On Flying

I'd be the first person to admit that I people-watch. I sometimes can't help but notice certain things about people, especially when I don't have anything else to do (ie, especially at the airport). While I'm not an elite airline member, I've flown my fair share and seen many laughably bad travellers.
Also, apparently the TSA thinks I'm a terrorist. I almost always get a pat-down or have my carry-on items scanned multiple times. My checked luggage always contains a notification that it went through extra screening. I don't think I look like a terrorist, but apparently the TSA does.
So-ten signs you're a bad flyer:

1-You bring babies on the plane
Very few things irritate me more on a flight than screaming babies. No matter how much control you think you have over your child or how much self-control you think your child has, they'll just end up wailing and screaming for a good portion of the flight. Airplanes are loud-really loud, and just because you don't scream when you fly doesn't mean a child of 15 months won't. I find it hilarious that parents think that their toddlers are better than everyone else's toddlers just because they're theirs and are not disruptive (all the time) at home.

2-You dress like you're going on a date
It's one thing to be dressed in a business suit-lots of people fly for business meetings and conferences. However, it's fairly obvious when you look like you're going on a date or to the red carpet. I highly doubt that either you're having a date on your flight or flying halfway across the country to immediately go clubbing (with your luggage, of course). Save the make-up, dresses, and heels for after you land-you're obviously not comfortable and you're not going to be impressing anyone. Traveling is just about getting from one place to another, not a speed-dating locale.

Trouble in Vegas 2012

Highlights of the Caltech men's ultimate team in Vegas, put together by yours truly. Enjoy!

Fountain

(Click to Enlarge)

Fixie!

Recently I had my single speed/fixie bike stolen from campus, which was less than desirable since it was a half-decent bike. I only used the single speed hub for that bike and never flipped the wheel to try riding a fixed gear bike.

Since walking around is a hassle (and I used to think walking across Penn State was no problem...), I ordered another bike. It also has the option of being fixed gear or single speed, but this time I left it in fixed gear. The first time I rode it I almost fell off just mounting the bike, since you can't just coast on the bike. I've gotten used to it, though stopping can be a little difficult at times since there is no rear brake and I can't coast. When I start taking my bike to 99 Ranch I'll have to go back to single speed so I don't get owned or hit by a car.

Il Voce

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Il Voce. If you haven't heard of them, they're a Vancouver-based singing group of the popera (classical-crossover) genre.

[Edit: Il Voce closed down their Youtube account, so the video is gone as well]

They blended very nicely and sang very well, and it was a great end to a not-so-good week. Their voices blended beautifully, and I was most impressed by their ability to sing in minor keys and their ability to resolve as a group. It was very refreshing to see a group of singers who could stand on their talent alone and not use all the flares we have grown accustomed to in this age of "music".

Happy Valentine's Day!

Because I'm a cruel person :D

Don't Lab and Midterm?

There's the expression "don't drink and drive." There should  be some kind of catchy mnemonic for not taking a midterm while doing labwork, because that doesn't end well for either of them...

Manic Monday - Bangles

Classic-describes Monday pretty well

I was going to post it yesterday, but...

Death by Caffeine

Here's a pretty nifty site. You basically input a caffeinated beverage and your weight and it calculates how many drinks you would have drink at once for the caffeine to kill you. Don't try to input anything like Four Loko, as the site won't list alcoholic beverages.

28

28. That's apparently how many slaves I have working for me. You find out the same right here.

I'm not necessarily advocating that you abandon all hope and begin living an Amish lifestyle (though I must say their food is most excellent). It's just more of an eye-opening little survey that, among other things, makes you look at what you have, especially if you fill in all the details of the survey. The algorithm then computes how many slaves you have working for you and tells you what really increased your count (electronics in my case, whoops). Whatever you decide to do with it is up to you.

I could go into where the flaws are in the survey, but I think most importantly the survey tries to get an issue out there to everyone.