Face detection

My new camera has a face detection function. I find this fascinating. How on earth does it know how to recognize a face? I ran a few experiments to determine just how accurate this feature is. It did not mistake the back of my co-worker's head for a face. It did not mistake a pile of books for a face. It recognized my co-worker's face. It did however generate a very small square around something else on the desk. But, very cool- when you hold it up to another picture that contains a face, it does recognize it!

However, I was thinking, how much more so the human brain, which does way more complicated things than that. We use face detection on a much larger scale, all the time. As sophisticated as technology is, it still is no match for the human brain.

Shy

"You're not shy! You're just weird!"

My headband saga

On Sunday, I attended a very fun wedding shower at which we made headbands. Making an art project evoked fun memories of being little and making art projects. To make the headbands, we took satin bands, added elastic, and then glued on decorations. Mine looked kind of hippy-ish. I liked it, though, so I wore it to work yesterday. Sadly, as I ran to catch a bus (because the subway had stopped working briefly just when I needed to take it) on the way to look at an apt., the headband slipped out of my pocket. I didn't have time to go back to look for it, but I did tell the story to the broker to have something to say when there was one of those quite moments. Then, of all things, when an hour later I went back and retraced my steps, there it was, lying right in the middle of 116th street! I ran into the street and grabbed it (thus prompting an onlooker to give me a very strange look). Thus this seemingly pointless story has a happy ending. Yay.

At work

Co-worker: I'm going to look for a book.
Me: Do we have those here?

Overheard at the office

Today, my co-worker attempted to explain the show Wicked, and ended up describing the characters as, "one is green, and one is poplular." This prompted, "popular is not a color." Good times.

April 8, 2009

It's weird to think of what might be in 28 years from now...during the last Birchat Hachama, I was approx. three months old.

This morning, I woke up super early and took a picture of the sun right around Netz. Then after I finished packing I headed to Central Park (Pey Dalid) to say the bracha.

Now I am sitting at work, reading Sefer Yizrach Or, published in 1952 for the 1953 Birchat Hachama. That year, Birchat Hachama fell out on isru chag.

This sefer, published by R' Eliezer Ehronreich, compiles various sources relating to Birchat Hachama. As it states in the description on the cover, it contains laws published in ליווארנא in 1785, with later additions in Czernowitz. Further, it contains הוספות by the Chatam Sofer (Pressburg, 1869) [btw my family maintains that we are descendants of the Chatam Sofer] and the S'dei Chemed (1897), with a kuntrus of the Omer Hasadeh (R' Eliezer Hayyim Deutch) that includes hagot of the Zafnat Paneach.

In the intro., the author gives a philosophical overview of the concept of the blessing. He writes that this blessing serves to remind us of G-d's control over the heavenly spheres, and that the sun, stars, and planetary system give testimony to G-d. The fact that the planets continue to move in perfect harmony serves as a sign of G-d. This brings to mind Rambam's phrase, שהגלגל סובב תמיד ואי אפשר שיסוב בלא מסבב, mentioned in Yesodei HaTorah (1:5), a reference to the idea of Prime Mover. The author in fact makes use of Rambam's format in the outset of Mishneh Torah--יסוד היסודות ועמוד החכמות--and starts with יתבונן הנלבב וישכיל המבין (the enthusiastic one shall investigate, and the one who understands shall learn, or something along those lines).

I counted backwards, and all years of Birchat Hachama end in 1,3,5,7,9--2009, 1981, 1953, 1925, 1897, 1869, 1841, 1813, 1785, etc.

To convert to the Hebrew year, as taught to me by Professor Ben Sasson, you can take the gematria of ת, add the gematria of the letter next to it, and add 1240.

Now I should stop procrastinating and write my paper ("Evil class").

Haggadah

Funny Facebook spoof of the Haggadah (by Carl Elkin)

Snapple revisited

This post once again relates to the Snapple machine, and, yes, I realize that this makes for the third time that I mention it, but this time the story has somewhat of a happy ending. Today, I put two dollars into the machine and pressed the button for raspberry iced tea. Sold out. Then I tried raspberry peach. Also sold out. That left me with lemon iced tea (because I had already had strawberry kiwi the day before), which turned out to be great because the machine dispensed not one but two bottles! I was very happy for a moment until I realized that at some point I probably would have to pay somebody for the mistake, but nevertheless...and the Snapple machine and I are friends again.

Valmaddona Trust

Recently, I attended the Sotheby's exhibit of the Valmaddona Trust. I took some pictures, posted here:

Another cab ride

Today on my way to work, I took a cab for the six blocks in between the subway station and work. I do this on occasion if I am running late-it saves time. I always feel bad, though, because the cab drivers seem not to like this. So, this time, when I got into the cab, I preemptively right away began apologizing. It went something like, "I'm so sorry that it's such a short ride, I'm really sorry." In contrast to other cab drivers, however, this driver seemed not to mind at all, and in fact said, "you never know what might happen. I could drop you off a few blocks away and there end up getting someone who is going to JFK." Apparently, this driver believes in hashgacha. He also believes in prayer: as he dropped me off at what he noticed was a Jewish institution, he said, "pray for me." I wasn't sure that I had heard him right, so I said, "what?" and he pointed at the building and said, "pray for me." I love it how sometimes you encounter random strangers and have these small random conversations with them that turn out to be interesting or even meaningful. (It reminds me of what we have been discussing in "Evil" class, about Buber and encounter). Anyway, if you ever find yourself in cab number 2K72, he will not mind if it is a short fare and even doesn't care if you are annoying enough to pay by credit card!

מאי חנוכה

At work, I came across a sefer titled (not entitled!) מאי חנוכה, which consists of a compilation of the various sources-- Gemarah, Rishonim, Achronim, Poskim-- regarding the topic of Chanukah.

Quick question: The Gemarah (Shabbat 22a) in the midst of its discussion on Chanukah seemingly goes on a tangent, giving a d'var Torah on the pasuk that states regarding Yosef, "והבור רק אין בו מים." The Gemarah here states the famous statement quoted by Rashi: מים אין בו אבל נחשים ועכרבים יש בו. My question is, why does the Gemarah add this in here? Granted, we always read parshat Miketz on Shabbat Chanukah, but the part of the Yosef story involving the pit does not occur in Miketz, and so I remain perplexed.

Snapple, part II

The Snapple machine truly has it in for me. Today after I put in one dollar, it refused to take my second dollar. It also refused to take any coins. Maybe I should have paid heed to the sign that said something to that effect, but I thought to myself, "I've outsmarted this machine once, and I can do so again!" At any rate, no Snapple for me today.

Mumbai

Shopping cart

In our apartment building, there are three stairs that lead from the lobby up to the hallway that contains the first floor apartments. The other day, I saw my neighbor taking groceries out of her shopping cart (a red "granny" cart) and walking with them down the hall to her apartment, without pulling the cart up those stairs. I decided to try to be nice, and decided to offer to help pull the cart up the stairs, to save her all those trips carrying the groceries. However, apparently I could not complete this task either, and felt kind of dumb. So, she took some more of the grocery bags out of the cart and brought them to her apartment. For some reason, she stayed inside, while I in the meantime discovered that now I could in fact lift the cart up the stairs, so I just lifted it up, wheeled it over to her door, and just left it there. I wonder if she knows who left the cart outside her door...

I find it funny that I offered to help and then couldn't. Lesson in life: never try (name that quote!)

p.s. The full quote is, "Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try."

And on that pessimistic note, I am off to Whole Foods to buy gluten-free pizza mix. Mmm...non-cell mediated response pizza.

P.s.

Corrected version:
Some say love, It is a river,
That drowns the tender REED,
Some say love, It is a razor,
That leads your soul to bleed,
Some say love, It is a hunger,
And endless aching need,
I say love, It is a flower,
And you its only SEED,
It's the heart, Afraid of breaking,
That never, Learns to dance,
It's the dream, Afraid of waking,
That never, Takes the chance,
It's the one, Who won't be taken,
Who cannot seem to GIVE,
And the soul, Afraid of dying,
That never, Learns to live,
And the night, Has been too lonely,
And the road, Has been too long,
And you feel, That LOVE is only,
For the lucky, And the strong,
Just remember, In the winter,
Far beneath, The bitter snow,
Lies a seed, That with the suns love,
In the spring, Becomes a rose.

Some say love, It is a river...

Last night's Family Guy episode actually turned out to be good (for my views on Family Guy, see me in person). One funny scene occurred between Peter and Quagmire in their cars, talking on the cell phone with each other, each not realizing the other as the annoying driver behind/in front of him. Unfortunately, it ruins it when you try to tell it over, though. I tried, at work, and could not quite capture the funniness. Another nice scene occurred also in the car, when Peter suggested that the family sing "a car song," and so they launched into LeAnn Rimes' "Some Say Love." Funny stuff. I actually found the song oddly touching, to the point of looking up the lyrics (feel free to make fun of me, I'll allow it), and thus will post them here.

Some say love, It is a river,

That drowns the tender ring,

Some say love, It is a razor,

That leads your soul to bleed,

Some say love, It is a hunger,

And endless aching need,

I say love, It is a flower,

And you its only seen,

It's the heart, Afraid of breaking,

That never, Learns to dance,

It's the dream, Afraid of waking,

That never, Takes the chance,

It's the one, Who won't be taken,

Who cannot seem to be,

And the soul, Afraid of dying,

That never, Learns to live,

And the night, Has been too lonely,

And the road, Has been too long,

And you feel, That road is only,

For the lucky, And the strong,

Just remember, In the winter,

Far beneath, The bitter snow,

Lies a seed, That with the suns love,

In the spring, Becomes a rose

Then Peter proceeds to say something funny, etc.

Snapple

This could have been titled, "does G-d not want me to buy a Snapple?", or, alternatively, "maybe I should avoid buying unhealthy foods." As follows:

Today, at work (yes, Sunday) at the later end of the day I had a random craving for a Snapple. Therefore I left my desk in what would be one of several attempts to purchase said Snapple. On my way down the hallway I noticed that I had one dollar bill, some change that added up to forty-five cents, and five pennies. Bear in mind that the Snapple costs $1.50. So I ran back to exchange the five pennies for what I thought was a nickel. I then ran back to the machine, only to discover that it refused to take any dollars (it did not have it in specifically for my dollar; rather it seemed to be broken). Once again, ran back to my desk, and (cleverly, I thought) decided to use the change machine in the copy room to get change for my dollar. However (and here's where my own stupidity steps in), I instead accidentally bought a copy card. I think I am the only one I know who sets out to buy a Snapple and ends up buying a copy card, but whatever. So I then no longer had my dollar but went ahead and traded my five dollar bill into five ones, one of which I put into the change machine, for which I got four quaters. Success, you would think. Turns out that the coin that I mistook for a nickel in fact bears the label of "25 sentinas" for "Republika Philipinas." This I discovered when the Snapple machine refused to accept it. Hence, another trip back to the copy room to exchange another dollar for coins, and then a fourth trip back to the Snapple machine, at which point I finally, at long last, succeeded in the ever-challenging endeavor of obtaining a peach/raspberry Snapple (high fructose corn syrup and all).

In conclusion, it all seems rather trivial in retrospect, but annoying nonetheless...

Giant foods

Giant Foods

Check it out...though you have to wonder if anyone ever got around to eating these foods, other than the one that went to City Harvest, or were they just for show. On the one hand, a lot of food would go to waste, but on the other hand, who wants to ruin a 1,395 pound gummy bear? I for one wouldn't. Of course, Jerusalem got in on the act with the world's largest kugel (see slide 15). I personally would like to see some gluten-free foods breaking some records. More likely, I can see as the next big project a giant M & M. Or a Rice Crispy treat (points to you if you identify the episode from which I got that idea).

Sunday

Yesterday I had a very busy day. First, I caught the end of Broadway on Broadway. During the last song (New York, New York), confetti rained down on us, which was cool, albeit environmentally disconcerting. I have pictures from my cell phone camera of both the confetti falling and the pile it created on the street, and maybe I will remember to upload and post. Then I went to Citibank and then bought a Snapple (strawberry/kiwi) from a vendor. Somewhere in between those two events I inadvertantly lied to a police officer, but since the story makes me look stupid, I will not be telling it here. Then I had some time before my appointment at the Genius Bar at the Apple store, so I sat in Borders and read an entire volume of the Gossip Girl series. You can make fun of me if you'd like. Really, feel free. In fact, I'll be the first to make fun of myself on this one. Then I walked over to the Apple store, where the guy at the Genius bar (why is it called that?) taught my iPod how to synch again. Now my iPod synchs just fine, except that it left out all three seasons of Arrested Development, my one season of Scrubs, and most of my Simpsons episodes. Minor details. Then I got a call from a friend inviting me to some sort of Gershwin something at 72nd street and afterward Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare on the Hudson) with another friend. We missed the Gershwin event but we got to see Romeo and Juliet. This brought back memories of high school English. Predictably, it also reminded me of Milhouse saying, "How could this happen? We started out like Romeo and Juliet but it ended up in tragedy" (episode number 8F22). Then finally I got to go home, at which point I had to clean some of our apartment.

U2

Has anyone seen that episode of Scrubs in which Eliot accidentally says, "I love you too" to her current boyfriend, when actually she was saying "I love (the band) U2," coincidentally at the same time at which her boyfriend had just said "I love you?" Well, I did something like that today. Luckily, it didn't involve my mistakenly saying I love you to someone, but it did happen that I said one thing and it got misconstrued as another, thus reminding me of the U2/you too phenomenon. I was talking with a professor and we were discussing Revel's new policy of handing in our papers, and he mentioned that a student of his just emailed him asking if she could hand in a paper five years outstanding. At the same time, he went ahead and de-magnetized a book, which I had just done, so I said, I did that already. He laughed, and I couldn't figure out why, until I realized that he thought that I meant my paper from two years earlier! This wouldn't at all matter except that something similar had just happened to me earlier that day, when someone laughed at something I had said and I realized that they must have thought that I had meant something else. Why does this keep happening to me?

The Yes Woman

Overheard in the office (today, at work)-
Me: Is it just me, or is "such and such random oberservation of life" so true?
My co-worker: Yes.
Me: Is it really true?
My co-worker: Yes.
Me: Really, it is true, isn't it?
My co-worker: Yes.
Me: Are you just saying yes to everything that I say?
My co-worker: Yes.

Extra points if you guess what "such and such random observation about life" was...

HTML practice

Gap.com

Dream

Last night I had the following puzzling dream: I found myself at a restaurant called The Olive Garden, which strikes me as weird given that I have neither seen nor heard about this place in years, so how did it find its way into my dream? Finding myself in a non-kosher restaurant, I decided to try to order the least possible non-kosher food, so I ordered noodles (gluten allergy notwithstanding). Then I looked over at what my friend had ordered, Israeli salad (the very same salad that in real life I recently ordered at My Most Favorite) and fish, and thought, I should have ordered that salad because that would be less non-kosher than would be the noodles. The fish, on the other hand, wouldn't. Then I found myself back in my room at home, and my parents told me that my blog (this blog, that is) had been chosen to appear on T.V., so I needed to write some more blog posts. Then suddenly the floor had glass on it, and I was afraid that I would step on the glass.

Feel free to psychoanalyze this dream for me...

Minute multiplication

Some, e.g. Lawrence Summers, make the claim that women inherently excel less in math. But then I also have heard the argument that the educational system does not teach math to women as well as it does to men. At first, I thought that people were just making this up, but then I thought back to my own childhood education and realized that this might have been the case. In third grade, upon learning multiplication, we got these quizzes called "minute multiplication." It consisted of thirty multiplication problems, and the trick was to finish them as quickly as possible. Sometimes I would finish second or third, but I never could beat this one kid, a boy, who almost always came in first. We can leave aside the point that it might just have been a coincidence that the kid that kept winning was a boy, which would do away with the whole problem in the first place. Looking back, I realize, the test might have tested speed in solving multiplication problems, but it failed to test for analytical skills, i.e. understanding the concept behind multiplication, which I thought I knew fine. Maybe the boy just ended up being faster, but maybe I would have done better at a different kind of test. So maybe there is something to the idea that math should get taught in a way that works for everyone. Then again, I kind of did like those minute math tests, even though I never did finish first.

p.s. Websites that discuss gender and math

A.P.B.

So, I hereby would like to place an A.P.B for a male, caucasian, wearing a yarmulke (possibly seruga?), last seen in West Side Judaica yesterday. Here's why. Yesterday afternoon I stopped by West Side Judaica to buy a wedding present for some friends (mazal tov, Y and R!). While there, I happened to have noticed a guy who seemed really nice, based on the way he interacted with the store people, etc. But then he left, without my getting a chance to talk to him! Now, if it turns out that he is married, then I will feel like an idiot. But if not, I can add it to my list of regrets (see prior post). Can we find this guy? I did notice which books he bought. He shouldn't prove that difficult to track down, right? Btw for a funny picture of a needle in a haystack, see here.