Friday, September 05, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Statistical Scavenger Hunt
In order for my students to collect their final project, they had to go on a quasi-scavenger hunt. This was the video that launched the hunt.
background: we did a lot of examples involving Hannah Montana during the term.
background: we did a lot of examples involving Hannah Montana during the term.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
So far so good
The joke I invented today:
Q: How can you make stir-fry in space?
A: With a moon wok!
So funny. Not 15 minutes later, Mr. and Mrs. Gubbins and I were eating our chinese food and we started talking about porpoises. I told him they're difficult to own, because you have to milk them three times a day.
Mr. Gubbins: I wonder what you can make with porpoise milk.
Sprocketplug: Seabiscuits?
I'm on a freaking roll.
Bouncy castle party tomorrow. Be there or be square. fotos and video to follow.
-SP
Q: How can you make stir-fry in space?
A: With a moon wok!
So funny. Not 15 minutes later, Mr. and Mrs. Gubbins and I were eating our chinese food and we started talking about porpoises. I told him they're difficult to own, because you have to milk them three times a day.
Mr. Gubbins: I wonder what you can make with porpoise milk.
Sprocketplug: Seabiscuits?
I'm on a freaking roll.
Bouncy castle party tomorrow. Be there or be square. fotos and video to follow.
-SP
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
My trip to target...
On my last trip to Target, I purchased the following items:
Walkie Talkie (14 mile max. range) x2
Antibiotic Cream
Eggs (2 dozen)
Stopwatch
Chocolate Syrup
Hot Fudge
Hydrogen Peroxide
Emergency Poncho (x2)
can anyone guess what I'll be up to tomorrow?
Walkie Talkie (14 mile max. range) x2
Antibiotic Cream
Eggs (2 dozen)
Stopwatch
Chocolate Syrup
Hot Fudge
Hydrogen Peroxide
Emergency Poncho (x2)
can anyone guess what I'll be up to tomorrow?
Friday, July 04, 2008
I'm in Minnesota, Bitches!
And glad of it.
Happy Independence Day, everyone. Celebrate by eating some British babies.
Happy Independence Day, everyone. Celebrate by eating some British babies.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
...my cold dead hands.
Peter Goes to the NRA National Convention
Oh, Second, loveliest of all the amendments, you alone protect this country from another invasion of the Red Coats
Friday, May 02, 2008
Wow. Just wow.
I don't know if y'all follow 30 Rock, but it's gotta be one of my all time favorite television programs. I don't actually get television reception, but I watch them on www.hulu.com. Last week's episode is utter brilliance. It's especially delightful if you've seen the movie Amadeus.
Check it out if you have a little time:
Hulu.com
I'm gonna watch it again. hmmm hmmm funny.
Check it out if you have a little time:
Hulu.com
I'm gonna watch it again. hmmm hmmm funny.
Friday, April 25, 2008
More from Slashdot
Slashdot
Josh Fink brings us a CNN story discussing evidence found by researchers which indicates that humans came close to extinction roughly 70,000 years ago. A similar study by Stanford scientists suggests that droughts reduced the population to as few as 2,000 humans, who were scattered in small, isolated groups.
...
And then they all came together for the largest Orgy this planet has ever seen. They saved the species from extinction and had a super fun time doing it.
-SP
Josh Fink brings us a CNN story discussing evidence found by researchers which indicates that humans came close to extinction roughly 70,000 years ago. A similar study by Stanford scientists suggests that droughts reduced the population to as few as 2,000 humans, who were scattered in small, isolated groups.
...
And then they all came together for the largest Orgy this planet has ever seen. They saved the species from extinction and had a super fun time doing it.
-SP
Monday, April 21, 2008
this is FUN!
More random quotes from sent emails spanning from april 2006 to 2007
This sucks.
I hate SAS.
If ever I encounter one of the original writers of this god forsaken program, I shall strike him/her in the genitals with a car antenna. after said strike, I shall hurl invective upon his/her writhing personage until such a time as my ire is sated.
It's not possible to completely randomize 5 mops with four people. It's good that you're accounting for order, though. There's some psychological effect: primacy and...something else... where people remember best and prefer most the thing that they saw first or last. It would be fun to give them the same mop twice and see if they give it different scores.
I'm Peter Sprangers and I endorse this message
Dude. That is totally whack. And by "whack" i mean stupid.
I have been soooo sick the past couple of days. I thought I was on my death bed. I saw Jesus. he told me that abstinence only programs are the work of the devil. then he told me to smoke pot. I love Jesus. Don't judge me!
Lauren, were you a single woman I would take you in a manly fashion.
I'm a heretic!!!!
sweet quiz.
i'm also lustful. could have fooled me.
...i'm fine, but for some burns on my leg making it hard for me to walk around...
Sure thing. Welcome to the P-Hat Allstars.
You'll not take my power without a coup de etat!
I need you to love me unconditionally for the rest of my life.
I love this bike more than my own penis.
Sonnet
This is for the afternoon we lay in the leaves
After it had been winter for half a year,
And I kissed you and unbuttoned your jeans
And touched you and made you smile, my dear.
And of all the good things that love means,
One of them is to touch you there
And make you smile, among the leaves,
And feel your wetness and your sweet short hair,
And kiss your breasts and put my tongue
Into the delirium between your soft pale thighs,
Because the winter has been much too long
And soon will come again, when this love dies.
I will hear sermons preached, and some of them be true,
But I will not regret that afternoon with you.
C.B. Trail
This sucks.
I hate SAS.
If ever I encounter one of the original writers of this god forsaken program, I shall strike him/her in the genitals with a car antenna. after said strike, I shall hurl invective upon his/her writhing personage until such a time as my ire is sated.
It's not possible to completely randomize 5 mops with four people. It's good that you're accounting for order, though. There's some psychological effect: primacy and...something else... where people remember best and prefer most the thing that they saw first or last. It would be fun to give them the same mop twice and see if they give it different scores.
I'm Peter Sprangers and I endorse this message
Dude. That is totally whack. And by "whack" i mean stupid.
I have been soooo sick the past couple of days. I thought I was on my death bed. I saw Jesus. he told me that abstinence only programs are the work of the devil. then he told me to smoke pot. I love Jesus. Don't judge me!
Lauren, were you a single woman I would take you in a manly fashion.
I'm a heretic!!!!
sweet quiz.
i'm also lustful. could have fooled me.
...i'm fine, but for some burns on my leg making it hard for me to walk around...
Sure thing. Welcome to the P-Hat Allstars.
You'll not take my power without a coup de etat!
I need you to love me unconditionally for the rest of my life.
I love this bike more than my own penis.
Sonnet
This is for the afternoon we lay in the leaves
After it had been winter for half a year,
And I kissed you and unbuttoned your jeans
And touched you and made you smile, my dear.
And of all the good things that love means,
One of them is to touch you there
And make you smile, among the leaves,
And feel your wetness and your sweet short hair,
And kiss your breasts and put my tongue
Into the delirium between your soft pale thighs,
Because the winter has been much too long
And soon will come again, when this love dies.
I will hear sermons preached, and some of them be true,
But I will not regret that afternoon with you.
C.B. Trail
Cleaning out the closet
I was looking through my "sent mail" folder and I came across this email I sent April 15, 2006. Subject: you're my wonderwall
I think Oasis really had it going on. I mean, their name brings the image of a watery sanctuary in a cruel and uncaring desert like deserty thing. And then their song Wonderwall, I mean, it's brilliant. What is a wonderwall? What does it taste like? Do people put it in their pockets? Maybe you put pockets in wonderwalls.
"I said 'maybe, you're gonna be the one to save me.' afterall you're my
wonderwall."
...
good luck looking for your easter basket. my first guess would be to check the small tear in the space time continuum behind the couch. your mom created it late last fall and she's been dying to use it for something. be careful, though, you might reach in and pull out the 19th century. and i mean, where are you going to put a 19th century. there's no more room left in my closet and you don't own a big enough purse.
I think Oasis really had it going on. I mean, their name brings the image of a watery sanctuary in a cruel and uncaring desert like deserty thing. And then their song Wonderwall, I mean, it's brilliant. What is a wonderwall? What does it taste like? Do people put it in their pockets? Maybe you put pockets in wonderwalls.
"I said 'maybe, you're gonna be the one to save me.' afterall you're my
wonderwall."
...
good luck looking for your easter basket. my first guess would be to check the small tear in the space time continuum behind the couch. your mom created it late last fall and she's been dying to use it for something. be careful, though, you might reach in and pull out the 19th century. and i mean, where are you going to put a 19th century. there's no more room left in my closet and you don't own a big enough purse.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
What did I Fu**ing SAY?????
Referring to Previous post
Slashdot
opencity writes
"The Register reports that the (perhaps inevitable) robot rebellion has been avoided ... for now. 'Ground-crawling US war robots armed with machine guns, deployed to fight in Iraq last year, reportedly turned on their fleshy masters almost at once. The rebellious machine warriors have been retired from combat pending upgrades.' Gizmodo also has a good photo."
Why can't we just make sexbots like everyone wants. We don't want robots that will fight, we want robots that will love.
See also: XKCD
Slashdot
opencity writes
"The Register reports that the (perhaps inevitable) robot rebellion has been avoided ... for now. 'Ground-crawling US war robots armed with machine guns, deployed to fight in Iraq last year, reportedly turned on their fleshy masters almost at once. The rebellious machine warriors have been retired from combat pending upgrades.' Gizmodo also has a good photo."
Why can't we just make sexbots like everyone wants. We don't want robots that will fight, we want robots that will love.
See also: XKCD
Monday, April 07, 2008
Surrender
Do not surrender your grief so quickly
Let it cut more deeply
Let it ferment and season you
As few human or divine ingredients can
Something is missing in my heart tonight
That has made made my eyes so soft
And my voice so tender
And my need of God so absolutely clear.
Hafiz
Let it cut more deeply
Let it ferment and season you
As few human or divine ingredients can
Something is missing in my heart tonight
That has made made my eyes so soft
And my voice so tender
And my need of God so absolutely clear.
Hafiz
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
I have been weighed, I have been measured...
I got my student evaluations back from last quarter and I've decided to show you some of the more entertaining comments. They were, on the whole, quite good, but these stood out:
What do you see as strengths of the instructor?
Funniest man alive
Well groomed beard
extreme cuteness
none
he actually did a good job…
being awesome
his arms
WHITESNAKE FOREVER!!!!
What do you see as areas of improvement for the instructor?
Overused 80’s cartoon references
bad handwriting
remember to take rats out of your pockets
taste in music
a little scatterbrained at times
consider removing facial hair
Peter has no weaknesses
not going on so many rabbit trails
some examples are too far fetched, e.g. Ninjas and shurikens???
What do you see as strengths of the instructor?
Funniest man alive
Well groomed beard
extreme cuteness
none
he actually did a good job…
being awesome
his arms
WHITESNAKE FOREVER!!!!
What do you see as areas of improvement for the instructor?
Overused 80’s cartoon references
bad handwriting
remember to take rats out of your pockets
taste in music
a little scatterbrained at times
consider removing facial hair
Peter has no weaknesses
not going on so many rabbit trails
some examples are too far fetched, e.g. Ninjas and shurikens???
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
south of the mason dixon
I made it to Florida after 12 hours of travel. Tornados in Atlanta, fog is Columbus, and our plane was attacked by gremlins that live in the clouds. I've been flying for probably 20 years and I've never been scared while up in the wild blue yonder, but friends I was shakin' in my boots on the flight from c-bus to atlanta. Ah, well, I've arrived safe and sound. Now my week will be devoted to hanging out with the padre, drinking beers by the pool, and catching up on some reading. Has anyone read Doris Lessing? I picked up the Golden Notebook and I'm interested to see what she has to say.
I'm also half way through Hitchins' God is not Great. I'll have more to say on that later, but it's decent. I think there's a fundamental flaw in saying "Religion Poisons Everything" in as much as it is to say "Christians hate Black people." There are obviously sects or factions that are extremist but blanket statements rarely convey the truth. As Obi Wan once said "only the Sith deal in absolutes."
Hope y'all get a chance to break for spring.
-SP
I'm also half way through Hitchins' God is not Great. I'll have more to say on that later, but it's decent. I think there's a fundamental flaw in saying "Religion Poisons Everything" in as much as it is to say "Christians hate Black people." There are obviously sects or factions that are extremist but blanket statements rarely convey the truth. As Obi Wan once said "only the Sith deal in absolutes."
Hope y'all get a chance to break for spring.
-SP
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Christopher Moore!
I wrote Christopher Moore an email and I got a response about 1.5 minutes later:
Peter:
Thanks for the nice note. I'm glad the books are working for you. I'll try to keep
them coming. Right now I'm working on a comedy set in Medieval England. Beyond that,
who knows? I should finish the new one today. (cross your fingers)
Happy Reading,
Chris
>Hi Christopher,
>
>I just wanted to write to say thanks for all the wonderful books. I just
>started reading your novels and I have to admit you're the funniest
>son-of-a-bitch I've ever read. Thanks again, and please keep them coming.
>Sincerely,
>Peter
Was that a stock reply? I don't think so. I'm tickled that he actually read my email.
Peter:
Thanks for the nice note. I'm glad the books are working for you. I'll try to keep
them coming. Right now I'm working on a comedy set in Medieval England. Beyond that,
who knows? I should finish the new one today. (cross your fingers)
Happy Reading,
Chris
>Hi Christopher,
>
>I just wanted to write to say thanks for all the wonderful books. I just
>started reading your novels and I have to admit you're the funniest
>son-of-a-bitch I've ever read. Thanks again, and please keep them coming.
>Sincerely,
>Peter
Was that a stock reply? I don't think so. I'm tickled that he actually read my email.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Just sneaking in under the 1 month mark
From Slashdot:
"The Planetary Society invited participants to compete for $50,000 in prizes by designing a mission to rendezvous with and 'tag' a potentially dangerous near-Earth asteroid. The asteroid Apophis was used as the target for the mission design because it will come closer to Earth in 2029 than the orbit of geostationary satellites. The winning mission design is called Foresight, and calls for the use of off-the-shelf parts to undercut the price of other proposals. Here's a PDF of the winning proposal."
Closer than the orbit of geostationary satellites?!?! That's pretty freaking close. That's like getting a hair cut from a guy firing an AK-47 100 yards away.
Imagine how bright that's going to be! I don't think there's much atmosphere up there to burn it up, but the sunlight reflecting is going to be dazzling. I can't wait! I just hope no one forgot to convert the calculations into ft-lbs...cause I haven't built my bomb shelter yet.
Speaking of which, question to my readers: what would you put in your bomb shelter for entertainment? I guess you can assume you'll have a power source.
-SP
"The Planetary Society invited participants to compete for $50,000 in prizes by designing a mission to rendezvous with and 'tag' a potentially dangerous near-Earth asteroid. The asteroid Apophis was used as the target for the mission design because it will come closer to Earth in 2029 than the orbit of geostationary satellites. The winning mission design is called Foresight, and calls for the use of off-the-shelf parts to undercut the price of other proposals. Here's a PDF of the winning proposal."
Closer than the orbit of geostationary satellites?!?! That's pretty freaking close. That's like getting a hair cut from a guy firing an AK-47 100 yards away.
Imagine how bright that's going to be! I don't think there's much atmosphere up there to burn it up, but the sunlight reflecting is going to be dazzling. I can't wait! I just hope no one forgot to convert the calculations into ft-lbs...cause I haven't built my bomb shelter yet.
Speaking of which, question to my readers: what would you put in your bomb shelter for entertainment? I guess you can assume you'll have a power source.
-SP
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