light & (darkly)

Welcome to Mathew With One T.com Version 3.0!

Just kidding.

This isn’t another revision. Just some things for the commited viewers who still don’t use RSS:

• I added “Most Recent Comments” on the sidebar over there —>
• I changed the gallery template to match my existing photo template. No more tiny “next” and “previous” button at the bottom of the screen.
• Old articles that have no reread value to my friends, but high value to first time visitors (like the iPhone how-to’s), will now have an additional two blocks of ads on them. Hey, hosting this website isn’t cheap, kids.
• I’m going to start moving my Yelp reviews over to my blog… Slowly but surely.

Affect vs Effect (and why you should give uh-ffect)

It’s grammar time, kiddos.

Seriously, it’s driving me insane that mid- to late-twentysomethings in graduate school STILL cannot differentiate between affect and effect. This is graduate school, yo… This isn’t remedial high school English. You should know these things.

So let’s review…

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OMG! OMG! It’s JUSTIN!

More after the jump.

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My Predictions for the Election.

What is an election without some predictions? Here are mine. These are just predictions and are not meant to influence your vote. I don’t care how you vote.

EDIT: Results here.

Details after the jump.

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Rubik’s Cube Girl: Here’s your photo.

To The Rubik’s Cube Girl at Union Square on Halloween:

Your costume was awesome. I’m sorry I scared you and you ended up trying to run away from me for a good 30 seconds, but it turned out alright. Thanks for smiling and being a good sport about the photo — it wouldn’t have been as funny if you were sad or crying.⁽¹⁾

I doubt you’ll actually google “Rubik’s cube union square halloween”, but if you did, here is our photo.⁽²⁾

Sincerely,

Mat

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1. Well, maybe it would have been funnier. Who knows? [↩]
2. If you want a bigger version, you can leave a comment. [↩]

Wait… You didn’t forget my birthday, right?!

I’m just kidding. I really don’t care if you did.

It is coming up soon, but this entire week has felt like one really awesome birthday present…
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Hi there, I am poverty epitomized.

Oscar Wilde once said, “Who, being loved, is poor?”

Mr. Wilde and I would not have gotten along. Not one bit. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining and I know I’m well above the $1-a-day sustenance level of sub-Saharan Africans, but being poor in New York is not like being poor in San Diego. It’s like a science out here… Therefore, this is what I’ve resorted to: Continue reading…

Vending Machine Thief, Law of Large Numbers, and Me.

In any chance event, when the event happens repeatedly, the actual results will tend to be the calculated, or planned, results.

That is the law of large numbers, one of the many great principles proposed by Jacob Bernoulli 1700s.⁽¹⁾ Bernoulli is basically saying that any random occurrence, if repeated enough, will average out to the theoretical (calculated) value. So flipping a coin once or twice may not get the value we would expect (heads 50% of the time, tails 50% of the time), but if we did it over the course of 100, 1000, or 100 million times, it would get increasingly close to 50% on average.

According to this, I should be hitting some free stuff from a vending machine at time now… Continue reading…

1. He also thought up the Bernoulli principle — a basic principle in fluid dynamics and one of the theories about why airplanes can fly. [↩]

I Broke A Scale Today. Seriously.

The thing about being in any sort of public health program is that you start to develop these abnormal habits.

I’ve met a person who uses Purell like it’s lotion. I’ve met a person who refuses to touch anything on the subway — including handrails, seats, and other human beings. I’ve met somebody somebody who plays “Guess what disease that stranger is going to die from…” when she’s bored.⁽¹⁾

Now, I’ve developed my own ridiculous habits.

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1. It’s almost always cardiovascular or cancer, btw. [↩]

McCain’s going to disappear Jill Greenberg.

9/23/08 Update: Gallery of images here.

Jill Greenberg has got some serious cojones..

I am not a big fan of her work. I mean she’s just not a very talented photographer — in fact, I’d say she’s proof you don’t have to have talent to be a famous “artist”. She has a singular style that defines her and that style is overdone, overplayed, and, quite frankly, unimpressive. She makes kids cry for the sake of art. She takes photos of monkeys and people think its revolutionary. She twists truths and often outright lies for her own benefit.

Just not a fan.

Nevertheless, the manipulation she did to John McCain during a shoot for The Atlantic was nothing but pure guts. I will definitely give her that.

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