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I just finished reading Orson Scott Card's Speaker of the Dead , the sequel to Ender's Game (which I read in elementary school), and in the news, I read this touching story . It really hit home the message Orson was trying to send with his novel. That is, how to live and love one another. This one another may be another of your race, another of your city, your country, this earth, or perhaps, of this universe regardless of species, as long as they are living. They don't even have to be as "intelligent" as we are. For me to accept another is not so much their finally achieving a level of civilization that I recognize, but rather, that I have matured, and come to love and accept them for who they are. I do believe these dolphins are intelligent, and their behaviour with humans seems much more civilized than the way we approach them. Look, the fellow tried to get out of the circle, but after he saw the Great White, then he understood the dolphins intentions. If we f...

The new Star Wars trailer is out! Have you seen it? Go to starwars.com now! This movie will bring to a close an awesome epic fantasy story that has captivated my heart and imagination (and many other people's) since I was three years old. I still vividly remember watching Return of the Jedi when it first came out in theaters (this being when I was three) and being slightly frightened by the grotesque Jabba the Hutt. But the fantasy of it all got me hooked, and this explains why Part VI (the third movie chronologically) has always been my favourite of the old trilogy. Even today, I'm quick to snatch up the newest action figure available, though I've stopped buying every single figure I see. I'm more picky and have limited my collecting to the main characters, such as Vader, Yoda, Obi-wan, etc. Besides Star Wars, I've gotten myself into all sorts of fantasy/sci-fi novels. Game of Thrones, The Wheel of Time, The Golden Compass, etc. The only stuff I read these da...

So the elections are over, and Bush has been re-elected. It is somewhat disturbing that the majority of voters this election were more concerned about issues such as gay marriage, gun control, and abortion than issues such as the war in iraq, the economy, and relations with the rest of the Earth. I'm more convinced than ever that the typical American is extremely irrational, ignorant, and far too religious to the point of fanaticism. This is not an encouraging thought. So what now? Well, deal. We must face the consequences of the majority, even if it is a mob. For that is democracy, and we can only hope the self-adjusting forces of a democratic society, that is, the mean field approach (neglect extreme fluctuations), will keep the balance. I'm just worried the average has been shifted more to the right than it should be.

Tomorrow is the big day. Action packed for me certainly. I begin my days as usual at around 630-700 am. Get to office by 800 am, ready for the first class, of which I have an exam tomorrow morning. Open books, open notes---ie may not be so easy. Then another dense dose of quantum mechanics. Finally, I think I will take some time out to go vote! Exercise my right as a citizen of this democratic country. Had a discussion, somewhat heated, with my brother on iChat today. He told me of his intentions to vote for neither the Democratic or Republican candidate. Instead he will vote for Nader. I was at first somewhat appalled at his choice, but later he explained the following. He was fed up with both Bush and Kerry. Nader, however, has been sticking to his principles since he began his political career. Always opposed the war. Thus, his vote for Nader is a matter of exercising his right to voice displeasure with the two main candidates, their campaigns, and the political system in general...

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..]