contradiction day

1) i don't understand non-euclidean geometry, and nystire spent a large part of the day trying to convince me that a triangle on a convex surface has oversized angles.
he had varying success, but until further notice / clarification / edification i'm sticking to my claim that it's not a triangle.

2) a riddle on the board: an array of (n - 1) numbers containing values 1 to n, the missing value is unknown.
a) find the value in O(n)
b) if two values are missing (same array, but of size (n-2)), find both values in O(n)
note: in both cases, the memory usage is finite and limited - no arrays of length n

i did overcomplicate the second bit (eventually i figured it out), but i was irritated by a girl in our section being convinced that O(n) means n, and so sure of herself that she told us to go and check it out.
*harrumph*

3) the falafel was NOT falafel. the food was absolutely disgusting.

i was suddenly reminded of an earlier riddle: two spies, each with a briefcase, a secret message, a lock and a key must pass their messages across a border where inspectors will open a lock that there's a key to. the message must be protected, and the key and the lock cannot both be sent across. for clarification, they cannot be sent across separately, either.
the solution is a well-known method of securing data

i really don't have the energy to fill out insurance forms right now. i'm tired, although not exhausted for once, and my brain wants a rest.

i think it's the blinds that made the difference - i slept like a baby last night! either because of the colour, the comfortable darkness in the morning, the fact that i used incense because i already had a flame going to light the room, or because i've finally finished all the big fixes and changes in the apartment, i slept way past my alarm this morning. the funny bit is that even though i missed my ride, we met up at the central bus station and travelled together because his car broke down :P

anyway, after the inital panic i shaved, grabbed my towel and made my way to a useful stop to wait half an hour for the wrong bus - if i'd found out about the breakdown earlier i would've had my pick of lines :/

the saviours of my sanity today:
artelligent (a few tracks) and the RPO remix of antix - circade. that last one made my mouth go upside down with its intensity.

i love my TL. to bits. tiny, messy little bits. we spent ages arguing over what exactly i'm expected to do at the moment. *grumble*

i guilted the civilian in our office into buying coffee - he's been drinking all of mine and not chipping in for months. did he think it was army supplied?

quote of the day
our resident vogon (my SC) to his apprentice vogon (my TL): "i don't want to cause bureaucracy"... this is a man who knows nothing *but*.

i drew this week's kitchen duty, and so had to take out the big trash bag. as usual, filled with liquids. when i got back i drew a particularly offensive cartoon, and put it on a poster which went something like:
not used to using your brain?
DON'T WORRY - WE'LL HELP YOU!
how to dispose of cups:
1) if cup is empty, place in trash can and carry on about your business
2) if cup is not empty, pour contents into the sink and *then* place in trash can
...
why?
those performing kitchen duty would prefer it if foreign liquids did not spray all over them

the last minute of the day brought news that the shuttle wasn't going to be happening - so it was up to me to go and inform the poor kids who were already waiting. i probably could've said it nicer:
"who's going to tel aviv on the shuttle this evening?"
chorus of "me"s.
"no, you guys think you're going on that shuttle. it's time to find another way home"

i spent the next half an hour with a cute girl from the shuttle (although not that cute) finding an alternative route home, and we caught the bus together and talked awkwardly all the way home. i drew some cash, changed gear...

... and went to catch the sunset ^_^

on the way back home, i stopped by the old apartment to pay a bill, did some shopping, and i've been at home doing loads of nothing online and with my guitar until now.

i called a girl who's supposed to be able to help with nystire's "undo button", but from the way she sounded on the phone i'm concerned that she may be a different girl that nystire's trying to connect me with romantically... i'll double-check tomorrow.

and now it's bedtime.