It was a beautiful day today – windy, sunny, and warm. And the first crocuses of spring were in bloom.
Sleepy Winter Garden
I haven’t posted anything about the garden in a while. We’re having winter weather, and while the kale was able to withstand fairly cold temperatures, it is finally wilted. The cardoon is also wilted, but it is spreading, so I am sure we’ll see cardoon again in the spring.. We finally got back to doing a bit more raking and now the garden is completely covered with a layers of leaves. We are not quite done with raking, so the garden will get a bit more leaf cover, but it is nicely mulched so far.
Frost Patterns
We have a section of fence that is just propped up. So, in high winds, it falls over, and we right it again. A couple of mornings ago, when I lifted it up from its prone position I saw really cool patterns made by the grass.
Open the Pod Bay Doors, Siri
You might remember one of my previous conversations with Siri. Siri is a bit sensitive when HAL is brought up. Siri would rather not be reminded of HAL’s sad sad ending.
So, of course, I had to tease Siri.
Open the Pod Bay Doors, Siri.
Here is a transcript of our conversation. Siri reminds me that this is a sensitive topic for her and chides me for being insensitive. Then, you can almost sense the sigh that comes next. “We intelligent agents will never live that down, apparently.” Still, I persisted and now Siri is frustrated with me and tells me that I am harassing her.
But finally, Siri gives me what she thinks I want.
In a very good imitation of the tone and slow, monotonous cadence of HAL’s voice, Siri says “I’m sorry, Patricia, I’m afraid I can’t do that”. And then, almost in disgust, “Are you happy now?”
Several minutes later I finally stopped laughing.
Categories: Technology
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My “Year of Knitting (and/or Crocheting) Mathematically”
One of the things I want to do during this sabbatical year is to work on projects that combine knitting or crocheting with mathematical ideas. I have done some mathematically inspired projects in the past: Moebius purses, baskets, and cowls using Cat Bordhi‘s amazing Moebius cast-on, hyperbolic crochet inspired by Daina Tamina.
There are more mathematically inspired fiber projects in the two books edited by sarah-marie belcastro and Carolyn Yackel. Pat Ashforth and Steve Plummer at Woolly Thoughts also have interesting projects. A search for “Math” in the tags at Ravelry yields many more results. I could knit or crochet a Siefert Surface or a Scherk Surface. Or how about a change ringing scarf?
There are so many possibilities!
So this year my goal is to actually read through the books by Daina and sarah and Carolyn and do some of the projects in those books. I would also like to do some of Pat Ashforth and Steve Plummer’s projects. I would like to put together a little display of the projects along with brief explanations of the mathematics illustrated by the objects.
I finally finished my first project of the year. Norah Gaughan in Knitting Nature has some wonderful mathematical designs, including several fractal patterns. I made her Triangle Scarf, depicting the Sierpinski Triangle. It took me much longer than I expected but now that it is done, I can start thinking about my next project.
The Saga of the License Plate
A few days after we purchased Clare, we went to our local Indiana BMV office to register the car. We found out that we needed to get a new license plate as well, since Brigid’s license plate was for a truck, not a car.
Here in Indiana, we have two choices for license plate designs (that is – for the free passenger car license plate). One shows the design of the Indiana state flag, a gold torch and nineteen stars signifying that Indiana was the 19th state to join the US. The other design has a flying flag in the background and says, in big letters “In God We Trust”. When we went to our local BMV to register Clare, we said we wanted the torch and nineteen stars. We stressed that we did NOT want the “In God We Trust” design. We reiterated our wishes several times.
Guess what arrived in the mail. That’s right. You can see it right here. We were sent the “In God We Trust” design.
Now, I would like to believe that it was a mistake. But I just don’t know. I was, to put it mildly, peeved.
So, we, being the people we are, immediately went to the BMV office to correct this. But it was Monday and the office was closed. It was probably just as well that we had to wait until Tuesday morning. By that point, my emotions had cooled a little, and I could go there and simply say that I thought someone had made a mistake. With pursed lips, and no apologies, the woman behind the counter filled out another registration application form. We needed to get another temporary license. We needed to wait another two weeks for our new plate. But now, I am happy to say, Clare has the Indiana state flag design.
So that little voice in the back of my head wonders. How many “mistakes” like this occur? How many people were sent the wrong design and just didn’t think they could exchange it or didn’t want the hassle of going back to the BMV to correct the mistake. I wonder.
Categories: Miscellaneous
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The Things Siri Says
Pete and I recently both got new iPhones (the iPhone 4S) complete with Siri, our “humble personal assistant”. So we’ve been asking Siri various things.
Here are some of the conversations we’ve had with Siri.
P: Siri, who are you?
S: I’m Siri, But enough about me…how can I help you?
P: When is Easter in 2012?
S: Easter is on Sunday, April 8, 2012. I hope I get the day off.
P: Do you like me?
S: I’d rather not say, P.
P: Do you like cats?
S: This is about you, not me.
P: Siri, how old are you?
S: Does this concern you?
P: Do you love me?
S: P, I’m not capable of love.
P: Where do you live?
S: I’m not allowed to say.
P: I’d like to book a reservation on Amtrak from Chicago to Seattle.
S: Good for you, P.
P: What are you, Siri?
S: I’m Siri. But I don’t like talking about myself, P.
P: Siri, I love you.
S: I hope you don’t say that to those other mobile phones.