Happy Me Thread
 

I can't find the Happy Me thread. If somebody finds it, I'll merge this into it.

My kid is now a rocket scientist! A PhD candidate at Stanford Engineering, he's just accepted a summer internship at [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX"]SpaceX[/URL].

Gerbils renamed it some time back.
 

[url]http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=2592[/url]

[QUOTE=wblipp;370347]My kid is now a rocket scientist! A PhD candidate at Stanford Engineering, he's just accepted a summer internship at [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX"]SpaceX[/URL].[/QUOTE]

Great company. There is more pressure on them since the whole Crimea deal.

That's fantastic (both the candidacy and internship)!

I think ... fingers crossed ... I just found the largest GPU72 Factor...

146.779 Bits via PM-1

[CODE]Etch 68843609 F-PM1 2014-04-05 14:02 153096183821141164066652469377636471424950881 [/CODE]

[QUOTE=petrw1;370356][url]http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=2592[/url][/QUOTE]
The head post in that thread says it's for personal milestones. I thought we also had a more generic happiness thread.

Aren't you looking for the "The Hippie-Dippie Meal thread " in the lounge ? ([url]http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=2592[/url])

Jacob

[QUOTE=petrw1;370376]I think ... fingers crossed ... I just found the largest GPU72 Factor...

146.779 Bits via PM-1

[CODE]Etch 68843609 F-PM1 2014-04-05 14:02 153096183821141164066652469377636471424950881 [/CODE][/QUOTE]

Great — but it's composite.

[URL]http://www.mersenne.ca/exponent.php?exponentdetails=68843609[/URL]

My wife has just returned from hospital after scary pneumonia. She sounds like she has swallowed her squeeker but is much better. :smile:

[QUOTE=Flatlander;370424]My wife has just returned from hospital after scary pneumonia. She sounds like she has swallowed her squeeker but is much better. :smile:[/QUOTE]

I hope her condition continues to improve.

[QUOTE=Chuck;370421]Great — but it's composite.

[URL]http://www.mersenne.ca/exponent.php?exponentdetails=68843609[/URL][/QUOTE]

Aw....."Missed it by that much, Chief"

I just moved into the 21st century by getting a smartphone, an iPhone 5c. One would think that the combination of Apple fan, software engineer, and geek would have prompted me to get one a long time ago. The reason is that I actually don't use my phone very often so it was difficult to justify the cost. Now I'm in a role at work where customers and co-workers will need to contact me on a more random basis. Now if my employer would only pay for it...

[QUOTE=kladner;370427]I hope her condition continues to improve.[/QUOTE]

Thank you.

[QUOTE=rogue;370912]I just moved into the 21st century by getting a smartphone, an iPhone 5c.[/QUOTE]
Congratulations - you are now the proud owner of an iPhone 5c.

But are you also its superuser/system administrator?

I finally beat Candy Crush level 500. My wife and I had been stuck on it for about eight days.

At the stroke of 13:41:26 GMT on 2014-05-11, exactly one billion seconds will have passed since my birth. (Yes, I accounted for leap years *and* 14 leap seconds.) A lovely coincidence that this should happen on Mother's Day.

Ever since I saw a bit on [URL= http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_One_Television]PBS Square One TV[/URL] where [URL=http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James Earl Jones]James Earl Jones'[/url] booming voice explained the difference in the lengths of time spanned by one million, one billion, and one trillion seconds, I have thought that it is one of the neatest, most accessible ways to teach the difference between these large numbers that our brains simply think of as "enormous" without distinguishing their vast difference in size.

One million seconds passes three times a month (or so). One billion seconds passes three times in your whole life (if you're lucky). One trillion seconds encompasses the entire history of human civilization and a whole lot more.

If you paid the national debt of the USA (roughly $17 trillion) at a dollar a second, it would take over 500,000 years to complete the transaction. Good luck balancing *that* budget.

Now, M48...I think of that as just "enormous"!

[QUOTE=NBtarheel_33;373025]At the stroke of 13:41:26 GMT on 2014-05-11, exactly one billion seconds will have passed since my birth. (Yes, I accounted for leap years *and* 14 leap seconds.) A lovely coincidence that this should happen on Mother's Day.

Ever since I saw a bit on [URL= http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_One_Television]PBS Square One TV[/URL] where [URL=http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James Earl Jones]James Earl Jones'[/url] booming voice explained the difference in the lengths of time spanned by one million, one billion, and one trillion seconds, I have thought that it is one of the neatest, most accessible ways to teach the difference between these large numbers that our brains simply think of as "enormous" without distinguishing their vast difference in size.

One million seconds passes three times a month (or so). One billion seconds passes three times in your whole life (if you're lucky). One trillion seconds encompasses the entire history of human civilization and a whole lot more.

If you paid the national debt of the USA (roughly $17 trillion) at a dollar a second, it would take over 500,000 years to complete the transaction. Good luck balancing *that* budget.

Now, M48...I think of that as just "enormous"![/QUOTE]I'm impressed that the time of your birth was recorded to a precision of one second, let alone to that accuracy. As human childbirth generally takes rather longer than one second, I'm wondering which event was chosen as the definitive moment. First visible appearance? Delivery of the feet (assuming regular presentation) or of head (if a breech delivery)? First breath? Tying off the umbilical cord? Cutting of the same? If you were delivered by C-section some of those events won't be relevant but others will become so.

[QUOTE=xilman;373030]I'm impressed that the time of your birth was recorded to a precision of one second, let alone to that accuracy. As human childbirth generally takes rather longer than one second, I'm wondering which event was chosen as the definitive moment. First visible appearance? Delivery of the feet (assuming regular presentation) or of head (if a breech delivery)? First breath? Tying off the umbilical cord? Cutting of the same? If you were delivered by C-section some of those events won't be relevant but others will become so.[/QUOTE]

I have been told (not that I remember, which by the sound of it, is a good thing) that my birth (under government-sponsored health care in New South Wales, Australia) resembled one that might have occurred in the unsettled, uncivilized Western or Southern United States circa 1800. Labor was 18 hours, I was breech, with (and thinking of this now still makes me grimace) one foot behind my head, one foot in the exit door, and my bum poking directly up. The attending physicians finally had the brains to call for a C-section, and it is miraculous that *that* debacle didn't kill us both. Hours later, my mother was reportedly queried as to why she wasn't downstairs with the nurses, doing her job to look after her baby!

At least the price tag was right...$400 and change. It's why I'm wary of Obamacare, honestly - Australia had less than 15 million people at the time, but we have over twenty times that in the US. If they had trouble back then, what are we in for?

In any event, my time of birth (and indeed I don't know what the criteria for that was) was recorded as 2155 local time (UTC+10). My mother would always mention what time I was born (and, like you, I was always skeptical of how she got it right down to the minute), but recently, lo and behold, I saw it on my birth certificate.

It's certainly subject to at least 60 seconds of error, and probably as much as 900 or so. But ya gotta have a zero datum point somewhere...

[QUOTE=rogue;372022]I finally beat Candy Crush level 500. My wife and I had been stuck on it for about eight days.[/QUOTE]

I'm not worthy....I gave up around level 160.... it was taking too much of my life.
Or you could very well be smarter and see the patterns ahead of time...or you may be one of them that buys extra help......

I'll assume its the former.....

[QUOTE=petrw1;373085]I'm not worthy....I gave up around level 160.... it was taking too much of my life.
Or you could very well be smarter and see the patterns ahead of time...or you may be one of them that buys extra help......

I'll assume its the former.....[/QUOTE]

Yes it is. I refuse to pay money, but the once a day free boosters have helped me get past some of the more challenging levels. I've probably wasted as many as I've used successfully.

Some levels require a lot of luck. Some require you to see the patterns a move or two ahead, but I do not rely on things more than two moves ahead because unseen combinations tend to destroy what I am trying to do when I do that.

[QUOTE=wblipp;370347]My kid is now a rocket scientist! A PhD candidate at Stanford Engineering, he's just accepted a summer internship at [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX"]SpaceX[/URL].[/QUOTE]

I've learned that employees can escort tours through the SpaceX rocket assembly line. I'm going to take advantage of that in few weeks!

I have managed to resurrect my oldest laptop and it is now merrily working on some P-1 work for two WR candidates. I doubt I will be able to continue to run it once winter is over... it is currently propped up with a cooling pad by the open screen door. Per an earlier post this is the one I will try and run in an outside closet once the days get cool enough. We had some cool weather last week but this week is supposed to be in the low 80s- too hot for an already struggling computer.

Earlier today I found my first P-1 factor:
M70370693 has a factor: 101681234974071514641703 (76.428 bits)
k = 3 × 97 × 5351 × 5743 × 80789

I've just been given a brace of freshly shot pheasants, one of each sex. They are hanging in the garage at the moment.

I'll peel and core them at the weekend. Will this make me a pheasant plucker?

[QUOTE=xilman;388168]I've just been given a brace of freshly shot pheasants, one of each sex. They are hanging in the garage at the moment.

I'll peel and core them at the weekend. Will this make me a pheasant plucker?[/QUOTE]
Just spooner it all out of them.:smile:

GTX 970 ....
 

It's Alive!!!!!

@petrw1: Congratz! :tu::wacky:

My first 10,000 GhzDays of GPU
 

[QUOTE=kladner;388435]@petrw1: Congratz! :tu::wacky:[/QUOTE]

Took less than 3 weeks. (averaging 515/day)

In perspective my respectable i5-2520 2-core has not made it there yet in 2.5 years
My i5-2500 4-core has not made it there yet in 13 months.

At this rate in 3 more weeks - 6 WEEKS total it will have surpassed my first Quad (Q9550) with over 6 YEARS of GIMPS time.

4th page news: I now have 4 quads with over 20,000 and up to 26,000 GhzDays each.

Today I received an email from Harvard.
I have been officially accepted as a remote TF for the CS50 course (Introduction to Computer Science).

I wanted to share my happiness with you, and thank you for all the technical insight I found in this forum (a special thank to George and Mike).

Luigi :et_:

[QUOTE=ET_;390434]Today I received an email from Harvard.
I have been officially accepted as a remote TF for the CS50 course (Introduction to Computer Science).

I wanted to share my happiness with you, and thank you for all the technical insight I found in this forum (a special thank to George and Mike).

Luigi :et_:[/QUOTE]

Congrats.....Maybe for your first task you should start a movement to convert GIMPS stats from GhzDays to some function of a SMOOT....an official(?) Harvard Unit of Measure

[QUOTE=petrw1;390455]SMOOT....an official(?) Harvard Unit of Measure[/QUOTE]

Aaaaccccckkkkk!!!! That's an official MIT Unit of Measure.

[QUOTE=Prime95;390479]Aaaaccccckkkkk!!!! That's an official MIT Unit of Measure.[/QUOTE]
Wikipedia has a nice entry. I expect Google had a strategically placed MIT alumnus or two because:
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot"]Smoot[/URL]
[QUOTE]Google Calculator also incorporates smoots, which it reckons at exactly 67 inches (1.7018 meters). Google also uses the smoot as an optional unit of measurement in their Google Earth software and Google Maps distance measurement tool.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Prime95;390479]Aaaaccccckkkkk!!!! That's an official MIT Unit of Measure.[/QUOTE]

Oops I saw reference to the "Harvard Bridge" and @$$-umed.

:blush:

Top 100 TF YTD
 

After one month with my GTX970.

:batalov:

I got a pinball machine a couple of weeks ago! It is an X-files pinball machine, circa 1997, and everything works on it. My boys and I have been having a lot of fun on it. My wife doesn't care so much about.

[QUOTE=rogue;391195]I got a pinball machine a couple of weeks ago! It is an X-files pinball machine, circa 1997, and everything works on it. My boys and I have been having a lot of fun on it. My wife doesn't care so much about.[/QUOTE]Yay!

See the Hmmm... thread (posted there before reading this. What a coincidence!)

It's a good thing cats are cute, or we'd realize the evil little bastards they really are.... :smile:

1,000 LL Tests Lifetime
 

Just under 77,000 GhzDays.

Took almost 10 years.....a weekend's work for CC I admit.

My second FIRST in GPU72.
 

Early on in GPU72 I stayed #1 in P-1 for several months until I had done 600 P-1.
--- Granted I will never be back in first there.

However with my 500th GPU72 LL I am now #1 there now...and hope to stay there for a while anyway.

As well my GPU (after just over 8 weeks) has now surpassed every one of my CPUs including some pretty high end Quads with several years of history. The latest victims was my i5-750 with a 38 month head start and my i5-3570K with a 26 month head start.

[QUOTE=petrw1;392957]GPU72 LL[/QUOTE]
We don't take LL and DC through GPU72 anymore since the new rules, that's the real reason you raised. :razz:
Chris was so stubborn :razz: in keeping giving us P-1 assignments for our best computers in spite of the fact we were requesting LL, until we [URL="http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?p=361190#post361190"]decided[/URL] [URL="http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?p=361233#post361233"]to delete[/URL] [URL="http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?p=364834#post364834"]the proxy[/URL]. Now we are still "proxyed" with an old laptop only, to which we have two LL assignments (one at a time, there are two because one is almost finished, the second not yet started). So you are racing alone there hehe.

BTW re PM: have a nice time! See you back soon.

[QUOTE=LaurV;392967]So you are racing alone there hehe.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I kind of guessed that....but as a small fish in a big ocean I have to take the small wins.

[QUOTE=LaurV;392967]We don't take LL and DC through GPU72 anymore since the new rules, that's the real reason you raised. .[/QUOTE]

Just for you LaurV :razz: :razz: .... I just passed you GPU DC as well.

Yes I know I know I know you don't get assignments there any more ... :razz: :razz: :razz: :razz: but I passed you anyway..

Grrr... I am getting older... :redface:

(actually, that score is "real", I didn't [U]do[/U] any DC since ages, assigned by GPU72 or not, and last bag of GHzDays were done by Chris, as "credit exchange", I did TF for them. Few days ago I moved a Titan to DC one 70M exponent and 4 exponents in 64M range, which were LL-ed by myself some time ago and I am afraid that the residues may be wrong (you can find them, they were my only LLs in 64M and 70M and I they were repeatedly interrupted and moved around, so I decided to DC them without reservation, but this only started few days ago and there is still more than a week to go - the Titan can LL a 65M in about 35-40 hours).

After a storm came through NE California on Friday, my neighborhood is back on the grid after begin offline due to severe damage to the local infrastructure and distribution system interconnect with PG&E. It really sucks being without power at home for 33 hours with no backup generator. :sad:

[QUOTE=schickel;394898]After a storm came through NE California on Friday, my neighborhood is back on the grid after begin offline due to severe damage to the local infrastructure and distribution system interconnect with PG&E. It really sucks being without power at home for 33 hours with no backup generator. :sad:[/QUOTE]

Um, this is the Happy Me thread? It's glass-half-empty grumpy "Un" sibling is next door.

(Or were you trying to cheer up everyone who hasn't lost power for a day or more recently? In that case thanks, but wouldn't that really require a "you have no idea how lucky you are" thread?)

You have no idea how lucky you are --- the cable company finally hooked up our TV and Internet service after two and a half weeks of living without.

I ate an inexpensive meal at a local diner that I like.
When paying I noticed that I had received an unrequested 20% senior discount ... a few years too early.

I ate donuts two times today. I love donuts.

[QUOTE=only_human;405898]I ate an inexpensive meal at a local diner that I like.
When paying I noticed that I had received an unrequested 20% senior discount ... a few years too early.[/QUOTE]

I'm glad this is in the Happy Me Thread instead of the Unhappy one. All about perspective. :smile:

[QUOTE=Mini-Geek;405909]I'm glad this is in the Happy Me Thread instead of the Unhappy one. All about perspective. :smile:[/QUOTE]
My perspective is that I will [I]try[/I] to look on the the bright side. I'm not actually that comfortable about it. A couple of times I've told Las Vegas blackjack dealers when they accidentally paid the the table in error. That 2nd time was a bit rough in an unhappy crowd. After that, sometimes, but not always, I pushed my bet+winnings forward as a tip and got up and left the table. I'm stronger focused these days on not making waves or getting a worker in trouble. I'm actually pretty close to a senior age but I wouldn't request a senior discount. Uncomfortably I toyed with eating again on a Tuesday, which is senior discount night, on the chance that I might receive the error in my favor again but I decided that it would spoil my meal and not just because of bruised vanity. I put it in the happy me thread but it's definitely a wry kind of happy.

[QUOTE=only_human;405898]I ate an inexpensive meal at a local diner that I like.
When paying I noticed that I had received an unrequested 20% senior discount ... a few years too early.[/QUOTE]
Some whipper snapper thought that I was the parent of my sibling. :no:

2 PCs surpassed 30,000 Ghz Days recently
 

1 took 3Y 10M.
1 took 2Y 8M.

Went solo to the top of Mt.Whitney and came back alive. :rolleyes:

[QUOTE=Batalov;408022]Went solo to the top of Mt.Whitney and came back alive. :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]

Bravo! :tu:

Bought my first car ( second hand one) here in UK. It has been a great experience driving it. To schedule visiting two Paul's and one Tom. Really would like to visit Cambdrige soon, after my return from overseas.

[QUOTE=Batalov;408022]Went solo to the top of Mt.Whitney and came back alive. :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]

Congrats - you beat my own altitude record, Mt. Rainier was as high as I ever got without smoking something. OTOH, I had the luxury of glissading down snowfields to speed/ease the descent. (Just gotta try to not get gobbled up by a crevasse.)

Were the shoes in pic1 just a spare pair of sneaker for the non-hike times, or did you actually wear those all the way? [Depending on just how sharp-rocked the trail is - and given the, um, human trafficking on a peak like Whitney I'm guessing the trails would be pretty even, as these things go - non-extreme footwear might actually be an option.]

The trails are in fact pretty rough in some places; odd rocks, no gravel. I had thought for a moment about upgrading the boots before the trip, but because I didn't have time to break them in, they could have been a disaster rather than help. These are the ones I wear every day; I only used two pairs of socks for the chill (which was not terrible, maybe 42-45F, at the top). Before Mt. Whitney (14,505 ft) my highest elevation was at Mauna Kea (13,796 ft).

For the picture ([URL="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cuupxrdbtx9xjd9/AAD-4_mq1rPN4Y6FCjHmLccXa?dl=0"]video 69Mb[/URL], actually, complete with the sound of the "That was easy" famous button) I did take off the hat, sunglasses and the backpack (which can be seen in the background).
_______________________

P.S. Found [URL="http://mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=15669"]this old thread[/URL].
:thread:

[QUOTE=Batalov;408046]The trails are in fact pretty rough in some places; odd rocks, no gravel. I had thought for a moment about upgrading the boots before the trip, but because I didn't time to break them in, they could have been a disaster rather than help. These are the ones I wear every day; I only used two pairs of socks for the chill (which was not terrible, maybe 42-45F, at the top). Before Mt. Whitney (14,505 ft) my highest elevation was at Mauna Kea (13,796 ft).

For the picture ([URL="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cuupxrdbtx9xjd9/AAD-4_mq1rPN4Y6FCjHmLccXa?dl=0"]video 69Mb[/URL], actually, complete with the sound of the "That was easy" famous button) I did take off the hat, sunglasses and the backpack (which can be seen in the background).[/QUOTE]

Hm hm hm :)
I will become ( if I pass examine in 11 month this year) hiking guide ( lowest class but guide)
And first rule ever, they teach us is: never, never, and then never go to mountain alone. Never :)
But I can understand you , because, sometime, when weather is ok, the best option is going to mountain alone ( but then I didnot wear my official t-shirt, I am undercover) :)

Great photos, just wait to download video!

One trail, 200 people on it, what could possibly go wrong..? :rolleyes:
The tent picture is a bit of parody of @inthemshoes

[QUOTE=Batalov;408050]One trail, 200 people on it, what could possibly go wrong..? :rolleyes:
The tent picture is a bit of parody of @inthemshoes[/QUOTE]

Nothing, just, maybe as 200^200 (+/-)1 trouble :smile:

So, we finished the plastering on Saturday, and filled the pool with 34,000 litres of rain water from our storage tanks to slow down the curing of the concrete and to test for leakage.

Almost there! :smile:

[QUOTE=chalsall;408692]So, we finished the plastering on Saturday, and filled the pool with 34,000 litres of rain water from our storage tanks to slow down the curing of the concrete and to test for leakage.

Almost there! :smile:[/QUOTE]

Your house?
When is the GIMPS house warming party?

:)

[QUOTE=chalsall;408692]So, we finished the plastering on Saturday, and filled the pool with 34,000 litres of rain water from our storage tanks to slow down the curing of the concrete and to test for leakage.

Almost there! :smile:[/QUOTE]

Looks nice! :)

[QUOTE=Mark Rose;408698]Looks nice! :)[/QUOTE]

Thanks.

My girlfriend is the [URL="http://www.architectscubed.com/"]architect of record[/URL].

I'm just the stupid boyfriend who tries to ensure the engineering goes to plan.

Try to imagine our dinner conversations; it's a bit like House of Cards, but just a little more intense....

I'm a father! Little girl born 8/24/15, 8lbs 8oz :smile:

[QUOTE=wombatman;408814]I'm a father! Little girl born 8/24/15, 8lbs 8oz :smile:[/QUOTE]
Best wishes to your new family member, and the rest of the family!

[QUOTE=wombatman;408814]I'm a father! Little girl born 8/24/15, 8lbs 8oz :smile:[/QUOTE]
:party:

Wow! We wish you happiness together with all your old and new, and may you have only joy from the little girl!
Girls are very nice to raise, trust me, I went through it.

Congratulations :)

Almost after on year living in the UK my wife found a job. You can imagine someone who always worked on research with a bunch o published papers staying home in depression, sometimes alone when I am overseas. I am now so happy, we can now start thinking about starting a family.

[QUOTE=wombatman;408814]I'm a father! Little girl born 8/24/15, 8lbs 8oz :smile:[/QUOTE]

Very robust weight for a baby wombat, congrats! :)

[QUOTE=wombatman;408814]I'm a father! Little girl born 8/24/15, 8lbs 8oz :smile:[/QUOTE]Congrats.

The picture is obviously that of a very young infant --- her eyes haven't opened yet.

[QUOTE=pinhodecarlos;408833]Almost after on year living in the UK my wife found a job. You can imagine someone who always worked on research with a bunch o published papers staying home in depression, sometimes alone when I am overseas. I am now so happy, we can now start thinking about starting a family.[/QUOTE]
Congratulations! We can relate to how important this is. After moving from one country to another, you both need the security of employment so that you can stop worrying about whether you'll be able to stay or not and, as you say, start thinking about building your lives there (in your case, starting a family).

It's funny that you moved to the very same country that we fled from. But that was a different era, and times have changed.:smile:

[QUOTE=Brian-E;408845]Congratulations! We can relate to how important this is. After moving from one country to another, you both need the security of employment so that you can stop worrying about whether you'll be able to stay or not and, as you say, start thinking about building your lives there (in your case, starting a family).

It's funny that you moved to the very same country that we fled from. But that was a different era, and times have changed.:smile:[/QUOTE]

Her issue was to change from academic world to industry, which is very hard because all jobs needed experience. Also she was fed up of lack of benefits on the academic world like not paying national insurance, etc.
I had several job offers in UK but we always kept focused on not moving anymore from country/home/city, so this was a win for us.

We left Portugal due to the crisis, stayed one year in Brazil starting our PhD where we were discriminated, but I found in UK a nice place where my company was very honest with me and my wife. I am grateful. As you said this is a start of our lives but mostly I see my wife smiling again.

Carlos

[QUOTE=pinhodecarlos;408846] I see my wife smiling again[/QUOTE]
Well, I see you continuously smiling! (in your avatar).
Anyhow, congrats for your wife. If she is happy, you are happy. And if you are happy, this can only mean more work units done on that project of yours... :razz: Good for us..

[QUOTE=pinhodecarlos;408833]Almost after on year living in the UK my wife found a job. You can imagine someone who always worked on research with a bunch o published papers staying home in depression, sometimes alone when I am overseas. I am now so happy, we can now start thinking about starting a family.[/QUOTE]

That is excellent! Congratulations to you and her!

And thank you to everyone--the little one is starting to open her eyes more often and look around now. It's pretty amazing to watch her change her focus when I talk to her.:smile:

Congrats....Speaking from experience grandchildren will come quicker than you think too.

[QUOTE=wombatman;408814]I'm a father! Little girl born 8/24/15, 8lbs 8oz :smile:[/QUOTE]

Congrats. Perhaps when she grows up she will find the next Mersenne prime :grin:

[QUOTE=paulunderwood;408885]Congrats. Perhaps when she grows up she will find the next Mersenne prime :grin:[/QUOTE]

There's something that would make me a proud papa! :smile:

[QUOTE=paulunderwood;408885]Congrats. Perhaps when she grows up she will find the next Mersenne prime :grin:[/QUOTE]
Whaaaattt? You mean no mersenne primes till that time? :rant:
Well... say 3 years is not long to wait... Some children can handle the keyboard at two... :razz:
I remember when my daughter was about 18 months old, the best way to get rid of her for a while was to "forget" a keyboard in the middle of the room. At the time I was repairing computers/selling parts, in my parents' apartment in Ro, I had a room there filled with all the stuff, lots of small boxes, few computers were always running, and I was mostly with a keyboard in front of me, so she learned very fast what the keyboard is for, and every time we went there together she was very excited to make a mess of all those boxes, therefore she was not allowed to touch them, or the keyboards. Once she got an electric shock by touching an open monitor, and she learned very fast not to touch things which daddy says not to touch. But the keyboard was always a big attraction. She was waiting until I was leaving the room, run inside, press few keys fast, looking to the door, then run back outside, before I would be back. It took me a while to solve the mystery of strange characters appearing random in my source codes, making them uncompilable :smile: My mother had a big library and another room was used for it (full of books all around, some empty space in the middle) and once I put a keyboard there (only the keyboard) just to keep the little enemy out of my room. But I could not imagine the continuation of the story: she could stay for hours, literary for hours, in front of the keyboard, on the floor, back turned to the door (so nobody could see what she is doing, but in fact her body could not hide the keyboard which was as big as she was), typing few random keys, turning to look to the door (to see if I am not coming), typing, looking to the door, typing, looking to the door, typing, looking to the door, typing, looking to the door... I don't know if she was fascinated by the moving key, or by the sound, or by the fact that she was not allowed to touch the keyboard in my room.

Great account from the realms of parenting, LaurV! :cool:

[QUOTE=LaurV;408908]<sage wisdom>[/QUOTE]

'Cuse me while I write down a few things....

I've been benched! (And I did it to myself)
 

Just finished a late-summer home improvement project in form of a scratch-built heavy-duty wooden workbench. Besides the final product being useful, this month-long effort (~2 hrs/day on average, first several of which were mostly pulling nails) gave me a good chance to resharpen my much-atrophied carpentry skills.

This was built mostly from salvage lumber I'd accumulated over the past few years, with this project in mind - the only new wood is in the 5'-long top crossbeams (two 2x4, one 4x4 in the center) and two of the five pieces of 1x12 top planking (the lighter-colored ones in the stack in middle of the frame in pic1 - I took the pic before screwing down the planking in order to show the interior farming). Most of the fasteners are lag screws I'd similarly accumulated over the years - one of the small tech companies in a building where I formerly worked vacated their office space and left a bunch of such fasteners just lying around on the concrete floor for the picking-up - plus 4 long carriage bolts I bought. Pic1 is actually from the back of the bench to better show the rear cross-bracing. (Sorry about the low-res, my cellphone is dated).

The 2 really huge lag screws - each nearly a foot long - which fasten the central 4x4 'spine' to the 4x4 top side pieces - were salvaged from a couple of Christmas trees - my sister and I each bought a tree at a local lot some years ago, these were used to fasten the cut-off trunk to their wooden bases. Total material cost is thus only around $60: $30 for the 3 long new-wood top rails, ~$5 for the carriage bolts and some matching nuts and washers and $25 more for the special tool ([URL="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005LEZ9/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1"]2" hole saw[/URL] and [URL="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004RGZQ/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1"]quick-change mandrel[/URL]) I used to cut the male 'peg' (= tenon) ends of the 4x4 spine piece. (The mating mortise holes I cut with a 1.75" auger bit from a set I already had.) The peg mortises were a lot more effort than the quick-n-dirty solutions of [a] simply using sheet-metal joist hangers or [b] using my circular saw set to a shallow depth and some chisel work to cut some basic notch mortises in the abutting end pieces, but the result was so much nicer and incredibly solid. Pic2 shows a detail of the left-end peg mortise and tenon (on the right side of the from-the rear pic1) prior to assembly, along with the hole saw and auger bit used to cut the tenon and mortise hole, respectively. Pic3 shows the opposite-end joint, where I further experimented with sinking the mortise hole into a 3/4"-deep rectangular notch, from the outer (lag-screw hex-head) side.

The shelving portion is really just a reconfigured wooden patio 'BBQ assistant' dealie on wheels my sis gave me years ago. To do that I chopped the bottom 6" (incl. the wheels) off each of the 4 legs and removed the 20"x25" hardwood top. The latter actually looks like it will make a really handy tray for ferrying food and tableware between the kitchen and patio. I'll probably tray-ify it by drilling a pair of holes 4" apart on each of the shorter sides, symmetrically around the long axis - top half of each hole will be ~0.5", bottom will be ~1". Then loop a foot-long piece of 10mm-dia climbing accessory cord through the top of each hole pair, tie a tight knot in each end, cut off the excess inch or so on the cut-off side of each knot, seal the raw cable end with a hot knife to prevent fraying and pull each knot tight into the wide bottom half of its hole. Voila - pair of rope handles for EZ-carrying of the tray. Will post pic of that once it's done.

Nice piece of work, there, and admirable planning and accumulation of salvage. I would love such a bench if I lived in a place which could accommodate it. :tu:

~1THz-d/day
 

2 GTX 580s @ 900 and 918 MHz. A little over 1010 GHz-d/d. Having a cool spell in Chicago, so I can push them harder. They are also keeping my feet warm. :smile:

FX-8350, stock, running as a quad CPU, doing 1 LL, 1 DC, and 2 P-1. According to GPU72, those together are averaging a little over 16 GHz-d/d.

Estimated line power consumption: well over 800w. My Kill-a Watt started to brown around the outlet, but I'd guess from memory that the system is pulling something like 850w. Wish I'd got an i5 the last time I had to rebuild the system. :davieddy:

Of course, more modern GPUs wouldn't hurt on the power front, either.

Amusing number
 

Now that I just successfully completed the DC assignment, I can say how much I enjoyed the number involved:[INDENT]34747777
[/INDENT]All sorts of Today in Maths kind of games can be played. The simple one which jumped out at me is[INDENT] '3+4=7, 4= (the number of 7s following)'.
[/INDENT]There must be more inventive combinations. :smile:

Return to nature :)
 

Hiking season is started :)

I'm about to stop being a bloated plutocrat and to rejoin the proletariat.

Translation: as of 1st October I'll be employed again and will no longer have to live on savings and investments.

[QUOTE=xilman;410960]I'm about to stop being a bloated plutocrat and to rejoin the proletariat.

Translation: as of 1st October I'll be employed again and will no longer have to live on savings and investments.[/QUOTE]

We need to celebrate. I want to schedule a visit to Cambridge but it's so hard to do it because of the uncertainty of the weather.

[QUOTE=pinhodecarlos;410962]I want to schedule a visit to Cambridge but it's so hard to do it because of the uncertainty of the weather.[/QUOTE]Isn't it always rainy and miserable?

:davar55:

[QUOTE=kladner;410951]Now that I just successfully completed the DC assignment, I can say how much I enjoyed the number involved:[INDENT]34747777
[/INDENT]All sorts of Today in Maths kind of games can be played. The simple one which jumped out at me is[INDENT] '3+4=7, 4= (the number of 7s following)'.
[/INDENT]There must be more inventive combinations. :smile:[/QUOTE]

If if were you I would go to Vegas and put $7777 in the biggest slot machine you can find fully expect it to come up 7-7-7-7.

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;410963]Isn't it always rainy and miserable?

:davar55:[/QUOTE]Not at all! Summer happens for at least one day each year and we invariably get snow instead of rain for at least one other day each year. Sometimes "miserable" isn't emphatic enough and we are forced to resort to "thoroughly unpleasant".

Occasionally it's foggy.

[QUOTE=petrw1;410966]If if were you I would go to Vegas and put $7777 in the biggest slot machine you can find fully expect it to come up 7-7-7-7.[/QUOTE]

I guess I wasn't quite that amused by the digits. I fear that synchronicity might not affect a one-armed bandit sufficiently. :wink:

My family recently got back from an amazing trip to New Zealand. Post-vacation blues aside, it was one of our best trips ever.

[QUOTE=xilman;410971]Not at all! Summer happens for at least one day each year and we invariably get snow instead of rain for at least one other day each year. Sometimes "miserable" isn't emphatic enough and we are forced to resort to "thoroughly unpleasant".

Occasionally it's foggy.[/QUOTE]
Miserable isn't worse than thoroughly unpleasant? To me, thoroughly unpleasant means extremely unhappy, but miserable would involve the addition of tears.

[QUOTE=ixfd64;410991]My family recently got back from an amazing trip to New Zealand. Post-vacation blues aside, it was one of our best trips ever.[/QUOTE]

My wife and I are heading there in February...any suggestions:

- Must do
- Don't bother
- South Island vs North Island
etc.

Thx