even happen. Majority of the states choose their electoral votes on the basis of the maximum number of individual votes from their citizens. Let’s take an example of how this might come into play. California has a long running history of being a democratic state which is good for the democrats as they contribute 55 electoral votes out of the total 538 but not for the republicans. Even though the republicans vote, their vote doesn’t count since the democrats scored the majority of votes leading them to win all 55 electoral votes. Now as a democrat, this is a good thing to me. But to a republican, that would hurt. Republican or Democrat or whatever other parties, I think an individual’s vote should matter. It’s not just that, just because the electoral votes were differentiated for the democratic candidate doesn’t mean, they are obligated to vote for the people’s choice. Out of 100, 87 percent of the times, it was found that the electors did not even go for what the residents of their respective state chose to be the suitable one. If that’s the case, then I don’t think the votes that the people cast would even matter which would dissuade the voters. There are plenty of smaller states which has relatively large amount of electoral votes than the entire population of the country whose main reason is the number of minimum votes that the state can have is three. This can lead to the favorite person who was supposably to be the winner to lose the election. It’s not just that because that nature of electoral college is so complex, people don’t vote. Now, electoral votes just don’t stay the same. Every 10 years, a census is taken to find out the number of people living in a particular state and depending on the increment or the decrement of the population, the electoral votes might swing either way. Electoral colleges have more influence on the ‘so-called’ swing states. Now, like I stated above, California has always been a democrat but in a similar way there are states such as Indiana who has always known to be a republican. This leads the nominees to pay more attention to the swing states since this might determine the course of the election. If looked over at the campaign held last election, data shows that both Trump and Clinton made more than ninety percent of their stops at those swing states. Out of the fifty states, eleven of them have come to been known as swing states and out of those eleven there are four swing states that hold the maximum number of votes – Florida (29), Pennsylvania (21), Ohio (20) and North Carolina (15). In this type of process, the candidate with the maximum number of popular votes does not win. We can take the 2000 Presidential election for example when George Bush despite losing to Al Gore on popular votes still won the presidency due to the maximum number of votes he received. This dissuades people from voting and the candidate who the majority of Americans want to win ends up losing which to me is not democratic. In a nutshell, what I’m trying to say is, electoral college should not be the way how the President of the United States should be chosen. Each and every vote has to count.

But it's not as bad as it looks!

Matthew Fedder — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 19:05:14 -0800

A little bit of bonus content for those who dare to click the Comments link. Interestingly, if you eliminate the supposition that the winner gets 0% of the vote in any state they lose, and instead allocate 49.99% of the vote to them (the same percentage that the election loser won in the states the election winner wins), even with this optimized electoral vote allocation, the winner needs 49.6% of the popular vote - a mere 4/10ths of a percent short of a majority. So, that does demonstrate that the electoral college's purpose — to reward broad support over deep support — continues to be achieved centuries later. And any commentary on who is selected is really commentary about the people who cast their ballots, not the system in which our elections operate.

Lorie — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 18:26:37 -0700

You should take your Matilija poppy picture and paste it into Google images and see the similar images it comes up with. They're pretty interesting!

You still read this?!?!

Matthew Fedder — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:12:08 -0800

I thought you had given up on checking the front page years ago...

Mr. Beer

squeakycyclist — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 21:57:07 -0800

Sounds like Homer's marketing endeavor after Mr. Plow!

Sorry.

Google — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:26:30 -0800

Yeah, sorry I never comment.

It was all me, you know

Matthew Fedder — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:16:00 -0800

congrats

Follett — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:41:11 -0800

Congrats! You made it happen. This will really help Katie and I visit both sets of in-laws!

Comatose

Matthew Fedder — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:51:18 -0700

Sounds like a bad idea -- anyone who did that last night, probably did not wake up today. McCain said "My Friends" 19 times according to one count I read last night.

Debate Games

Derek — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:05:03 -0700

Or you could just take a shot whenever McCain says "my friends"

Internet Thief

Derek — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:03:35 -0700

You're stealing the internet! You thief!

floppys

Derek — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:37:32 -0700

I imagine you throwing them ninja-star style perfectly into the drives. Awesome.

Conan

Follett — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:27:43 -0700

Of course! You remember Conan the Librarian right?

:(

Derek Follett — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:06:47 -0700

Awww, no pictures.

Working?

Matthew Fedder — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:45:30 -0700

I need to change this to a PRG-pattern

Cool

Matthew Fedder — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:56:29 -0700

Cool Poppies. Makes me want to eat a poppy bagel.

images

Matthew Fedder — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:53:21 -0700

Can you see this? Images work; syntax is: <img src="/Photographs/EyesfollowtheSkies//PICT5025.BROWSE.JPG" width="40" height="30" />

html

Derek — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:04:18 -0700

I tried to put an image in. Probably too risky so you've blocked it?

HTML?

Matthew Fedder — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:51:13 -0700

What do you mean? HTML's allowed.

The Enigma

Derek Follett — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:14:06 -0700

Yep, I made that comment. Can't put html in comments?

The Enigma

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:11:48 -0700

You should get this fan for hours of mindless enjoyment.

Bluetooth = cool

Matthew Fedder — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:40:09 -0700

Macs do use bluetooth -- it's how I send pictures from my phone to my computer (thankfully Sprint does not lock that feature like Verizon and AT&T). I should be able to use it to sync my calendars. Also, when I (eventually) get a Sync-enabled car, I'll be able to play music wirelessly -- no plugging/unplugging :)

Wait for Red Tooth

Derek — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:01:54 -0700

What kind of things do you suppose they'll do with bluetooth? Answer your not-iphone, connect to keyboard, wireless headphones, sync with your computer (do Macs use bluetooth?)?

Greetings

Angie O'Shea — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 21:38:48 -0700

Hey Matthew, I always thought you were an interesting person, but this blog confirms it! I just happened upon your blog when I was looking for links to Tom - go figure. As it turns out, we're looking for a new car, so this stuff about your car is on-topic for us. I have spent a better part of a month researching the perfect, luxurious, fuel efficient car. It doesn't exist. Anyway, we miss you, and wish you well. The cats say "hi".

Yeah, but

Matthew Fedder — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 18:40:29 -0700

Well I hear rumors of future releases, so I keep saying "wait for the next version". Right now I'm waiting for an iPod Touch with bluetooth.

iPod, get one

Derek Follett — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 08:05:42 -0700

Get an iPod! I've got the "fat nano" it's great. The video is great and I can even play chess on it!

Link

Matthew Fedder — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:53:26 -0700

The word Hyundai is a link to the lyrics of the song in question, "Debra", by Beck.

Song/

squeakycyclist — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:05:49 -0700

What song would that be?

Gas

Matthew Fedder — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 11:43:47 -0700

With gas what it is? It's probably a wash. Anyhow, in another year, prices should be down to a more reasonable level.

Ohio Housing Prices Rock

Derek Follett — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:45:22 -0700

It's probably cheaper to buy a house in Cleveland and commute to work in La Jolla.

Portal Cake

Derek Follett — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:03:56 -0700

I have head of this game, but didn't know anything about it.

Portal

Matthew Fedder — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:18:21 -0700

It's from the game Portal, where you're put through a series of challenges by a vaguely homicidal computer that speaks with a fairly sweet voice. The computer occasionally encourages you to finish with promises of cake, though if you turn the right corners in the game, you find graffiti such as "The Cake Is A Lie!", presumably from previous players. Whether or not the cake is, in fact, a lie, you'll have to find out by finishing the game :) The cube is the "weighted companion cube". You have to occasionally manipulate the weighted cubes, and in one level where you have to carry it for a long time, the cube has hearts on it. The computer warns you that some people have become unduly attached to their weighted companion cube, and advises you that it is not alive. I only got to play it a little, but it's pretty fun. (I've got a roommate - Vance, who's occasionally posted here - who's a heavy gamer).

root(pie) = cake

Derek — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:17:07 -0700

That cake looks tasty. What is that strange cube next to it? I get the feeling that if I break it I'll get extra hit points.

Cake

Matthew Fedder — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 17:10:13 -0700

Unfortunately my mnemonic devices are mostly mathematical. Also, sometimes I vary the pitch of how I say the numbers in my mind, where a higher pitch corresponds to a higher number. A friend of someone in the UCSD Math Club alerted me that they would be passing cake for Pi day. The cake was not a lie; it was delicious and moist. Apparently they made cake because it was easier than Pie.

Have some Pi, plenty of digits for everyone!

Derek Follett — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 13:01:04 -0700

Happy Pi Day Matt! I was curious about your mnemonic device, I was hoping it told more of a story. Katie and I went out for our traditional Pi Day pie last night. I had coconut cream. Student: I thought you said you were going to bring in Pie? Mr. Follett: I did, and look there are plenty of digits for everyone!

But it moves!

Matthew Fedder — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 10:42:30 -0700

I'm surprised you didn't notice: When you're reading posts, it background kind of seems to move upwards.

Snazzy new Favicon!

Vance — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 10:19:17 -0700

I dig the new background and Favicon! Well, good thing you survived the bike ride to post about it. Cheers!

Perhaps

Derek Follett — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 18:40:00 -0800

Yes Matt, we all should admire your length of domain history. While Xanga and Friendster become ghost-towns Shades of Green is still going strong.

yep

Derek Follett — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 18:36:47 -0800

I tend to do the same thing. I think of it as a flaw, I'm working on it Matt.

Google Intelligence

Matthew Fedder — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 01:24:37 -0800

I wonder how smart the Google people are at blocking things like that? Like, if they see the word Google on my page, are they going to make my links count less? For the record, I did not set rel=nofollow or whatever it is you do. I'll only worry about doing that if I become a victim of spamming attempts.

Bork

JobDud — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:09:55 -0800

Bork Bork Bork. Oh, and try JobDud.com. Did you make all links NOFOLLOW? If not, I'll get a little boost in ranking from google. muhahahaha.

Wait a second

Matthew Fedder — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 21:35:31 -0800

Isn't this like the 10th blog you've had? :)

Tryin' to scare me?

Matthew Fedder — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 21:26:04 -0800

For the longest second I thought I had my first spam post! Which would have surprised me, since I thought my captcha was FOOLPROOF!

Comment

Follett — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 20:53:16 -0800

Nice, I can comment now. I just started a new website through wordpress. I might link to your site if I decide it is cool enough.

TEst

Matthew Fedder — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:30:20 -0700

This is a test

Movie Trivia

Squealy Cyclist — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:34:14 -0700

Reminds of the sad scene at the end of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", where James Bond is cradling his dead wife, and says to a policeman, "We have all the time in the world."

Silvy — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 03:59:58 -0700

spooky, Matthew. Spooky.

Comments

Matthew — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:52:15 -0700

Hey, how 'come nobody ever comments on here?

Hmm

Matthew Fedder — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 23:23:16 -0700

A Mercedes? Sounds like someone means, "Why do you hate the Homeland" err... "... The Fatherland" It's scary how hard it is to tell Bush's words from Hitler's, sometimes.

Meow

Matthew Fedder — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 23:19:02 -0700

You'll have to give me more information about this song. Perhaps use the Link field below to link to a highlighted resource -- maybe lyrics or an article about the sing. Obviously it's not a Jack Daniels song? :)

Dood

Matthew Fedder — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 23:16:28 -0700

A What now?

Taste?

Matthew Fedder — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 23:14:13 -0700

Taste in food but perhaps not in linguistics.... Puns: The diet of a new generation!

Dork

squeakycyclist — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:30:48 -0700

What a dorky hat, who IS this guy?!? I must say, though, he has good taste (get it, good TASTE!!) in food!

Utility

squeakycyclist — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:29:45 -0700

Why do you hate Amerika? Get a Unimog, you won't see too many of THOSE on the road! You never know when a mountain will spring up in the middle of freeway, you wanna be PREPARED!

Green teeth

squeakycyclist — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:26:33 -0700

Made me think of the Charlie Daniels song that contains the line" Just when I thought I'd get outta there with my skin These 3 big dudes come strollin in With one old drunk chick and some fella with green teeth By the way, this is NOT a test, it's the real thing!

Hahah

Matthew Fedder — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 15:38:06 -0700

Vance doesn't believe me!