So, ever wondered what a game of cricket looks like?

This is a game of cricket between arch rivals India and Pakistan. It's on Google Video, so you should be able to watch it by streaming. Enjoy.

This is just 30 mins long. It's highlights of the game.

Tags: Random

[Listening to: Hands - Chantal Kreviazuk - Under These Rocks And Stones [UK] (4:32)]

Picture grid of my most favorite people

Tags: Pictures 

Closing the chapter at Oak Ridge

I uploaded the last bunch of pictures from Oak Ridge. Now, it's officially over.

The pictures can be viewed at Joy's Odds N Ends

Tags: Pictures

[Listening to: Find The Colour - Feeder - Comfort In Sound (3:57)]

Pandora: Created by the Music Genome Project

Q: What is Pandora?

Pandora is a music discovery service designed to help you find and enjoy music that you'll love. It's powered by the Music Genome Project, the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Just tell us one of your favorite songs or artists and we'll launch a streaming station to explore that part of the music universe.

It's free. It's intelligent. It's versatile and tons of fun.

You should definitely try it out.

Tags: Music

[Listening to: Flowers In December - Soundtrack - Wicker Park (5:05)]

First day of class

All my classes are Tuesday-Thursday and last 90 minutes! I have Hindu Gods and Goddesses at 9.30 am, Set Theory and Topology at 2 pm, immediately followed by Thermodynamics at 3.30 pm. At that point today, I was completely wiped. Sigh. I guess I'll be using Monday-Wednesday-Friday for homework and getting knicknacks done as I will have no energy to study productively on Tuesday and Thursday.

I also need to get motivated to unpack and decorate my room. I'm sure I'll have a surge to do it sometime soon.

Falling asleep at midnight and waking at 7 am is working well so far. Gotta see if I can keep it up. For example, I feel awfully tired and midly drowsy now. I have to stay a little longer, and see if my tv show downloads get done or not. Internet in my room is slower than dialup! I have to ask why the 14 new T1 lines weren't installed. I would gladly pay a little extra for faster internet.

Now, I going to see if I want to finish more Modern Algebra homework or not. I don't know if I have the patience.

I'll leave you with a picture of fuschia sky I took at Oak Ridge, TN last year (click for a larger 1024 pixel image).



Tags: Life, Pictures

[Listening to: Rest In Pieces - Saliva - One Tree Hill - Enhanced Soundtrack Season 1 (3:46)]

Death penalty: Are we still barbarians?!

I had a discussion with Jessi recently about the death penalty. We found a site on the death penalty and its statistics. It seems that lethal injection is the execution method of choice, with alternatives if the death row inmate so chooses (Methods of Execution). Nebraska only executes by electrocution. Ouch. Burnt flesh. I remember watching Green Mile, and it was pretty horrific. There have been botched execution attempts as the prisoners needed multiple jolts to be killed. From the website, I noticed that lethal injection didn't have a 100% quick kill ratel either. Here is a site with Botched Executions since 1982. Scroll down to the recent ones. You would have thought they would have a fool-proof execution method by now. That's not even the point.

For a forgiving religion, Christianity certainly makes a lot of exceptions. I've been given Genesis 9:6 (Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man) as an example. The current reasoning goes as "Eye for an Eye". What the hell?! Are we freaking barbarians? I don't know how "civilized" executions are. The same people who raise a storm about public executions in countries like Saudi Arabia, still condone executions in the US. What a friggin' double standard.

People who support the death penalty use economics to counter life with no parole. They don't want their tax payer's money to be funding the survival of a murderer. It's free food, free room, and free room to exercize. The prisoners are akin to animals in the zoo minus spectators. I guess it's a valid argument, and it would seem economically favorable to execute the prisoners versus keeping him alive till they die a natural death. However, I have also been informed that it takes a decent amount of money for the process of execution. I need to verify that. Here is the website about the costs of death penalty.

Would starvation be a method of execution? Slow, painful. So, solitary confinement, without food. That's inhumane, right? Inhumane compared to a quick death? How much of money would be spent in that chain of events?

Now to realistic alternative that I am not averse to. Brainwashing, cognitive reprogramming, psychological reconditioning. I don't know if we have technology to achieve that, but couldn't a brutal person be made docile and useful by reprogramming? So, instead of execution, just change the person and put them to constructive use. Who knows, the diabolical genius could be a genius in other fronts too.. What's future?

Anyway, what do you guys think?

Tags: Opinion

[Listening to: Rock Star Land - Yellowcard - Yellowcard (4:45)]

News @ Nature.com: Desktop fusion is back on the table

Link to the article: Desktop fusion is back on the table

So, do you know what cold fusion is? Okay, if you don't, I'll give you the concept in a nutshell. Now, as you know, the sun is powered by nuclear fusion. That takes millions of degrees to sustain. That is a little hard to emulate on Earth. Therefore, for a viable fusion based energy source, cold fusion would be wonderful, if it ever became a reality. By cold, it means colder that the million degrees of the sun, to a few thousand or tens of thousands of degrees. Something more manageable. For fusion on Earth, a laser called Shiva is employed. That creates the temperature needed to begin the fusion source. Oh, I almost forgot. Nuclear fusion is self sustaining. That means, once started, it runs itself thereby making more energy than it took to start.

So far, cold fusion has been a scientific myth propogated by movies such as Chain Reaction. There have been several claims to fame but every single one turned out fake. So, could this claim be true?

Here is the method in question in highly simplified language:

Blast a liquid with waves of ultrasound and tiny bubbles of gas are created, which release a burst of heat and light when they implode. The core of the bubble reaches 15,000 �C, hot enough to wrench molecules apart. Physicists have even suggested that the intense conditions of this sonoluminescence could fuse atomic nuclei together, in the same process that keeps our Sun running.

I'm waiting with bated breath for the final review of this project after publication. That means wait to see if their research can be reproduced, or meet a fiery end with the Scientific Method.

Tags: Science

[Listening to: Save Me - Sister Hazel - Fortress (4:02)]

The transatlantic underwater railroad tunnel: An investment nightmare

I know that Discovery probably featured the possibility of this engineering marvel a few years ago. However, it was brought to my attention only a few days back. I was fascinated by the implications of this railroad tunnel. A travel time of 52 minutes from New York City to London is stupendous. It's five times faster than the Late super-sonic Concorde. A thousand passengers traveling in utmost comfort, at a mind blowing speed of 5000 mph. The kick that this project would create will be great for engineering and science in general because new technologies have to be invented and old ones streamlined for such a dangerous endeavor. It would be great for our world because it would need global alliances for a project of this scale. Investment-wise think International Space Station, but on earth. Actually, underwater. Across the most tumultuous water body on the planet.

Okay. Now to the reasons why I think a transatlantic railroad system is unnecessary.

For one, it calls for an investment in the range of tens of TRILLIONS of dollars. Amm. Now, do you see any country being able to invest even a trillion dollars to the project with the current economic levels. Do you think US can invest so much, with Iraq and tax cuts draining the countrys resources and Treasury? I certainly dont see the UK putting that much of money in. Or any other country. When people suggest Japan, yeah, it hasgot a lot of money. But how many know that Japans economy has been in a slump for the past decade. The amount of money speculated is just too much. The International Space Station has been hampered by similar money flow issues. So, it is way behind on the construction schedule. Sad, thats an investment which is good for the future.

Second, hypersonic flight has been a success. Granted it was military, but it is being streamlined for commercial flights. We dont need a railroad. We can make the same time by air. Well, not now, but in the very near future.Investing in something that is bound to become obsolete is like companies that were investing in DSL while clearly the future lies with optical lines. Google was extremely smart in this case, when it bought all those old fiber optic lines from communication companies at rock-bottom prices. But Google and its investments is another discussion all together.

Probably the most important negating factor in the present world is Terrorism. Unless we rid the world of malevolent entities, every major engineering investment has a potential hazard. Okay, maybe on US soil, engineering feats like mile-high skyscrapers are safe but in international waters, it isnt. You must know how easy it would be blow up the tunnel in open water, especially if it is 3200 mile long target. Talk about backlash it would receive. The Concorde was junked after only a few accidents. Well, yeah, it was money draining endeavor but still a step in the future. Do you think people would want to travel with such potential hazards? Before people mention that flights are equally at danger. I dont think so. Planes are not a static target. A tunnel is. So the danger of mishaps grows exponentially.

Yeah, I am going to into science where I need people to think about the future and progress. But I am a pragmatist.

Tags: Science, Opinion

[Listening to: Holiday - The Get Up Kids - Something To Write Home About (3:29)]

Final week update at Oak Ridge

I spent most of the week at Panera's and office working on my paper and poster presentation. The poster turned out well. I was proud of myself. And the paper was just a recap of what I had done at work. My mentor didn't want me to submit my poster or paper for publication as he didn't want any of the results becoming public. It's okay because he needs to finish working on it so that other people can not steal the idea. This is how a lot of scientific research works. Oh, along with working on the paper, I probably had the most amount of decaffeinated Colombian coffee I've ever had. About 3-4 cups every time!

My poster session went well except for my group hoarding my poster. They never left! They just stood there talking about my results and the work I did. Hehe. And we had our final social event as the program had invited the whole intern group for dinner. It was a ton of fun and we even got paper awards. I was "Curious George" for always having questions during seminars. Actually, it's true. I was perpetually inquisitive ;).

And then we finally come to the fun part of the week. My last week with Jenn. I think we were together if we weren't working . We worked on our stuff at Panera after work or went dancing or ate out. It was our best week of dancing too. She is the best dancer I've experienced when it came to slower music. She gets very close and intimate which makes it ton of fun to dance with her. We went to Preservation Pub on monday (finally!), and we drank some beer and got to dance to the live band that was playing. We were able to make fun breaks too. That was so cool! And then wednesday too. We went to the free social dance after the lessons and stayed till they stopped playing music. Let me tell ya, people were watching. Jenn's a very lively, and sexy dancer. She liked getting really close, and use her hips. At times, the gyrations were the best part. She is really the best with slow, more sensous music. And of course, something that began our friendship. The endless hours of intellectual stimulation. We talked till late into the night. Every night. On the average, I would get home around 3 am. One night, I got home at 7 am. I've never discussed current affairs, and our world in general with anyone to this extent.

It was a great way to end this wonderful experience. I credit Jenn to making this semester far better than I ever imagined.

Working at ORNL might have sealed the deal for getting into graduate school. I have more research experience walking into grad school that most undergrads. Yay!

Tags: Life

[Listening to: Ten Minutes - The Get Up Kids - Something To Write Home About (3:12)]

Science and ethics independent?

I've been reading Richard Feynman's "The meaning of it all: thoughts of a citizen-scientist" and had a few thoughts on one of his arguments. He says that

science and moral questions are independent

and I agree to his theoritical arguments. However, I don't think that is a luxury a scientist can afford in our world. The consequences of the science should be considered, as plenty of its applications are morally dubious. An ever popular example, is either cloning or the development of weapons of mass destruction. I am against the latter as its cons outweigh its pros. How can a scientist sleep at night knowing that his work is being used to kill people? I know I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I knew that. To this Feynman said,

Well, how do you know you don't want people killed? You see, at the end you must have some ultimate judgement.

It was very weird reading that statement, as he offered no further clarification. Cold, wouldn't you say?

While cloning can be very useful for the future, when we exhaust or out-strip a lot of our resources such as crops. It can even come in great use in medicine as people wouldn't have to wait to get replacement organs. But then you also have the recent S. Korean stem cell debacle where the scientist was involved in unethical practices. Ethics and science should be bound. Or else, new nightmares can be created without constraints. Scary!

What do you guys think of this great scientist's thoughts?

Here is the cover (click for the link):




Tags: Science, Opinion

Yahoo! Answers

So, I found this nifty little Beta that was hidden in a corner on Yahoo's main pages. It's great once we sift through the stupid questions. Interesting community concept.

Yahoo! Answers

Disclaimer: Must have a Yahoo! ID to post and answer questions. Viewing Q&A does NOT require an ID.


Tags: Internet

A sweaty, humid night

This place is so incredibly muggy! I hate being sticky. Anyway, I've made some progress on the graduate applications. I have sent in Stanford's and Vanderbilt's grad apps. I have to call UPenn and PSU to figure out what's wrong with their online applications.

2 down. 6 to go.

Have to send GRE scores to UPenn, Maryland, Brown, and NC State.

Applying to graduate schools is an expensive affair!

I am applying to the nanomaterials research division of materials science/engineering.


Tags: Life

About a girl

So, there is a girl. For one, I didn't think I could get into a complicated situation like this, but the girl was special enough that I did. But we can't do anything about it now, because distance is something neither one of us are willingly to do. But I don't want to let her go and lose her. Which is where my dilemma comes in. What the hell do I do? Logic dictates I stay close to her while moving on emotionally, but as usual logic goes right out when it comes to emotions. I am such a logical and methodical guy, but I have no idea why I am at a total loss to feel un-stressed. Yeah, that's one more thing that attracts me to her. She is very methodical and logical too, but is totally irrational when it comes to emotions. Like me. My luck with girls I like has been bad (I guess more unfortunate that bad). Sigh.

Stupid distance.

Distance does make me want her so much more. I think about her. A lot!

I guess there is hope, for the future.

Reasons why I like her? Well, she is utterly brilliant. I have never had so many stimulating conversations about politics, religion, science, ethics, and the world in general. She is the kind of person I didn't mind losing sleep over ;). Another thing that doesn't go unnoticed is that she is at the top of her class. Apart from being just smart, she is a geek. Tee-hee.. She is very ambitious, driven and has set goals for the future. I find that trait extremely attractive. It's easy being with a person who has figured themselves out through the years. And I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person who indulges in analysis of human behavior. What else? She is very lively, a social butterfly, friendly as heck. She's got spunk. Yeah, how can I forget? She loves swing, and dancing in general. That's a massive plus! Also, I love her style of dressing and she's gorgeous!

Hmm.. I'll keep thinking of things that attract me to her.

Tags: Life

[Listening to: Bug - Feeder - Echo Park (3:40)]

Marquette Warrior: Marquette Dental Student Suspended Over Blog Posts

Marquette Warrior: Marquette Dental Student Suspended Over Blog Posts

I think the administration over-reacted. Blog is personal and a fun thing. Unless it is meant seriously, its all in fun reminscent of The Onion. However, to circumvent this problem, I just never blogged about my thoughts on professors out of respect.

Tags: Internet

[Listening to: Sunset - Kate Bush - Aerial (5:58)]

RedOrbit - Science - Can This Black Box See Into the Future?

RedOrbit - Science - Can This Black Box See Into the Future?

I don't know if I believe the black box phenomenon. I'm lost to see how random numbers can predict the future, and how do the scientists read the random numbers into sense. Apparently, it predicted 9/11 and the Asian Tsunami.

Tags: Science

[Listening to: Swingin' - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Echo (5:30)]

a day with chinese and mexican cuisines

I was woken up at 11 am by Jenn's call telling me to get off the bed and get ready because she wanted me to eat dinner with her mum, aunt and james. Since, I didn't have time to shower, I tamed my hair with the ever popular cap. We ate at the chinese place by the lake. Gotta tell ya, it's one of the best Chinese places I've eaten at. After we got back, I worked on the test some more and then Jenn and I head out to the church for the practice dance. It was fun showing off swing again as people wanted us to. We practiced fox trot a little bit more too. I really do need more practice in the high jazz dance forms. Dinner was with Jenn again. We went to our favorite Mexican place, and got there in time for the $2 magaritas. I must say I love their magaritas and downed two of them! I ended the night by finishing the test, and rather giving up on some of the questions that evaded me all last week.

Tags: Life

[Listening to: New Year's Eve - Nina Gordon - Tonight and the Rest of My Life (3:28)]

Beauty, dance and debate

Saturday was our big fancy holiday jazz dance/dinner. We figured that it was bound to be a formal affair, so we dressed up. Jenn looked ravishing in a red gown, while I cleaned up and got into some formal clothing myself ;). I've got pictures of us from that night that I will put up soon. I promise. I met Jenn's mum and her aunt that night too. I guess I left a great first impression. hehe. Back to dance, apart from it taking us way too long to find the place, it was okay. They had to set up a new table for us because we had gotten there a little late. But we go some pretty darn expensive snacks/munchies ;) and wine. We got to dance a bit and toned our dance down a little so that we didn't show off. We did get a few raves about our swing. Like we usually do in a non-swing setting. haha.

We got back and decided to be productive. After working on the test, we talked forever! I don't really remember ever having talked about ethics, politics, hypocracy and science at that length. My mind has returned to Coe sharper than when I left. All attributed to Jenn. As far as I remember, we talked about the double standards that countries have in foreign and domestic policy. Yet another late night ;).

Tags: Life

[Listening to: Gimme Stitches - Foo Fighters - There Is Nothing Left To Lose (3:42)]

Foxtrot: Projectile Motion

I love finding comic strips that have humorous science content..

Tags: Science

[Listening to: Chori Pe Chori - A.R.Rahman - Saathiya (5:01)]

Country and work

I guess I decided it was about time that I finished all the chores that my mentor has requested to get done. So, I got the last of my samples synthesized, all of the AFM scans of the substrates done, updated the ecopy of the log book of the procedural parameters, and the holes for the target rotations. I must say, that was a very productive 8 hours of work! It was kind of exciting making holes because I've hardly ever used power tools. I was hoping that my mentor would be pleased that everything he has asked for was accomplised with minimal damage ;). I guess that was work.

While at work, I was still obsessing about the Kyoto Protocol and the India/China exemption. I talked to a few people about it and realized that it was a flawed treaty, as there was no equanimity amongst sacrifices to be made. That made me sad, but it fit in well with the economics of the present day world. This treaty favors developing nations, as it provides concessions of carbon dioxide output. I know world economics is not simple, however if China and India never had intentions to stand by the framework, they should have never ratified the treaty. I have to read up on the conclusions of the Montreal conference.

Our big group activity was at Cotton Eyed Joe's which is a country bar with country dancing. We initially intended to take country lessons and we found out that the lessons were on Thursdays. I guess we missed out on that. However, it was a dollar fifty beer and mixed drinks night. So, we took full advantage of that. I tried out all the expensive drinks I never had before including chocolate martini, and a few drinks with Bailey's in it. Jenn and I got to dance quite a bit, and we did swing to country which was hilarious. I learnt to do the barn dance, and a few country line dances. The barn dance is one of the most social dances around because we go in a big circle and dance with every girl. It's great!

And that my friends was the one of the last big social outings in ORSS. Sigh..

Tags: Life

[Listening to: Selling Tomorrow - Red Wanting Blue - Model Citizen + (4:53)]

Questions

If you can answer them, I'd be grateful:

Why are India and China exempt from the framework of the Kyoto protocol?

Why do Americans find so much joy making fun of foreign accents and pronunciation?

Why is smoking allowed while DDT is banned?

How can people be pro-life yet condone the death penalty?

I guess that's good for now.. I am trying to find the answer to the first question.

Tags: Opinion

[Listening to: Permanent - Acceptance - Phantoms (3:24)]