Mike Hansen

Well, I'm glad I went with my backup prediction in my family competition! That was a great game. I was shocked when Roethlisberger couldn't get the comeback to work. In a Super Bowl, that's unlike him. The Packers were impressive, and I say they earned it. Easily my favorite Super Bowl. And definitely some good commercials (and of course some terrible ones). The Beaver pumping his fist against his chest was awesome. And the Darth Vader kid was a great one too. The half-time show was hilariously bad. But then again I like to listen to good music... maybe that's old fashioned?! Mike

Alright Adam, I've got my prediction. And I feel pretty good about it. I couldn't come up with anything until I made myself think about how the teams will actually score. As in specific scoring plays, such as Roethlisberger-to-Wallace for a TD, or a sack on third down that leads to a field goal, etc. I came up with a score of 20-17 for the Packers. And my backup prediction is 34-24 Packers. A little part of me doesn't expect the defenses to show up. Your turn. Mike

Adam, Awesome. Wasn't quite sure with your response (which was pretty funny). It's a screwy issue, that of science and scientists (and engineering and engineers (and math and mathematicians)). There are plenty of engineering students at the U who are going into engineering to make slaves of themselves ("oh, I just want to help people in third-world countries"), and their goals are purely political. I know plenty of physical science majors like that as well... they are the losers who collaborate with the liberal arts majors I referenced above, and give their cause the "approval" of a "scientist." I think, albeit in a different form, this is what Ike was talking about. (note that I put "scientist" in quote marks). I've got a hell of a lot more to say about this... but I've got to study now (yes, for a general ed course ). I've thought about this stuff a lot. When I can verbalize some of those thoughts effectively, I'll be back. And I've almost come up with my Super Bowl prediction. Almost. Initially I thought the video was fake... no way he could have actually meant that!! I love the response from the Admiral (or whoever he was). Mike

Adam, Good ideas, funny article... But I was referring to the fact that nearly all of these are either courses about which the student could be political (rather than scientific) or not courses in physical science (let alone upper division) (hiking is incredible, but a physical science course?). Or, in other words, non-physical science/math/engineering majors can take these and evade physical science even further, while also losing respect for it. All I can think of is the liberal arts majors who take these courses and learn that science is (1) a political issue and/or (2) an easy subject deserving no respect. It's these guys that continue the gross treatment of scientific matters in society/government. Hank Johnson is part of the inspiration for this thread. If you haven't heard, Guam may capsize soon: http://washingtonscene.thehill.com/in-the-know/36-news/3169-rep-hank-johnson-guam-could-tip-over-and-capsize And he was re-elected! Mike

Hi everybody, I have a neat little discovery to share today. First, I am not a fan of General Education Courses. They waste time, money, and mental effort that could be going towards my actual major (Chemical Engineering). However, in order to get a "well-rounded education" (in other words, to learn how to bullshit my way through Gen. Ed. courses), I need to have several of these courses be upper-division. Upon looking at the list of courses that fulfill these requirements, I found a pattern in the Physical Science section. I copied the entire list into Excel, filtered out the lower-division courses, and found the same pattern, only magnified. Here is the list of courses which fulfill the Upper-Division Physical Science requirements (and that can be taken without majoring in the topic): Rain Forest Ecology Global Environmental Issues Environmental Ed Mtns, Rivers, Deserts Global Climate Change Global Patterns of Life Intro Natural Hazards Urban Environmntl Geogr Global Environmental Issues Natural Disasters Geol/Scenery of Utah Utah Geol Field Trips The Water Planet The Oceans The Earth From Space Mtns, Rivers, Deserts Global Climate Change Global Patterns of Life Intro Natural Hazards Urban Environmntl Geogr Foundations/Science Technology of the Body Drug Theory Policy Prac Women in Physics Natural Disasters Sem/Wk-Science Topics-History of Math Global Influence Met Women in Physics Environmental Ed Can anybody else see the pattern?!?! And this list is better than the one including lower-division Physical Science courses, such as 'World of Dinosaurs' and 'Severe/Unusual Weather'. You don't need to be as pro-engineer/scientist/mathematician as I am to recognize that something is wrong when the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism and the Department of Education can teach upper-division Physical Science classes. Mike

Adam, That was a pretty surprising game. The Steelers ran the ball right through the Jets' defense. My prediction was based on the efficiency of Pittsburgh's defense, not it's offense... so I was half-right. I think one error of mine was not taking into account the effect of Brett Keisel's epic beard. It puts offensive linemen into a trance. The guy looks like a viking. Well, Steelers v.s. Packers it is. I'm excited. Both teams look like Super Bowl teams. We've got arguably the best offense in the league versus the best defense in the league; and a very good offense against a very good defense. This seriously is a great match-up. I'm trying to come up with an initial guess of the winning team, but I can't bring myself to favor one team over the other. The only thing I can say right now is that I think the Packers need to play above average to win, and the Steelers don't. But even that statement is hard to type... I'll figure it out. Mike

Lol that's hilarious. The Packers are really dominating this game. Especially on the run. Now that Cutler seems to be out for good, it's over. I wouldn't be surprised at this point (5 minutes left in the 3rd) to see Rodgers go to the bench.

All right. After some good deliberation, I'm going to say: Green Bay 27 Chicago 17 Pittsburgh 20 NY Jets 17 But my confidence in these predictions isn't too high. Utilizing the Three Stooges (the shows have been on TV lately. awesome stuff!) as a "metaphor", I felt like Moe in the wild card (very confident in my predictions), Larry in the divisional (slightly confident), and Shemp right now! That puts me on track to feel like Curly for the Super Bowl... oh boy...

How could this possibly work? Each section of the tank's exterior can only be one color/image. How could multiple viewers at different angles see an image that fits with all of their expected backgrounds? Mike

Great video. I was interviewed at the facility in Lehi, Utah in October for a summer internship (chemical engineering). Needless to say, it's quite the building. Thanks for posting this. Mike

HAH! Good lord...

Adam, It's a tough schedule, but aside from general ed classes I wouldn't want it any other way. Quantum Chem is a real challenge, and the "mental workout" I get out of it is incredible. Same with PDEs. Tough courses, but very rewarding. The Jets really did dominate that game. If they show up like that again, I think they've got a good chance against Pittsburgh. But let's remember, they've played Indianapolis and New England. Not exactly the best defensive teams in the league... actually two of the worst. Now they're up against the Steelers. By far the best defense. And a very good offense too. I'm initially thinking Pittsburgh, but I'm hesitant to make that call so quickly. Revis and Cromartie are both incredible cornerbacks. But nobody on the Jets' defense is as fast as Mike Wallace (Pitt WR). He could give them problems. Neither New England nor Indianapolis has a guy with his speed. Should be a neat matchup. I'm so happy the Bears won. Packers-Bears is going to be great! I'm not sure who to pick for that one, but my gut tells me the Packers. Packers-Jets (best offense v.s. great defense) would be wild. Packers-Steelers (best offense v.s. best defense?) too. I guess I don't really want the Bears to win now. Packers v.s. Jets/Steelers is too good to cheer against! Mike

Unbelievable. Thanks. I'm working on a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. Partial Diff. Equations, Process Engineering, Quantum Chemistry, Chem. Eng. Seminar, and Intro to Film (ugh) this semester. So far so good. Mike

Yeah! The Packers are scary now. I'm excited for them to play the Bears (surprisingly, I cheer for both teams). Well, shoot. I guess I can't make a prediction for the Bears today. (Just finished the first week of winter semester. I needed the extra sleep!) Last night, though, I said that the Bears would win 20-17. I'm not out of it quite yet. Hmm. I'll go 24-17 for New England.

I'm going with Pittsburgh 13 Baltimore 10 Green Bay 28 Atlanta 24 3 hours, 29 minutes!

Thanks, guys. I take a lot of pictures (usually about 15-20 per hour, depending upon the state of the terrain). These are the "two standard deviations above average" photos . Definitely. My mom got a "Best of Utah" Calendar for Christmas. Three of the pictures are almost exactly the same as several photos I got last summer (but in different seasons). Mike

Adam, I found the solution to the photo-posting issue on the tech-support page. I was just about to PM Michael but I remembered seeing "tech-support" somewhere on the main page. I uploaded some of my favorite photos from all of my 2010 hikes onto a new thread. That sounds amazing! I'm fairly tempted to see if there exist any similar hikes in Utah. Mike

Hi everybody, Adam/Selene and I got around to discussing hiking/backpacking on another thread, and upon looking back at my hiking photos from last summer I came up with these as some of my favorites. Posted them as a new topic so that anybody else who would enjoy them can see 'em too! Red Pines Lake: The lake appears very turquoise when the wind hits it just right: Grandeur Peak (at the top): Big Cottonwood Creek: Mount Timpanogos (the best hike in Utah), right before we got stuck in the rain on the descent: At the saddle (not quite the summit) looking out to Utah Lake. At times those clouds moved up the side of the mountain incredibly quickly: Timpanogos hike #2. The sky was a bit clearer: Same hike, looking at the peak we're about to summit (taken by friend): In the 'shed' at the top of Timpanogos. Yes, those are mountain ranges you're looking down upon!: Looking in the other direction: Fun stuff! Mike

Adam, I've only done day hikes as of yet. Most of the time my hiking friend and I will do a five to fifteen mile hike and then do some climbing at the final destination. We're thinking of doing a midnight hike of Timpanogos this August. The first thought that came to my mind when I read "four or five day backpacking excursion" was how you could take enough food and water! That's a very neat problem. How on earth do you pack enough food? You can purify water but obtaining food isn't that easy... let me guess: a gallon of protein shake?! If you're doing four and five day trips, how far do you usually go? Do you do mountains, really long trails (or really long trails on mountains), or both? I've got some great ones. You'll probably like them a lot because you've never hiked the Rockies. Any suggestions about how I can get them on here? The "Insert Image" only wants a link and copy & paste isn't working. Mike

Adam, That sounds like a great game. Games where strategy is the responsibility/privilege of the player are always the best. If it doesn't make you think (and also reward such thought!), it's not much of a game. In 2009, I wrote some QBasic (a language older than me) code which uses 'rules' of good defense (i.e. for a cover cornerback, the rule is "stay on the wide receiver" and for a blitzing linebacker the rule is "get the quarterback") to simulate a certain defensive response to an offensive play. Getting the defenders to 1) recognize where "their guy" was and 2) move towards/with that guy in a specific manner was pretty difficult. Simple plays worked well, but I have a lot of respect for the people that first figured out how to make a good football game. I love backpacking/hiking. Utah's mountains are incredible. Especially Mount Timpanogos. Two summits this last summer = two very memorable experiences. On the first, visibility was about 10 feet near the top. My friend and I were literally inside clouds. We're both scared of heights as well, so when we made it to the summit there was plenty of adrenaline flowing! Very exhilarating. Little did we know that the last five miles (it's a fifteen-mile round trip) on our descent would be spent in a record-setting rainstorm! The trail became a stream and there eventually was so much hail it appeared to be snowing. The second summit was much different. Let me tell you, there is ZERO light on the road at 6:00 AM in the Uinta National Forest. No streetlights, no other cars, no sun, no moon, nothing. Driving headlights-only on a curvy road with some serious precipices was a 'memorable' experience. The first half-hour of the hike was done by flashlight. However, there were no clouds that time, and the sunlight gave some beautiful pictures. It's one of the highest mountains in Utah, and is far higher than anything else close by. Visibility was great when we got to the summit: Looking down on other mountain ranges and seeing literally as far as your eye can see is probably pretty close to unbeatable. Especially when the prerequisite is a 7.5 mile uphill hike! I've never done any hiking outside of Utah (maybe a little bit in Idaho Falls about twelve years ago). Have you ever hiked/backpacked here in Utah? Or in the Rocky Mountains? Mike

Sounds as if the game is older than I am.

Adam, Chicago will definitely win if the good version of Jay Cutler shows up. If not, that game could easily go either way. Especially if Matt Hasselbeck becomes amazing again. The Patriots will win against the Jets. Maybe if Brady gets injured the Jets will have a chance. Pittsburgh wins a close one against Baltimore. Well, "wins" probably isn't the right word: Pittsburgh survives a close one against Baltimore. Atlanta and Green Bay are my Super Bowl favorites. This game, like Green Bay's future, depends upon the Packers' running backs. If Green Bay runs as well as they did against Philadelphia, they win this game (and if they keep running well, they win the Super Bowl). If Green Bay doesn't run well, Atlanta wins. In terms of who I want to win, I'm going cheer for Da Bears (that Chris Farley bit converted me to a Bears fan a long time ago), the Patriots, the Steelers, and the Packers. Mike

I'm not criticizing the philosophy at all but its one thing to like the philosophy and its another to label yourself as such. What I keep wondering is, why must we have labels, period? I'm just asking for a rational answer, nothing to avoid. AnitaB, I'll happily cause myself to be labeled as a believer in objective existence and reason/rationality, but as some of the other posts correctly point out, that's not necessarily what the word 'objectivist' will mean to the person doing the labeling. So, whether or not I use the word 'objectivist' is a question of how the person defines the term. Frankly, here in Utah about 80% of the population doesn't seem to know anything not spoon-fed to them from the Book of Mormon, so I use 'objectivist' sparingly. And we have labels because, for the most part, they work. One can't use labels as complete substitutes for rational judgment, but they certainly are handy for quick decisions. For example, think about how labeling works in driving. As we drive, our ability to label other drivers as "dangerous" or "likely to get into my lane soon" increases. As all of us know from actually driving, this labeling isn't always right but it certainly helps. Mike

I guess if you're a Jets fan then you could be happy with their win. I don't dislike the Jets, but it's difficult to expect them to play a good game against New England. Their runners are looking mediocre and Sanchez is as shaky as ever. But I'd be happily surprised if they do manage to give Brady a challenge. And thanks to the Chiefs' utter failure to pass the ball, the Ravens are through. Pittsburgh vs Baltimore is going to be great. Being a Giant fan must be frustrating. Every star on offense is either injured or turning the ball over! Who do you have winning the Super Bowl this year? (not the jets!? )