Just a quick portfolio post. I made this database for the final project for my (guess what class) database class. Click on the image below for the database. Click here for the EER and schema diagrams (if that means anything to you).

You should be able to update stuff in the database. Don’t know how confusing you might find it though. (How long do you think until this database is full of spam?)

Until next time

Joe

Just upgraded the blog. I don’t know if you can tell the difference, and I don’t know if I like it any better. Just wanted the experience of upgrading something like this.

Anyways I still have to fix my brother’s blog (should I? he never posts anything anymore). Hopefully I can get the time to go out there and be a part of you guy’s blogs again. I should have the time…

Until next time

Joe

Yes, I know it’s early, but my brother is getting married tomorrow. So my mom got me a suit (I’m 26 and my mom is still buying me clothes. Lame, I know. At least I don’t live in her basement… Anymore.) I’m shaved, clean, and ready to go.

Oh, and here is a before and after photo:

What do you think? Shaggy or shaved?

Until next time

Joe

From Wikionary:

discrimination (plural discriminations)

1. a distinction; discernment, the act of discriminating, discerning, distinguishing, noting or perceiving differences between things.

It seems today that people throw this word around. If someone is denied something for any reason, they scream “This is discrimination!” The thing is that they probably have no idea what this word means. They just know it had a negative connotation (essentially it’s “bad") and think that it is always illegal.

So what is discrimination? Discrimination is choosing one thing over another thing for any reason. Yes, at times it can be immoral and illegal. You can see all the anti-discrimination laws on Wikipedia. You’ll notice, at least under the US laws, that discriminating for things such as race, age, disabilities, and even genetic information is illegal. But if someone gets hired instead of you because, say, there college GPA is higher than your, that’s discrimination too. The Workplace chose one thing (the other guy) over another thing (you) for a reason (college GPA). There’s nothing wrong with that. If there was, well, then the company would have to hire nobody or everybody.

How far does “anti-discrimination” go? In Thetford, Norfolk, England during January 2010, an employer tried to post a job ad for “reliable and hard-working” people. The Job Center (where the advert was to be placed) said they couldn’t run the ad because it could be offensive to unreliable people.because it could be offensive to unreliable people. That’s right, they didn’t like that this employer was discriminating against unreliable people.

In essence, someone knowing what discrimination is and having common sense often comes hand-in-hand.

Until next time

Joe

Essentially this project was to display a 2D heat equation problem. Here is a video of it:

Until next time

Joe

Ah yes, the humble hamburger, also known as the burger. A special sandwich from the far away land of Hamburg.

… Ok enough fancy talk. As I do every Saturday evening I go to church with my Grandpa. Afterwords we always go to Bob Evans. It just so happens that Bob Evans has recently put a few more hamburgers on the menu, which they call “Farm Fresh Burgers.” So I got one.

This isn’t the one I got.

I’ve never been impressed with Bob Evan’s other burgers. But the one I got (the “Farmstand Burger") was really good. I blame it on the 100% black Angus. I’ll definitely try the others (the “Smokehouse Burger” and the “Three-Cheese Burger") in the next few weeks.

The Big Three

I’ve come not to like the fast food burgers. They always seem too dry. My friend says it’s because they’re using less fat in their burgers than they did before.

Frozen Meatiness

I really like the frozen burgers you make at home. It’s really easy and really greasy. I just wonder if it’s any healthier than fast food burgers.

Where did burgers come from? Well, “Hamburg” is the second largest city in Germany. My understanding was that it came from a town in the US that was named after the German city. On Wikipedia’s page, however, it says that no one really knows. Oh well.

Until next time

Joe

On an earlier blog post I reported that Google had robotic cars on the road already. Well, the road isn’t the only place robots are starting to take over.

From chronicle.com:

Robots now build cars, defuse bombs, and explore distant planets, but can they teach?

Researchers at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology think so and are building an army of robots to deliver English instruction to schoolchildren. It might be the most elaborate online-learning effort yet.

Mr. Kim and his team are designing the robots from the ground up—attempting to give them realistic facial features, arms that let them gesture, and sensors so they can keep their distance from students.

Isn’t he cute?

These robotic teachers are called “Engkey” - a portmanteau of “English” and “Jockey” (i.e. disc jockey). The kids seem to react to them quite well. Of course, the young have always understood and accepted technology more than the old .

Anyways, sources:

chronicle.com
NY Times

More on the “growing trend” of robots in classrooms.

Until next time

Joe