Restraint with the eye is good, good is restraint with the ear. Restraint with the nose is good, good is restraint with the tongue. Restraint with the body is good, good is restraint with speech. Restraint with the heart is good, good is restraint everywhere. A monk everywhere restrained is released from all suffering stress.
-Dhammapada, 25, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
A couple of years ago, I made a joke that really offended my family. My mother (apparently) spent a week crying over how she could have ever possibly raised such a horrible, awful son. I didn't even find out that so many people were offended until the next year. Wow.
I made a huge deal out of it; I was offended at the response--that people would talk about it behind my back for months--that no one would say anything to me--that they were even bothered by the joke to begin with.
Before I go much further, you probably want to know what I said. This was after Thanksgiving dinner at home in North Carolina. As usual, the "adults" were still sitting and chatting about local folklore at the dinner table, and the "kids" had migrated to the far side of the room. My sister (the only of the four kids that still subscribes to Christianity) had brought her boyfriend from New York, and we were meeting him for the first time. They both worked at a Christian camp whose sole purpose is to convert heathen high school kids to Christianity. We had always joked that as the brothers, it was our job to run off the boyfriends. Somewhere along the line, I joked that "he's only in it for the sex." Get it? Funny? Well, not in the context that you know that absolutely everyone in the room was offended, and everyone wound up apologizing to the new boyfriend for my horrific behavior... all without me knowing (that part isn't particularly surprising).
This week, my mother sent me the quote at the top of the blog, asking what I thought about it. My response? "That's kind of the point of Buddhism." She asked me to elaborate. Before I got a chance to write down my thoughts, she effectively admitted that she was trying to bait me into contradicting myself--trying to get me to blame my actions on my ex, which I could get away with now that I'm single.
Well, this got me a little bit irate all over again, but I did stop and think about it. I realized yesterday why I never subscribed to Buddhism, despite liking much of what it has to say. Buddhism is based around the idea that desire leads to suffering. In order to end suffering, you must end desire. This is a valiant but impossible goal. You cannot end desire. The desire to end suffering counts as a desire. The desire to be a good Buddhist counts as a desire.
To me, this just seems like a religious case of learned helplessness. It's a coping method for dealing with oppression, for dealing with impossible situations. If you are apathetic about the situation, it no longer causes you to suffer (you aren't lost if you don't care where you are). Of course, this is also a fabulous method of pissing off your captors, but that's a different twist on the whole thing.
While desire may be the source of suffering, it is also the source of pleasure, of happiness, of everything that makes life worth living.
What do I think of restraint? I whole-heartedly believe in the freedom of speech. I believe in the right to express ideas, emotions, thoughts, opinions... You don't have to like what I say. If I offend you, you don't have to keep reading; you don't have to invite me to your next party. You don't have to stand here and listen to the end of my thought. I have a right to say it, even if no one wants to hear it. If I want to keep friends, it's my own responsibility to not tell someone in the middle of a large group of people that an outfit makes them look fat.
I believe that the moment any kind of censorship is applied, you begin to stifle the freedom of expression. I no longer feel safe with my family, as I'm worried what *else* I might be able to say that could offend people as much as that simple joke. I can't talk about atheism, as I'm afraid I might offend by admitting I am an atheist, as that pretty clearly states that I think they believe a lie. Who might I offend if I *did* actually get into this discussion? I can never again speak freely around my family without fear of repercussions, and that hurts. Restraint may help keep friends, but it shouldn't be required to keep family.
"I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will fight to death your right to say it." Voltaire
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
You've been married twice? What's wrong with you??
Short Answer: I fall in love too easily, and I'm virtually incapable of making a logical decision about someone I love (e.g. the decision to break up, call off the wedding, and go our separate ways).
Long Answer: I have a tendency to want to rescue women, and I wind up falling in love in the process. Unfortunately, this has so far only happened with people with whom I happen to be incompatible.
The first time, one of my best friends dumped a girl (with whom I had developed a friendship) when he found out that she was not a virgin. I was rather irritated with his pretentious attempt at religious holier-than-thou-ness, so I sacrificed the relationship with one of my best friends in order to protect another friendship. I felt that Eddie was wrong to do that, so I took Kendra's side, and it really meant a lot to her.
In the long run, of course, things didn't work out. We wound up competing with each other, and she couldn't accept that I was better at higher level math than she was. No matter how hard I tried to explain to her that she was doing her homework wrong, she insisted she was right and that I was in fact wrong. Keep in mind that I was much more of an arrogant SOB back then than I am now, so this didn't go over particularly well. This competitive nature is why I wound up no longer writing poetry (because she insisted her poetry was better than mine), why I stopped drawing (because she insisted I wasn't any good), why I stopped writing music or playing the piano (because she insisted I was too loud), why I stopped hanging out with my friends (because she insisted they were a bad influence on me), and why I stopped interacting with my family (because she hated them all and got mad whenever I would talk with my mother). In addition, I never fit in with her friends. They would always put me down because they didn't think I was particularly funny.
Eventually, I got fed up and left. I left everything, not even knowing where I would sleep that night. I wound up staying for the next few months in a spare bedroom that one of my coworkers' ex-boyfriends had. I think the best way I can put this is that I was a computer science major, and I went nearly three months without a computer.
As with everything, there is more to the story than I'm letting on. It was worse. I can leave out the details here of *why* everyone believed she was a lesbian, and *why* I believe them in hindsight.
This relationship was a disaster before we even got married. I was too young and stupid to see the signs AND stick to my position about breaking up. I tried once, but she wouldn't let me. Weird, eh?
I learned the hard way that I need to be extra picky about the girls I date. By this time, I had done a lot of research into Jungian personality types--the MBTI in specific. Everything I had read made a lot of sense, and it all seemed to be backed up by a lot of evidence. This has helped me learn a lot about myself. It's helped me understand my strengths and weaknesses as well as where I'm flexible and where I'm not. I understand what I need out of a relationship as well as what I have to give--and what I am incapable of giving.
The second time around, I met a totally amazing girl that seemed to be almost everything that my first wife was not. Unfortunately, she had much bigger family issues than Kendra. We both did our best to help the other work through our own life issues. I also enabled her to believe that she was no less of a human being just because she was female--completely against what she had learned from her father. In time, this gradually freed her to be herself. As it turns out, she and Kendra aren't really all that different after all. The key difference is that she wasn't controlling like Kendra, but they wound up with nearly the same interests and many very similar personality traits. Many of the traits that made my first marriage a disaster wound up also applying to second marriage. I knew the issues were there, and I knew there was no fix, but I accepted things the way they were, as I was okay with it, and I could accept the differences.
Unfortunately, she wound up talking with an old ex of hers online, and he was having serious issues with his girlfriend. She realized that this guy could give her everything that I could not. After several months of talking with this guy, she decides that it's over between the two of us (April of this year). I was rather dumbfounded, as this seemed to be the very first time she had ever hinted that the stuff about me that annoyed her could even possibly be a deal-breaker. I tried to change her mind, but failed miserably. In June of this year, she moved out.
As a result, I've grown very cynical of the whole idea of love. I've painfully come to accept that I'm probably going to be single for a very long time to come, as I'm just so bitter at this point that I wind up assuming that any given girl is not my type before I even give her a chance. I find myself nitpicking the tiniest details in order to scratch girls off my list as easily as possible. It's easier to make a snap judgment than it is to invest time in a relationship only to figure out a few months down the road that something really is a deal-breaker, but by then you're way too emotionally invested to get out easily (which causes you to attempt to convince yourself that something really isn't a deal-breaker).
Now, we get to my current situation. I've met a woman (at a quarter of a century, we aren't boys and girls any more). As explained by the previous paragraph, I've already determined she's not my type. Since there is the slim possibility that she might at some point stumble across this, I'm going to refrain from saying why. .. So far, she seems really interesting, so I'm trying to be a friend, as I rarely get any kind of deep, intelligent conversation anymore; I'm trying my freaking hardest to make new friends that won't just nod in agreement every time I mention something "hard," like relativity, QED, or Fourier Series (a discussion of Mensa may come in a later blog entry).
Unfortunately, she has her own issues. She pretty clearly suffers from serious depression and very low self-esteem. There are also several seemingly large parts of her life that appear to me to be a coping method--a way of putting on a mask in an attempt to devalue how she really feels. My heart is just screaming out in agony watching this: "my god, woman, I want to help you!" I fear the worst--that she has been crying out for help, and the fact that she's not receiving help is pushing her in a downward spiral. She's a very difficult woman to reach on any kind of personal level, and I wonder if there is even any remote possibility that there's anything that I can do to help.
So here I am, thinking about the damsel in distress. Apparently, this is my type. Don't do it again Hank... she's not your type... you can be friends, but nothing more. Don't get your hopes up, because one way or another, you are bound to be let down, forever and always.
Long Answer: I have a tendency to want to rescue women, and I wind up falling in love in the process. Unfortunately, this has so far only happened with people with whom I happen to be incompatible.
The first time, one of my best friends dumped a girl (with whom I had developed a friendship) when he found out that she was not a virgin. I was rather irritated with his pretentious attempt at religious holier-than-thou-ness, so I sacrificed the relationship with one of my best friends in order to protect another friendship. I felt that Eddie was wrong to do that, so I took Kendra's side, and it really meant a lot to her.
In the long run, of course, things didn't work out. We wound up competing with each other, and she couldn't accept that I was better at higher level math than she was. No matter how hard I tried to explain to her that she was doing her homework wrong, she insisted she was right and that I was in fact wrong. Keep in mind that I was much more of an arrogant SOB back then than I am now, so this didn't go over particularly well. This competitive nature is why I wound up no longer writing poetry (because she insisted her poetry was better than mine), why I stopped drawing (because she insisted I wasn't any good), why I stopped writing music or playing the piano (because she insisted I was too loud), why I stopped hanging out with my friends (because she insisted they were a bad influence on me), and why I stopped interacting with my family (because she hated them all and got mad whenever I would talk with my mother). In addition, I never fit in with her friends. They would always put me down because they didn't think I was particularly funny.
Eventually, I got fed up and left. I left everything, not even knowing where I would sleep that night. I wound up staying for the next few months in a spare bedroom that one of my coworkers' ex-boyfriends had. I think the best way I can put this is that I was a computer science major, and I went nearly three months without a computer.
As with everything, there is more to the story than I'm letting on. It was worse. I can leave out the details here of *why* everyone believed she was a lesbian, and *why* I believe them in hindsight.
This relationship was a disaster before we even got married. I was too young and stupid to see the signs AND stick to my position about breaking up. I tried once, but she wouldn't let me. Weird, eh?
I learned the hard way that I need to be extra picky about the girls I date. By this time, I had done a lot of research into Jungian personality types--the MBTI in specific. Everything I had read made a lot of sense, and it all seemed to be backed up by a lot of evidence. This has helped me learn a lot about myself. It's helped me understand my strengths and weaknesses as well as where I'm flexible and where I'm not. I understand what I need out of a relationship as well as what I have to give--and what I am incapable of giving.
The second time around, I met a totally amazing girl that seemed to be almost everything that my first wife was not. Unfortunately, she had much bigger family issues than Kendra. We both did our best to help the other work through our own life issues. I also enabled her to believe that she was no less of a human being just because she was female--completely against what she had learned from her father. In time, this gradually freed her to be herself. As it turns out, she and Kendra aren't really all that different after all. The key difference is that she wasn't controlling like Kendra, but they wound up with nearly the same interests and many very similar personality traits. Many of the traits that made my first marriage a disaster wound up also applying to second marriage. I knew the issues were there, and I knew there was no fix, but I accepted things the way they were, as I was okay with it, and I could accept the differences.
Unfortunately, she wound up talking with an old ex of hers online, and he was having serious issues with his girlfriend. She realized that this guy could give her everything that I could not. After several months of talking with this guy, she decides that it's over between the two of us (April of this year). I was rather dumbfounded, as this seemed to be the very first time she had ever hinted that the stuff about me that annoyed her could even possibly be a deal-breaker. I tried to change her mind, but failed miserably. In June of this year, she moved out.
As a result, I've grown very cynical of the whole idea of love. I've painfully come to accept that I'm probably going to be single for a very long time to come, as I'm just so bitter at this point that I wind up assuming that any given girl is not my type before I even give her a chance. I find myself nitpicking the tiniest details in order to scratch girls off my list as easily as possible. It's easier to make a snap judgment than it is to invest time in a relationship only to figure out a few months down the road that something really is a deal-breaker, but by then you're way too emotionally invested to get out easily (which causes you to attempt to convince yourself that something really isn't a deal-breaker).
Now, we get to my current situation. I've met a woman (at a quarter of a century, we aren't boys and girls any more). As explained by the previous paragraph, I've already determined she's not my type. Since there is the slim possibility that she might at some point stumble across this, I'm going to refrain from saying why. .. So far, she seems really interesting, so I'm trying to be a friend, as I rarely get any kind of deep, intelligent conversation anymore; I'm trying my freaking hardest to make new friends that won't just nod in agreement every time I mention something "hard," like relativity, QED, or Fourier Series (a discussion of Mensa may come in a later blog entry).
Unfortunately, she has her own issues. She pretty clearly suffers from serious depression and very low self-esteem. There are also several seemingly large parts of her life that appear to me to be a coping method--a way of putting on a mask in an attempt to devalue how she really feels. My heart is just screaming out in agony watching this: "my god, woman, I want to help you!" I fear the worst--that she has been crying out for help, and the fact that she's not receiving help is pushing her in a downward spiral. She's a very difficult woman to reach on any kind of personal level, and I wonder if there is even any remote possibility that there's anything that I can do to help.
So here I am, thinking about the damsel in distress. Apparently, this is my type. Don't do it again Hank... she's not your type... you can be friends, but nothing more. Don't get your hopes up, because one way or another, you are bound to be let down, forever and always.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Why I don't like Christmas
I went to Sam's Club today to pick up my monthly prescription, and I was rather shocked, amazed, and offended at the length of the checkout lines. The part that offended me so much was that it was abundantly obvious that the Christmas season is just about rampant consumerism. It's about money--lots of money. People spend far more than they can afford on other people just because that's what they think everyone expects. I've seen people get yearly loans in order to buy presents that they can't afford, just to turn around and do it all over again.
Growing up for me, Christmas was all about presents--and vacation from school, but that's not the topic here. Christmas wasn't about spending time with family, or giving to other people, or about helping people out, or Jesus' birth, or celebrating anything. Christmas was about presents. I grew up in a Christian household, so celebrating Jesus' birth was what it was supposed to be about, but the only thing on my mind was what I was going to get for Christmas.
One year, everything changed. There was no abundance of presents under the Christmas tree. Nothing odd financially had occurred--we kids had just grown up. It cames a major shock and disappointment to me, as I felt like I had gotten next to nothing, and the magic of getting presents on Christmas was gone. I knew I was being selfish in being disappointed, but this idea of Christmas was so ingrained in my psyche that it was impossible to ignore.
Since my mother had gotten married and there were now two step-siblings included in the "family," the decision was made that instead of everyone getting presents for everyone else, names would be drawn out of a hat. Each person would get two names, and two people would get their name. The extra difficulty for me with this was that I had also gotten married and moved away from home. My two younger siblings were still in high school, my older brother was off in Seattle, or France, or wherever he was at the time, and I knew next to nothing about the new additions to the family. It's extremely stressful to be the primary gift-giver for someone that you know next to nothing about. As a result, I wound up relying on my mother most of the time to basically tell me what to buy for people, since I didn't even have the chance to sit down with the person and figure out for myself what they might actually enjoy. Christmas, therefore, wasn't even about getting to know my stepsisters or my new stepfather. Even though it was financially easier on everyone, it was still about receiving gifts, and it was unfair. It was obvious that if our grandmother got your name, then you would be getting something nice--something you couldn't afford on your own. However, if I got someone's name, it wouldn't be--it would be a Big Dog fleece jacket, or a calendar with pictures of North Carolina in it.
Last year, I boycotted the thing. Bonnie had a great idea to help out a friend of hers who had opened a new business, and we sent either brownies or cookies to everyone. That was great, because we were able to include people we otherwise wouldn't have been able to include.
However, it was still about spending money and sending stuff to people. Even though I had the week off from work, I didn't even get to see my family. I haven't seen my older brother or sister since September of last year. I've seen my dad three times since then, and my mother once. I even spent my birthday alone. (Here I am pulling an Annika, bawling as I write this.) For the first time ever, Christmas this year is about spending time with my family.
When I walked into Sam's Club today and I saw how long the lines were, I was deeply offended. Sam's Club was trying their absolute hardest to make sure that people spent their money at Sam's, and not somewhere else. For the first time ever at this store, there were enough registers open to handle the demand. The lines were short, and it appeared people were getting through. This offended me because it was clear that Sam's Club was not doing this in order to reduce the stress of shopping or to give people jobs. They were doing this to make more money. Any other time of the year, when I walk into this store on a Saturday afternoon, the lines are so horrifically long that you have to take a detour around the front of the store in order to get to the opposite side. This time, there were probably 50% more cars in the parking lot than I usually see, and the lines were not frightening. Sam's Club was doing their best to take advantage of the rampant consumerism that defines Christmas in our country. If they cared about their customers or offering jobs, this is what the place would look like year round... not just when they higher-ups *think* people have money to spend.
What's to like about that?
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Five Things that Make Me an Asshole
1) Some people are inclined to think that I am god's gift to humanity (my mother), and some people think that having been raised in this environment has made me somewhat of an arrogant asshole (my ex). Who is right? Well, I am--of course.
2) "You know, if it were a Mac, it would work." An alternate form of this line: "You wouldn't have that problem on a Mac." "I think it's an ID-ten-T error."
3) Speed limits just make an interesting obstacle course.
4) I think we should do a population adjustment, such that an IQ of 140 is average, instead of 100.
5) I'm full of shit.
Okay, so I have to come back and add a little bit to this post. Some people believe I actually *do* believe that I am always right. The reason that I sometimes come across this way is because I always assume everyone else is wrong. I never assume that I'm right, though it could seem this way with as fervently as I tend to argue my case. My brain works in such a way that I see numerous different possibilities whenever I consider a situation. I see potential strengths and flaws in any given discussion, and I try to make sense of the big picture. As a result, I ask questions that poke holes in an attempt to understand the topic, though it sometimes appears as if I'm trying to prove the other person is wrong and I know better. In reality, I'm full of shit and know next to nothing. :D Despite this, I still can come across looking like an arrogant, know-it-all, asshole. Being an atheist of the skeptic persuasion often exacerbates the situation when I'm surrounded by people that don't realize that astrology isn't real.
2) "You know, if it were a Mac, it would work." An alternate form of this line: "You wouldn't have that problem on a Mac." "I think it's an ID-ten-T error."
3) Speed limits just make an interesting obstacle course.
4) I think we should do a population adjustment, such that an IQ of 140 is average, instead of 100.
5) I'm full of shit.
Okay, so I have to come back and add a little bit to this post. Some people believe I actually *do* believe that I am always right. The reason that I sometimes come across this way is because I always assume everyone else is wrong. I never assume that I'm right, though it could seem this way with as fervently as I tend to argue my case. My brain works in such a way that I see numerous different possibilities whenever I consider a situation. I see potential strengths and flaws in any given discussion, and I try to make sense of the big picture. As a result, I ask questions that poke holes in an attempt to understand the topic, though it sometimes appears as if I'm trying to prove the other person is wrong and I know better. In reality, I'm full of shit and know next to nothing. :D Despite this, I still can come across looking like an arrogant, know-it-all, asshole. Being an atheist of the skeptic persuasion often exacerbates the situation when I'm surrounded by people that don't realize that astrology isn't real.
Friday, December 1, 2006
I made a mistake four years ago
Be warned... this blog posting is not for the faint of heart. More specifically, if you weren't good in linear algebra, trigonometry, geometry, and all that really fun stuff, then this blog posting may not make a bit of sense to you.
Now that I live alone (well, I have since July), there is actually the potential for silence in my apartment. My thoughts are no longer determined by the endless chatter of an extravert that thinks out loud--nonstop (stamp out repetition and redundancy... unless repetition of the point emphasizes the idea, hence making the redundancy simply an emphasis). Yes, I finally get to think for myself. Wait, that didn't come out right. It was the other one that actually dictated what I could think... this time, my options were to listen intently, always thinking about what she was talking about, or ignoring her. Remember that I am now single.
Anyway, back to the point... so thanks to the silence, I got to thinking about something that I was working on four years ago: my senior project. This was the last time that me ignoring her didn't piss her off. I realized that one of my algorithms was sub-optimal, as I came up with a better algorithm.
For reference: http://homepage.mac.com/whschultz/modeler/Senior_Project_Writeup.pdf
Once your brain doesn't hurt anymore... page 14, second paragraph. The method I described of finding the distance relies heavily on your camera having been calibrated, which I had not implemented. The key detail that is required is a field-of-view angle, as this will allow us to calculate the angle mentioned in the paragraph. I thought of a better method that would actually yield the FOV angle instead of requiring it:
As long as the in-image lengths of the axes are different, we can search along the discovered direction and find a position where the *ratios* match. The reason is simply because the size of an object varies based on the inverse of the distance. This is not a linear relationship, so the ratios between the viewed sizes will vary as you approach the object in question, as long as the distance from the camera is not the same.
Due to the asymptotic nature of this attribute, this search algorithm may only work when the camera is relatively near the positioning object. We do not need many of these photos, however, as we will be able to get a good idea of the camera's actual FOV for a given magnification. If we actually know the FOV, we can revert to the original algorithm, as listed (and implemented) in my original senior project.
I've also been thinking about the issue of camera calibration. I've always thought that a photograph of a grid would be used to calibrate the camera, adjusting for whatever distortions may be caused by the lens itself. Since I never got around to implementing a user interface, I also never got around to designing and implementing an algorithm, though I came to realize recently that the multi-dimensional Lagrange Interpolation algorithm could easily be used to map points from where they are to where they should have been. The distortion is likely to vary depending on the magnification settings, so this would require a camera that stores current settings into the image itself.
This would be better in the long run, as a camera that stores exposure time for each photo will allow for better calculation of how much light was actually present when the photo was taken. Unfortunately, the whole concept of image-based modeling depends on multiple photos of a static object or multiple simultaneous photos, so we are generally assuming the light levels are not going to change.
Anyway, now I'm just spewing out ideas. The algorithm that spawned this entire blog posting has not been drawn up yet with pen and paper (no, I don't use a pencil), and as a result, I could be completely wrong about whether or not this algorithm is even plausible. Since the algorithm described in my senior project writeup was my fourth attempt (the three previous did not work at all), I will not be upset if this one doesn't work. It's just an idea.
Lastly, an off-topic rant... I've known people that have gotten really pissed off at me for thinking that I am smarter than most everyone else and that it makes me the least bit different from anyone else. The truth is that I am and it does. I am well aware that it does not make me better than anyone else, but this is one thing that validates my rant about online dating (I'm not sorry if that offended you). If you can't understand how this stuff works, you are not my equal. In my entire life, I have known four peers that I've sat down with and that have been able to keep up with me (one of those four well exceeded me). It is not unreasonable to desire to be understood. Everyone desires to be understood. I desire to be able to have conversations about my ideas. If you find that arrogant or offensive, then I don't particularly care. No, I do care. I care because you are selfishly expecting me to be something I am not, hence the rant.
Now that I live alone (well, I have since July), there is actually the potential for silence in my apartment. My thoughts are no longer determined by the endless chatter of an extravert that thinks out loud--nonstop (stamp out repetition and redundancy... unless repetition of the point emphasizes the idea, hence making the redundancy simply an emphasis). Yes, I finally get to think for myself. Wait, that didn't come out right. It was the other one that actually dictated what I could think... this time, my options were to listen intently, always thinking about what she was talking about, or ignoring her. Remember that I am now single.
Anyway, back to the point... so thanks to the silence, I got to thinking about something that I was working on four years ago: my senior project. This was the last time that me ignoring her didn't piss her off. I realized that one of my algorithms was sub-optimal, as I came up with a better algorithm.
For reference: http://homepage.mac.com/whschultz/modeler/Senior_Project_Writeup.pdf
Once your brain doesn't hurt anymore... page 14, second paragraph. The method I described of finding the distance relies heavily on your camera having been calibrated, which I had not implemented. The key detail that is required is a field-of-view angle, as this will allow us to calculate the angle mentioned in the paragraph. I thought of a better method that would actually yield the FOV angle instead of requiring it:
As long as the in-image lengths of the axes are different, we can search along the discovered direction and find a position where the *ratios* match. The reason is simply because the size of an object varies based on the inverse of the distance. This is not a linear relationship, so the ratios between the viewed sizes will vary as you approach the object in question, as long as the distance from the camera is not the same.
Due to the asymptotic nature of this attribute, this search algorithm may only work when the camera is relatively near the positioning object. We do not need many of these photos, however, as we will be able to get a good idea of the camera's actual FOV for a given magnification. If we actually know the FOV, we can revert to the original algorithm, as listed (and implemented) in my original senior project.
I've also been thinking about the issue of camera calibration. I've always thought that a photograph of a grid would be used to calibrate the camera, adjusting for whatever distortions may be caused by the lens itself. Since I never got around to implementing a user interface, I also never got around to designing and implementing an algorithm, though I came to realize recently that the multi-dimensional Lagrange Interpolation algorithm could easily be used to map points from where they are to where they should have been. The distortion is likely to vary depending on the magnification settings, so this would require a camera that stores current settings into the image itself.
This would be better in the long run, as a camera that stores exposure time for each photo will allow for better calculation of how much light was actually present when the photo was taken. Unfortunately, the whole concept of image-based modeling depends on multiple photos of a static object or multiple simultaneous photos, so we are generally assuming the light levels are not going to change.
Anyway, now I'm just spewing out ideas. The algorithm that spawned this entire blog posting has not been drawn up yet with pen and paper (no, I don't use a pencil), and as a result, I could be completely wrong about whether or not this algorithm is even plausible. Since the algorithm described in my senior project writeup was my fourth attempt (the three previous did not work at all), I will not be upset if this one doesn't work. It's just an idea.
Lastly, an off-topic rant... I've known people that have gotten really pissed off at me for thinking that I am smarter than most everyone else and that it makes me the least bit different from anyone else. The truth is that I am and it does. I am well aware that it does not make me better than anyone else, but this is one thing that validates my rant about online dating (I'm not sorry if that offended you). If you can't understand how this stuff works, you are not my equal. In my entire life, I have known four peers that I've sat down with and that have been able to keep up with me (one of those four well exceeded me). It is not unreasonable to desire to be understood. Everyone desires to be understood. I desire to be able to have conversations about my ideas. If you find that arrogant or offensive, then I don't particularly care. No, I do care. I care because you are selfishly expecting me to be something I am not, hence the rant.
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