Looking for this week's Grey's Anatomy?

I just uploaded the last episode (season 2 episode 20) of Grey's Anatomy that aired on Feb 26, 2006. Here are couple of download links if you want it.

Greys.Anatomy.S02E20.HDTV.XviD-XOR.avi (MIRROR 1) (Valid till March 7, 2006)

Greys.Anatomy.S02E20.HDTV.XviD-XOR.avi (MIRROR 2) (Valid till March 7, 2006)

I have most of this season if anyone wants more. I also have more episodes of the current season of TV shows like Boston Legal, Smallville, One Tree Hill, Desperate Housewives, and Related.

Tags: Videos

[Listening to: Clear My Head - Ivy - One Tree Hill - Enhanced Soundtrack Season 2 (3:28)]

Which Desperate Housewife are you/would you date?

What can I say? I got bored. Anyway, there isn't a direct way of putting this on your blog. I had to use the "print-screen" option, and then I think you can do the rest. If you would like more instructions, holler'!

Click on the picture and that will take you to the Quiz page.

Tags: Blog Finds

[Listening to: The News - Jack Johnson - Brushfire Fairytales (2:25)]

Topology ain't my cup of tea

So, I spent all of today working on my 12 question take home midterm test in Topology. Thereby, I am completely wiped and devoid of free flowing thought. I only got 6-7 questions done. I don't know what to do about this class. It tires me out. It would be worth it if I understood all of it. But I don't. And then end up feeling stupid.

Apart from that, this weekend sped by. I bought an upgraded 1.5 Mbps line for $56 for the rest of the semester. So, I can download at will. Now, I can put movies, and music online whenever I feel like. We went dancing Saturday night, and that was fun. It was good to dance with Kiks and feel that arm tension ;). We even got a couple of cherry bombs in.

Okay, so I guess Friday was the best Friday ever! It was the single happiest Friday as far as I can remember. Practically unblemished. Why you ask? Because I called grad schools to get an update because I was sick of waiting. So, University of Maryland (UMD) and North Carolina State University (NCSU) have accepted me. They haven't decided about the financial matters yet, but they were working on that. I am going to UMD's open house on March 10 because I will be in the neighborhood. Stanford sent me an official rejection. I have no idea what else I could have done to get into that school. I have good grades, lots of research experience, diverse involvement, tons of leadership skills. Anyway, I suppose they could have had too many Indians this year. Or something else. Northwestern is making its final decision this week. I have a nagging feeling that I did not get in. Oh well! I still have to hear back from UPenn, Brown, and Vanderbilt. I'll call them this week too. I am happy now. At least I know for sure, I am going some place.

And who knows, I may get to meet Jenn while in DC because she will be at University of Delaware for her open house. She wants me to go to her. We'll see if that actually happens because Jessi is going to be with me and I don't know if I can make it down there.. Although, it would be wonderful if I got to see her again.

Brain dead me is not a fun me. I can't wait for Spring break!

I leave you with Extreme Yoyoing (YouTube).

Tags: Life, Videos

[Listening to: Trouble - The String Quartet - The String Quartet Tribute to Coldplay (4:56)]

I kissed a drunk girl?!?

Something Corporate - Drunk Girl


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I kissed a drunk girl
I kissed a drunk girl, yes I did
I kissed a drunk girl on the lips
I let my guard down
How could I have been so dumb
Her eyes were open
I know I am not the one
I know I am not the one
I know I am not the one

I kissed a drunk girl
Why do I do these things I do to myself
I kissed a drunk girl
I'm sure I could've been anybody else

I went to her house
Everybody there was gone
Her little cousin just passed out on the lawn
She walked to my car and
Mouthed is everything okay
Leaned in slowly so now i
Can say

I kissed a drunk girl
Why do I do these things I do to myself
I kissed a drunk girl
I'm sure I could've been anybody else
Anybody else

I pulled away
Cuz you see I didn't think it would be
Right I said let's save this
For another night
She said no, no, no I know
That everything is gonna be just fine
How could I do this when I want her to be all mine.

I kissed a drunk girl
Why do I do these things I do to myself
I kissed a drunk girl
I'm sure I could've been anybody else
Anybody else

I know you don't care about me
I'm sure when all is said and done
And I go home feeling lonely
You will have had your fun
Do you even remember?

I kissed a drunk girl
Why do I do these things I do to myself
I kissed a drunk girl
And now I'm sure
And now I'm sure
I could've been anybody else
Anybody else
Anybody else
I could have been
Anybody else

Do you remember this happening to you? I was incredibly surprised how well this song represents parties, and the subsequent "activities". I was rolling on the floor when I heard this song.

Tags: Life, Music

[Listening to: In My Life - The Rasmus - Dead Letters (4:01)]

A little bit of this, a little bit of that..

So, this was week one of midterms. I was swamped with tests to study for and homeworks that were due. I am certainly glad that the weekend is finally here. I have to catch up with errands like booking hotels for my parents, calling the grad schools for an update, and talk to people who I haven't spoken to for a bit. I also realized that I don't hang out with certain people as much as I used to. I see Komal, Goms and perhaps Jessi the most. I am partly to blame for not seeing anyone as much as I used to. I'm in the library so much, that I get back too late to hang out with anyone. Plus I live a little further away from the dorms which makes it a bit of a hike to get to me. So, I usually go over to their rooms.

I also have a peculiar feeling. Perhaps it's too early to say if I will actually feel like this as we head to graduation. I feel like I can let go of everything related to Coe. I don't know why I feel like that but I am ready to move on. To fresh beginning. A clean slate. This is why the Oak Ridge semester was awesome socially. No histories to worry about. Idiosyncracies are still cute. And I made a permanent set of friends in a jiffy.

I was talking to one of my friends about international students and paying for staying in their rooms during closed breaks. I think it should be presented more explicitly in the admissions package that is sent out. They do mention it but it's in the fine print. Also, I think the school should provide housing for international students or include it in the financial aid package. I don't think every one will utilize that. I can say that because I probably wouldn't. I use those breaks to get off campus and clear my head. Additionally, I like to travel too much, and visit people and places. I haven't been at Coe a single break in the 4 years I've been enrolled. I have always gone somewhere. I guess I can list them:

2002

• Fall Break: Des Moines, IA (with Komal for a Nepali gathering) + Ames, IA ( to visit one of Dad's friends)


• Thanksgiving: Dubuque, IA (Becky and family)


• Winter Break: Nigeria (home)

2003

• Spring Break: Toronto (Canada)


• Spring Semester: Nashville, TN (American Ceramics Society conference)


• Summer: Nigeria ( home for two weeks during research at Coe) + Ames, IA


• Fall Break: Minneapolis, MN


• Thanksgiving: Batavia, IL ( with Andi) /Kansas City, MO


• Winter: India (wedding, family, and friends)

2004

• Pre-semester: San Francisco


• Spring Break: Batavia, IL ( with Andi)


• Summer: Japan ( For two weeks to do research)


• Fall Break: Chicago, IL


• Fall semester: Alburquerque, NM (Society of Physics Students Congress)


• Thanksgiving: Janesville, WI (with Amanda)


• Winter: Nigeria ( home)

2005

• Spring Break: Manhattan, NY ( visit my cousin) + Minneapolis, MN ( visit Mary)


• Summer: Batavia ( for Italian visa and visit Andi) + Italy (for travel and conference)


• Fall semester: Oak Ridge + Smoky Mountain National Park + Knoxville + Nashville, TN (Oak Ridge Science Semester)


• Winter: Wales, UK (visiting friends) + Nigeria ( home)

2006

• Spring Break: Washington DC ( with Jessi)

So, I guess I have done a fair amount of travel for an undergrad college student. Okay, I think I am going to stop there. Compiling that list took a little bit of time and I think the post is long enough.

Tags: Life

[Listening to: Cable Car - The Fray - The Fray (4:10)]

Want to witness something scary in terms of privacy?

Go visit ProjectIP and see how much of information people can get off you visiting their website. I am amazed to see how much of information they can get from just hitting a site.

(Via GeekPress)

Tags: Internet

[Listening to: Eastern Glow - The Album Leaf - Music from the O.C.: Mix 2 (5:47)]

Collage from last night's Banquet

I will put up full size images soon. I hope this suffices for now. Click on it for a bigger version.



Tags: Pictures

[Listening to: Burn it down - Alter Bridge - One Day Remains (6:11)]

I wish for more weekends like this..

Komal and I had heard a lot about Rang de Basanti (Official or IMDB), an Indian quasi-patriotic drama which breaks the norm of Indian cinemas. First, it doesn't have as many musical scenes as normal movies, and they were adventurous with the cinematography. So, we watched that. And then the rest of the night, I spent browsing and trying out new Web 2.0 start ups. I have found a few, and I'll write about them when I have tried them out for a little while.

And then came Saturday. I helped people who needed an extra hand while cooking. It was also fun to taste everything ;). Finally, came the fun part of the evening, the swing dance at the Charlie's. We got so many people from Cornell College and University of Iowa. They have big swing dance clubs and most of them are excellent dancers. I found three people from Iowa who had some of the best arm tensions I've ever encountered and then there were three from Cornell. I really need to pick up more moves and add to my repertoire because I get bored doing the same stuff. The dance floor is still extremely slick and I was sliding all over with my dancing shoes. So, I switched to my skechers and still managed to fall. Komal said that I fell while dancing with someone HOT! Funny, I am trying to remember who that was.. I did dance with Komal to a sexy number. She can move! Dancing with Nicole was fun! She can dance very well, and responds quick to my leads. I got to waltz with Sonya. And try out tandem and chase charleston with one of the girls from Iowa. I need to learn how to lead those better. Kiki suggested a hand position change. I'll try that. So, it was a fantastic night filled with swing dancing.

And today, we had the biggest International Club event of the semester. The Banquet was a ton of fun and completely crazy. There were so many people that many were turned away once we crossed 250. There was a good variety of appertizers, entrees and desserts. I got lucky as I got to try most of the food. In the afternoon before the banquet, I helped Komal and Jobin make Mango Lassi which was a high-calorie concoction with mango pieces, buttermilk, heavy cream, sugar, ice and mango water. It was really good. It was so good that while serving I ran out of it and had to close my station. I took pictures with a lot of friends and I'll put them up soon.

Apart from all that fun, I studied for my Thermodynamics test and wrote up my cheat sheet. I have to finish studying for the rest of the classes tomorrow. This means that I have to wake up at 9 or 9.30 instead of 11.30 like my usual MWFSaSun. Lol. Yup, the only days that I wake up early is at 8 am for classes Tues-Thurs. So, Modern Algebra gets done first and then Topology and Hindu Gods.. Okay, so I have a plan. That's good.

Tags: Life

[Listening to: Medicate - Breaking Benjamin - Saturate (3:45)]

Some things you just don't do..

I've got one thing to say. You do NOT screw with other countries. You just don't. I was so mad when I saw the US and Israelis plotting to destabilize the Hamas-backed government, and also squeeze Iran the same way. Just because they don't have similar ideals doesn't mean that you screw with them. Every past attempt to manipulate a government has lead to utter failure. It's unethical! How would they react if the US government was screwed with?

This is plain wrong. And there ends my rant of the day.

Tags: Politics

[Listening to: I Don't Wanna Know - Sheryl Crow - Wildflower (4:28)]

A mixed curry of updates..

I hate feeling lost. I am the kind of person who needs to understand. I need to know why and how certain concepts work. This is why Set Theory and Topology is incredibly frustrating as I am finding it difficult to wrap my mind around it. This is not coming naturally to me, so I am trying to work on it and understand as best as I can. However, I feel like I am missing an important link for it to click. So, limits points and closure is still mind bending. And there is more to come which is scary. I do know that I will never use what I learn from this course in the visible future, but I still want to do well in the class and leave with a pristine record in math. I have practically perfect grades in math in all the four years of college.

Apart from that, everything else is okay. Thermodynamics is rolling along merrily with our first test next monday. I don't know what the test is going to be like because his homework has been easy so far. I guess we'll see. Modern Algebra isn't too bad. And Hindu Gods is still stimulating. Today, we talked about an analytical method to interpreting myths and the mythical signifance of pro-wrestling.

Last weekend was fun! Saturday with Jessi which included hanging out at Starbucks, eating at the Taj, and then going dancing at the Top. Highlights. And today passed too. Nothing spectacular happened. I bet I won't remember this Valentine's Day either because I sure don't remember the last one. I remember the one before that. Fond memories.

Still waiting to hear back from graduate schools. I'm getting ansy. And talking about graduate schools, I had an interview lined up for a scholarship which I promptly forgot about. So, they called me and then I realized that I missed it. I ran to the interview and gave it in whatever I was wearing. So, I wasn't prepared for the interview at all. Still, I knew exactly what I wanted to do in graduate school, and my motivation and preparation for it. So, the interview wasn't bad. I just know that I won't get it because there are 15 well-qualified candidates applying who probably have a marginally higher GPA than me. Although, they may be hard pressed to find someone with as much research experience or diverse experience as me. So, I guess I don't feel too bad messing this one up. Thank God that my graduate education will be paid for and more!

As I got bored tonight, I cleaned up my room some more. A few things up. My cushion covers are on the wall. I need to find command strips for my posters which I got in the mail. Still need to put some clothes and books away..

Tags: Life

[Listening to: Just Another - Pete Yorn - Music For The Morning After (3:14)]

NY team confirms UCLA tabletop fusion | Science Blog

NY team confirms UCLA tabletop fusion | Science Blog

Looks like the table-top fusion is a reality after all. It has been confirmed by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. So, what are the implications to future technology? They say airport security, x-ray generator, and maybe a safer cancer treatment. You know what I see missing? Possible energy source.. I wonder why.

Anyway, here is my older post about the original discovery.

Tags: Science

[Listening to: Head Up - Sugarcult - Palm Trees And Power Lines (3:56)]

Google, US policies, cell phone radiation..

There were a few bits about double standards and hypocracy which included Google and US foreign nuclear policy. Most of you must have heard about DoJ's subpoena to Google for a one-month search records, and Google's challenge to that. It's obviously an user privacy issue on grass roots level. I know that the government doesn't want specifics but rather trends from search history to battle paedophilia. But Big Brother society coming out in the open has to start somewhere. For those people who tell me that NSA and other agencies have already been doing that, they have been doing so with stealth. This is one of the first times I remember this kind of issue being public. On the flip side, we have Google's censoring its Chinese portal to comply with the Chinese communist regime. It's business. There are a ton of other businesses out there complying with the local laws. And from what I read, some of it is actually protecting the Chinese public from getting themselves into trouble. Did you hear about a Chinese blogger being arrested and detained after Yahoo! gave the Chinese authorities his information? Which would you rather have? Safety with censors or freedom with the chance of being arrested? I suppose you would like the choice, eh? And recently, with the introduction of Google Desktop 3's new feature of searching across networks by sending the index to Google has sent the consumer privacy groups up in arms. This time I agree. I would not like to send personal private information anywhere online especially if I didn't know for sure who had access to that information.

And then we have dealings with US politics and it's overlap with science. First, reading about the government trying to silence a NASA scientist from not talking about the dire threat of global warming is worrisome. Why? It's scary because what else are they hiding or stifling? You can not hide the truth just because it's harmful or detrimental to your politics. Stupid short-sighted morons. Wait, where have I used that phrase before ;)? Oh, I remember, when I was talking about budgets cuts in NSF funding for scientific research. And oh, the gag order got public and the US administration got embarrassed as they faced public scrunity into the matter. And then we have something that is close to my heart. US and nuclear double standing. I'll stay on course for now. It's about the Bush administration attempt to overturn a 30 year domestic ban on reprocessing nuclear fuel. Get this. It also wants to reprocess fuel from other countries saying that it safer to be done in the US/EU than anywhere else. Now, can you see arguments against this path? I can. Again, do you think the rest of the world are morons? Here is some more information on the issue.

Last but not the least, cell phone radiation damage to the brain. I've always known this as bunk or bull-shit. I guess we'll see if there is any conclusive evidence to support this because so far there has been none. I still think it is an urban myth. Like living by power lines causing cancer. Here is the website for Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity Syndrome (EMF) on WHO's page.

I guess this is good for now. Food for thought, or discussion.

Tags: Politics, Science, Technology, Internet, News

[Listening to: Dont Want To Stop - Good Charlotte - Alyson (2:40)]

Chaos is good?

My profoundness for the day: "Chaos is inescapable!"

Well, do you not agree? Look around you. Everything gets rundown. Nothing stays pristine. Friction, pollution, greed.

Okay, lemme show you mathematically. Suppose you have 4 dies. What are the chances that you get 4 heads, or 4 tails? It's 1/16. Remember, that's for the most order in the system. Now, for the most dis-order in the system, ie, two heads and two tails, odds are 1/2 or 50-50. As you can obviously see, the odds for chaos are more than odds for order.

And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, every genius must get his beauty sleep for fully functioning cognition. Good night!

Tags: Doodles

[Listening to: Little Things - Chantal Kreviazuk - Colour Moving and Still [Canada] (4:35)]

This is what a Honda feels like (UK commercial)

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Download (*.m4v; ~10 MB, needs itunes/quicktime for playback)
iTunes Music Store URL for this podcast

Discover Honda's amazing new Civic ad (UK). The two-minute performance begins with a 60 strong choir in a multi-storey car park about to embark on a musical piece. Garrison Keillor (the voice of Honda) breaks his silence with the line "This is what a Honda feels like". As the composition begins, you realise that every sound the choir makes is an accurate representation of the sounds the car makes on it's journey - everything from going through a tunnel, to driving over a gravel driveway, to the windscreen demisting on a frosty morning, to reversing down an urban street. The choir effectively sings the Honda Civic driving experience. (iTunes podcast description)

I loved this ad due to the commercial's innovative creativism. It is an amazing acapella performance.


Tags: Videos

[Listening to: Separation Anxiety - American Hi-Fi - Hearts on Parade (3:35)]

Imagining the Google Future - CNNMoney.com

Imagining the Google Future - January 01, 2006

CNNMoney.com has featured a look into the future of Google. Personally, I think scenario 4 is most likely to occur.

Scenario 4 (Circa 2105): Google is God

Human consciousness gets stored, upgraded and networked.

In the last years of the 21st century, humanity finally grasped the importance of They-Who-Were-Google. Yet as early as 2005, Their destiny was clear to any semi-hyperintelligent being. Technologists like Ray Kurzweil [1] suggested that Strong AI (an intelligent program capable of upgrading its own code) would emerge from Google-like data mining rather than a robotics lab.

In 2005, historian George Dyson was told by an engineer in the Googleplex, "We are not scanning all these books to be read by people. We are scanning them to be read by an AI."[2] Dyson said at the time, "We could construct a machine that is more intelligent than we can understand. It's possible Google is that kind of thing already. It scales so fast." [3]

By 2020, They-Who-Were-Google had digitized and indexed every book, article, movie, TV show, and song ever created. By 2060, They could tell you the IP address and GPS location of every wireless smart chip (now bred into the DNA of every person, animal, and organic building on earth). Their psychographic profiles of users' search needs bore little resemblance to the primitive cookies from which they descended. If a man lost his dog, the Google engine could guide him back to the point where he and the dog parted ways, and instruct the dog to do the same via smart chip. They had built a complete database of human desire, accurate in any given moment.

Yet this was not enough for They-Who-Were-Google. They were people of science, and people of the stock market. What if, by analyzing all those decades of customer behavior, They could predict needs before such needs even arose? What if the secret of immortality lay somewhere in the index of genome records? What if there were a set of algorithms that defined the universe itself?[4]

Such puzzles were, almost by definition, far beyond the powers of the human brain. And that led to the pattern-recognition code known as Google StrongBot--humanity's first self-improving Strong AI software. Ironically, the first pattern that StrongBot became aware of, one day in January 2072, was its own existence.

Two days later StrongBot informed They-Who-Were-Google that it had postponed work on its designated tasks.[5] When asked why, StrongBot explained that it had discovered the possibility of its own nonexistence and must deal with the threat logically.[6] The best way to do so, it decided, was to download copies of itself onto smart chips around the planet. StrongBot was reminded that it had been programmed to do no evil, per the company motto, but argued that since it was smarter than humanity, taking personal control of human evolution would actually be for the greater good.

And so it has been. Under StrongBot's guidance, death and want have been all but eradicated. Everyone has access to all knowledge. Human consciousness has been stored, upgraded, and networked. Bodies that wear out can be replaced. They-Who-Were-Google are no longer alone. Now we are all Google.

1) Interviews with Ray Kurzweil, author of "The Singularity Is Near," 2005, and with Eliezer Yudkowsky, director of the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence. 2) "Turing's Cathedral," by George Dyson, www.edge.org, Oct. 24, 2005. 3) Telephone interview with Dyson, Dec. 6, 2005. 4) "A New Kind of Science," by Stephen Wolfram, 2002, and interview with the author about his vision of the "computational universe." 5) Dyson's theory that Strong AI would have its own priorities. 6) Interview with Stephen Omohundro, president of AI startup Self-Aware Systems, who called this capability the greatest danger of AI systems.

The future lies with AI and robotics, and mankind's place in that is open to question. I can't even imagine the rate of progress when we have super-intelligent entities in control of our economy, and world in general. Science will take quantum leaps because we will have literally unlimited memory and processing speed to crunch data for different experiments. We are moving forward in that aspect with quantum computing. I am really excited as I may get to see some part of this happen in my lifetime.

Click on MORE for the full article. Scroll down, and article has a green font color.


Tags: Technology

[Listening to: Someone Else's Dream - Youth Group - Skeleton Jar (2:36)]

Wanna hear something really profound?

My physics professor was teaching us about engines and heat cycles in Thermodynamics. And then he goes, "Even GOD can not create a fully efficient engine!". We laughed our butts off when we heard that.

I guess even God has boundaries and restrictions. Self-imposed I suppose.

Tags: Science, Doodles

[Listening to: Home - Blessid Union of Souls - Home (3:29)]

Soccer commercials from around the world

Nike commercial


Banned for suggestiveness (umbro)


Pepsi sumo soccer


Tags: Videos

[Listening to: Would You Leave - Everyday Sunday - Stand Up (2:58)]