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It's interesting how backwards America can still be. I was at the mall with several friends from physics and we were eating in the food court. We had a pretty multicultural group there, one white, one Muslim, myself and the last from India. The fellow from India has a habit of wearing flipflops everywhere, and at the moment was sitting cross-legged, barefoot in the air. We had decent food, and now it was time for desserts. I went to get a sorbet sipper, and when I returned I saw all three of them with appalled looks. Apparently, while I was away, some white lady, who was done eating, went up to my Indian friend and told him that he should "put his leg down because it might disturb some people while eating," then left. That certainly is quite appalling! I don't know whether this should be considered a racist comment, or perhaps the sight of a barefoot really does lead to the loss of appetite. But it's the mall for goodness sake. I could understand if this were som

There's nothing that feels better than knowing that you've made some progress, in work, in life, in thinking. At the moment, I'm feeling good cause I've pretty much solved a problem I was having with my samples. Just confirmed a few minutes ago that my samples no longer burn up (I'll put up some pictures perhaps in the near future) and thus, I am that much closer to having a real, working sample. I've spent the last two weeks or so trying to solve this problem, and I've jumped the hurdle. Real cool. Now I need to go home and sleep. I've been working for 18 hours straight. This night's sleep is well deserved.

News like this certainly doesn't help Taiwan's cause. When the only time a nation gets front page news coverage (front page online that is) at a major news source because of food fights in the legislature, well, it's kind of uh hem. Another reason that Taiwan news doesn't get reported as much on Reuters, NYTimes or CNN is China. These news corps are trying to avoid getting into trouble with China, and a good way to do that is to not bring up sensitive issues like Taiwan. I've recently added this to my multitude of electronics equipment: one of these ! It's soooo pretty. So coool. [droooool..]

Besides the obvious thesis topic, there are several goals I have for my PhD pursuit years. Already I have undertaken hiking every good weather weekend. North Carolina, especially within a 50 mile radius of Durham, seems to be perfect hiking country. Lots of woods, some lakes, nature everywhere. It's a great way to refresh the mind and keep the body in shape. Usually I leave around 800 am with some friends (not too many are willing to get up so early on Saturdays) and head to one of the closest state parks. We hike for about 2 to 3 hours, taking photos, talking the gamut of things. It's awesome. Next on the to do list is horse-back riding. Ever since childhood I wanted to learn how to ride a horse, and now I'm going to actually make an effort to do so. I'm sure the process may not come cheap, but this is definitely something I've always wanted to do. Perhaps this is inevitable as my name in Greek actually means "lover of horses." Sailing. I've got my

Once again, I'm the last one around. It's Sunday evening. People have gone home to prepare for another week. Me? My week has just begun. It never ended to be exact. What was that? Footsteps? A door shuts? Or is it just me? I look around, no one. Perhaps I am getting tired! But deep inside, there is a certain haughtiness that I am truly the last one around. There is a certain bonding with a place that begins to happen when you are the only one present. The silence shouts out to you. Suddenly, footsteps. They're real this time. Several chaps enter. The silence remains, but no longer am I the only one. We are all here. Such hard workers. The days are getting colder; winter is coming. It is time to go home.

This is good. Not the typical period film, but instilled with rock n roll coolness and lots of humour. I especially love watching the old ninja who can't hold his balance after jumping down the ceiling when his lord calls for him. 

The solution.

I was reading the Chinese newspaper today at Grace's Cafe and I came upon an interesting story. It goes like this. Famed scholar Ouyang Hsiu went to eat for dinner. Though famous, he certainly was not above the commons, but certainly he had eaten better, for the food at this particular restaurant was rather tasteless and bland. While finishing his meal, the owner of the restaurant was informed of the presence of such an eminent scholar, and not wanting to let such an opportunity pass itself, quickly ordered the calligraphy set (brush and all) to be brought out. The owner then with great reverence asked Ouyang but to leave a short scribble, for even that would be close to priceless. Ouyang thought for a moment, smiled, and wrote down the following poem: When finished, the owner of the restaurant shouted his praises, ordered the writing to be framed on the spot, and then proceeded to hang the work as a centerpiece for all to see. Weeks had gone by, and many had come to admire

I've been regularly reading Frank Wilczek's articles in Physics Today without ever realizing his important contributions to physics, that is until today: he won 1/3 of this year's Nobel Prize in Physics! He was one of the main contributors in the 70s to quantum chromodynamics, the theory that explains the strong force, that is interactions amongst the nucleons, or the particles that constitute the nucleus of atoms. QCD explains how quarks and gluons interact to keep matter together, without which, we would certainly not exist. Unfortunately, that's almost as much as I know about the theory, since it's high energy particle physics, which is very different from nanoscale low temperature physics...the stuff I do. Perhaps I'll take a distribution course in particle physics, so I can get a deeper physical understanding and mathematical framework for all this. I found his article in October's Physics Today to be quite profound, and in some sense, appropriat