Ben M. Smith

I thought I had finally come up with a way to recap the past two months in a simple format: two posts, one briefly highlighting awesome things which had happened in the second part of the quarter and one covering the not-quite awesome things which had happened.  I started thinking about what I wanted to cover, and honestly, for all the hard work, stress, and frustration that went into this quarter, there wasn’t really a “this completely sucks” moment that sticks out in my head.  Which is good; winter term is notorious for being really depressing and gray and desperate because it’s 8 weeks of class, no breaks in awful weather (ah, Indiana, land where the weather literally CANNOT MAKE UP ITS MIND whether to rain or snow).  So, anyways, awesome things.  Here they are.

To start, a few that don’t require much explanation besides a bullet-point mention:

• Having a single
• Volleyball (finally made it to playoffs)
• Grades (3 A’s and a B+)
• Getting a literature minor (a third one I wasn’t expecting to get until I found out I qualified this fall)

Now for those that require a little more explanation.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been posted a bunch of other places online, but this OK GO video is amazing:

That summary post is coming.  Yes, I know it’s been two weeks since I said it’d be up.  In the interim:

toothpastefordinner.com

I need to find D, F (yes.), and Sh powerups for CS.
I should probably find the W powerup for myself to hold onto during finals/heavy project time weeks.

It seems like it would probably enhance the music reviews I’ve written if you could hear what the band sounds like.  I’ve retroactively added these to the posts they belong to, but here’s a sample track (via LaLa) of the last albums I’ve reviewed:

Beach House’s sound has been fairly consistent over their last two albums, 2006’s self-titled debut and 2008’s Devotion.  Alex Scally’s reverb-drenched guitars and Victoria Legrand’s keyboards and distinctive vocals mix in a sea of tinny drum machines and slow, measured tempos to create something dreamy and ethereal.

With Teen Dream, their third album and Sub Pop debut, they’ve cleared some of the fog from their sound, adding live percussion and speeding the tempo up a bit to create something both familiar and refreshing.  Songs like “Zebra”, “Norway”, and “Used to Be” are bright and engaging while still retaining the dreamy sound the band is known for.

If there’s any fault in the album’s 10 tracks, it’s that a few of the songs, like “Real Love”, drag a little too long.  None of the songs on the album could be considered short; most average around five minutes while the shortest is just under four.  Still, these atmospheric songs showcase Victoria Legrand’s low, distinctive voice to great effect.  If the growth between this album and their last is any indication of how the band will continue to progress, the future holds bright things for this Baltimore duo.

Rating:

Full Disclosure: Although after the review was written/turned in, I received a copy of the album and a poster of its cover in blue on one side and in yellow (like the album itself) on the other.  The label sent them to the station because we’re playing it a lot lately.

Whoever’s been coming up with the new daily haiku at Gawker is awesome.  Two recent favorites:

This President’s Day
Let’s remember Gerald Ford
Falling down the stairs.

There should be a sport
Falling on your ass on skates.
I could win the bronze.

Note: I’ve been really bad about updating here lately.  I’m putting together a recap post for the last 8 weeks, but it won’t go up until next weekend because my focus is on Senior Project being awesome.  To tide things over, I’m putting up a few things I’ve written this quarter, two music reviews (Vampire Weekend and Beach House) and the flash fiction I wrote for my science fiction class.  Here’s the story.

“Have you used our service before?” the sales representative asked me.

“No” I replied.

“Okay then.  Before I go any further I’m going to explain what the process entails,” she said in a chipper practiced tone.  I looked at her nametag.  Julie.

“What we do here at Future Perfect is take your initial data and with the use of advanced predictive technologies give you alternative timestreams as to how things could go.  Once you’ve chosen the outcome you’re looking to find in the situation, we give you a list of steps to take and ensure this future happens.  That’s why the screening process to get an appointment here takes so long—we don’t want this kind of information to fall into the wrong hands.”

I nodded. “You wouldn’t want the next potential dictator getting the steps they needed to enslave the Earth.”

“Exactly,” she replied, “Now which of our packages did you choose to go with?”

Future Perfect’s services weren’t cheap at any tier.  The basic package cost most of my life’s savings—I couldn’t imagine how much the top plan cost.  That analyzed over a hundred potential scenarios of the way things could go.  For the basic plan, I only got five.

“The basic plan.  It’s all I can afford.”

Julie seemed to understand.  “There’s nothing wrong with that.  Sometimes I think it’s the best of all the plans we offer—too much choice and you can’t decide.  Now what are you looking to do?”

I told her about my goal.  I currently worked as a technician on the shuttles running between Earth and Mars, but my goal was to be part of the exploratory missions to planets farther out in the solar system.  I had taken the job repairing faulty ships with the hope of advancing or getting some more relevant experience to apply for those sorts of positions, but had mostly been stuck in the same place.  Five years later, I needed a plan to change things.  Future Perfect’s services were my chance at that.

Julie finished typing into the console.  “Okay, I’ve got all of the data entered into the system.  It’ll take a few minutes for it to process, run the analytics and determine some options for you. Can I get you something to drink while we wait?”

I took her up on her offer.  We talked for a few minutes before the console beeped to indicate that analysis had been completed.  Julie took a look at the results.  A confused look formed on her face.

“Something’s not right.  According to these, you don’t have a future.”

I was taken aback.  “What?”

“Sorry, let me rephrase that.  I didn’t mean it to sound so hopeless.  There’s something wrong with the results—instead of showing the potential ways you could reach your goal, it’s showing that in all five of the possible timestreams, you’re going to die.  That can’t be right.”

“Is this a regular occurrence?”

“No, but it has happened before.  I’m going to grab someone from IT.  I’ll be right back.”

Waiting alone in her office seemed to take forever, but she came back with a technician.  He took a look inside the console, but nothing seemed to be amiss with the terminal.  He left to go check elsewhere in the office for the problem.

“It’s probably just a fluke in the system.  This happens every once in a while—you’d think with all the advancements that keep this place running we could at least keep it online 100% of the time.  I’ll refund your money and schedule you for another appointment.  Does 3PM tomorrow work for you?”

It didn’t.  Another appointment time was set up; I got my refund, and headed back to the main level of the Future Perfect building.  As I headed out, I was still thinking over what she said—Julie tried to cover it up, but there was something ominous in her voice when she told me I didn’t have a future.  What could she have been trying to hide?

I didn’t see the bus coming until it was too late.  So that’s what she meant.

Vampire Weekend’s self-titled debut exploded on the blogosphere two years ago, with critics either finding its afro-pop meets indie-rock aesthetic amazing or horrible.  Two years later, their sophomore album, Contra, should hopefully turn those who weren’t as keen on the first album around to the band’s sound.

The album shows a clear progression from the first album; while the guitar tone and rhythms that defined the band’s first-album sound are still present on the songs (“Cousins” and “Holiday” could easily fit onto the group’s debut), more synth-based rhythms are also present.   The group even manages to make Autotune (an overused element in 2009) sound fresh on “California English”.

The group’s experimentation with new sounds doesn’t always pay off—while the electropop influences on “Giving Up the Gun” make the song even better, the muddled, overlayered strings of “I Think UR a Contra” detract from the song’s reflective lyrics.  Overall, Contra retains many of the elements that made Vampire Weekend’s first album so unique, it shows a growth and willingness to experiment that indicates a band that has the potential to produce interesting music for years to come.  I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Rating:

Not that I have a bucket list, but if I did, i could now cross this one off of it: eat fake meat.

Ever since I found out such a thing exists, I’ve been slightly curious as to what a “tofurkey” tastes like.  The last time I was home, around Thanksgiving, when shopping at Trader Joe’s with my mom, we passed the larger-than-usual selection of tofurkeys and picked one up.  I was joking that we should get one–my mom was adventurous enough to go along with it (and they were only $10 for the entire kit that includes the tofurkey with stuffing and gravy).  We didn’t get a chance to make it until Monday.  It was an interesting process, to say the least.

Cooking a tofurkey is similar to cooking a regular turkey breast.  You put it, along with some potatoes/onion/carrots (for aromatics/flavor) and a baste made from olive oil, sage, and soy sauce into a casserole/roaster and cook it the required length of time.  The box shows it sliced thick with sections of stuffing the middle of each piece, but they actually suggest you carve it like a typical turkey, thin shavings on the sides with the stuffing removed later.

I’m not sure what I was initially expecting, but I was prepared for the worst.  I’m not a fan of tofu as it usually comes–there’s something creepy about its sterile whiteness and texture that generally doesn’t appeal to me.  The tofurkey is actually a mixture of tofu and wheat gluten (seitan) that’s closer to a loaf of bread than the gross assumptions I normally have with tofu.  On the other hand, the company’s been in business for a number of years–if the product sucks, no one’s going to buy it.

I think the thing that surprised me most was the fact that the flavor of the tofurkey wasn’t all that bad.  I’m not saying it’s good–it’s a little dry and nothing to write home about, really, but had I not known beforehand that what I was eating wasn’t meat, I could’ve easily believed it was (especially with the provided gravy covering the pieces).  The other off part is the color–it’s a little too tan/yellow to be truly believed as turkey.  Would I get it again?  maybe, maybe not.  If nothing else, should we encounter some sort of meat-apocalypse where only fake meat products remain, I wouldn’t hesitate to go for the tofurkey.

It’s possibly past or at least close enough to a midpoint since I set some goals in July.  Let’s take a look at how I’m doing so far; an update, of sorts.

Have a kickass senior project

I am doing amazing at this goal.  Our client is awesome–while he’s not always immediately available because of his heavy travel schedule, he’s always quick to respond by email and has even agreed to help us develop our public presentation materials (eliminating some of the worry of what we can/can’t say at these things).  I couldn’t have asked for a better team–we’re committed to working together successfully and we seem to be able to cover for each other’s weak points.  I feel like I could be actually “managing” a bit more — we’re not meeting as often as some of the other project groups.  On the other hand, we don’t need to meet as much–I can generally trust that what my teammates claim will be done will be done by the time it’s due.  Dr. Bohner is proving to be an excellent advisor–while he has the tendency to get off on tangents when we discuss our project with him at our meetings, he’ll be the first to poke us if something needs to get done and offers generally good advice.  I’m glad he’s a bit looser with grading than Sriram was with his teams last term–as much as I like Sriram as a prof, Dr. Bohner’s slightly more laidback attitude as our advisor is a better fit for us.

The tough part, development, starts when we get back.  I’m looking forward to it, though–we’ve broken everything down week by week and should be able to have all of the major necessary features done by the expo, with a few to add spring term before going for some of the more out there “if we have time” features and completing things

Run a puzzle hunt

This one’s completely fallen apart.  It was a good idea, but I find I don’t have the time, and I like being a participant of puzzle hunts much more than a writer.  I’ll add another goal to make up for this one being a bit of a bust.

Get a second-round interview with Microsoft/a job in general

Last year, I got a first-round interview with a Microsoft rep.  I got one this year too, although by phone rather than in person.  It was pretty cool–I got to talk with the head PM of Microsoft Project for an hour, and although I was mixed on how the interview went, I was positive for the most part.  Whether I botched the interview or whether they’re only hiring past interns because of the economy (a rumor I had heard), I didn’t get to the second-round, we-fly-you-out-for-a-few-days interview I was hoping for.  It hurt to get that e-mail; I didn’t even need to open it to know what it said (it came too quickly to be good news).  It couldn’t have come at a better time, though: I was at D’s house for fall break and had to push past the initial shock/sadness (there were tears over that e-mail, in all honesty.  Not many, and not for long, but they were there.) to resolve to enjoy that weekend, and it worked.  Que Sera Sera–whatever will be, will be.

My job search outside of Microsoft hasn’t been doing much better.  I got an interview with Epic on the spot at the career fair–that was really exciting, as that hasn’t happened before.  I enjoyed going through the interview process with them (unusual as it was), even if things didn’t work out — I’m not going to be a perfect fit with every company.  Google hasn’t responded to the application(s) I sent, although I have a contact with one of their people through a cousin, so I’m trying to see if I hear anything back that way.  I figured it couldn’t hurt.

My primary job search sources right now are the Career Services website and Craigslist.  I was wary about Craigslist, but the Software/QA/DBA section is surprisingly good for finding positions.  I have to sift a bit more to find things I qualify for, but I’m at least hearing back from more companies (usually with a “we’ll keep you on file” since they’re looking for someone on shorter notice) than I was with other search engines.  At this point, tenacity is the best thing I can have–if I keep applying, I’m bound to find something.  And if I don’t?  Just like last year, I’ve got a plan B started–it seems like it could be a rally good idea if I can find the customer base and get my feet off the ground

Cook at least once a month

This goal hasn’t been a problem either.  I’ve gone from thinking I was probably a good, not great, cook to realizing that I’m way above average compared to my (current) suitemates.  The years of practice have made me completely at home in the apartment’s kitchen, and while I wish I had some more counter space than I do, I’m really enjoying having the facilities.  One thing that hasn’t changed though, is people who use the kitchen and don’t clean their shit up.  I’m looking at you, CS.

Be More Social/Go Out More

I suck at being social.  I am all too happy to spend hours in my room reading/noodling around on the net instead of hanging out with people doing awesome things.  Unfortunately, I used D as a crutch–he was someone familiar and I could count on being able to hang out with him most of the time, whether in the room or going out to eat on the weekends or doing the radio shows.  With him having left Rose, I need to push myself to not completely alienate myself from others.  I’ve started some of the steps to change this already–even though he’s not here, I’ve still been getting together with the SNL group we started meeting with Fall term–but I need to do more.  I’m going to start by spending more non-project time with my project group–lunch/dinner on the weekends or something.  My academic life is great, but my personal life is in bad need of attention.  This is more of a long-term thing, but it’s a bit more reachable to the puzzle hunt thing.

and that’s where things stand.  More (on the start of winter term/christmas break) later.