Le Blogger

time lapse aurora

2012-01-07T12:04:00.001-05:00

I can never get enough!

Chinese Opera Jingle Bells

2011-12-27T04:36:00.001-05:00

Open Durham

2011-10-17T10:10:00.001-04:00

Want to know more about Durham, NC?

http://www.opendurham.org/about-open-durham

fun facts about taiwan

2011-10-13T06:17:00.001-04:00

http://allenhsudesign.com/print/10-fun-facts-about-taiwan/

want to see auroras?

2011-10-12T16:08:00.001-04:00

Here's a guide to capturing auroras:

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/8217618174/auroral-photography-a-guide-to-capturing-the-northern-lights

Hurry though! The current solar cycle peaks in 2013!

Time lapse aurora video

2011-10-02T12:17:00.001-04:00

http://vimeo.com/flatlightfilms/aurora

awesome fantasy pictures

2011-09-30T06:20:00.001-04:00

http://3dimpact.com/gallery_digital.html

Dragon Fight in Orion Nebula

2011-06-24T16:52:00.001-04:00

This is a real image...very cool.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/06/24/a-dragon-fight-in-the-heart-of-orion/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BadAstronomyBlog+%28Bad+Astronomy%29

One Levitation A Day

2011-06-18T15:07:00.001-04:00

These are nice...

http://yowayowacamera.com/

Helioviewer

2011-06-07T17:33:00.001-04:00

Amazing! Make your own movies or screenshots of the sun.

http://helioviewer.org/

Fulfilling a childhood dream!

2011-04-09T16:22:00.001-04:00

Physics in action! Here's an explanation for why the Northern Lights happen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(astronomy)):

*****

Auroras result from emissions of photons in the Earth's upper atmosphere (thermosphere), above 80 km (50 miles), from ionized nitrogen atoms regaining an electron, and oxygen and nitrogen atoms returning from an excited state to ground state. They are ionized or excited by the collision of solar wind particles being funneled down and accelerated along the Earth's magnetic field lines; excitation energy is lost by the emission of a photon of light, or by collision with another atom or molecule:

oxygen emissions: Green or brownish-red, depending on the amount of energy absorbed.
nitrogen emissions: Blue or red. Blue if the atom regains an electron after it has been ionized. Red if returning to ground state from an excited state.

*****

A site that I checked for forecasts http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast.

I didn't get to see blue, that's rare, but I was able to see red. Green was all around. It's too bad that red happened too quickly for me to capture digitally, so it's going to have to remain in my memory.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Blue eyed islanders

2011-04-07T15:09:00.001-04:00

Here's an interesting logic puzzle (it is quite well known, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_knowledge_(logic)). The version below is from Terence Tao's blog. xkcd also has a version (http://xkcd.com/blue_eyes.html).

*****

– The logic puzzle –

There is an island upon which a tribe resides. The tribe consists of 1000 people, with various eye colours. Yet, their religion forbids them to know their own eye color, or even to discuss the topic; thus, each resident can (and does) see the eye colors of all other residents, but has no way of discovering his or her own (there are no reflective surfaces). If a tribesperson does discover his or her own eye color, then their religion compels them to commit ritual suicide at noon the following day in the village square for all to witness. All the tribespeople are highly logical and devout, and they all know that each other is also highly logical and devout (and they all know that they all know that each other is highly logical and devout, and so forth).

Of the 1000 islanders, it turns out that 100 of them have blue eyes and 900 of them have brown eyes, although the islanders are not initially aware of these statistics (each of them can of course only see 999 of the 1000 tribespeople).

One day, a blue-eyed foreigner visits to the island and wins the complete trust of the tribe.
One evening, he addresses the entire tribe to thank them for their hospitality.
However, not knowing the customs, the foreigner makes the mistake of mentioning eye color in his address, remarking “how unusual it is to see another blue-eyed person like myself in this region of the world”.

What effect, if anything, does this faux pas have on the tribe?
*****
There are two contradictory solutions:

– Solution 1 –

The foreigner has no effect, because his comments do not tell the tribe anything that they do not already know (everyone in the tribe can already see that there are several blue-eyed people in their tribe).
– Solution 2 –
100 days after the address, all the blue eyed people commit suicide. This is proven as a special case of
Proposition. Suppose that the tribe had n blue-eyed people for some positive integer n. Then n days after the traveller’s address, all n blue-eyed people commit suicide.

Proof: We induct on n. When n=1, the single blue-eyed person realizes that the traveler is referring to him or her, and thus commits suicide on the next day. Now suppose inductively that n is larger than 1. Each blue-eyed person will reason as follows: “If I am not blue-eyed, then there will only be n-1 blue-eyed people on this island, and so they will all commit suicide n-1 days after the traveler’s address”. But when n-1 days pass, none of the blue-eyed people do so (because at that stage they have no evidence that they themselves are blue-eyed). After nobody commits suicide on the day, each of the blue eyed people then realizes that they themselves must have blue eyes, and will then commit suicide on the day.

As the above two solutions give contradictory conclusions, at most one of them is correct. Which one (if any) is the correct solution, and what is the precise reason that the other solution is invalid?

5 second rule debunked

2011-04-06T07:46:00.001-04:00

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2011/04/05/ncbi-rofl-before-you-trust-the-five-second-rule-read-this/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DiscoverDiscoblog+%28Discoblog%29

Innocence

2011-01-11T11:12:00.001-05:00

Real story from my cousin...cute and funny.

*****

Innocence of a 5 year old

One day while I was driving home, my 5-year-old son was sitting in the rear on his
safety seat when the radio program talked about the Buddhism idea of transmigration (輪迴).
“What is transmigration, dad?” He asked.
“Transmigration? Uhhh…” I tried to come up with words understandable to him.
“Some people believe that life comes over and over again after death. If you are a good
guy and you do good things, when you die, you will become a baby and be born again
by a mommy. But if you are a bad guy and you do many, many bad things… “.
At this very moment, an ugly and dirty strayed dog happened to pass by our car.
“…you will become a poor animal just like the dog, or like the flea in its body.” I continued
with my finger pointing on the dog.
Then there was a long silence.
“Are you OK?” I turned my eyes back on him and was astonished to find that he was weeping.
“Dad, am I too late (to do good things) now?” He asked with tears.

*****

The Road Not Taken

2010-11-01T15:52:00.001-04:00

One of my favorites...by Robert Frost

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leands on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I---
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Laundry time II

2010-11-01T05:29:00.001-04:00

Laundry Part Två!

On the scheduled day, one arrives promptly and uses the electronic key to open the doors to the washer and dryers! What's available: two washer units, a tumbler dryer, a clothes press, and the huge drying unit which I've never seen before. To help with moving all the clothes around, there's a little cart!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Laundry time I

2010-11-01T05:26:00.001-04:00

How to do laundry in Sweden when you don't have individual washer/dryer units (it's a real luxury).

First you book your time. We're not in the corridors (think Hall dorms in college) so we get to use the electronic booking. It's basically a calendar showing when the two washing setups are available. As we share these two rooms with at least 20 something or more families, we get to book only one room at a time. The corridor system is much more basic but quite cool too. You place your lock in the time you want, and then show up!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

snowing!

2010-10-20T15:46:00.001-04:00

Umm...it's snowing outside right now!

Mushroom Picking II

2010-09-27T16:59:00.001-04:00

More photos of mushrooms!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Mushroom Picking I

2010-09-27T16:53:00.001-04:00

We went mushroom picking this past Saturday (20100925)! This is something the Swedes really like to do. Most people have some rudimentary knowledge of mushrooms and can pick at least one species of non-toxic 'shroom. Saturday was pretty humid and perfect weather for mushrooms to grow. We went to an area near Dalby and near a military base! Several rounds were heard during picking, which definitely added to the adventurous feeling. Our organizer joked that we should be careful to not get shelled or run over by tanks. I found a beautiful red with white dot mushroom, which reminded me a lot of Mario Brothers. But it's quite a toxic 'shroom, so kids, don't pick anything based on your memory of mushrooms in Mario Bros. Most are very bad for you! A friend from Fysicum told me a story that the red/white mushroom can actually be consumed safely, in very small portions. Apparently, ancient vikings used to take a bite before heading into battle!!

Download now or watch on posterous

MVI_2473.AVI (3153 KB)

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Bike tour to Uppåkra

2010-09-22T05:45:00.001-04:00

We met up with friends from Fysicum to bike to Uppåkra http://www.uppakra.se. There is extensive archaeological digging going on as one of Skåne's oldest Viking settlements was found here. It's not that far from Lund. The scenary along the way was great, though the weather was a bit overcast. One of the most famous finds was this iron pin, which resembles Mickey Mouse! Not sure what it is supposed to be really, but some blogs suggest that it could have been a lion?

(
View Larger Map)

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Malmö Festival!

2010-09-21T15:16:00.001-04:00

Malmö festival from 20 August, 2010 - 27 August, 2010. It's one of the biggest in Sweden. Here's more http://www.malmotown.com/en/events/2010/the-malmo-festival. The sour sweets were good, and we saw some celebrity signing his autograph (no idea who it is).

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Crayfish songs!

2010-09-13T16:29:00.001-04:00

More about crayfish and other food from a fun night in a barn. Here's the lyrics to some of the songs.

Kräftan (sung to Twinkle Twinkle little star):

Kräfta, kräfta prydd med dill, (cray fish cray fish, decorated in dill)
och en immig sup därtill, (and a misty schnapps on top)
bröd och smör och ost och sill (bread and butter, cheese and herring)
och så några supar till (and a couple of more schnapps)
Kräfta, kräfta prydd med dill, (cray fish cray fish, decorated in dill)
nu vi får allt vad vi vill. (now we get all that we want!)

Here's another song we sang that night, somewhat less appropriate subject matter...but fun nevertheless.

My Bonnie lies over the ocean:

My father makes counterfeit money,
my mother brews synthetic gin,
My sister sells kisses to sailors,
and that's how the money rolls in!

Rolls in, rolls in, my God how the money rolls in, rolls in
Rolls in, rolls in, my God how the money rolls in.

My uncle's a slum missionary
saving young maidens from sin
He'll save you a blonde for a shilling
and that's how the money rolls in!

Rolls in, rolls in...

My aunt runs a girl's seminary
teaching young girls to begin
She never says where they're to finish
and that's how the money rolls in!

Rolls in, rolls in...

My brother's a Harley Street doctor,
with instruments long, sharp and thin
He only makes one operation
and that's how the money rolls in!

My father has spent all his money,
my mother has drunk all her gin
My aunt's with my brother in prison
so now no more money rolls in!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

There's a nest outside our window!

2010-09-12T15:14:00.001-04:00

The birds love to watch the sunset too. They came almost everyday for a week.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

August = Crayfish season in Skåne

2010-09-12T14:27:00.001-04:00

To properly enjoy the lovely and tasty crustaceans in the Swedish way, one must sing loudly in good cheer the songs for the occasion, followed by downing a shot of schnapps!

Silent Star Wars!

2010-08-22T03:38:00.002-04:00

Duke Chapel

2010-05-04T12:39:00.008-04:00

Some interesting information (www.chapel.duke.edu), gleamed from the guide. For pictures, see here.

Dedicated in 1935, the Chapel is built in the English Gothic style designed by The Trumbauer Company of Philadelphia, PA (Julian Abele was senior architect). The exterior has Duke bluestone from local NC quarry and Indiana limestone, while the interior is lined with Guastavino tile.

The main Bell Tower is 210 ft. high, and the nave of the Chapel is 73 ft. high and 39 ft. wide. The interior space is about 291 ft. long and 63 ft. wide, with the transept 121 ft. long. The pews and altar screens inside are made of oak, and the stained glass was made by the Bonawit company of NY with Charles Jaeckle as chief designer. The main Chapel seats about 1500. A Memorial Chapel at the far left end houses the remains of the Duke's, and the lower level crypt is the resting place for Duke relatives and former presidents of the University.

As you enter the Chapel (facing the Chapel), important religious figures greet you on the left (Girolamo Savonarola, Martin Luther and John Wycliffe) while American luminaries (Sidney Lanier, Robert E Lee and Thomas Jefferson) greet you on the right. Interestingly, Robert E Lee is dressed in the uniform of a Northern soldier....On the facade are Methodists Thomas Coke, Francis Asbury and George Whitfield. John Wesley stands over the front doors.

Right inside in the narthex, important women from the Bible (Naomi, Hannah, Esther, Rebekah, Hagar and Ruth) greet you. This was meant to compensate for an ancient and fortunately no longer adhered to custom that prohibited women from entering into sacred places of worship. Walking further, Piety and Knowledge greet you on the left and right, respectively.

The stained glasses depict important people and stories from the Bible. There are two layers, on top (U)/ bottom (L). Clockwise from left (facing altar), we have Adam(U)/Annunciation(L); Noah/Nativity; Melchizedek/Jesus' youth; Abraham/Jesus' Baptism; Isaac/Death of John the Baptist; Jacob/The Transfiguration; Samuel/The Prodigal Son; David/ The Last Supper; Solomon/The Crucifixion; Job/The Resurrection; Tobit/The Ascension; Judas Maccabeaus/St. Paul's Preaching. All of the important characters in the top hold onto specific and unique tools that were used to identify them. Interestingly, in the panel depicting Jesus' youth, a Green but not Blue devil is noticeable! At the chancel, and further up to the altar, we have Moses, Joshua, Gideon and Samson (clockwise from left). At the very front, are images of the Face of God/Peter, Andrew, Jesus, James, John/James, Jude, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew/Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos and Obadiah.

No Chapel is complete without organs, and Duke's Chapel has three: The Benjamin N Duke Memorial Organ (Flentrop 1976) at rear with 5000+ pipes; Kathleen Upton Bryns McClendon Organ (Aeolian 1932) in chancel with 7000+ pipes; Brombaugh Organ in Memorial Chapel (portable Flentrop) with 920+ pipes. There's also 50 bells in the Bell Tower that plays at 5 pm daily!

One last tidbit I learned during the Chapel tour, is that every Chapel has a mouse. The saying is that no whisper or sound so small even for a mouse goes unheard of. If you look closely near the lectern (next to chancel), you'll see it!

The Only Four Chords You'll Ever Need

2010-04-21T14:47:00.003-04:00

Seriously awesome video!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/19/the-only-four-chords-need_n_543025.html

Lund, Sweden

2010-04-17T13:26:00.000-04:00

Photos from recent visit to Lund, Copenhagen and Berlin!

http://picasaweb.google.com/DebbyandPhil

Wonder why Buffett is worth so much?

2010-03-18T13:01:00.000-04:00

Poem

2009-12-27T17:04:00.001-05:00

I saw this on T. Tao's blog. Very creative.

Such eloquence

2009-12-22T14:04:00.001-05:00

MLK Jr. was so powerful with words.

"...We are now faced with the fact, my friends,
that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with
the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding
conundrum of life and history, there is such a
thing as being too late."

Sweet story

2009-12-19T17:05:00.001-05:00

The last quote is awesome. "Only my love of the straight line keeps me going."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/arts/design/20herrera.html?ref=global-home

Lungless amphibians

2009-11-18T21:10:00.002-05:00

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/091118-lungs-amphibian-worm-caecilian.html

Mother Nature never ceases to wow and amaze.

Water on Moon

2009-11-13T13:21:00.001-05:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/science/14moon.html?hp

http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov/

Bird Sings Through Wings

2009-11-12T16:33:00.001-05:00

Fuel from air?

2009-11-11T11:00:00.001-05:00

Real or fantasy?

http://www.joulebio.com/

Berlin Domino

2009-11-10T15:35:00.001-05:00

Really creative way to pay tribute to a monumental moment in history 20 years ago.

Here's the big version.

Tallest Green Building

2009-11-09T02:52:00.001-05:00

I know at times it may be more about the race to claim a title and not the more important issue, but at least this is one that's kind of worth it.

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/11/05/taipei-101-worlds-tallest-green-building/

And this research is important because...

2009-11-04T17:39:00.002-05:00

This is funded research.

*****
Fellatio by Fruit Bats Prolongs Copulation Time

Oral sex is widely used in human foreplay, but rarely documented in other animals. Fellatio has been recorded in bonobos Pan paniscus, but even then functions largely as play behaviour among juvenile males. The short-nosed fruit bat Cynopterus sphinx exhibits resource defence polygyny and one sexually active male often roosts with groups of females in tents made from leaves. Female bats often lick their mate's penis during dorsoventral copulation. The female lowers her head to lick the shaft or the base of the male's penis but does not lick the glans penis which has already penetrated the vagina. Males never withdrew their penis when it was licked by the mating partner. A positive relationship exists between the length of time that the female licked the male's penis during copulation and the duration of copulation. Furthermore, mating pairs spent significantly more time in copulation if the female licked her mate's penis than if fellatio was absent. Males also show postcopulatory genital grooming after intromission. At present, we do not know why genital licking occurs, and we present four non-mutually exclusive hypotheses that may explain the function of fellatio in C. sphinx.

Citation: Tan M, Jones G, Zhu G, Ye J, Hong T, et al. (2009) Fellatio by Fruit Bats Prolongs Copulation Time. PLoS ONE 4(10): e7595. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0007595
*****

Robot walking

2009-10-28T10:17:00.001-04:00

How to shoot an Anvil a la roadrunner

2009-10-22T23:15:00.000-04:00

Wow..just wow.

Mars

2009-10-22T10:37:00.001-04:00

Our concept of a static red planet is really not quite right. I didn't know about these things---Martian dust devils!

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap031230.html

Vote for Chiayu Hsu!

2009-10-20T16:00:00.001-04:00

Pretty neat music!

http://dilettantemusic.com/digital-composer-vote

Alarming

2009-10-15T12:34:00.003-04:00

Polar ice shrinkage just this summer. I think some ice will reform in the winter, but what a change. From Reuters/NASA.

Jamming physics based Robot

2009-10-15T10:14:00.001-04:00

Very cool. Seems to be work from Heinrich Jaeger's group!

Proof that we have souls!

2009-10-14T22:43:00.000-04:00

http://www.mnn.com/technology/research-innovations/stories/dead-salmon-responds-to-photos-of-people

Errr, ok maybe not.

Interesting Concept..

2009-10-13T11:17:00.000-04:00

Video a bit long, but there's some interesting demo stuff near the end.

10/GUI from C. Miller on Vimeo.

Making Soap

2009-10-01T10:59:00.002-04:00

I've recently learned to make soap. It's pretty neat. All you need is some oils, fragrances and NaOH! Mix them together and walla, soap! It's like doing chemistry!

Temptation Test

2009-09-17T10:31:00.001-04:00

Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

Federer between the legs!

2009-09-14T09:48:00.001-04:00

Funny!

2009-09-08T12:50:00.001-04:00

Office Greenification

2009-08-31T16:54:00.003-04:00

As part of my attempt to make the office space more visually appealing, I've added these two plants. They seem to be doing alright so far. I should probably get to work clearing the piles of papers though. The small bonsai is a ficus nitida. I hope I can manage that one alright.

Rainbow!

2009-08-25T09:53:00.001-04:00

Saw this rainbow as I was driving home the other night, and quickly pulled out my phone to catch it. Ever try to follow a rainbow to the end, in search of the pot of gold?

Wow...just wow

2009-08-24T10:21:00.002-04:00

Can you believe the filth this guy spews? Despicable in every imaginable way. Makes my blood boil. The KMT needs to change its act and mindset or get the hell out of Taiwan.

*****
MORAKOT: THE AFTERMATH: Sacked GIO official in hot water again over remarks
WAR OF WORDS: Web users have been quick to criticize Kuo Kuan-ying’s defense of the government’s relief efforts, while some lawmakers urged people to ignore him
By Loa Iok-sin
STAFF REPORTER
Monday, Aug 24, 2009, Page 3

Former Government Information Office (GIO) official Kuo Kuan-ying (郭冠英) came under fire yesterday for saying foreign aid was unnecessary in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot and that the government has done well with its relief efforts.

Kuo told reporters at a New Party anniversary party on Saturday that Cabinet Secretary-General Hsueh Hsiang-chuan (薛香川) had not been been wrong to attend a Fathers’ Day dinner at a five-star hotel in Taipei on Aug. 8, the day many areas in the south were hit by severe flooding and torrential rain.

“I was having sex with my wife when the disaster occurred — I needed to eat, to make love, to shit and to brush my teeth,” Kuo said. “What good does it do if I rush to visit the victims? If they died, they died.”

“So if our government officials want to celebrate Fathers’ Day, have a haircut or do whatever they should do, it’s normal,” he said.

The government had been right to decline offers of assistance from other countries, he said.

“It was seven or eight days later when we asked for helicopters from other countries — what good can the helicopters do seven or eight days after the flooding occurred?” Kuo said. “They can do nothing more than transport dead bodies.”

China’s offer of assistance was an exception, however, since it was “domestic assistance,” he said.

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) said people shouldn’t pay too much attention to what Kuo said.

“Since Kuo is no longer a public servant, I don’t think we need to pay much attention to what he says,” Huang said. “But I’m glad that he’s no longer an official stationed abroad, otherwise our relations with other countries and our national interests could be damaged.”

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) also dismissed Kuo’s comments, saying that “that man’s remarks were not worth responding to.”

Meanwhile, Kuo’s remarks have been widely criticized on the Web.

“[Kuo is] garbage talking trash,” Internet user Jack2002326 commented under a video recording of Kuo’s comments posted on YouTube.

“I would praise him for saying ‘if they died, they died’ if members of his family died in the disaster,” Evelyn1984girl said.

“Is he a human being?” many users asked.

“You eat, you shit, you make love regardless of what happens, and so do pigs — so how are you different from pigs?” asked Kevin01cj, a member of the social networking service Plurk.

Others, such as blogger Quentin Kao and YouTube member LoveFCU, said that Kuo was brave enough to say aloud what President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and other high-ranking officials were thinking.

Kuo was fired earlier this year for publishing derogatory comments about Taiwan written while serving at the representative office in Toronto.
*****

Scary!

2009-08-23T20:00:00.003-04:00

What if a truck were really coming at you on the highway? Fortunately, this was just a huge truck being towed.

Eww, but fascinating!

2009-08-07T13:02:00.001-04:00

Clever clever!

Robot cooks noodles!

2009-08-07T12:16:00.002-04:00

Neat, but don't you like the taste of good old hard working human sweat in your ramen?

3D metal printing

2009-08-04T12:31:00.002-04:00

I've worked with stainless steel in the machine shop, and it isn't exactly the easiest metal to drill or lathe. So to be able to print it, wow.

Another interesting company is Shapeways. Here's a video (not metal printing in this case though).

Origami Art

2009-07-31T23:43:00.001-04:00

http://www.thecoolist.com/papercraft-perfection-10-amazing-master-origami-artists/

Invisible Man

2009-07-22T14:19:00.001-04:00

Nice art.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/5886805/The-invisible-man-Liu-Bolins-camouflage-artwork.html

Oreo Cow

2009-07-20T09:13:00.001-04:00

Oreo? Yup, at the Fearrington Farm!

Mass Transit Fail

2009-07-16T13:25:00.003-04:00

Regardless of whether you are Green, Blue, (or Red!?), I think the Taiwanese public and especially citizens of Taipei deserve an unbiased and thorough investigation.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/07/17/2003448874

*****
EDITORIAL: The limits of Ma’s achievements

Friday, Jul 17, 2009, Page 8

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has touted the Maokong Gondola and the Mass Rapid Transit system’s Neihu Line as two major achievements of his eight-year stint as the mayor of Taipei. To highlight his role as a key figure in making these projects possible, Ma was invited by Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) to take part in the inauguration of the gondola in July last year and the Neihu Line earlier this month.

But neither project has covered itself with glory, with the former struggling to justify the massive amount invested to provide the public with a sound and safe mode of transportation.

The Maokong Gondola, which cost more than NT$1 billion (US$30 million) to build, has been suspended since October because of safety concerns. The NT$60 billion Neihu Line, which opened less than two weeks ago, is on probation because of frequent malfunctions. A major system fault last Friday forced the evacuation of about 700 passengers who had to walk the tracks back to the stations.

At the height of the controversy and criticism surrounding the gondola late last year, Hau said his predecessor — Ma — should not be held responsible for a compromised supporting pillar.

The Control Yuan supported Hau by saying it would not investigate Ma’s involvement during its probe of the gondola’s construction. Ma was also quick to distance himself from the problem, saying the gondola’s “engineering” was a “professional [issue] and not for me to decide.”

This time was no different.

Ma was mayor when some key decisions on the construction of the Neihu Line were made. However, the Taipei City Government has pinned the blame solely on Bombardier — the Neihu Line contractor — for problems with the system’s integration with the Muzha Line, while overlooking the administrative responsibility of those who signed the papers for the project’s construction.

Control Yuan member Ger Yeong-kuang (葛永光), who is in charge of the investigation into the Neihu Line, said yesterday that the government watchdog might “consult” Ma on what happened during his stint as Taipei mayor.

“Consulting” — as opposed to “questioning” — is an indicator that the public should not expect much from the Control Yuan’s investigation.

This recurring pattern is disturbing: When things go right, Ma flashes a big smile in front of news cameras and touts projects as his accomplishments. But when problems start to surface, he disappears from view while his supporters rush to disassociate the president from potential debacles.

When Control Yuan President Wang Chien-shien (王建煊) was sworn in last September, he vowed that the government watchdog would not be an agency that “only catches flies but does not dare to catch the tiger.”

The public is waiting to see if the Control Yuan can live up to Wang’s pledge.
*****

Moonwalking Bird

2009-07-16T11:15:00.001-04:00

Flip to near the end to see. Awesome!

Dog can Dunk

2009-07-10T14:46:00.000-04:00

Cheeseburger cupcakes

2009-07-09T13:29:00.001-04:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/katedw/3489933430/in/set-72157617528706606

looks yummy!

Lolrio cart

2009-07-01T10:56:00.001-04:00

http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/01/video-grocery-cart-morphs-into-electric-go-kart-insanity-ensue/

Go Go Power!

2009-06-29T16:42:00.003-04:00

Enjoying a day at the beach...which would not be complete without staying connected to the grid.

Thanks to CYC for the photos!

Kung fu: Eating molten lead

2009-06-27T14:48:00.000-04:00

Extreme Kung Fu: Eating Molten Lead - Watch more amazing videos here

Love the music!

Wallabies gettin high

2009-06-26T13:02:00.001-04:00

Get this...http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2009/06/27/2003447185

*****
First there was Fat Boy, the pony that fell in a pool after getting drunk on fermented apples. Then there was the squirrel that was so wasted on aged pumpkins that it couldn’t climb a tree. But in the annals of substance-abusing wildlife, nothing quite matches the latest reports on the behavior of the humble wallabies of Tasmania.

A routine budget hearing on the island has conjured up images of a marsupial version of Trainspotting with the revelation that packs of the wallabies have been abusing the island’s thousands of acres of legal opium poppy fields.

“We have a problem with wallabies entering poppy fields, getting as high as a kite and going around in circles,” the island’s attorney general, Lara Giddings, told her colleagues yesterday on Thursday.

Nor does the problem end there. Even smacked-up animals, it seems, cannot break free of the physical law that demands that what goes up must come down.

“Then they crash,” Giddings said. “We see crop circles in the poppy industry from wallabies that are high.”

Tasmania is the world’s biggest producer of opium grown legally for the pharmaceutical market. About 500 farmers grow the crop on 20,000 hectares of land, producing around half the raw opium for morphine and other opiates.

Giddings was answering questions about the security of the island’s poppy stocks, which are estimated to be among the safest in the world. However, she noted that 2,280 poppy heads had been stolen over the last financial year. And wallabies are not the only miscreants.

Rick Rockliff, field operations manager for Tasmanian Alkaloids — one of the two Tasmanian companies licensed to take medicinal products from poppy straw — said that deer and sheep that munched the poppies had been known to “act weird” afterward.

“There have been many stories about sheep that have eaten some of the poppies after harvesting and they all walk around in circles,” Rockliff told the Mercury newspaper.

He said growers did their best to stop the local livestock invading the fields as there were worries over the contamination of meat from animals that ate the drug crops.

“There is also the risk to our poppy stocks, so growers take this very seriously. But there has been a steady increase in the number of wild animals and that is where we are having difficulty keeping them off our land,” he said.
*****

Zoom into Tooth

2009-06-23T23:13:00.003-04:00

Zoom into a Tooth
Uploaded by Weird_Weird_Science. - Discover more science and tech videos.

Neat

2009-06-18T12:07:00.001-04:00

http://web.me.com/dgdixon/SOHH_Project/Welcome.html

Bookporn

2009-06-16T14:02:00.001-04:00

Somehow, this concept is extremely titillating. Be prepared.

http://idlethink.wordpress.com/category/bookporn/

Robot waiter

2009-06-16T12:34:00.001-04:00

The future.

Don't pull it out too soon!

2009-06-14T11:47:00.002-04:00

Sailing

2009-06-14T10:56:00.003-04:00

I went to Lake Crabtree Friday afternoon with Debby's lab. It was a lovely day with lakeside bbq and volleyball fun. The most exciting part for me, was renting a small beginner's dinghy sailboat (sort of like this one called the Optimist) and learning to sail! Yeah!

Two basic maneuvers for sailing: the jibe and tack.

Basically, when you want to change directions, you can choose to maintain wind speed by rotating the stern (jibe), or point the bow into the wind for a safer turn but lose momentum (tack). The jibe is more dangerous as there's a greater chance for capsizing.

In both cases, there's some head-ducking when the sail flips from one side to the other. But sailing's awesome...I'm hooked!

Reulf

2009-06-12T13:50:00.000-04:00

Reulf from Charlesque on Vimeo.

Cute!

milliseconds of https

2009-06-11T13:45:00.001-04:00

Ever want to knew what goes on in the milliseconds before you buy stuff on Amazon?

http://www.moserware.com/2009/06/first-few-milliseconds-of-https.html

Democracy-BHO's speech in Cairo

2009-06-05T14:24:00.002-04:00

Excerpt from The President's speech. The full transcript is here.

*****
That does not lessen my commitment, however, to governments that reflect the will of the people. Each nation gives life to this principle in its own way, grounded in the traditions of its own people. America does not presume to know what is best for everyone, just as we would not presume to pick the outcome of a peaceful election. But I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn't steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose. These are not just American ideas; they are human rights. And that is why we will support them everywhere. (Applause.)

Now, there is no straight line to realize this promise. But this much is clear: Governments that protect these rights are ultimately more stable, successful and secure. Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. America respects the right of all peaceful and law-abiding voices to be heard around the world, even if we disagree with them. And we will welcome all elected, peaceful governments -- provided they govern with respect for all their people.

This last point is important because there are some who advocate for democracy only when they're out of power; once in power, they are ruthless in suppressing the rights of others. (Applause.) So no matter where it takes hold, government of the people and by the people sets a single standard for all who would hold power: You must maintain your power through consent, not coercion; you must respect the rights of minorities, and participate with a spirit of tolerance and compromise; you must place the interests of your people and the legitimate workings of the political process above your party. Without these ingredients, elections alone do not make true democracy.
*****

九八七五三二一

2009-06-04T12:34:00.002-04:00

What's missing?

Project Natal

2009-06-03T11:29:00.003-04:00

Seriously cool!!

Homemade electric car

2009-06-02T16:01:00.001-04:00

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3155482#guestbook

Charlie Stross-"Where do you get your ideas?"

2009-05-31T20:13:00.002-04:00

I thought this was a neat article, written on a particularly meaningful day for me.

http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=24831

Funny commercial

2009-05-29T16:04:00.001-04:00

Your Morals

2009-05-28T10:55:00.002-04:00

What are your morals? And how do they affect your political leanings? Try some of these quizzes to find out...

Go to: www.yourmorals.org

You have to register, but the results can be illuminating. It's quite interesting to see how your answers compare with what is called the left or the right.

Shining Hope?!?

2009-05-26T13:39:00.003-04:00

Is there a shining beacon of hope for baldness?!? [photo from taipeitimes.com]

包粽

2009-05-24T12:57:00.003-04:00

As we don't get a lot of good Asian food in the area, we have to cook ourselves. This weekend, a couple of my friends got together to celebrate the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival. We cooked both 南粽 and 北粽 with the following ingredients. Yummy!

糯米
肉
香菇
栗子
蝦米
紅蔥頭
粽葉
粽繩
壽司海苔
蒟蒻
蘿蔔乾
筍乾
蔥油餅 (breakfast)
豆漿 (breakfast)
清粥小菜 (breakfast)
甜辣醬

粽子!

We (Nerds) Are Rockstars!

2009-05-24T12:35:00.001-04:00

Yea!

Wall-E

2009-05-20T12:01:00.001-04:00

Wow.

http://acidcow.com/pics/2059-russian-wall-e-case-mod-110-pics.html?

Mr. Nice Guy

2009-05-20T10:13:00.002-04:00

Here's an article about Chief Justice John Roberts of the US Supreme Court.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/25/090525fa_fact_toobin

The swing of the court's views seems to be heading rightwards, whereas the rest of the US seems to be heading center to left. Is this dichotomy good...or bad?

In particular, the article focuses on Roberts extreme attention to the issue of race. On the one hand, I understand that to be truly free of racism, we need to not include race as a factor in any decision making (Roberts' view). But on the other hand, we all use race as a judging factor, whether consciously or subconsciously, and to ignore that would be to potentially deprive some people of the opportunities they otherwise would have deserved. It's a tough issue, but Roberts' take on this is somewhat troubling to me. What we don't want to see, is a ruling that might take us back to pre-Brown vs. Board days.

In my mind, the question is, if at some point the court's views differs too drastically from the majority of the people's, will the court become irrelevant?

Angels & Demons

2009-05-17T01:26:00.004-04:00

I just saw Angels & Demons, and I thought it was pretty good. The reviews were not that hot, but I enjoyed watching. I think having read the novel helped too, as I knew more or less what was going on. In some ways, I think the director made the movie assuming most people read the book, so some of the scenes were more about visualizing in a big way what was written. That can certainly break the flow of the storytelling, but I thought it was still pretty smooth. Overall, I had a relaxed good time.

I think another factor that made the movie enjoyable was that I had only recently been to Rome, and visited most of the important movie locations in person! Recognizing all the scenes and locations was a real enjoyment booster, because in my mind, I kept going "Wow I was just there!"

Angels & Demons attempts to tackle the Science versus Religion problem by phrasing it in terms of the Illuminati versus the Catholic Church. Of course, in the end, we find that the Illuminati isn't real, but rather, is a fabricated tool used to gain power by an insider of the Church. The original Illuminati were never so sinister. They were probably more like the characters on Big Bang Theory!

The overarching conflict, however, is not resolved. Science versus Religion. We see this argument all across the US today. In our colleges, in our high schools, the fight is very real. Do we teach Darwinism and the theory of evolution? Or creationism?

As a scientist, I believe that we should emphasize teaching the former over the latter. The theory of evolution has undergone significant scientific scrutiny over many decades, and has so far been able to withstand the onslaught of its doubters. But perhaps the emphasis should not be placed on how grand a thought experiment the theory was; or what a triumph of the human rationale it represents. Rather, we should use this as a fine and concrete example of how to conduct an experiment in the scientific way, which is a process of reductionism and logic and reason. We teach without boasting.

But we shouldn't ignore the voices of others. We can include the latter in electives, or as was done at my college, introduce the Gospels and other biblical texts as masterpieces of literature, which they rightfully are. Certainly in doing so, there would be no attempt to disrespect or de-emphasize the importance of the Holy Scriptures for the Faithful, but rather to teach how to objectively read words that are held so reverently by so many. From this perspective, one can see how beautifully written the Torah, Koran and Bible are, and understand how many believe these texts to be spoken by God.

So perhaps I offer no resolution on the Science versus Religion topic as well. But then, that begs another question. Really, must it be versus? Can we not have Science AND Religion?

It made us want to be successful for them

2009-05-14T12:16:00.001-04:00

Check out the full transcript of President Obama's speech at ASU:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/13/us/politics/13obama.text.html

Photoshop fun

2009-05-10T16:12:00.001-04:00

Some of these photos are really neat. Some are just disgusting. All are worth a look.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pookhy

Vampires proof

2009-05-10T16:08:00.000-04:00

It's not me...

http://io9.com/5241252/physicists-prove-that-vampires-could-not-exist?skyline=true&s=x

A very Descript Man

2009-05-09T21:16:00.001-04:00

A very Descript Man .... J H Parker

I am such a dolent man,
I eptly work each day;
My acts are all becilic,
I've just ane things to say.

My nerves are strung, my hair is kempt,
I'm gusting and I'm span:
I look with dain on everyone
And am a pudent man.

I travel cognito and make
A delible impression:
I overcome a slight chalance,
With gruntled self-possession.

My dignation would be great
If I should digent be:
I trust my vagance will bring
An astrous life for me.

H1N1 Flu

2009-05-08T22:50:00.000-04:00

More sites to track flu:

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/

http://www.cdc.gov.tw/

Happy Odd Number Day

2009-05-07T11:32:00.001-04:00

Today is 5/7/09, which is a day of sequential odd numbers. Apparently this doesn't happen very often, so enjoy while you can.

Mexican Flu

2009-05-01T23:09:00.001-04:00

Here's some information for those at Duke about the recent Mexican flu outbreak.

http://www.duke.edu/flu2009/

Advanced Latin Dance Concepts

2009-04-21T10:36:00.002-04:00

Here are some concepts from Advanced Latin Dance class, taken in Spring 2009. Another fun semester of dancing!

-the hold
-footwork/foot positions
-balance
-connection
-dance positions
-leading
-following
-musical interpretation
-advanced turns
-poise
-arm styling
-cuban hip motion (still not that good on this!!)

Dances learned:

Rumba-offset breaks, open Cuban walk, back spot turn, forward spot turn, open box, Danson

Samba-open box, left cross turn, flips, progressive step, progressive twinkle, cross body lead

Mambo/Salsa-parallel breaks, open break to natural roll, open break to reverse turn, open box, spot turns forward/back, cape turns, swivels

Merengue-mans underarm variations, wrap in and roll out, continuous tuck and roll out, right and left side switches, pivot, wrap around

Tango-3 fan combo, running step, leg crawl, progressive link, Figure 4, leg hooks

Cha cha-cross body lead, open box, cross triples, back spot turn, crossover break with walk around, cross body with change of hand

Google sites

2009-04-19T21:51:00.002-04:00

I'm migrating my websites from Duke over to Google sites. Here's the link,

http://sites.google.com/site/philwu/