I successfully rebuilt my linux server with Slackware 10.1, which rocks I might add.

A script loads in the right sidebar of this page to let you all know when the server is running. Eventually, I’ll replace the text with a nifty graphic, but that’ll do for now.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing cool working on the server right now. I improperly backed up my /var/www directory before blowing away the old installation, so I lost the cgi and form page for the thing. It shouldn’t take long to rewrite them, though. I might even have the orginals copied somewhere. I expect to have it online today. Thanks to the Nationals, I’ll have to update some of the code. And ESPN.com changed the three-character representation of the Anaheim Angels to reflect their odd namechange. The bastards are always out to make more work for me.

Update: Dear Lord! ESPN.com up and redid the layout on their boxscores. That means I have to rewrite the parsing script. That sure is annoying.

First, sexy cheerleaders and now Simpsons! What will the bastards ban next??? They’re sucking my will to live!

Next week is Spring Break for the University of Illinois. I picked up my car from the mechanic today, concluding a very painful, expensive, although valuable lesson. It pleases me to have the vehicle back, and I look forward to getting slightly better gas mileage now that one of my brakes is no longer on perma-squeeze mode. Especially since gasoline is $2.15 per gallon at the nearest station to my crib.

What does spring break hold for me?

Not much. I’ll be barbecuing with my homeboy Chris tonight. The weather is a delightful 60 degrees and sunny, although scattered showers are forecast for the evening. I’m leaving work early, and plan to clean up my house a bit, and perhaps even set up my pitch-back in the yard and start working on my two- and four-seam fastballs.

There are five projects planned for the break:

1) Get my linux server working properly again. I somehow screwed up the path and now some essential commands aren’t working, notably, shutdown under root. I’m thinking about upgrading to Slackware 10.1, although that would require backing up all the software I’ve built. Which I should get around to doing anyways. Of possible interest to readers, Chris pointed out to me Dyndns.org, a free service that allows you to have your own subdomain that can be updated to point to whatever IP your WAN allocates from your ISP. So once I get my server set up, whenever I turn it on, it’ll be available to you as Liammoran.mine.nu. I’ll write a script that displays an image on this page when it’s online, with a link so you can go play with the boxscore reader or other utilities I put up on there.

2) Finish up my phonetics perception study utility. I’m building a system that generates perception studies in Flash for Linguists to easily amass data. And I’ll be writing a paper on whether it’s a reliable way to collect data sometime later in the semester after I’ve run some experiments with it. So far, I’ve only designed the system’s architecture and acquired the basic components and tested simple things. I wrote a script to convert wav files to flash, using these utilities to do the heavy lifting. My script is a wraparound that gets information about the wav file to flag their conversion utility in the most quality-preserving way.

3) Decide whether to do a computational/intensional hybrid project on a computationally implementable (and small-scale implementation) of a pragmatics/semantics interface using PTCT as the semantic framework. I’d like to, at minimum, deal with donkey-type anaphora where the pronoun is pragmatically constrained to be bound by an existential quantifier. To explain: In a classic donkey-anaphora sentence like, “Every man who owns a donkey beats it.” It is usually interpreted to refer to all his donkeys under universal quantification. The men who own donkeys beat all of them. But consider a sentence like, “Every man who owns a cap wore it to the ball game.” Here, it refers to only one of his hats, he doesn’t stack the hats on top of one another. The difference is pragmatic, or lexical-semantic if that’s your bag.

4) Start working on both semester projects, or the one that develops from 3 above.

5) Frequently drink myself pickled.

“CBS officials told Weber ratings have been so strong when the Illini play that they decided to push their game into prime time.” That from Mark Tupper’s excellent pre-tourny column. Page one in the sports section of the student newspaper, the Daily Illini, reads “356 DAYS LATER,” a reference to the time that has passed since Duke knocked us out of the tournament last year.

I love this basketball team, and have watched nearly all of their games this season. I love their defensive tenacity. I love the flexibility of their offense. I love that the players are trained to read offenses and react rather than forcing through a style of play that might not work.

When playing well, no team is close to Illinois, and I’ve seen the other big teams play quite a few games, too. Tonight’s going to be a rampage.

I’ll be at Esquire.

Today’s my nephew and Godson Colin‘s first birthday. He sent me an email the other day promising pictures of him eating cake, but so far, no dice.

Here’s a picture of him and me hanging out this past summer. He was supposed to go to a Cardinals game with me, but it was too sunny and his mom was understandably a-feared his skin would burn.

Happy birthday, little man. Sorry I wasn’t able to make it out to have cake with you!

I’ll be seeing you in a few months, though.

I mentioned yesterday that one of my tasks would be to replace the brake pads on my rear discs. Wowie, did I screw up. I jacked up the car and chose to just work off the jack instead of putting the rear end up on jack stands, and slid the jackstand I had ready under the car to get it out of my way. Pulled off the wheel and was astonished at the pad wear I saw and the amount of damage to the rotor. I took apart the caliper and checked out the pads, noting that there was almost no lining left on either pad, and the metal posts that hold the lining to the pad were exposed and tearing the surface away from the rotor. No sense in putting brand new pads on this rotor, since it would just tear up the new pads, so I reassembled everything with the old pads and put the wheel back on to take it in to a real mechanic. I started letting the jack down slowly and heard the unpleasant noise of steel stressing at about the same time I remembered about the jack stand I’d left under there. In the immortal words of Kuni the Karate Master, “SOOO STUPID!” I jacked it back up, and saw that I’d bent a suspension arm that connects the rear wheel to the chassis.

Fortunately, it’ll cost what I expected it would to replace it. Unfortunately, that’s about three hundred bucks. On top of that, the pad went south so fast because the caliper was bad, so that’s gotta be replaced. All in all, over five hundred bucks (some regular maintenance that I’d asked for included).

And I was considering buying a new digital camera too. And I gotta spend some money on my house over spring break. And I gotta save up money to finally head East this summer.

A quiz:

I wouldn’t tell my sister if she looked bad in an outfit, and I don’t think downloading MP3s is a big deal.

And another, but I think it’s for girls:

You are Peppermint Patty! Peppermint Patty is a pro
on the baseball diamond, but in the classroom
she’s a D-minus all the way. Bold, brash and
tomboyish, what she lacks in common sense she
makes up for in sincerity. She’s the only one
who calls Charlie Brown “Chuck.”
Oblivious to much that goes on around her, for
a long time she seemed unaware that “the
funny-looking kid who plays shortstop” was
a beagle. She has trouble staying awake in
class; most of her waking hours in the
schoolroom are spent analyzing the probability
patterns of true-false tests.

Which of the Peanuts Characters Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

If only I didn’t like baseball so much.

After having a conversation with a co-worker, who has seen more than her fair share of the horrors people do to one another (she was a camera operator on a documentary of the human slave trade along the Thai-Cambodian border) I had to dig up this article about staged mass funerals for children supposedly killed by the UNSC sanctions against Iraq, pre-lib. Still quite interesting.

Here’s a list of the writer’s recent pieces.

It’s well over 50 today, and the sun is shining brightly. By an assumption left unmentioned, there exists a syllogism that guarantees I’ll be leaving work early to play in the sunshine.

Here’s what’s on tap for me:

My rear brakes have been making some disturbing noises lately, a grinding noise. Usually that means you’ve got metal-to-metal contact, which means spending more money. I’m suspicious though. This is the first time I’ve done any brake work on this car since I bought it last winter, so the pads were installed by the dealer. It wouldn’t surprise me if dealerships put tricky pads on to make scary sounds when they wear down. Usually, brake pads have a strip of soft metal in them that makes a squeaky noise once your pads have worn down to the point where the manufacturer recommends replacing them. I think the dealer pads make a grinding noise, so you take it back to the dealer and get bent over a table.

So anyways, my first task after I leave work will be to replace my rear brake pads and inspect the rotors for damage.

Then, I’ll be heading to Kickapoo State Park for some hiking of trails. My woman’s pop is visiting this week from Texas, so it’ll be I, he, and his three daughters.

Tonight, I’ll be grilling steaks n’ pork chops.

The feelings of jealousy you may be experience are perfectly natural.

Like Iron_Throne, I had my first look at the 2005 ‘birds last night. My lovely and talented woman videotaped the game off ESPN for me while I toiled away at work, and let me watch the game last night. Of course, we lost 5-1 to the Braves. (Link goes to excellent SI.com boxscore). I fast-forwarded through most of the game, just wanted to see a few things: the at-bats of Eck and Grudz (also watched #49 Ankiel’s AB–he reached on a FC, advanced to 3 on a double, and was stranded there). Both look ready to go at the plate. The Soup had a lousy game. The highlight for me was getting to see Adam Wainwright pitch. He’s got some dandy sinking motion on his fastballs, and his curve has a lot of break to it, although I don’t recall him throwing any for strikes. Most (that I saw) were thrown inside. I’ll be pleased to see him in the rotation. Carmen Cali pitched fairly well. I’m hoping Bill Pulsipher plays in the next televised game–Saturday against the LA Dodgers of LA–as I, like Iron_Throne, took note of Ray King’s endorsement of Bill reported during the game last night. This article is about the most detailed report I’ve seen on his throwing.

Saturday’s going to be quite a day for me: first day of Spring Break, Cards game at noon, and Illini Basketball in the evening. Assuming we beat beat the 16 seed in the region on Thursday.

The Fighting Illini won the Big Ten tournament this past weekend and will enter the NCAA tournament as the top 1 seed and in the Chicago region, where the team bus won’t have longer than a three hour drive to any potential venue. Required reading at Big Ten Wonk and Illiniwonk.

I’ll add a few comments. Dee Brown’s apparent loss of confidence and enthusiasm is extremely worrying, but not overwhelmingly so. He had a tough weekend, and little time to practice and regroup. The Northwestern game had that school’s notoriously hostile crowd, and his weekend got off to a bad start. I’m sure he’ll get his touch and swagger back this week practicing against the best players in the country.

The defense this weekend was a thing of beauty-a joy to behold. Jack Ingram was credited for four steals against Minnesota in 13 minutes off the bench, and although his line only shows one against Wisconsin in 14 minutes of Sunday’s championship game, I swear he had at least three–and two on consecutive plays. He played solidly. I’m a big fan of Jack Ingram’s. He transferred here from Tulsa after Bill Self came here, so he had to sit out his first year here. Then Self left for Kansas after he had one year playing with him here. Don’t feel sorry for him, though. He’s a smart engineering major, and transferred into a top five school on scholarship. And he just may have a chance to cut down a basketball net in St. Louis next month. I’m also pleased to see Warren Carter getting at least some minutes. His passing is improving, and his rebounding abilities and wingspan should come in handy against poor bench shooting in the tournament.

Go Illini! (The Best Basketball Program Never to have Won a National Title)

In this post, I mentioned both Nikko Smith and a televised Spring game.

In Friday’s Bernie’s Bits column, Micklasz has this to say about Nikko:

Nikko getting bounced from “American Idol” this week was nearly as absurd as his father, Ozzie Smith, finishing second to Andre Dawson in the 1987 National League MVP balloting.

The column also discusses the importance of Scott Boras’ campaigning to get Ankiel through waivers unclaimed.

The spring game obviously wasn’t televised yesterday–my source was mistaken. It’s next Saturday’s game against the Dodgers that will be carried on the WB Cardinals network. Game starts at 11am CT. Even more exciting: tomorrow’s game against Atlanta will be televised nationally on ESPN, according to a bit at the end of this Goold piece, which reports on Pulsipher’s homecoming of sorts to the Mets’ spring training facility.

Redbird Nation was the finest Cardinals blog until its author, Brian Gunn, called it quits after the 2004 postseason. Hardball Times features his obituary to Rick Ankiel’s career that’s well worth reading. The closing line rings true for me: “In a very real sense, then, when we mourn for Rick Ankiel we may as well be mourning ourselves.”

Hat tips to Baseball Crank.

John Sickels, of the excellent Minorleague Ball, reviewed the Cardinals’ farm system. It looks a lot worse than I’d thought. He doesn’t mention U of I grad Jimmy Journell, which I suppose means he figures him to win a job in the bullpen.

When you have nothing better to talk about, jabber aimlessly about TV.

And so:

Ozzie Smith Jr., also known as Nikko Smith, was dropped from American Idol this week. I only saw him sing once, but he looked to be the best of the crop. It’s a shame. He sings karaoke in a bar where some of my friends frequent. They say everyone is afraid to follow him. I’m sure he’ll end up doing what he loves, and probably picked up quite a few fans from the TV show.

The funniest things I’ve seen in a long time was on Conan O’Brien a while back, around the time of the Oscars or Grammies or whatevah. Triumph the Insult Comedy dog was a guest and was showing his adventures at the Grammies. (Apparently he was nominated for a comedy album his handler had made.) Triumph was talking to John Mayer in his hotel room and ribbing him pretty good. Then came this zinger: “I keed, I keed, John Mayer. People will be listening to your music ten years from now… If they get into the right elevator.” Tears of joy, my friends. Tears of fucking joy.

I’m informed that the WB will be showing the Cardinals spring game at noon tomorrow. It’ll be the debut for Matty Mo and his rapidly healed shoulder up against Tom Glavine of the Pond Scum. I’m terrified that Morris is pushing himself too fast and will re-injure himself. I’d be perfectly happy giving Anthony Reyes or Adam Wainwright a few starts in the beginning of the season to give Morris more time to regain strength. Unfortunately, the Yahoo tv listings show that Elimindate will be on instead. Elimidate, for those who don’t know, is an affront to God’s wondrous creation, and should be taken off the air… to be replaced with a Reality Show about a group of fans who go to Jupiter, Florida to watch baseball. In this Reality Show, the fans don’t talk much, they just point their cameras at the field and drink beer. Dude, I’d so be lovin’ that show.

The most bizarre story in baseball just turned an interesting page. Rick Ankiel has retired from pitching to play in the outfield.

It’s about time. They should have done that years ago. I think he’ll eventually pitch again in a year or two.

Cards won 9-7 over the (G)NATS today. Eckzelanek was 6-6, and Mulder pitched two scoreless innings followed by a two run inning.

Off topic, but this greatly pleases me as well. Thanks to 2nd Breakfast for pointing it out.

A paper I plan to write for one of my classes this semester will be on Non-Constituent and Cross-Categorial coordination, using some modified version of Combinatorial Categorial Grammar for the syntax and Property Theory with Curry Typing for the semantics. Coordination usually combines two phrases of the same category to form a new phrase of that category. For example “the dog” and “frank” are both noun phrases (or determiner phrases, or whatever) and “the dog and frank” is also a noun phrase, formed by coordination of the previous two. The simplest sort of arguable non-constituent that’s frequently coordinated are the objects of di-transitive verbs, as in “John gives Mary an iris and Susan a tulip.” In this sentence, “Mary an iris” and “Susan a tulip” are of questionable constituency. A questionable example of cross-categorial coordination is: “Mary knows Kung-fu and how to use it.” I’m arguing with a colleague about whether “how to use it” is a noun phrase like “Kung-fu,” so whether this is a cross categorial case is as yet questionable.

Today, Language Log has two posts related to the topic. In the post linked by “two” above is the sentence from an OSX manual: “If you have an older Mac and upgraded the processor, don’t expect it to work or support from Apple.”

That’s a great sentence for my purposes, as it (questionably) demonstrates both non-constituent coordination and cross-categorial coordination. On top of that, someone actually wrote it in a mass-distributed text.

The U of I proudly offers Bologna Studies.

Waiting for a meeting a few weeks back, I saw the poster upstairs and laughed to myself.

(Bologna)

(Bologna Recipes–my favorite? Bologna Wiggles. Then you’d better stomp on it.)

“A Cardinals official said that the team has no interest in Mets utilityman Joe McEwing, refuting recent reports in the New York media.” — STLCardinals.com