In my first Data Structures class I was assigned a project where I was required to gather input from a user and then operate on that input to evaluate a mathematical expression. While I was writing the program I discovered how to dynamically allocate memory for an array of characters input from stdin. While I ended up abandoning the technique becuase it wasn’t going to work in that specific project, I wanted to document it here so I wouldn’t forget about it and so that others could benefit from my small insight.

I just got my hands on my shiny new copy of Ghost v0.3.0! What’s the first thing I wanted to do? Deploy my new personal blog to Heroku! In my first post on my new Ghost blog I’m going to outline the steps that were necessary for me to first get Ghost running locally and then successfully deploy the site to Heroku.

It’s never too early & it’s never too late, not to decide what your priority is, but to constantly reevaluate what your priority is. The trick lies in knowing that everyday you spend awake slightly alters your priorities and perceptions. Once you can acknowledge that, you’re truly free to control your priorities instead of constantly trying to live by them.

I was recently asked “If you could design a woman fit for Dom, what would the personality traits, looks, etc be?”

Home. So tired. I’ve been up for so long I’m not sure what the numbers on the clock mean anymore. They’ve become sequential wanderers without a purpose, marching towards an unknown destination. There’s a surreal feeling in my apartment tonight. Lights are off, the only sound floating in on the cool New York breeze crossing the barrier usually guarded by my window. I’ve been pouring the fundamentals of Calculus into my overcrowded brain non-stop for the past three days. Today was my midterm, the culmination of constant cramming since 7am yesterday morning. That’s 39 hours of limits, continuity, rules of differentiation and theorems that have all melded into an incoherent set of rules to operate on functions that I’m still not sure represent an ultimate purpose. Success has yet to be determined, as grades will not be posted for a few days.

It is said that you can tell a lot about the culture of a society by examining its tallest buildings. During the middle ages the church’s steeple could be seen from every corner of a town or city, casting its dominance over the cultural beliefs of the inhabitants. Today we all live in the shadows of the gleaming steel and glass towers that proclaim the victory of capitalism and consumption.

The sociological influence wielded by the Native American tribes in the United States is profound to say the least. From government programs and subsidies to political lobbying, these tribes create opportunities for themselves that are unavailable to almost every other minority group in America. Money affords a special few Native American tribes access to an elevated status in the American political system, allowing those tribes to succeed while others languish in poverty.

The PBS documentary People Like Us illuminates a lot of interesting points about class in America. It explains how we organize ourselves into “tribes” based on similar interests and levels of income. These tribes do not remain static over the course of our lives. As we grow and change, the members of our tribe also change. We join new tribes and leave old ones. More often than not these tribes are based on race and income level. Interestingly, Americans, while living in this dynamic class structure, refuse to acknowledge that it exists; clinging hopelessly instead to the false ideal of “American Equality” endlessly perpetuated by socialization.

The poor never get a break…

I’m currently reading The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene. The current section is all about the concept of time from the point of view of entropy, which is a way to measure the tendency of a physical system to move from an orderly to disorderly state. It is the second law of thermodynamics and was initially intended to be used in the analysis, design and management of large scale systems and processes where a measurement of the probabilities are needed to calculate the likely-hood of losing efficiency to heat. But it was later discovered by physicists that the equations could also be used to measure the probabilities of any complex system to always move from a state of order to disorder. It occurred to me that the ideas of entropy could just as easily be applied to sociology - since society, at its most basic, is just a large complex system made up of individual human beings (as opposed to individual machines or atoms and molecules). I think there is a kind of social entropy that is constantly at work, forever moving an orderly group of individuals to a state of chaos and disorder.

Chuck Lorre has been writing for television shows for almost 40 years. All of his shows end with what he calls a “vanity card.” They are short messages that are like blog posts that he’s been writing since before blogs existed. Sometimes they’re stories he makes up, other times it’s just a thought he had earlier that week. Some are funny and some are sad; but every so often there’s one that really makes you think. This weeks episode of The Big Bang Theory ended with a vanity card that I think speaks to everything I’ve been learning about in class: society, culture and how socialization affects who we are and how we see the world. I thought I’d share it with all of you…

Syria is just one of the Middle Eastern countries that’s been affected by the ongoing “Arab Spring” that began in that part of the world over a year ago. Atrocities committed by government forces in the city of Homs, as well as other cities across that country, have kept Syria at the top of most major news broadcasts for the past several weeks. Rebel forces recently intercepted and leaked several thousand emails sent by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Amongst other things, these emails clearly show just how far globalization has spread in our modern world.

Carl Sagan once called the Earth a “pale blue dot”. This is due to the fact that 97% of our little world is covered by water. This divine liquid has given rise to every form of life that currently exists on our planet as well as all the others that came before us. It is often said that water is the elixir of life. More specifically it is clean, drinkable, potable water that is the true enabler of not only our physical evolution but, more importantly, the ability of entire civilizations to pull themselves out of poverty and into productive, economically viable societies. Access to clean drinking water is most often the deciding factor in determining the heath and well being of a people. Unfortunately this all-important ingredient in the success of a stable and progressive society is often the hardest resource to acquire. If the global community cannot agree on a course of action to secure access to clean water for all inhabitants of our pale blue dot then not only will most of our fellow earthlings perish from disease and famine, many more will suffer in the eventual conflicts over the most basic of human needs…thirst.

The constant of change has persisted on as I look back I can barely see the peaks I once stood upon.

John Lennon once said, “Reality leaves a lot to the imagination”. Any discussion of reality vs. non-reality will by its very nature be subject to the experience of the person speaking as much as that of the one listening. Reality like time, and to a certain extend the truth, is relative. Whether you’re analyzing a play, watching one of the numerous “reality” television programs, or waking up from a dream, you are experiencing a version of reality that exists singularly at that point in space and time. The thin line between perceived reality and imagined non-reality is nothing more than a conscious construct necessary to maintain one’s sanity.

Suffering is God’s Mother, and pain – His Father. There isn’t a living being on this planet that hasn’t been exposed to suffering in some capacity. You can see it in the faces of your closest friends and relatives, as well as find it’s stain on almost every form of artistic expression. Many outlets have been explored to express and convey these constructs in terms that we can understand, but few provide any comfort or solace. Pain and suffering, whether emotional or physical, are core components in defining who we are as sentient beings.

The plural of the 2 wouldn’t that be 4? In this world the solitude persists… my back I feel against the floor.

If you can’t feel the rain on your face, then you’re all for not_

As I knock on the door of my future I can hear no echo, almost as if its empty, I may have to let-go.

I am astonished by the many faces which leave so many traces.

I live in a world where I rule yet no one seems to notice.

She looks but she doesn’t see I wish but I cannot seem to be the focus of her sight someone help me.

I’d like to go to a place where no one is, Where I can be alone to live in harmony.

Look around you what do you see? Is it real, are you as happy as you can be?

You can look to the future just like you look to the past, but the present moves too fast.

Take into account how you feel in the morning. It could be the tell tale sign of how you sleep the next night. Find something hard in everyday, and then conquer it. Its so easy to speak to paper, it listens like all is silent and only you matter. I think I would enjoy living in a quiet corner where not much happens, and I could be alone with my thoughts. I already know I like to get drunk. There’s something special and personal about being inebriated. It’s almost a way of looking in on your self. Much can be discovered from this point of view, but like all points of view it cannot be the only one. For one point of view is both sad and depressing, look at everything from all angles and its way more interesting. OK, I’m done with this page, thanks for listening it helps control rage.

I would like to run far into the night. To a place where darkness becomes light.

I find myself alone on a plane of existence, everyone is close but not as resistant.

Holy shit. what if we couldn’t speak! Could I talk in a voice that means retreat? Or would the world seem different, in a silent void that is reluctant to reveal its yield? How do you think? Is it real? Or can you feel the presence that insists? I may just be a twitch! You son of a bitch how dare you resist, what if I wrote on a list, that I was going to slit your wrist, what if I tried to persist, would you show interest? What if it meant incest? What if it all was a test?

If we lived in a bed there would be a sheet that represents life it almost seems neat.

To find what you’re looking for means looking for what you can’t find. How many people truly believe what you can’t see when you’re blind.

When you find yourself thinking don’t limit the youth, they possess all that you would find uncouth.

Speak with a meaning but don’t always mean what you say. If I must believe Then I guess I should pray.

Your existence is eternal why must you fight it? If it weren’t for such a blessing you wouldn’t even believe it.

Can you touch an empty space is there something to be felt? Does it have a consistency like a deck of cards dealt.

Touch the sky everyday it’s the link to all, without the sky who would we be there would be no door to the stars.

Touch if, grab if, lick if,

Space travel grabs imagination to fly amongst the stars what an incredible infatuation.

Continue to use the tools you have if it weren’t for the available you couldn’t survive.

Look out for those who choose to haunt you. They are the ones choosing to live without you.

Strike the distance in one way or another it’s gone before you know it make time for what you wonder.

Thinking about love brings feelings unknown. Unable to fathom the connection that has grown.

What if there were no mirrors all reflections would bend and fold, depending on consistency and perception untold.

Patch the holes in your heart with life lived extreme. Indulgence and glamour feed fulfillment, and place meaning on the word team.

The light of belief is a blinding sight, I want to close my eyes and I just might.

If you could listen with your eyes what would you hear?

Life is never created nor destroyed only experienced.

If there was only a way you could be the one.

Out of darkness comes enlightenment.

I’m thinking of someone you might know.

To all who are listening please understand…

Out of the darkness is where it’s from.

If I had the power to perceive

People never cease to amaze me

The water flows The air blows – The fire burns and the earth churns –

God is looking down on all of us…

Time goes by leaving it’s stench on the road. All that falls once again must grow.

The depths of perception delve deeper into unconsciousness Than any mere organism could comprehend.

A better man I want to be whenever I feel she thinks of me, No games are played only feelings conveyed…

i have come to the conclusion that love is the product of combining admiration with bewilderment.

If there were no love – - would there be no life,? If there were no pain – - would there be no death?

As reality clenches tighter, I can feel my breath slipping. All I owe piles faster, surpassing any conception of height. –

Light travels through great darkness, over many millennia. Destined to be perceived by eyes all over the universe.

Finding and feeling you learn your way, never knowing how much you must pay. To you it is a necessary step, for others it’s a fucking paycheck.

We hope & pray, with hands clenched tight- - waiting – for when the time is right. - You place material means and value - Usually all your finances will allow u, Into the hand of your – god – and Then you wonder why all you received was a nod – (?)

Finding enlightenment isn’t hard, Teaching it is. Following footsteps isn’t hard, Creating them is. Finding ones own path isn’t difficult, Clearing it is…

Every so often I find myself battling demons That defy even my most structured comprehension. Bouncing, feverishly, through: thought, time and space, Religiously-ransacking any minute amount of reason.

Killing isn’t wrong, only perceived that way. Fore it is human nature, to take from another. Positions, love, money, - Hold no value to instincts?

Feed the hunger with one hand, Punch it with the other. Without feeling we may all enjoy life, Otherwise shut-up.