I had a dream involving Bates! Miki was in it, and Kelly, and Drew, and a bunch of people who were probably others in the Bill. It was weird; again I couldn't describe it, but there was a bunch of stuff happening outside, and there was a river nearby, and sports was slightly involved, and playground-equipment-like bleachers... again very odd. I hope to have one I'm able to describe soon.
On a side note, I've been blogging at a record pace! Let's see if I can keep it up.
Thursday, November 25, 2004
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful
Now, a lot of the time I think I'm wiser than many of my elders, particularly my grandma and Republicans. However, I have noticed that older women tend to complement my looks a lot... "You look so sharp!" "You're becoming a very good-looking man." etc. and so forth. Why, just today as I was waiting for the hair dresser to finish giving this old lady and her daughter their change, as I was checking the prices the old lady looked at me and said, "You're a very handsome young man," and then to her daughter commented, "Isn't he a very handsome young man?" I smiled modestly and said thank you. Now what I can't figure out is why I keep being told how handsome I am by older women who are merely being nice, while I never hear from young women. If any of you young women are reading this, don't be afraid... I promise I don't bite.
The Wandering Mighs of Turkey Break: A Report from the Home Front
I am home again! This is the second time I've been home since going to Bates, and I still miss Bates! However, things down here have been going pretty well. On Monday I went to the dentist, and on Tuesday I visited my friend Kelly from Bates, who lives alllllll the way up north in Lincoln, NH, thought it was very good to see her! Today I'm getting my hair cut and I was supposed to be meeting a good friend of mine from down here, but she had to cancel, so I don't know how likely it is that I'll be able to see her before break. *sigh* Anyway.
This just in: The Dentist reports that Nick's teeth look very good. However, he cautions that there are rumors of revolutionary groups setting up camp in the right side, so we'll have to watch this development very closely. Back to you, Jim.
I had a weird dream last night though... it involved foreign countries, the underworld, a tropical island with beautiful girls, a mall, a couple friends, a big office building with no locked doors, phones, spying, chinese food, and corruption. I couldn't describe it because I have little idea of what the order of events were. But I think you can imagine how weird that mix would be. Of course, not all of them were present at the same time lol.
Until next time, this is Nick Bauer, signing off.
This just in: The Dentist reports that Nick's teeth look very good. However, he cautions that there are rumors of revolutionary groups setting up camp in the right side, so we'll have to watch this development very closely. Back to you, Jim.
I had a weird dream last night though... it involved foreign countries, the underworld, a tropical island with beautiful girls, a mall, a couple friends, a big office building with no locked doors, phones, spying, chinese food, and corruption. I couldn't describe it because I have little idea of what the order of events were. But I think you can imagine how weird that mix would be. Of course, not all of them were present at the same time lol.
Until next time, this is Nick Bauer, signing off.
Sunday, October 17, 2004
The College Days
It's been waayyyyy too long since I last did anything here. Let me start off by saying that I love it here at Bates. No joke. I'm incredibly glad I didn't pursue Haverford or Williams any further after the bastards waitlisted me. I have great classes and professors, a wonderful dorm, a beautiful campus, and awesome friends. No luck on finding a girlfriend yet, though.
It's Sunday at 11 o'clock. I just woke up 10 minutes ago... God, I love not having to get up so early every morning. No church on sunday mornings either! I went to the first Catholic mass, which is at 7 pm, but it was so *boring*... And the lady who sang the songs sang them much too slowly. If they had more lively singing I would go, but I've been negelecting church; yeah, it's unfortunate, but ah well. I'm not *that* religious. Ah well.
Nothing really that exciting going on. There is the Red Sox vs. the Yankees, but I don't want to think about it... the Sox are being crushed. It's pitiful. Just pitiful.
Anyway, it looks to be a rather boring Sunday; maybe not as bad as yesterday, but bad enough.
It's Sunday at 11 o'clock. I just woke up 10 minutes ago... God, I love not having to get up so early every morning. No church on sunday mornings either! I went to the first Catholic mass, which is at 7 pm, but it was so *boring*... And the lady who sang the songs sang them much too slowly. If they had more lively singing I would go, but I've been negelecting church; yeah, it's unfortunate, but ah well. I'm not *that* religious. Ah well.
Nothing really that exciting going on. There is the Red Sox vs. the Yankees, but I don't want to think about it... the Sox are being crushed. It's pitiful. Just pitiful.
Anyway, it looks to be a rather boring Sunday; maybe not as bad as yesterday, but bad enough.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Funishness Even Without Meteors!
I had a great time last night! I picked up Ashley at 4:45 pm to avoid He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, and we went to my house to eat dinner with my family... Tortillini = yum! Afterwards, we watched the gag reel for Pirates of the Caribbean, got desert, and then watched the full movie. It was very long, actually, but good. Next we went to see if we could find a good place to watch the meteors from, but Stratham Hill Park was closed at night, and there were too many lights near UNH, and just plain too many mosquitoes everywhere! It was also still pretty cloudy. So we bought some food from Irving's and went to my house again, and watched Atlantis with my sister. Only after did we realize how late it was (1 am!). So I was going to take her home, but we noticed the sky had cleared up. We watched the meteors a little bit, then after it started to cloud up again I took her home. It was 2:30 am by the time I got home. That was the longest I'd ever hung out with her, and it was tres fun! :D
Going to Bates!
I've been so horrible about updating this.
Updates: I finally found out who my roommates are, one's from Maine, the other from Sweden. They both sound pretty cool, so hopefully the year will go well! Roger Williams Hall.
Fall Classes:
Updates: I finally found out who my roommates are, one's from Maine, the other from Sweden. They both sound pretty cool, so hopefully the year will go well! Roger Williams Hall.
Fall Classes:
- FYS 084 "Anatomy of a Few Small Machines"
- MATH 106 "Calculus II" Sec. B
- CHEM 107A "Atomic and Molecular Structures" Sec. A and Lab Sec. L3
- Still figuring this one out
Nicholas Bauer
67 Bates College
Lewiston, ME 04240
67 Bates College
Lewiston, ME 04240
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Summer Time
It's been a while, but a lot has happened in the meantime. I won't go too deeply into detail. Senior Week was fun, what with Newcastle Beach, the Senior Banquet with Ashley, and Awards Night (I got plenty of those!), and finally Graduation on June 11th, 2004, and everyone loved my speech! (see below). The graduation party at Kristen's house was fun, and I loved the Project Graduation trip. Anthony, who wasone of my roommates, and I got along surprisingly well. Summary: Dunkin' Donuts on the way, fell asleep at 4:30 am, woke up a 6 o'clock am and walked around the hotel with Devan, then back at the room to find my roommates watching porn... well, more like a movie with lots of not-quite-explicit sex, than porn per se. Then going to eat at Au Bon Pain with firends and teachers, and then taking a walk around Boston before the game. It was a beautiful day out. Then we went to the Red Sox game vs. the Dodgers. The Red Sox didn't do so well, to make an understatement.
There was an incident, though. We were sitting in front of a section of Dodgers fans.Later in the game, they decided to parade their big "Go Dodgers!" sign in front of an adjoining section of Red Sox fans. A teacher/chaperone from my school tore down the sign after the Sox fans booed and started throwing some food pieces at them. No violence, it was just that; probably prevented anyone else from throwing a punch or worse, in my opinion. The teacher was still escorted from the game, however. Every one of us supported him though. Him, and a couple of the other teachers apparently had been drinking--I don't know about drunk, but drinking--at the game. Some parent found out and told the Exeter News-Letter and the school superintendent. Such a big deal was made about it, and I'm not sure I think that the superintendent really had any jurisdiction over the matter, since we were all graduated and not part of the school system any longer, and it was all organized and funded by efforts of parents; apparently she reprimaded the teachers in question, but nothing entirely horrible. You see, nearly all of us students were adults, and none of us were drinking or anything (the purpose for Project Graduation is to provide a "Chem-free Graduation Party"), and it isn't as if, being adults, we're impressionable young kids who do exactly what we see our elders doing. It's sad that at least half of those on the trip probably would have been drinking at whatever party they would have been at. Suffice it to say, a couple of teachers drinking, or not drinking, would not have changed lives around.
More recently, I've been working part-time for one of my dad's colleagues, working on removing old computers and replacing them with brand new ones. I enjoy my work, and it's a heck of a lot better than McDonald's or Shaws.
Speaking of computers, I'm getting a brand-spanking-new one; so new it won't arrive until the end of July. DVD drive and a CD burner, 1024 MB memory, 160 GB hard drive, SoundBlaster Audigy 2 audio card, 256 MB ATI Radeon X800 XT video card, 5.1 speakers. About the only thing I wish was different was the monitor - 19" flat screen instead of 19" regular. The Dell printer I ordered with it, however, did arrive, and frankly, it sucks. I'm going to return it, to get a Canon or Epson printer, perhaps... probably Epson.
But anyway, I'm done rambling for now.
There was an incident, though. We were sitting in front of a section of Dodgers fans.Later in the game, they decided to parade their big "Go Dodgers!" sign in front of an adjoining section of Red Sox fans. A teacher/chaperone from my school tore down the sign after the Sox fans booed and started throwing some food pieces at them. No violence, it was just that; probably prevented anyone else from throwing a punch or worse, in my opinion. The teacher was still escorted from the game, however. Every one of us supported him though. Him, and a couple of the other teachers apparently had been drinking--I don't know about drunk, but drinking--at the game. Some parent found out and told the Exeter News-Letter and the school superintendent. Such a big deal was made about it, and I'm not sure I think that the superintendent really had any jurisdiction over the matter, since we were all graduated and not part of the school system any longer, and it was all organized and funded by efforts of parents; apparently she reprimaded the teachers in question, but nothing entirely horrible. You see, nearly all of us students were adults, and none of us were drinking or anything (the purpose for Project Graduation is to provide a "Chem-free Graduation Party"), and it isn't as if, being adults, we're impressionable young kids who do exactly what we see our elders doing. It's sad that at least half of those on the trip probably would have been drinking at whatever party they would have been at. Suffice it to say, a couple of teachers drinking, or not drinking, would not have changed lives around.
More recently, I've been working part-time for one of my dad's colleagues, working on removing old computers and replacing them with brand new ones. I enjoy my work, and it's a heck of a lot better than McDonald's or Shaws.
Speaking of computers, I'm getting a brand-spanking-new one; so new it won't arrive until the end of July. DVD drive and a CD burner, 1024 MB memory, 160 GB hard drive, SoundBlaster Audigy 2 audio card, 256 MB ATI Radeon X800 XT video card, 5.1 speakers. About the only thing I wish was different was the monitor - 19" flat screen instead of 19" regular. The Dell printer I ordered with it, however, did arrive, and frankly, it sucks. I'm going to return it, to get a Canon or Epson printer, perhaps... probably Epson.
But anyway, I'm done rambling for now.
Newmarket High School Valedictorian Speech Text
Parents and Families. Faculty and Administration. Friends, and Fellow Graduates.
Tonight, this ceremony marks a transition for our class. We are no longer boys and girls, but young men and young women, now not only responsible for ourselves, but for others as well.
We realize that this Real World we are now crossing into is, although a world of many possibilities, it is still not a utopia.
Corporate executives receive hundreds of millions of dollars to do their jobs, and receive millions more when they are fired. Then you have WorldCom, Tyco, Enron, and other scandals, where the top executives took advantage of their employees by feigning success purely to satisfy their enormous greed. Our country is engaged in a controversial war in foreign lands, and casualties continue to mount. Many politicians spit out half-truths and, sometimes, outright lies to convince others that they are correct.
This, unfortunately, is the forge in which we must shape our futures.
“So what?” some of you may be asking. Corporate executives have always been greedy, wars have always been controversial, and politicians have always been deceptive.
The point is that in entering the Real World, we graduates have the opportunity to make it exponentially better. Our future is the future of our country and our world, because eventually it is our generation who will become the politicians and executives, scientists and writers, trades-people, educators, and parents. From this point on, our thoughts and actions shape not only our own individual lives, but also the world in which we live.
As we blaze our trails through life, we must remember what is most important. And that is that we must stand up for what is right in everything that we do. There is nothing wrong with success, but in our success we must not forget that we are still human, still individuals, inherently equal to each other.
Not all of us will rise to positions of power, but each one of us still can be a catalyst for positive change in our daily lives. Those of us going to college can run for student government, or be involved in campus service organizations. Those of you going into the workforce can run for local offices or help out in the community. And those of you going into the military are already performing one of the highest services you can, placing your lives on the line to defend our country. But most importantly, all of us now have the right to vote, and we should not, must not squander that right.
In a few short minutes we will become official citizens of the Real World. In our lives we must not forget that we have the power to transform our world for the better, and it is our responsibility to use that power. This is our chance to take action, and we have the obligation to do so.
Thank you.
Tonight, this ceremony marks a transition for our class. We are no longer boys and girls, but young men and young women, now not only responsible for ourselves, but for others as well.
We realize that this Real World we are now crossing into is, although a world of many possibilities, it is still not a utopia.
Corporate executives receive hundreds of millions of dollars to do their jobs, and receive millions more when they are fired. Then you have WorldCom, Tyco, Enron, and other scandals, where the top executives took advantage of their employees by feigning success purely to satisfy their enormous greed. Our country is engaged in a controversial war in foreign lands, and casualties continue to mount. Many politicians spit out half-truths and, sometimes, outright lies to convince others that they are correct.
This, unfortunately, is the forge in which we must shape our futures.
“So what?” some of you may be asking. Corporate executives have always been greedy, wars have always been controversial, and politicians have always been deceptive.
The point is that in entering the Real World, we graduates have the opportunity to make it exponentially better. Our future is the future of our country and our world, because eventually it is our generation who will become the politicians and executives, scientists and writers, trades-people, educators, and parents. From this point on, our thoughts and actions shape not only our own individual lives, but also the world in which we live.
As we blaze our trails through life, we must remember what is most important. And that is that we must stand up for what is right in everything that we do. There is nothing wrong with success, but in our success we must not forget that we are still human, still individuals, inherently equal to each other.
Not all of us will rise to positions of power, but each one of us still can be a catalyst for positive change in our daily lives. Those of us going to college can run for student government, or be involved in campus service organizations. Those of you going into the workforce can run for local offices or help out in the community. And those of you going into the military are already performing one of the highest services you can, placing your lives on the line to defend our country. But most importantly, all of us now have the right to vote, and we should not, must not squander that right.
In a few short minutes we will become official citizens of the Real World. In our lives we must not forget that we have the power to transform our world for the better, and it is our responsibility to use that power. This is our chance to take action, and we have the obligation to do so.
Thank you.
Saturday, June 05, 2004
My Artwork from Art I
This is a tile series I did about America. I didn't have a chance to paint them yet, so I had to fiddle with the picture to get the details to stand out, which is why it looks oddly bluish. They're really white. Click on any of the pictures to enlarge them. 
This is a pastel grid enlargement of a 'remixed' propaganda poster. This one satirizes the Bush administration. The illustrator who did the original is Micah Wright
This was another etching I did, based on my own sketch. It started as a spiral, then saw it could be a road fading into the distance... then thought another arm could be the body of a dragon. Then I thought I saw a waterfall emerging from the spiral into a pond and flowing out of the frame. And for good measure, some shooting stars adorn the final side.
Sunday, May 16, 2004
On Consciousness
Over the past few days I've been thinking about the nature of consciousness--yes, I know, very philosophical of me. What started this all was an essay entitled "Artificial Intelligence" by Grant Fjermedal. In this essay, he describes an idea formulated by the respected robot scientist Hans Moravec. This idea was that in the future, we could become immortal by 'uploading' ourselves into a robot. This procedure would theoretically work by scanning the exact makeup and behavior of your mind and automatically writing software code that perfectly emulates this. Once the procedure is complete, your original body is killed, as you now exist in the robot. Supposedly...
The robot brain would contain a functional, completely acurate simulation of your brain contained in software. It would talk like you, walk like you, and otherwise behave exactly like you. Everyone, your family, your best friends, all would declare the robot to be you. But is the robot really you?
Now, we don't know what consciousness really is, or what its source is. How do we perceive the inputs from all of our senses as a single, whole experience? that makes us one distinct individual? Some think that the conscious self--the 'mind'--lies outside the body and is metaphysically connected to the body. Others think consciousness is a direct product of the electrochemical workings inside the brain. If your being lies in the brain itself, then that can't be transferred into the robot. And if your consciousness is outside the body, how do you tell it to attach itself to this robot? When it comes down to it, such a robot would be nothing more than an incredibly accurate simulation of you. And if you were allowed to live after the operation, you wouldn't feel any connection to the robot, and you and the robot would be two obviously separate entities.
More recently, though, I read Timeline by Michael Crichton. In it, a company has developed a technology that transports you between parallel universes by reconstructing you exactly in the other universe at the same time, but your old body is destroyed. It's even mentioned in the book that the person who comes back isn't really the person who left, though for all intents and purposes they're exactly the same... to an outside observer. It occurred to me that this same problem would be encountered in a teleportation device, because the method of transportation destroys you and then reconstructs you. The same would happen if the aforementioned robotic upload actually constructed a new biological brain for you. If perfect, the reconstructed you would seem to be exactly the same as the destroyed you. But can you really consider the reconstructed you the actual continuation of you? Because your own conscious experience would end when your original was destroyed; would your mind transfer to the new body? or would it be oblivion? This all raises very intriguing philosophical and ethical issues; does teleportation cause a real death each time? is the one's mind and behaviors more important that knowing that your friend is still the same flow of consciousness that you knew before? Wouldn't widespread employment of such destroy-and-reproduce technologies lower the importance of individuality? If we can be destroyed, created, and recreated at will, how insignificant do we become? Food for thought.
But there's another idea from this that caught my attention. There are many stories of identical twins being able to finish each other's sentences, and having their own language and shared dreams and knowing when something bad has happened to the other one... If this is true, what causes this? Is it perhaps because the two minds are similar enough that they perhaps blend somewhat? In that case, what might happen if an exact duplicate of you could be made? Would you experience both bodies as one single conscious experience? If that last question was true, and distance has no effect, then and only then could we say that teleportation or the other things I discussed above could be ethically and soundly used.
The robot brain would contain a functional, completely acurate simulation of your brain contained in software. It would talk like you, walk like you, and otherwise behave exactly like you. Everyone, your family, your best friends, all would declare the robot to be you. But is the robot really you?
Now, we don't know what consciousness really is, or what its source is. How do we perceive the inputs from all of our senses as a single, whole experience? that makes us one distinct individual? Some think that the conscious self--the 'mind'--lies outside the body and is metaphysically connected to the body. Others think consciousness is a direct product of the electrochemical workings inside the brain. If your being lies in the brain itself, then that can't be transferred into the robot. And if your consciousness is outside the body, how do you tell it to attach itself to this robot? When it comes down to it, such a robot would be nothing more than an incredibly accurate simulation of you. And if you were allowed to live after the operation, you wouldn't feel any connection to the robot, and you and the robot would be two obviously separate entities.
More recently, though, I read Timeline by Michael Crichton. In it, a company has developed a technology that transports you between parallel universes by reconstructing you exactly in the other universe at the same time, but your old body is destroyed. It's even mentioned in the book that the person who comes back isn't really the person who left, though for all intents and purposes they're exactly the same... to an outside observer. It occurred to me that this same problem would be encountered in a teleportation device, because the method of transportation destroys you and then reconstructs you. The same would happen if the aforementioned robotic upload actually constructed a new biological brain for you. If perfect, the reconstructed you would seem to be exactly the same as the destroyed you. But can you really consider the reconstructed you the actual continuation of you? Because your own conscious experience would end when your original was destroyed; would your mind transfer to the new body? or would it be oblivion? This all raises very intriguing philosophical and ethical issues; does teleportation cause a real death each time? is the one's mind and behaviors more important that knowing that your friend is still the same flow of consciousness that you knew before? Wouldn't widespread employment of such destroy-and-reproduce technologies lower the importance of individuality? If we can be destroyed, created, and recreated at will, how insignificant do we become? Food for thought.
But there's another idea from this that caught my attention. There are many stories of identical twins being able to finish each other's sentences, and having their own language and shared dreams and knowing when something bad has happened to the other one... If this is true, what causes this? Is it perhaps because the two minds are similar enough that they perhaps blend somewhat? In that case, what might happen if an exact duplicate of you could be made? Would you experience both bodies as one single conscious experience? If that last question was true, and distance has no effect, then and only then could we say that teleportation or the other things I discussed above could be ethically and soundly used.
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Break out the Champagne!
*Holds the champagne bottle high over his head*
"I christen thee S.S. Far Away From Hope"
*Shatters the champagne bottle against the blog*
Yes! I have finally, absolutely gotten this up and running! I got the comments system to work, and even added the "add comment" script to my pages so I could have my own color scheme. It's working out perfectly, I think. In the meantime, its 3:30 A.M. and I still have more schoolwork to do.
"I christen thee S.S. Far Away From Hope"
*Shatters the champagne bottle against the blog*
Yes! I have finally, absolutely gotten this up and running! I got the comments system to work, and even added the "add comment" script to my pages so I could have my own color scheme. It's working out perfectly, I think. In the meantime, its 3:30 A.M. and I still have more schoolwork to do.
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