Dave's Blog

Monday, September 29, 2003 10:47:25 PM

Someone told me that if I vote for Georgy Russell I'll be 
throwing my vote away.  Why?  

It seems to me that if I vote for one of the leading candidates 
I'll be throwing my vote away.  Because the fewer votes that 
Bustamante, McClintock and Schwarzenegger get, the more history 
will show the public dissatisfaction with the status quo.  If I 
vote for one of the leading candidates, my dissatisfaction won't 
be clearly recorded.  Remember the Luddites?  And we're all 
Whigs or Tories, right?  Change comes through expressing what we
want, not through expressing what we don't want.  As they used 
to say in Silicon Valley, if you have an idea how to do something 
better, then you are in charge of the committee to do it.  

If Mary Carey had been eligible to take the governor's seat, I 
might have voted for her.  There is no question whether her 
record is squeaky clean.  We know where she would go, politically.  
There is no question where she stands on privacy if she wants a 
webcam in every room of the governor's mansion.  But she ran to 
promote her acting career.  She will forever be the actress who 
ran for governor.  She is tired of talking about her platform.  
Hey, it's not that big!  It's humorous!  It has a point or two of 
insight!  But she isn't interested any more.  

Georgy cares.  We don't know if she's squeaky clean, but at least 
she knows what a governor does.  She'll probably never gain fame 
as the programmer who ran for governor.  And if I vote for her, 
she may take heart and continue pursuing politics.  Yes, she may 
rise in an established party, but she has a fresh point of view.  
In QA or customer support, whenever we wanted to find out what 
was really wrong with a product, we would have a naive person try 
to use it.  Preferably a person who knew nothing about the 
product and had never been asked to test it before.  The 
questions they would ask sometimes led to a complete change in 
the product.  

The old pols created the current governmental situation, and 
they are all too close to it to fix it.  We need a complete 
change in our government, and we'll only get it when we vote 
for it.  That's why it's worthwhile to vote for Georgy.  


Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 22:23:31 -0700 (PDT)
From: A Student
Subject: c question

Hi David,

Thank you for letting me know about cyberspace.org I'm
now using it to test C programs. I have a simple
question, i wrote a program like this,

when i compile and run it, it gives me this result

123.12345123451230222

can you tell me why is it that 222 is added to the end
instead of 000

How can I make it exact?

Thanks again

---------------

From: David Dull
To: A Student
Subject: Re: c question
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 18:22:52 -0700

A look at p. 2-10 of the Introduction to C Programming by William 
Holliker will show you that in any format, your assignment had too 
many significant digits for any C language data representation. So 
the compiler had to truncate the number, and it would necessarily be 
inaccurate.

This also involves a precision error due to the fact that numbers are 
stored in binary, not decimal, format.  Just like 1/3 in decimal is 
represented as 0.3333... there is no exact representation of many 
fractions in binary.  So you may also be seeing a round-off error that 
gets worse as your number is interpreted from decimal to binary for 
storage, then back from binary to decimal for display. It's a classic 
issue, addressed at least three ways.

One is to "normalize" the number, making it an integer instead of
floating-point.  Then when you're finished manipulating it with 
arithmetic, you have to interpret the result taking into 
consideration how you normalized it.

Another is to use even higher precision.  This is the typical 
approach, and scientists are quite aware that a 32-bit number, after 
multiplication, division, etc. can yield a result that has only five 
or six significant bits.  How the data is represented internally is 
relevant, and the double-precision number has 15 significant digits. 
See p. 2-12 of the Introduction to C Programming for the limits of 
data representation.

A third way that computer designers have dealt with the issue is to 
create a decimal arithmetic that can run on binary circuits.  Each 
digit has 10 states, and is internally represented with four bits of 
circuitry. (The decimal number 10 takes four binary digits.)  Since 
four bits can represent 16 states, some of these are unused.  This is 
a solution that has been used on calculators.  If you write your own 
"binary-coded decimal" arithmetic, you can make it arbitrarily 
accurate.  Just remember that there are inaccuracies in decimal 
arithmetic, too, like the infinitely repeating 3 in the 
representation of 1/3.

Sincerely,
--David Dull
ddull@netcom.com 
http://www.DavidDull.com

Mary Carey for Governor

Georgy for Governor

9/25/2003

I have previously ranted about the Congress and how it gave unlimited 
power to the President on September 12, 2001.  All of them, that is, 
except Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland, who was righteously reelected.  
If the world is to change for the better, we have to elect fresh, 
untainted blood to our government.  In case you're reading this note 
in Nauru or the 22nd Century, the hot topic of the moment is 
California's campaign to recall Governor Davis.  Now Gray Davis has 
committed no crime.  He is just being blamed for the sins of the 
California legislature, as far as I can see.  Confusion has become so 
prevalent that Rep. Darryl Issa, who provided the initial funding for 
the recall action, has recommended Republicans vote against the 
recall if the Republican Party can't unite behind a single candidate.  
That single candidate, according to Issa, should be Arnold 
Schwarzenegger.  

Lest we think that an actor is not fit for office, remember that 
President Ronald Reagan was an actor, and was a California governor 
as well.  Most of the history of California has been tightly coupled 
with the film industry, and it still is today.  So electing an actor 
for governor is perfectly acceptable.  However, it has been pointed 
out by Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and others, that Arnold is picking 
a loser of a management team.  Georgy points out on her web site 
that picking a winning management team is one of the primary 
responsibilities of the Governor.  If he picks a known bad team, it's 
a given that he's going to be a known bad governor.  

So who is Georgy?  She's a smart, young, Silicon Valley "software 
engineer," ready to jump into the seat and bring the California 
government back to a common-sense approach.  She's 26, and she earned 
a degree at U.C. Berkeley.  Software engineering is a primary 
industry of California.  

There's another smart, young woman running for governor.  She's 22, 
and an immigrant -- from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  Her stage name is 
Mary Carey, and she's an actress.  Like Arnold Schwarzenegger is an 
actor.  In fact, there's more than one parallel here, but I'll leave 
that up to the reader to explore.  Mary acts in "adult films," the 
kind you're supposed to be 18 to see.  The kind you have to be 18 to 
act in.  And she's going to school.  The film industry is also, as I 
have noted before, a primary industry of California.  By the way, the 
film industry hasn't spent the last year bemoaning the exportation of 
its jobs overseas.  

While Cruz Bustamante, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom McClintock et al 
are vying for the seat, one pattern strikes me over and over again.  
All these people are deeply entrenched in traditional politics, the 
politics that this recall was supposed to cure!  While Darryl 
Issa weepingly withdrew from the race a few weeks ago, his 
recommendation that Republicans vote against the recall indicates he 
did not have high motives.  Simply put, it appears to me that he 
wanted the Republicans to commandeer the California government 
between regular elections.  

Whither the noble exit?  How about someone young?  Someone female?  
Someone who is not entrenched in a political machine?  How 
about a line worker in a major industry, who has friends who have 
been affected by the stagnant legislature, who has a personal 
interest in how the government spends its money at a level higher 
than how much of that money will wind up in her own pockets?  

Both Mary Carey and Georgy Russell have their own web sites.  Both of 
them have used their sites to disseminate their own political views 
and to raise campaign money.  They're both smart, informed, ambitious 
people.  I appreciate the insight that Georgy has put into her 
internet presentation, and that presentation made me seriously 
consider voting for her.  But she has one flaw that makes me stop and 
wonder:  she's a Democrat.  That's right, she may not be at the top of 
the heap, or steeped in decades of glad-handing, but she's in the 
system.  Mary Carey is an independent.  And that is a factor 
that would earn her my vote.  Mary has a better chance to explore  
new directions and new strategies.  

Now, since Gray Davis has committed no crime, I am against the recall 
in the first place.  That's how I'll vote.  But the election is 
structured so that those who vote against the recall can also vote 
for whom they would like to hold the seat, should the recall succeed.  
I don't want it to be any of the pack that got us here in the first 
place.  

But wait -- there's more!  Georgy's site shows that one of the 
qualifications for governor is to have been a resident of California 
for the five years immediately preceding the election!  Since Mary 
immigrated last year, she couldn't take the office even if she were 
elected!  And so ... I'll vote for Georgy!  


9/22/2003 

I believe that the Universe is intelligent, that what we perceive 
as intelligence is part of a larger pattern that extends 
throughout all we know.  The Universe is constantly creating, 
has always existed, and will always exist.  Everything in the 
Universe is a result of its constantly unfolding, creating, and 
becoming self-aware.  I believe that which we call God is the 
Universe itself.  

I believe that we, as parts of the Universe, are actually parts 
of God, and as such we are as holy as anything that we name God.  

I believe that the conscious energy we call ourselves is immortal, 
and as such, will continue to grow throughout eternity.  

I believe that which the Bible calls the Kingdom of Heaven is not 
a place, but a state of mind.  It is the Peace on Earth, the 
serenity and bliss of the mystics.  This state of mind can only 
be found within us, not in external circumstances.  

I believe that as all life strives for Peace, that ultimately 
this motivation will cause all life to learn to live at Peace, 
and when all life has learned this lesson, the Universe will 
be at Peace.  

I believe that the Life Force, which is the Universe itself, is 
within me as well as all around me, and is within all parts of 
the Universe.  

I believe that each of us can become aware of the Universal Life 
Force, that it is the life within us as well.  That which we name 
God is accessible to each of us through our own intuition.  

I believe that in accessing the life force through intuition, 
all knowledge is accessible to me.  Through my own life force I 
can hear the Universal Life Force, and everything I need 
to know will be revealed to me.  I believe this is true for 
everyone, not just myself, as we are all points of consciousness 
of the Universe.  

I believe that the Universal Life Force also hears my life 
force, and that all my thoughts are translated by It into the 
effects around me that appear as the physical world.  

I believe that the physical condition of my body is changed through 
the action of the Universal Life Force responding to the thoughts 
generated through my personal life force.  

I believe that the physical condition of my surroundings is also 
changed through the action of the Universal Life Force responding 
to the thoughts generated through my personal life force.  

I believe that as I desire to be well and happy, that the Universe 
desires to be well and happy.  The Desire of Life for Peace drives 
the Universe to provide health and happiness to all of its parts.  

I believe that my evolution is the evolution of the Universe, and 
that as an individual point of consciousness in the Universal Life 
Force, the life that I express is the Life of God.  


9/22/2003 

Recognition:  There is one Power and one Presence in the Universe, 
one Universal Mind from which all knowledge springs.  

Unification:  My mind is part of the Universal Mind.  It is a point 
of expression within the Universal Mind, I am one with it and it 
is One with me.  

Realization:  I, David Dull, speak my word for Joe, and I declare 
that this word is the power unto the Law and it must produce what 
I declare.  I declare that all knowledge is available to me, that 
I am constantly bathed in all the information I need when I need 
it.  I know that my inner Self understands what is best for me, 
and that I hear it and act on it without doubt or hesitation.  I 
understand that my intuition is the Divine speaking to me.  I 
know that this is true for me, and that it is true for Joe as 
well.  

Thanksgiving:  I am thankful, happy, relieved and uplifted by the 
assurance that what my intuition tells me is the infallible truth, 
that the decisions I need to make are already made, easily and 
effortlessly, both for me and for Joe.  I am happy that all I need 
is within me now.

Release:  I now release my word to the perfect action of the Law.  
I let go of all worry and effort and debate, knowing that my 
intuition is correct, knowing that there is nothing more that 
needs to be done.  I go forward in confidence and trust.  I let go 
and let God.   


9/16/2003 

Recognition:  There is only one Mind, one Power, one Life, flowing in 
and through and as all things.  

Unification:  This Universal Life, this ultimate Power, flows in me, 
through me, as me.  I am a part of this universal consciousness.  

Realization:  As part of the Universal Life Force, always becoming, 
always expressing, I am whole, healthy, and complete.  My vision is 
God's vision, and God's vision is perfect.  All the cells in my body 
heal naturally, as the Life Force in them expresses itself perfectly.  
My every thought and word of health is a prayer to which each cell 
responds.  I am perfect in every way.  

Thanksgiving:  I am grateful, joyous, happy that health is mine, that 
perfect vision is mine, that perfect Life is mine.  

Release:  Knowing that all is well and all is perfect, I now release 
my word to the perfect action of the Law.  I let live, I let go, I 
let God.  


Tuesday, September 16, 2003 8:54:07 AM 

Journaling versus journalism.  I was given journaling exercises 
in the 5th grade.  I didn't understand what keeping a diary was 
all about, but my teacher was pretty excited about it.  In high 
school I enrolled in journalism, thinking it had something to do 
with journaling.  I was disappointed when I found out that it 
was the production of the school newspaper.  Not knowing how to 
withdraw from the course, I simply dropped out.  That behavior 
was repeated in my first pass through college -- only after I 
learned to understand and follow rules in the Coast Guard did I 
have the wherewithal to withdraw from courses that did not agree 
with me. In recent years my frustration with the press emerged as 
I could not find impartial reporting.  There is no such thing as 
impartial reporting, each journalist is inexorably compelled to 
editorialize to some degree.  

What drives one to report?  Either one has an agenda or one is 
simply hopeful that others will listen to their reportage.  The 
last few years have seen some incredibly negative reporting, and 
I have had to constantly search the annals of the Internet for 
positive opinions.  Now I understand.  The reporters themselves 
were in their own private -- or not so private, since they were 
reporting -- depressions.  

Why did I start and keep a blog?  My own desire to be heard, by 
however few, in whatever places, and to put a statement of 
optimism in the public record.  Now I understand.  Journalism is 
journaling, but in a different forum.  Public journaling is the 
act of placing your opinion open for public review.  Whether a 
dialogue ensues, creating an opportunity for learning, or 
whether nobody responds, creating a free track for 
self-expression, the fact that a public record has been created 
makes one's opinion seem more valid.  Perhaps this is the drive 
that is prompting so many persons to open their own blogs on the 
public blogging sites.  Yes, it has become a fad, in a way, but I 
believe it is a healthy fad.  What a rich resource must exist, 
because so many people are expressing themselves in public!  

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