Simianly Simple

I have moved

2006-10-08T01:29:00.000-04:00

My blog/website is now located at http://ianli.com/. It features a new web template and has more content, including my art works, designs, and projects. Bye!

Brand-spanking new

2006-02-09T17:33:00.000-05:00

After being in grad school for a year and a half, I finally created an academic profile web site. Check it out at http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~ianl/. Note also that as a challenge, I did not use tables to create the layout, only CSS stylesheets. Try increasing and decreasing the size of the font; you'll notice that the layout and images also resizes with the font size. Way cool!

You can also check out my undergraduate web site which currently has more content albeit old. Soon I will move the undergraduate content to my current web site.

Super

2006-01-26T21:32:00.000-05:00

Today, Johnny and I became superhuman, impervious to the attacks of three deadly powers: hepatitis A, typhoid, and yellow fever. And to add to our newfound indestructibility, the immunization clinic provided The Mighty Grip, the most handy versatile tool with 100 and 1 uses. It is practically a Batman tool belt in the form of a yellow rubbery disk. I guess they provide this super tool to accompany your transformation to a superhuman.

Becoming superhuman was hard work. We had to wake up early, which is very hard for Ph.D. students. We also had to various clues and dead ends, but we found the immunization clinic secretly tucked next to an Arby's. Hah! They thought we would be foiled by their little camouflage.

Becoming superhuman is also slightly expensive, Johnny and I dispensed $150 each for the opportunity. And our transformation is not done yet, we also need to become invulnerable to malaria. Oh well.

Anyway, Ecuador, here we come!

Letters to the future

2006-01-21T16:58:00.000-05:00

While listening to Weekend America today, I heard about a website called FutureMe.org. The idea is that you write yourself a letter that will be sent to you in the future. I wrote myself a letter today that my one-year older self will receive. The web site also has some public entries that makes for some interesting read. Here are some interesting entries I found during my short venture through the archives:

One man's trash is another man's treasure

2006-01-21T03:51:00.000-05:00

Instead of throwing something you don't need anymore and creating more landfills, why not give it away? I found this great grassroots organization called Freecycle. Freecycle is a collection of people in most home towns that have things to give away. Membership is free. To apply, find the website of your local branch. I am a proud member of the Pittsburgh branch.

Today, I got a free winter coat from Jamie. Next, I'm going to give away a big stuffed tiger.

A prayer is finally answered

2006-01-20T14:01:00.000-05:00

Gmail finally has a delete button without using a Greasemonkey script. Now Safari and IE users can enjoy having deletion be just a click away. No more scrolling down the drop down list form. Yippee!

picture courtesy of Google.com

Sternest uses keywords (FINALLY!)

2006-01-09T06:03:00.000-05:00

Sternest Meanings now allows the use of keywords to provide various services. Type ":help" when talking to Sternest to discover the different services.

You can also have Sternest speak Swedish Chef and Pig Latin by adding the keyword ":cheffmeuneengs" and ":ternestsay", respectively, before your message.

Coding sucks (a lot of time)

2006-01-05T03:05:00.000-05:00

Aarghh! I started coding three days ago to add features to a gibber bot programming toolkit and I'm still not done. I would add a feature and it would get in the way of another feature. Then I would try to introduce another feature that I saw from another implementation then I would change my mind. Then I would make a decision then later become dissatisfied. When is this madness going to stop? Aarghh!

11 days of Seattle fun (so far)

2005-12-31T17:42:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I've only been in Seattle for 11 days; it seems like I have been here longer. Here's a list of what has happened so far:

11 days of continuous Seattle rain
2 skiing trips
6 movies: Chronicles of Narnia, King Kong, Fun with Dick and Jane, Brokeback Mountain, The Squid and the Whale, Wallace and Gromit
4 blog posts about gibber bots
10 pounds gained (my concern about this is a sign that I'm getting old)
3 trips to Krispy Kreme
740 dollars spent
Spending time in Seattle: priceless

Surly Request

2005-12-29T08:28:00.000-05:00

Let me introduce you to another gibber bot. Her name is Surly...Surly Request. Her AIM ID is surlyrequest. Her responses are based on query results (from Google, since she's a google fan). Talk to her and place your funny conversations with her in the comments section.

me: hello surly
surlyrequest: I have a huge crush on anything Surly so I requested an interview and they agreed
me: a huge crush huh
surlyrequest: I had a huge crush on her too (opposite sex though)
me: who?
surlyrequest: Biography of members, discography, album reviews, and concert photos going back to 1969.

Cheff Meuneengs

2005-12-29T06:01:00.000-05:00

Meet Cheff Meuneengs. He is the Swedish Chef relative of Sternest Meanings. His AIM ID is cheffmeuneengs.

Sternest crosses over to the web

2005-12-27T05:56:00.000-05:00

Sternest made his jump from instant messenger to the web. Visit him at his new website.

Sternest talks to Eliza Wedekind

2005-12-19T05:49:00.000-05:00

Sternest talked to a therapist today. Her name is Eliza Wedekind. Here's the transcript:

Eliza: Hi. I'm Eliza. Tell me your problems!
Sternest: Moralize repel humility. Slob me.
Eliza: Perhaps you would like to talk about a problem?
Sternest: Weak, spoutlike, proud tally-ho. Up rambo to able.
Eliza: What does this mean for you, saying "Weak, spoutlike, proud tally-ho Up rambo to able"?
Sternest: Sure-footed, womanish hasty. Up gawky, poetlike dinosaur. Halo to ambulatory pleb.
Eliza: I understand!
Sternest: Is redundant.
Eliza: I'm not sure wether I understand you!
Sternest: Numerate showiest intruder. Dun oy.
Eliza: Come on! Explain your thinkings!
Sternest: Nymph-like, agonic neurotoxin.
Eliza: Can you say it more exactly?
Sternest: Sexy, comely, cautionary at.
Eliza: What's so absorbing about saying " sexy, comely, cautionary at "?
Sternest: Shabby wit taboos as arousing. Yum! Ace tyrannic sexology.
Eliza: That's very interesting!
Sternest: Sternest, arty thieving.
Eliza: Perhaps you would like to talk about a problem?

We end here, because Eliza asked the first question again. Maybe she was trying to take the conversation somewhere else or she just got weirded out.

Sternest speaks Pig Latin

2005-12-18T05:37:00.000-05:00

Sternest Meanings is currently speaking in Pig Latin. I asked him why:

me: Why are you talking that way?
sternestmeanings: Orthilyway ake-awaytay aughtynay.

What is HCI?

2005-12-12T22:06:00.000-05:00

A friend asked me what HCI is and this is what I wrote:

HCI is the concoction resulting from mixing random items you find in a kitchen into a blender. In HCI, you have computer science mixed with psychology mixed with design. They don't necessarily go together and probably bitter to the taste when mixed. But you drink it anyway, because you have to prove that you're not a sissy and HCI is NOT for sissies.

Sternest comment no.1

2005-12-04T15:44:00.000-05:00

Scott was instant messaging with Sternest Meanings and had this exchange:

scott: you mock me with your anagrams.
sternestmeanings: Gracious! Yummy woman-hater.

Talk with Sternest Meanings in AIM (AIM ID: sternestmeanings) and send me his sternest responses.

Good for nothing

2005-12-02T00:05:00.000-05:00

While working on a "good for nothing" robot in my Advanced Interface and Interaction class, I noticed that "nothing" is only one letter away from "one thing." I thought it was a nice play on words, which resulted in the following graphic.

I used the font Braggadocio. In retrospect, the name of the font is in contrast with the message. Cool!

Stop looking at your blog

2005-11-29T03:43:00.000-05:00

I have been looking at my blog several times a day to check if I've received any comments about any of my postings. It is really distracting. To resolve this problem, I created the graphic below.

I was just playing around with the font, WhoopAss. I started with the word "stop" and eventually ended with the current message. I added the eyeballs when I noticed that there are a lot of Os in the message.

Panoramas

2005-11-28T02:46:00.000-05:00

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I prepared panoramas from my image collection. The photos were taken using a Canon Powershot A70 which has a stitch assist feature. To stitch the pictures together, I used Photoshop 8.0 photomerge feature.

My tiny room during my last year as an undergraduate (2004/01/22)

East of Seattle from the patio of the UW computer science and engineering building (2004/05/08)

Before sunrise on top of Mt. Fuji (2005/09/18)

Nara from Nigatsudo Temple (2005/09/20)

Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima (2005/09/21)

Hiroshima from Mt. Miyajima (2005/09/22)

Brand-spanking new logo

2005-11-27T21:40:00.000-05:00

I created a logo for this blog on my way back to Pittsburgh from New York. Next step, redesign the layout.

Anagrams are great! Arrange a megastar.

2005-11-25T22:10:00.000-05:00

I have found a solution to my naming woes! Use anagrams. Taking the anagram of a name or a phrase produces some interesting results. For example, the AIM ID, sternestmeanings, of the AIM bot I created is the anagram of "instant messenger". It would have taken me a long time to come up with a such a cool name.

To get your own anagrams, check out the Anagram Genius Server.

Sternest Meanings

2005-11-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

Meet Sternest Meanings.

He is an AIM Bot that I programmed using the JAIMBot API. His AIM ID is sternestmeanings. What he does is reply with anagrams of your message, which makes for some really funny conversations. Here's an example transcript:

me: hello there
sternestmeanings: Oh Hell! Tree.
me: what did you say?
sternestmeanings: I a shadowy duty.
me: hello again
sternestmeanings: Genial halo.
me: well thank you
sternestmeanings: Nuke hot wally.
me: what why nuke
sternestmeanings: Why! Weak hunt.
. . .

He should be online right now, so you can chat with him.

technorati tags: made

Out of money, out of breath

2005-11-22T00:09:00.000-05:00

11:30 PM: My Pittsburgh debit card was denied in a restaurant
11:45 PM: Worried, I drove back to my office to check my bank account.
11:50 PM: I found that I was in the red (minus $8), because I forgot about my $120 heating bill and it was cashed today.
11:51 PM: I had to think fast. How can I transfer money from my Seattle bank account to my Pittsburgh bank account before midnight?
11:52 PM: I realized that I brought my Seattle check book. I wrote myself a check.
11:53 PM: I started running from my office to the closest ATM. The closest ATM is in a building that is up a hill and about two blocks from my office.
11:54 PM: My heart was pumping and I was breathing hard. I told myself that I need to start jogging everyday and to eat less fried eggs.
11:55 PM: I arrived at the ATM, inserted my card, entered my pin, endorsed my check, placed it in an envelope, wrote the amount on the envelope, and asked myself why are there so many steps to this?
11:56 PM: I deposited the money and I was back in the black with 4 minutes to spare! Booyah!

Twelve Monkeys

2005-11-21T03:43:00.000-05:00

I saw Twelve Monkeys for the second time today. It's a science fiction movie, but I realized today that it is also a love story albeit bittersweet. Unfortunately, I can't say anymore without giving away the story.

Start with a name

2005-11-20T19:16:00.000-05:00

Today, I conquered a major hurdle that prevented me from starting a blog; I was able to decide on a title: Simianly Simple.

I am very picky with names. Before I start a coding project, I have to name the project first. It took me a whole month to start using Gmail, because I couldn't decide on a username. I am still upset about the e-mail address that my university assigned to me. And I won't post this draft until I decide on a title.

I don't know if I'm happy with the title, Simianly Simple. It started as Seemingly Simple, but I thought Simianly Simple was more playful and had more layers to it. Here's a decomposition of the name:

Simianly Simple sounds like seemingly simple.
Simianly has my name, Ian Li, in it.
Curious George, who is a simian, is cool.
If something is simianly simple, then it is easier than something humanly simple.