Sigh...

In case you don't know what I'm talking about...

How to Survive a Robot Uprising

How to Survive a Robot Uprising [UNABRIDGED] by Daniel H. Wilson

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is one of those books that is presented very tongue-in-cheek, similar to The Zombie Survival Guide: what do you do when the robots begin to take over the world? Anyone who's seen a sci-fi film in the last, well, ever, knows that the day is coming.



The secret to these types of books, where a completely ludicrous situation is presented completely seriously, is to never ever blink. The author has to maintain the illusion that he's serious the entire time, even though we the readers know that he's not.



The difference between this book and The Zombie Survival Guide is that this one is actually educational: Wilson was a PhD candidate in robotics when the book was written, so the book actually describes real, present-day elements of robotics development and what the future might hold.



The book is a quick, easy read, and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in how robotics actually work, especially if you're willing to have a bit of a sense of humor about it.


View all my reviews.

I have a bad feeling about this

I have a project here at work that will be fully realized at 3:00 pm, January 15th, 2009. I'm trying to assess the threats to that project, and I made the following estimates:

• There are about 40 independent problems that could cause this whole thing to be a catastrophic failure.
• I know of about 20 of these problems.
• I understand 10 of them.
• I am currently working to solve 4 of them.
• I figure maybe two of them have any chance of being solved in time

We dance a lot at our house

Aretha Franklin is a popular choice.


Kids dancing from cbalmain on Vimeo.

Now send me money

The most awesome birthday gift ever

Last week, for my birthday, Ann got me the most awesome birthday gift ever: clothes. Normally, clothes are the lamest gift possible (except for maybe deodorant - I actually got that as a gift once). But in this case, it was perfect.

Okay, let me explain. First, you have to watch the following clip from the classic comedy Three Amigos. To set the scene: it's El Guapo's 40th birthday, and he's feeling a bit self-conscious about his age, so Jefe is throwing him a party.


Three Amigos from cbalmain on Vimeo.

I was born on October 31st, 1975. So this year, for my 33rd birthday, Ann got me a sweater. And because it's such an inside joke for us, the inherent lameness of the gift is overcome by its staggering awesomeness. Thanks, babe - you rock.

What "Quantum of Solace" means

The new Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, comes out this week. Bond movie titles are often meaningless relative to the plot of the movie; this one however seems particularly bizarre. The title is actually that of a Bond short story that has nothing to do with the plot of the movie. In the story, Ian Fleming describes a Quantum of Solace this way:

"Quantum of Solace - the amount of comfort. Yes, I suppose you can say that all love and friendship is based in the end on that. Human beings are very insecure. When the other person not only makes you feel insecure but actually seems to want to destroy you, it's obviously the end. The Quantum of Solace stands at zero. You've got to get away to save yourself."

A quantum of solace is the smallest amount of feeling that a relationship requires to stay alive. Once that measurement reaches zero, there's nothing left to the relationship. Who knew that a Bond movie title could be so profound?

Oh, and QUANTUM is the name of the evil organization in the movie, but I'm sure that's just a coincidence.