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Ham radio heroes in Oregon

Jacob — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 09:18:43 +0000

I’m from Oregon, and I’ve heard from my family about the recent storms and floods there. I’m also a ham radio operator, so when I read on slashdot how ham radio saved the day, I got excited. I remember 12 years ago being one of those ham radio operators helping out with emergency communications, and I remember listening in to the communications going out to Vernonia, Oregon and wishing that I could do more.

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BYU will eat Oregon in Las Vegas

Jacob — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 11:17:12 +0000

Even duck luck in Las Vegas isn’t going to keep the University of Oregon from being just another course on BYU’s dominating dinner plate this season. While Oregon has 7 wins, they have been generally pathetic:

They beat Stanford, but so did just about everyone else.

They beat Fresno State, who couldn’t even find a winning record in the WAC.

They didn’t lose to Oklahoma in what is widely regarded as the most controversial officiating of football this year. It really should have been Oklahoma’s game.

Oregon gains a few cents in the credible wins bank with a win over Arizona State, who did have a 7-5 overall season, but still couldn’t find a winning record in conference play.

The most impressive win maybe was over UCLA, who found Oregon at the beginning of their tough loosing streak.

A win over Portland State, a division I-AA school, hardly even counts as a win.

Oregon’s last win came a month ago over Washington, who by the way, was Stanford’s only victory on the season.

When the bowl game is finally done, Oregon is going to wish that what happened in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

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Who will BYU play in the Las Vegas Bowl

Jacob — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 08:42:47 +0000

The following article is from 2006. Click here for 2007 Las Vegas Bowl information. In 2009, BYU will play Oregon State in the Maaco Las Vegas Bowl.

I’m not all knowing when it comes to football bowl games, but I do know enough to try and guess. The number 4 team from the Pac-10 will go to the Las Vegas Bowl to play BYU. It could be any of these teams: Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, and Washington State.

I used some win possibilities from teamrankings.com to find percentage possibilites that each team would have a 4th place conference record.

Oregon would be a possibility if they beat Oregon State next week. Even if they lost to Oregon, they would still be a possibility as long as both UCLA and Arizona lose their final games. This case has a 69% chance of occurring.

Oregon State would be a possibility only if they lost to Oregon next week. This case has a 50% chance of occurring.

UCLA would be a possibility if they beat USC in two weeks. They would still be a possibility even if they lost to USC, provided that Arizona and Oregon also loose their games. This case has a 43% chance of occurring.

Arizona would be a possibility if they beat Arizona State next week. Even if they lost to Arizona State, they would still be a possibility provided that UCLA and Oregon lose. This case has a 69% chance of occurring.

Arizona State would have a possibility only if they beat Arizona and Oregon lost and UCLA lost. This case has only a 19% chance of occurring.

Washington State is a possibility only if Oregon, UCLA, and Arizona all lose their final conference games. This case has only a 19% chance of occurring. This is the same case as Arizona State above, the difference being that Washington State doesn’t play in any more games so their fate is sealed on others.

If Oregon beats Oregon State, then up to four teams would be in 3rd place in the conference and could be headed to the Sun Bowl. Assuming that all of the third place teams have equal chance at being invited to the Sun Bowl, and assuming that each team with a fourth place conference record had an equal chance at being invited to the Las Vegas Bowl (which isn’t really true because the Bowl tends to like some teams more than others) then the chance that BYU will play each team turns out to be:

Oregon: 23%
Oregon State: 19%
Arizona: 33%
Arizona State: 4%
UCLA: 16%
Washington State: 4%

The difference between these percentages and the case percentages above, is that these count the possibility that the team will go to the Las Vegas Bowl, not the possibility that a certain set of game outcomes will happen. For example, the case that Oregon and Arizona lose while UCLA win is only 6% probable, but if it happens, UCLA will be the only team with a fourth place conference record and would go to the Las Vegas Bowl. The case that all of Oregon, UCLA, and Arizona all lose is more probable (19%) but if it happens, there are 4 different teams that would tie for a fourth place conference record, and if they all have equal probability of being chosen, then the 19% gets divided four ways not really making it so any of those teams are more probable than the rest.

If however, both the Sun bowl and the Las Vegas Bowl take the overall team record into consideration when choosing a team to invite to the Bowl, and chooses the third and fourth place conference teams respectively with the best overall record, then the percentage breakdown goes more like this:
Oregon: 10% (if Oregon wins they will go to the Sun Bowl)
Oregon State: 33%
Arizona: 33%
Arizona State: 10%
UCLA: 14%

Anyway, this may all seem like throwing numbers up on a wall like spaghetti to see if it sticks, and you may be right. But I would guess that the chance of seeing a BYU verses Arizona rematch is in the mix among other possibilites.

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I have an inexorable desire for pie

Jacob — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 01:17:42 +0000

School was good today, I actually got some good studying done on the train to school. Solid state physics is all about crystals. Mostly silicon crystals, although sometimes we talk about hard carbon ones.

Its another rainy, blowy, Oregon day. I really like it, especially with the new waterproof coat that I bought myself. It is a little chilly, but I just put my hood on, and all the wind and the chills and the rain stay outside, and the good warm feelings stay inside.

As soon as I got home, I got this incredible desire for pie, specifically, pumpkin pie. The Sara Lee pumpkin pie went even more on sale this week, and is now less than a dollar fifty per pie. But the thing is, I know I should be cutting back on sweets and things so I don’t get fat. I mean, what girl is going to marry a fat Jacob? So I want the pie, but when I compare the options of a piece of pie against eternal companionship….. but there are no promises that the pie will make me fat or that I’ll ever get married, so it’s not really a competition like that. I don’t think I have any whipped cream, and that could be a problem. What I really want is just for someone to give me permission to eat the pie.

I wouldn’t feel so guilty about eating pie if I was more active. I really want to hike a mountain, but I have no one to go with me.

We talked about the creation in institute class today. I can’t believe how much people on both sides of the evolution topic get worked up. I know I’m a child of God. I exist. All the little details about how Adam was created…. well, if it was important to my salvation, then it would be in the Book of Mormon.

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Remember to vote

Jacob — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 09:41:38 +0000

Dear friends and loyal readers,

Please remember and take the time to vote. If you haven’t voted yet, and you have the next 30 minutes free, I suggest voting now–don’t put it off any more. Even if you haven’t reviewed all the issues, at least vote on the few issues you know about.

For those of you in Oregon, remember that it is too late to mail your ballot, that you will have to drop it off at a collection site by 8pm tonight.

I would also encourage you to make sure you vote Ron Saxton. He has pledged to put partisan politics behind and work not for any particular political party, but for Oregon. Oregon needs change, and Ron Saxton will get it done (or you can elect someone else next time).

Oh, and the whole measure 45 thing about term limits for state legislators… vote that down please. Term limits may have a place on the national scene, but local politicians don’t really carry huge names or budgets (like national politicians do), so it is more important that we allow experienced representatives to use their experience in office. Besides, we already have term limits… if someone has been in office too long, then we just vote for someone else. At least that is what the Hillsboro Argus said, and I agree.

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Silly little Oregonians, thats hardly an earthquake

Jacob — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 07:15:26 +0000

So there was a really small earthquake in downtown Portland tonight. It had a magnitude 2.6. These sort of earthquakes happen often, and they can hardly be felt and do not cause damage.

But that doesn’t stop the news stations from jumping all over the story. They had reporters reporting live from the epicenter, a place I happen to walk by frequently on my way to or from school. I suspect that the only reason they are even reporting on it is that the quake originated from downtown Portland where so many people (including the TV stations) are located and so the combined fuss from so many people made the story worth mentioning.

I live about 20 miles away from Portland, and I didn’t feel a thing. In fact, I would guess that if this quake happened in Southern California, that it wouldn’t even be mentioned, at least not like the news headline.

Now the real story is that we’ve been getting so much rain that some of the streets can’t drain the water fast enough that there is minor flooding. The rain is causing real damage, that is a real story, while the earthquake was just slightly unusual and thats it.

Oh, well. Let the Oregonians get all excited about their little earthquake.

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Who wrote Oregon’s version of Jessica’s Law?

Jacob — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 07:42:50 +0000

It wasn’t democratic Governor Ted Kulongoski. It was Republican State Senator Bruce Starr. He wrote it, and brought it up before the state legislature. Starr was the principle sponsor of the bill, but when legislative leaders blocked a vote on it, did Starr get help from Kulongoski? Not really.

Jessica’s Law mandates convicted molesters of children 17 years of age and under serve a minimum prison sentence of 25 years.

Bruce Starr drafted a ballot measure and began collecting signatures. Only when it became clear that the public overwhelmingly supported Jessica’s Law, was the bill brought up in a special session of which Kulongoski urged the Legislature to “limit its attention.”

Finally, it passed and Kulongoski signed Jessica’s Law into law. And now Kulongoski wants to take credit for the whole thing.

Please read this excellent editorial, about just how offensive it is that Kulongoski wants to take credit for Jessica’s law, when true credit should go to Bruce Starr.

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I’m an Oregonian resident

Jacob — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 01:32:14 +0000

After almost two months of work and waiting, I finally found out today that Portland State has recognized me as a resident of Oregon, which basically means that I pay less tuition. I’m glad they were so wise. I would hate to have had to use a picture of my webbed toes in an appeal.

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I’m voting for Oregon Measure 43

Jacob — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 21:55:38 +0000

Oregon Measure 43:

Requires 48-hour notice to unemancipated minor’s parent before providing abortion.

Currently in Oregon, anyone 15 years or older may consent to and obtain an abortion without parental notification. So let me get this straight. If you are 15 and miss a day of school, the school phone robot calls home to let the parents know. If you are 15 and want to get a body piercing, you have to have parental consent and accompaniment. But if you are 15 and want to get an abortion, the parent doesn’t even need to be notified.

I’m voting in favor of Measure 43. It just makes sense that a parent of a minor should at least be notified before their child gets an abortion.

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I’m voting for Everett Curry

Jacob — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 08:07:56 +0000

If I’ve met Everett Curry, it was only briefly, but I have a lot of respect for him and what he wants to do for the State of Oregon. Curry is running toward Salem to be a State Representative.

Curry seems like a good, honest man with morals. His campaign has been clean; I don’t even know who he is running against, which is evidence that Curry has run a positive campaign. Curry also seems like he is a hard worker, without personal agenda, just trying to do the right thing.

I’ve decided without any provocation or incentive to write this blog post. I’m doing so because I really like Curry. Please join me in voting Everett Curry for State Representative.

If you would like to learn more about Everett Curry, please visit his election website at www.VoteForCurry.org . Oh, and he is a ham radio operator, which I think is pretty cool.

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