Randy Pausch: Achieving dreams

Huyue introduced to all her guests this speech which she considered her best b-day gift received.

I think you should watch it when you think you can spare one hour of your life and you can spare it to let someone touch you.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=362421849901825950&hl=en

Sometimes I came to think why we would be better off with traditions, or even religions.

Because they teach you the ways that you might be struggling for decades to learn, and I assure you that (right) principles unlike knowledge, serve you better if they are learned before you can think critically.

I know this' geeky

The Situation:
The fan of my T60 did not work well. CPU temperature was as high as 88 Celsius at full load. System froze at times when it passed 90.

The Solution(s):

1. Called IBM/Lenovo Tech support and requested fan replacing. Figured I wouldn't be able to use the laptop for one week. No-go.


2. Vacuum from the exhausts (there are two on Thinkpad, be sure to tape one while vacuuming the other). Fan now runs freely. Temperature is anywhere from 76 to 80 degrees Celsius. I might need to open the case, cleaning or replacing the fan module to fix the problem for real. Will need to call IBM/Lenovo later for parts.
   


3. Undervolt the CPU by Windows-NHC/Linux-PHC tools. Further 10-12 Celsius down! Now at full load CPU temperature is only 57 degrees Celsius (idle at 48 Celsius). For starters (T2400 Core Duo):
   
   Linux: # echo '26 22 19' > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/phc_vids
   Windows: 11x: 1.0375 Volt; 6x: 0.9500 Volt.

If you have a laptop with Pentium-M / Core Duo / Core 2 Duo, you can use the same methods although exact specifications might (almost surely) vary.

Edit: I laughed while I wrote almost surely (a.s.) ... It was almost surely a misuse of the term!

IN A MUCH QUOTED PASSAGE in his inaugural address, President Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” It is a striking sign of the temper of our times that the controversy about this passage centered on its origin and not on its content. Neither half of the statement expresses a relation between the citizen and his government that is worthy of the ideals of free men in a free society. The paternalistic “what your country can do for you” implies that the government is the patron, the citizen the ward, a view that is at odds with the free man’s belief in his own responsibility for his own destiny. The organismic, “what you can do for your country” implies that the government is the master or the deity, the citizen, the servant or the votary. To the free man, the country is the collection of individuals who compose it, not something over and above them. He is proud of a common heritage and loyal to common traditions. But he regards government as a means, an instrumentality, neither a grantor of favors and gifts, nor a master or god to be blindly worshipped and served. He recognizes no national purpose except as it is the consensus of the purposes for which the citizens severally strive.

Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman

How beautifully spoken. I have always disliked JFK's quote, strongly reminding me of the well-you-know-what-I-am-referring-to, but I can never elaborate like this as regards why it is so fundamentally wrong. I also admired Friedman for his pure audacity to say this at 1960s.

Idea

Had this idea when I was thinking how many people I can invite to my home party.

N*N grid, x of them are occupied by coins, asking the chance P that all of them are able to reach any unoccupied grid without moving others (this is equal to say any two of them is “connected”). P=P(x). Obviously P(x>0.5)=0.

Or alternatively, Avg(free space of each coin)/((1-x)N^2) as a function of x.

Applications include granular physics, glass transition etc. Any way, now, get back to paper drafting.

Edit Saturday: Party went nice. I also figured the maximal number of people allowed in my place is twenty... Obviously I did overlook the heat dissipation problem...

I made it

I finished the half-marathon, even though I had knee injury. By my watch it was 2:05. It was such a great feeling.