Author Archive: Paul Epps

Engineering is Serious Business, Says Engineering Major

 

The dean of UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering expressed support today for a recommendation from a student group that the college create a recruitment and retention plan for women and underrepresented minority students. — California Watch It sounds like the dean might be up for lowering the engineering standards to meet diversity metrics. Bad idea. Engineering is serious business. Also: Preferential treatment by a public institution based on race, sex or ethnicity is prohibited by California law. I’ve got a better and more legal idea: How about if the women and “underrepresented” minority students suck it up and meet the same academic standards as everyone else? Or apply to a different school? If they can’t meet the standards at Berkeley, they might do fine at a less demanding institution like Stanford or UCLA. I’ve attended engineering school myself. We had diversity admits. After one semester, maybe two, they weren’t there… Read more →

Aside

It’s hard to be self-deprecating when there are so many other people to deprecate . . .

Aside

This Diet Pepsi tastes like paint thinner. If this is my last update ever, I love you guyzzz . . .

EppsNet at the Movies: Babette’s Feast

 

Babette’s Feast (1987) Directed by Gabriel Axel. With Stéphane Audran, Bodil Kjer, Birgitte Federspiel, Jarl Kulle. There comes a time when our eyes are opened and we come to realize that mercy is infinite. We need only await it with confidence and receive it with gratitude. Mercy imposes no conditions. And lo! Everything we have chosen has been granted to us. And everything we rejected has also been granted. This movie brought a lot of joy to my weekend. Highly recommended! Read more →

Aside

I had an argument with a Mobius strip. It was one-sided.

Aside

I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain . . .

Closing the Gap: USC 50, UCLA 0

 

We have closed the gap more with SC. We got a chance to win a championship this week. That’s closing the gap. We haven’t had that chance in the past. We’ll see where the gap is after the ball game, but the gap is closed. — UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel, before the game Tonight they were clearly the superior team. I don’t think that’s the case all the time. I believe we can close the gap, and we will. We weren’t good enough to play a marquee team like USC. — UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel, after the game The gap was really close. You can tell by the score. — USC offensive tackle Matt Kalil Maybe Neuheisel meant that the gap has been closed since 1929, when USC won the inaugural crosstown showdown 76-0. Using any more recent date as a starting point for gap measurement, it looks wider than… Read more →

EppsNet at the Movies: Arthur Christmas

 

Now I know how Santa delivers all the presents in one night! By the way, if you like to avoid the crowds, Thanksgiving night is a great time to go to the movies! Everyone’s either in a food coma or resting up for Black Friday shopping. We went to the 9:30 show at the Irvine Marketplace. There was no ticket line, no one in the lobby, one girl working the box office and one at the snack bar. The box office girl had to work double because there was no ticket taker on duty. Instead of just selling the tickets and handing them to us, she also tore them in half and said, “You’re in Theater 2.” “We’re in Theater 2,” I repeated for the boy’s benefit. “Are you sure she didn’t say we’re the only two people in the theater?” he asked. Recommended! Read more →

Adolf Hitler in New Jersey

 

The New Jersey parents who named their boy Adolf Hitler seem like fruitcakes but if being a fruitcake is now a justification for taking your kids away, you could walk through any mall in America confiscating kids left and right . . . Read more →

But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. — James 3:14

Problems

 

If you tolerate it, you insist on it. If you insist on it, it will be supplied. If you see a problem, you own it. If you ignore a problem, you’ll see more of it. — Jim and Michele McCarthy, Software for Your Head Read more →

The Best Measure of Truth

 

If you act as if something is true, you will shortly find out whether it is or isn’t. Any reduction of effort or increase of abundance you enjoy as a consequence of your new belief is the best measure of its truth. — Jim and Michele McCarthy, Software for Your Head Read more →

Aside

L’enfer, c’est les autres …

« Previous PageNext Page »