Would you play a game where it cost you nothing to play, if you win you get a dollar, the odds are 1 to 16 million in your favor, but if you lost, you'd have to pay 7 million dollars? That's the California Lottery, from the Lottery's point of view. If you could play as often as you like, would you? What if you could only play 100 times a day, so if you lost, you'd be bankrupt and couldn't play more to get the money back?

This has "Bad Idea" written all over it. They should offer a service where they'll engrave the words of your choice on the bottom, like you can buy at Natural Wonders.

Also, I want to know whose hand is in all those pictures.

As promised, the first photo from Hawai'i:

Back in a couple days. Have a great weekend!

Okay, at $30/hr for computer use, I'm not going to belabor any points today. I'd just like to wish everyone the best Thanksgiving it's possible to belatedly wish. I'm having a great time, though I'm absolutley stressed that I have a 5 page Cog Sci paper due on Tuesday, a 4 page Philosophy paper due Tuesday, and a 10 page Neuroscience paper due on Wendesday, as well as usability testing on the latest incarnation of my group's user interface project, also due Wednesday. I don't get back in to town until Sunday, so it's a mad mental spring for the next few days after that. Unfortunately, only one of the papers can I work on from out here.

On a weirder note, on the flight out, I was seated next to an 80 year old woman, very polite, very quiet, who, halfway through the flight, took out a notebook and wrote "It's time to set the record straight:" which is all I read before I reaffixed my eyes to watching Jurassic Park on my powerbook. It just felt like I was watching a novel. Do people really write that way? Like I should talk.

On an excited note, I just read an email from Peter saying I got a mention as a "usability research expert" in this week's New Yorker. This I've got to see.

Anyhow, back on Sunday, will be posting pictures then or before, including a few Hawai'i QTVRs. Also been writing up a lot of interesting thoughts, which I'll compose into a readable form when I'm out from the aforementioned $30/hr fees.

Have a great weekend!

Riding my bicycle home tonight under the yellow streetlights, for a few moments the nubs on the tires were moving at just the right speed so that the flickering of the streetlights made them look like they were standing still.

Looking down at the tire, it felt like I was back at my Mom's house, playing with the record player, adjusting the tempo knob until the lights stayed perfectly still at 33 1/3 rpm. Then I rode a little faster and the nubs sped up, then reversed, then doubled, then became a perfect blur.

So I'm flying to Hawaii tomorrow morning (if I finish laundry, homework, and a slew of other obstacles) and an hour after my flight takes off from SFO, a rocket is being launched from Vandenberg (note that this URL will self-destruct after the launch. They don't show past launches, so if you're looking after 10:30 AM Tuesday, you won't see the launch info). I have a window seat, but it's on the wrong side. I may have to get out of my seat and take a look at the launch. Could be pretty cool...

I'm burned out on election stuff other than to say this: It's amazing how the media is trying so hard to be impartial, lest they be accused of (gasp) swaying the public towards one candidate or the other! I mean seriously, if there was a dispute in a local election, and one candidate was against hand-counting because they said it was less accurate than machine counting, the media wouldn't use kid gloves and say it's an equally valid opinion. If it was public knowledge that that candidate actually signed in a law stating that hand counts were more accurate than macihne counts, then took the opposite position when it was the only way to win an election, we'd see the word 'hypocritical' in the press, but not when so much is at stake. Nobody wants to run the risk of alienating half their readership, after all.

So I'm high-tailing it out of town on Tuesday, for Thanksgiving in Hawaii with the family. I just found out they do have computers with internet access there, so I can keep up on my weblogging without racking up huge telephone fees. Hurray!

I'm bringing the digital camera, so I can keep you posted on Hawaii weather, and I may even put together a QTVR or two.

So another Cal-Stanford game has come and gone. I love going, even though (or maybe because) I know in my heart they're going to lose, and if they win, it's a great surprise.

With yesterday's loss, Cal has tied it's longest Big Game losing streak, with 6 in a row. This was the first time the Big Game's ever gone into overtime, and the lead in the game changed hands eight times. Talk about a nailbiter!

Anyhow, this streak is really bad for both sides. Attendance was lower than it's been in decades, and nearly half the Stanford seats were empty. This marks the third year in a row that graduating seniors go have gone through their entire education at Cal without ever seeing a Cal Big Game win.

While the ASUC is doing goofy things like adding a binary star system as a symbol of the university (the stars' colors are blue and gold), they should consider renaming the football team the California Cubs. On one hand, they don't seem to have the maturity of a team worthy of being called the Bears, and on another, it would be a sign of kinship to the Chicago Cubs, another team born to lose, with a dedicated fan base that just goes to watch the show.

When I look at the foolishness and mayhem on Capitol Hill, I take what little solace I can in knowing that my own local student government at UC Berkeley has their eye on the ball, tackling the important issues, like declaring a binary star system in Cygnus as the 'Cal Star' because it's a yellow sun orbited by a blue sun.

It's 385 light-years from Earth, so the light we're seeing now left the star over 230 years before the University even existed. Maybe if I wish on it tonight for a Big Game win against Stanford tomorrow, the wish will be granted by 2730...