Greg

Portfolio!

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:02:18 GMT

I've finally put my portfolio up, since I'm looking for a team to join after I graduate.

I've also been adding more photos, and put up a new theme, too! Fun fun fun ('till my daddy takes my t-bird away)...

In memoriam of Scout

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:35:29 GMT

Now that my website is back up (again), I uploaded the photos of Scout that I culled from my gallery.

Here's the whole album In memoriam of Scout. There's also a really fun video of Dad and Scout playing tug-of-war.

I got to play with another Black Lab this weekend; he reminded me of Scout a lot, but had his own quirks and differences. Throwing a ball for him, and petting him, made me smile.

Originally published at GregSchwartz.net.
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My project for ME203

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 06:43:16 GMT

I put together a short writeup of my project for ME203. Here's the course description:

Design and Manufacturing
Prototype development techniques as an intrinsic part of the design process. Machining, welding, and casting. Manufacturing processes. Design aspects developed in an individual term project chosen, designed, and fabricated by students. Labs, field trips.

My project is an indoor waterfall with two goals. First and foremost, it should sound like a large waterfall, even though its size should be small. In other words, rather than a gentle tinkle tinkle sound, it should make a more Niagra Falls-esque WSSSSSHH sound. Second, it should not splash water everywhere.

If I can nail the sound, then I can worry about controlling the splashing. With that in mind, my prototype focused on creating the sound Im looking for.

I assumed that the most important factor in the sound would be a combination of water pressure and the height the water fell from (in fact, I think they might be interchangeable). The second most important factor might, I thought, be what the water fell into (in terms of both diameter and water depth). So I began experimenting. I poured water into a medium size vessel (cookware I had in my dorm room) from different heights, and with two different pressures. Pressure didnt have any effect (probably because I couldnt control it very well), but height didnt seem to make nearly as much a difference as I thought it would.

I went on to larger containers, eventually finishing with the largest vessel I could find: a spare trashcan I have. Still, the sound just wasnt right. I realized that it sounded like turning a faucet on, rather than a waterfall. What do waterfalls have that faucets dont?

Multiple streams!

So I tried two streams at once, and it worked! I experimented a bit with altering the height, and that did add a bit of volume. But switching between one and two streams, theres just no comparison: faucet or waterfall.

My next prototype will focus on refining my understanding of why multiple streams makes it sound so much better, and trying to optimize the sound even further. (Are three streams better? Four? Five?)

Originally published at GregSchwartz.net.
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Scout Schwartz, 1996-2008

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 07:56:39 GMT

We put Scout down this morning. For anyone who doesn't know, Scout was a Black Labrador. Scout was a member of my family. Scout was my little brother.

It was time. His health has been getting worse for quite a while. He'd actually gotten to the point that he couldn't go up, or down, stairs on his own. (And my parents live in a two bedroom house, with the bedrooms upstairs.) He was on a lot of medications, and towards the end, was having trouble even breathing.

My parents took him in to the vet earlier today. I flew in a little while later, as fast as I could get here. My parents and I spent the rest of the day together, and then got dinner with my sister as well. We have spent a lot of the day reminiscing, often with tears on our cheeks. It hurts, losing him; but it's fun to think of him, and to tell all our stories about him.

And I've been expecting it for quite a while. One of the times I was down previously, I sat with him for an hour or so, just petting him and crying; I actually thought he was going to die that night. Another visit, I slept in a sleeping bag so I could be next to him the whole night.

Suffice it to say, I had already said my goodbyes, more than once.

It was still a shock, though. Hearing that we were going to put him down...

I miss him, and I'm tearing up writing this... but I also know I wouldn't change it for a second. I loved Scout, we loved Scout, and he loved us. And the time I got to spend with him is absolutely worth the pain of losing him.

I love you Scout. Thanks for being in my life. Thanks for waking me up by burrowing your nose under my arm. Thanks for looking so silly, carrying your own leash in your mouth. Thanks for coming in to find out why I was down, even when I wanted the whole world to leave me alone. Thanks for making me laugh and smile. Thanks for making almost everyone you ever met, smile.
I'll miss you.

PS: Wil Wheaton went through some of the same experience with his cat Felix. It's beautifully written. I highly recommend it, especially if you've also lost someone (pet, family member, whatever).

PPS: I'll be putting up some kind of memorial for Scout in the coming weeks (photo or video, I think). And I guess I'll have a name to write on The Temple next year.

Originally published at GregSchwartz.net.
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Amused & confused

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:49:52 GMT

Amused
Walking to the housing office, I pass two guys walking, and one sings out "Whenever life gets you down Mrs Brown, and things seem hard or tough!" (Know what he was singing?) I was really amused; Stanford is awesome. Sadly, I didn't react fast enough, I should have sung the next part back!

Confused
The package I picked up wasn't something I ordered. It's a gift package from a recruiter! They're at a company that's been recruiting me really hard, and says sent December 19th. Weird. It's got 2 books inside:

I guess this is a compliment, that they'd send that to me. Seems vaguely unethical, but perhaps I'm being weird.

A funny text mesage

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 04:13:36 GMT

I got an unexpected text message today.

Hi greg
My name is Yaacov Benzaquen and I am a Rabbi at Hillel. a friend of yours asked me if I could get you some chicken soup and I would like to deliver it. R u in your dorm?
I am an orthodox Rabbi and my wife made the soup (in case you are wondering about the kashrut)
please let me know soon as I am on my way to campus

Naturally, I responded; however I was in class, so I couldn't have him deliver it. I asked if there was any way I could pick it up later.

No prblm
I can leave it at the hillel fridge.
Can you get it from there?

After looking online to figure out what building Hillel was, and then at a map to figure out where that building was, I responded with an enthusiastic yes!

there are 2 containers with soup marked G. Schwartz at the hillel main fridge. Let me know when you get it.
And feel better. Refuah shelema (that's a prayer/wish for complete healing)

I picked it up a little while ago. And then my phone died. So after I got back & heated it up, I replied and thanked him again!

No problem. I look forward to meeting you when you feel better.
Have a great channukah and shabbat shalom !

So the big question I have is... he didn't say who! Who was so awesome, and do I get to thank?!

My father passed the bar!

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 02:26:30 GMT

My father passed the bar!

Francine & I are no longer dating

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:11:19 GMT

So, why? Because we just don't have the chemistry we both want.

We're still friends, and we're both doing pretty well. It was definitely the best breakup either of us have ever had. We talked on the phone (and then on Skype when her cell phone died). Laughing, and crying together over the phone. The best part was when we were acknowledging each other different for things.

Within the context of Landmark Education, "acknowledging" someone actually means more than normal. So it was really touching and fun to get to acknowledge her, and to be acknowledged.

And the training that both of us have gotten at Landmark helped make that easy/gentle breakup possible. Every time one of us would get on it, we could realize that we were feeling like "I'm a jerk for breaking up with her", and that wasn't actually true. And so we could let it go, and not be controlled by that feeling any longer.

So, the relationship was [april 22 - october 9] = about 25 weeks, nearly 6 months.

Oh, and I'll be hanging out with her when I come down for Thanksgiving, so have no fear about inviting both of us to events.

Interesting...

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 02:31:06 GMT

Interesting & random observation, courtesy of Pi-Chuan Chang:

If you enter "dog" and "cat" into Google Sets, among the [addmittedly odd] results you get are "bird" and "fish". Makes sense, right?

Well what happens if you enter "man" and "cat"? Try it out!

You get "ls", "cp", "rm", "grep"! That's because in addition to meaning "male human" and "feline", "man" and "cat" are also Unix commands! As are "ls", "cp", andmost of the others.

As Pi-Chuan put it, "an interesting word sense disambiguation example".

Fast update

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 23:45:17 GMT

Before I get to post this again for the ninth time:

I'm at Stanford.
I live in a dorm on campus; it's an old dorm, but it's good enough.
I know a bunch of people here, and am using Facebook a lot. It's huge on this campus.
I'm taking 8 units of courses, I'll list them later. But I'm not online a huge amount, since I'm so busy.
I've managed to wrangle a TA position! My tuition is paid for.
I'll post some photos later.
Francine visits this weekend!

Now I'm off to a department TGIF party.

Leaving Web Advanced!

Sat, 08 Sep 2007 00:27:26 GMT

785 cases.
2 years.

Lots of friends, and some good memories.

And a cool "yearbook"!

Bye bye Web Advanced! Hello Stanford!

Going away party

Sun, 02 Sep 2007 19:53:10 GMT

I'll be doing a going away party this Friday, in the evening. Not sure where or exactly when, yet. But it'll be a chance to hang out once more before I head off to Stanford.

(Thanks to Olson & Michael Genereux for the reminding to actually schedule this!)

Schedule for moving tomorrow

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 22:22:10 GMT

Since I'm helping Nick move his fridge early on, here's a full schedule. Mostly for my usage, in planning & telling ppl when to arrive.

	Miles	Duration	End Time
Greg & Francine leave Irvine			8:00
Irvine -> Garden Grove	16	0:25	8:25
pickup truck		0:30	8:55
Garden Grove -> Tameko's	14	0:15	9:10
Load fridge		0:45	9:55
Tameko -> HB	7	0:16	10:11
Unload fridge		0:30	10:41
HB -> Irvine	16	0:23	11:04	People helping me should arrive
Load furniture		1:45	12:49
LUNCH		1:00	13:49
Irvine -> SC	22	0:30	14:19	Need people to follow in cars
Unload truck		1:15	15:34
SC -> Truck drop off	3	0:10	15:44
Drop off truck!		0:15	15:59
SC -> Irvine	22	0:30	16:29

And then Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is playing at the Hollywood Bowl, and we head up there for an 8:30pm show!

Oh yeah, about the cruise...

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 00:28:01 GMT

I think I'll go on a cruise. Cause I want to take a vacation with Francine. (I loved being with my family while we were in Hawaii, but I missed her!)

So we're off on a 5 night cruise to Baja Mexico. Reason this is doable, is because tickets are $395 each. Yes, 5 Nights!

We went through HotWire, so we got a discount even beyond the $329 price listed on Carnival's website.

Should be fun!

Move Out!

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 22:12:53 GMT

I'll be moving out this Saturday (25th). I'll be spending the whole day moving, but I'm hoping that I'll just need help with the big stuff (specifically couch, bed, bookcases). I'll be renting a truck, and then unloading it in San Clemente. So I'd guess we'd be done by 3 or 4pm, at the latest.

Anyone around to help out? Lunch (or dinner) for anyone who can, obviously. (Might be my mom's cooking, or might go out. We'll figure it out that day.)

Small update: Daft Punk, Hawai'i, Stanford

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 08:24:50 GMT

So, it's been a while since I updated. A few big things of late:

Saw Daft Punk before I left. To be honest, I really can't think of a way to do the show justice. It was excellent, although much shorter than I expected. Still, it was absolutely worth $50. If you're curious about the experience, go read this review for the NYC show; it sounds identical to the LA show. Or, you could check out YouTube: the first portion and the encore. Awesome night.
Went to Hawai'i!!!! Woohoo!

Got two necklaces. (Necklaces are pretty much the only jewelery I'll wear, but I do like them!) Here's a photo of one. I'll take a photo of myself in the other at some point.
It was a trip of sea turtles (and one of my necklaces is a sea turtle, looks like made out of abalone shell). I'll try to post the story of the first sea turtle sighting. Summary: we snorkled a number of times, and most of them we saw sea turtles up close. The first time, it was a huge one! Cool animals.
I got a bit of a tan. Not as much as I'd like, but I'll take what I can get.

The evening of the Daft Punk concert, I also learned about the wonders of UnderArmour. I've since bought two shirts (one shortsleeve, one sleeveless) and may very well buy more. Used both while in Hawai'i, and tested the claim that you'll be cooler wearing them than shirtless. It's true. This stuff is incredible!
The lease on my apartment ends August 28th.
I'll move into Crothers Memorial Hall at Stanford on September 15th.

So I ran across this page, which had a number of short videos:

Daft Punk is Playing At My House...Er, Park: The YouTube Videos

My pal Will Jones took some sweet video of Daft Punk's set. Thanks to the power of YouTube, here they are.

See the band rocking out on top of the pyramid? How cute is that?

"One More Time." Watch the stage explode. Like Star Wars.

The pyramid looks like it's about ready to blast off into space. Perhaps thanks to the glowing toaster-grills behind it. Mmm. Robot toast.

SERIOUSLY, IS YOUR MIND NOT BLOWN JUST FROM THIS?

Human. Robot. Human. Robot.

-- Annie Zaleski

Bits and pieces update

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 17:59:47 GMT

First, Hawaii on Saturday! Woohoo!!!!

Second, a hilarious HALO 2 machinama music video:

Third, I've always used the term "dop kit" for the toiletries I carry on a trip. I've never known why it was called that, but my father called it that. Randomly, I decided to look it up on Google, and found The Word Detective:Dear Word Detective: My husband keeps his shaving gear and other personal care items in a zippered oblong leather case. His 91 year old father has one too. They both call this case their "Dop kit." I've heard the term from others also. However, no one can tell me why it is called "dop kit." For the longest time I've wondered where the word "dop" came from, thinking it might be the abbreviation D.O.P. for some military term. Can you tell me what it means? -- Ruth Camenisch, Monett, Missouri.

Well, first of all, I can tell you that both your husband and his father are more well-organized than I'll ever be. In fact, I'd probably shave off this silly beard if I could just remember where I put my razor.

In any case, thanks to a discussion of the term "Dopp Kit" on the mailing list of the American Dialect Society (www.americandialect.org) a couple of years ago, I can assure you that "Dop" or "Dopp" isn't an acronym or abbreviation for anything. According to newspaper accounts unearthed by Merriam-Webster's Jim Rader, the Dopp Kit was first produced by Charles Doppelt, a leather goods designer who immigrated to the U.S. from Germany in the early 1900s. Although it may have been Doppelt's nephew and employee, Jerome Harris, who actually invented the snazzy leather toiletries case, Doppelt was the boss and so the finished product bore a cropped form of his name, giving us the "Dopp Kit." Dopp Kits were manufactured by the Charles Doppelt Company until the firm was purchased by Samsonite in the 1970s, and Dopp Kits today are made by Buxton. The popularity of Dopp Kits was evidently boosted considerably by World War II, in the course of which the U.S. Army issued them to recruits by the millions.

Incidentally, the "kit" part of Dopp Kit is not quite the same "kit" we use to mean "a collection of parts used to assemble a whole," as in "model airplane kit." A soldier's "kit" consists of the standard equipment and personal articles issued to and carried by a soldier on a regular basis.

Monthly Review - July 2007

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 06:59:20 GMT

Committed expenses $1,652.89
- Car $134.52
- Groceries $228.00
- Rent $855.00
- Utility $114.37
- Health $321.00

Fun money $298.72
- Eating Out $88.65
- Fun $70.07
- Gifts $140.00

Irregular expenses $418.00

Longterm saving/debt $1,000.00

Since someone asked, normally I simply toss all the data into an Excel spreadshee, categorize it, and then move cells/rows around to get space to calculate totals.

What I've begun doing instead is using Excel's PivotTable feature. Then I can just reuse the table, and have it pull out the sums for the relevant categories (as seen above). It's much faster, and much less work.

Hilarious science

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 01:46:42 GMT

So, everyone knows what helium is. Well, imagine if you had something that was the opposite of helium?
This was shown to me by my parents. We all agree that the best part is when Jay's other guest laughs as he walks out of camera. There was actually more to this bit, specifically some fun with fire, but it's not in this clip.

Update: The gas, by the way, is called sulfur hexafluoride.

4th of July

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 21:29:39 GMT

Anyone have any ideas?

My suggestion is people coming down to my parent's place. Big dinner, lots of people, good music & food. We'll be able to see fireworks from the balcony, too.

Optimus Prime Voice Changing Helmet

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 17:54:24 GMT

Even though anonymous_cowar beat me to posting about it:

Yes, it's an Optimus Prime Voice Changing Helmet! I think my favorite part of the video is at the end. So geeky, but so authentic it's almost endearing! Awesome.

An instant message at work

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 23:15:32 GMT

We have a lot of servers here (many for development, a few for actual client use, and a few for internal use). So we have many names in use. Some elements (Iron, Oxygen, Tin, etc), some of the usual names (Testbed), and a few new ones (Earth, Fire). The last server name has led to some very funny conversations, which culminated [for me] today:

Tasia: are you on fire?
Me: Heh.
Me: No, but my girlfriend thinks I'm smokin'
Tasia: LOL
Tasia: i meant the server
Me: hehehe
Tasia: LOL
Me: I know
Me: No, I'm not.

Monthly Review - May 2007

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 08:35:36 GMT

So it has been a long time since I posted a Month In Review... 3 months, in fact!

So, here's my analysis of May. April and March will be coming, but not tonight.

By the way, I used a new, much faster, method to analyze the data; I can give more information, if people are interested.

Committed expenses: -$1,093.93 = 31.9%

Rent: -$845.00
Utility: -$248.93

Irregular expenses: -$1,004.74 = 29.3%

Car: -$209.39
Groceries: -$255.93
Misc: -$88.41
Health: -$451.01

Fun money: -$275.79 = 8.0%

Eating Out: -$219.79
Entertainment: -$56.00

Longterm saving/debt: $3,000.00 = 87.5%

Savings: $3,000.00

Income: $3,428.73

Interest: $54.21
Wages: $3,374.52

Cool tech

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 00:27:33 GMT

Cool way of viewing and interacting with very high resolution panoramas.

And a very cool method of monitoring power usage and cost: energyjoule

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:30:01 GMT

FBI tries to fight zombie hordes