Kendall Giles

Actually, a terrapin. Undertook a massive relocation effort to save this little guy from a subdivision of cars, lawn mowers, and dogs. He seemed to like his new country digs.

So, there was this turtle, going the wrong way on a busy street. Naturally, having swerved to miss him, I pulled off the road, ran through traffic, and rescued him.

I put him in the floorboard of the car and drove home. We have a small pond, so he was quite happy to get out of the car and into the water!

Yesterday was a little busier than normal. In the morning I gave a research talk, "Text analysis with Iterative Denoising," at the spring meeting of the International Biometric Society, Eastern North American Region.

The conference was in Arlington, Virginia and my hotel was overlooking the Reagan National Airport. In the photo below (taken on a cloudy morning), you can see some of the airport structures, and just above the horizon you can see a plane taking off.

Immediately after presenting I rushed to Baltimore for a research meeting. I was interested to see some of the changes to campus since the last time I was there. This building below, just south of Garland Hall, is completely new, and serves as the university's new visitor center. That whole area used to be a gravel parking lot where I parked when on campus. Below the field is a new 600 car underground parking garage.

After my meeting, it was back to Richmond, and grading papers and preparing lectures awaited my return.

Technorati Tags: academia, living, virginia

WHEN: Saturday, May 10th, 2008

One hundred thousand welcomes to Maryland's Scottish Event! Enjoy bagpipes, Scottish and Irish dancing, shopping, traditional food and afternoon tea. Watch kilted, professional Highland athletes compete for victory - tossing trees and throwing heavy weights. Enjoy bagpipe music as you stroll through Vendor's Row featuring Celtic goods and delicious foods from across the pond and America as well. Free genealogy service will be available as well, with over 30 clans on hand to further assist and educate about your family's heritage and tartan.

For more information, go to their website: http://www.sasmm.com/celtic_festival.htm

Technorati Tags: culture, living, spirit

It is sometimes interesting to investigate history a little in order to determine the context of modern events.

Take Easter, for example.

While many Christians view Easter as the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, Easter as a religious event goes back much farther than that.

"Easter" comes from the ancient Germanic Goddess of spring, nature, and renewal, Eostre, or Ostara. This Goddess was symbolized by the hare and eggs, for reproduction and fertility during a time of year when the Germanic folk celebrated the coming warmth of spring and the planting of new crops, at a time marked by the Spring Equinox.

People would often color these Easter eggs, give them as gifts, eat them for good luck, and even hang them from trees to welcome good spirits:

The display and gift-giving of colored eggs was a common springtime practice among ancient Saxons, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Egyptians, and other pagan peoples.

This celebration continues today as the Ostara Rite, or Easter, though the Christians have adjusted the storyline a bit.

Even the Easter Bunny comes from the ancient Germanic religions:

Germans brought the legend of the Easter rabbit to America, though Easter itself wasn't widely celebrated in America until after the Civil War.

So give thanks to Eostre by coloring an egg (and you can refer to a previous post on some egg coloring ideas for the computationally inclined), eating a chocolate bunny, and welcoming the warmth of spring. These rituals are much more traditional than you might have previously thought.

Technorati Tags: culture, spirit

I just thought these links might be of interest for those wanting to decorate eggs, perhaps using your computer:

• with Mathematica: http://www.kathryncramer.com/kathryn_cramer/2008/03/who-among-you-a.html
• ovals and egg curves: http://www.mathematische-basteleien.de/eggcurves.htm

Technorati Tags: culture, spirit

Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, has died:

Gygax always enjoyed hearing from the game's legion of devoted fans, many of whom would stop by the family's home in Lake Geneva, about 55 miles southwest of Milwaukee, his wife said. Despite his declining health, he hosted weekly games of Dungeons & Dragons as recently as January, she said.

"It really meant a lot to him to hear from people from over the years about how he helped them become a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, what he gave them," Gygax said. "He really enjoyed that."

As I write, more homages to Gary are coming in:

• BBC
• CNET
• Salon
• Boing Boing
• io9

For me, playing Dungeons and Dragons started in middle school, and we used the first set of rulebooks - a volume of three stapled pamphlets that came in a small white box: "Rules for Fantastic Medieval Wargame Campaigns Playable with Paper and Pencil and Miniature Figures." D&D's 4th edition is set to come out this year.

"Critical hit!"

We played for hours, day and night, learning to explore, expand our minds, marshal creativity, develop problem solving skills, dream, love, live. We entered tournaments, designed campaigns, read, and learned about history, culture, and how the world worked.

We laughed. We cried. Relationships with girlfriends who hated it didn't work out; we married the girlfriends who loved it. We realized that the potential of the world was limited only by our imaginations.

Even now, throughout my travels, I still meet people, young and old, who cut their teeth on Dungeons and Dragons. With a knowing nod, we share a common bond. An instant party, of a different kind.

So I lift a horn of mead to Gary Gygax --- to the power of imagination, and to many adventures ahead!

Technorati Tags: culture, living

Now this is a heritage celebration: the largest fire festival in Europe, Up Helly Aa, takes place each year in Shetland the last Tuesday in January.

"Guizers" form a torch-light procession and proceed to ceremonially burn a full-size replica Viking longship.

I think most folks in the U.S. are too short-sighted to try something like that here.

Technorati Tags: culture, living, spirit

I've been on walkabout since June, and have finally returned. Now I know a little what Bilbo & c. felt like after finally coming back to the Shire. And just in time too, for the trees are turning their fall colors -- here's looking down my driveway:

Technorati Tags: living, travel, virginia

One of my friends is a falconer, and so I got to see some of her raptors up close.

A Saker Falcon.

A Goshawk.

A Harris Hawk.

Technorati Tags: culture, living

No doubt, by now you have heard about the fires ravaging Southern California at the moment -- having consumed an estimated hundred thousand acres so far. By Monday, hundreds of thousands of half a million people had fled or been ordered to evacuate their homes [this is now the largest internal evacuation since hurricane Katrina].

In September I drove through Malibu, admiring the homes there. One home in particular was built like a castle. Today, that castle home is ashes. Many of the movie stars live in Malibu, and so folks like singer/actress Olivia Newton-John and director James Cameron have had to evacuate.

The satellite image above is from NASA and shows how quickly the fires grew yesterday, October 21, 2007.

Planes flying into L.A. from Sacramento had to pass through a massive layer of dark smoke. The captain of the aircraft warned passengers that the smoke they smell is outside the plane and that their plane was not actually on fire.

And though the media is fixated on Malibu, with all the Hollywood stars, San Diego is thought to be in much worse shape.

Below is a map someone created showing the current fires. I am in Los Angeles, the spot in the ring of fire.

More up-to-date information on the fires can be found here http://calfire.blogspot.com/.

From BoingBoing: San Diego Union Tribune fire blog, KPBS on twitter, Red Cross "Safe and Well" list.

Technorati Tags: living, travel

Before you get too excited, no, it is not a museum of hammers. When I first saw the museum in Los Angeles' Westwood area, I thought how great to have a museum on hammers - battle hammers or maybe even Thor's Hammers!

Alas, that was not the case, but you should visit it anyway if you are in the area. The Hammer Museum houses some of the art collected by the late Armand Hammer, who was an American industrialist (no, Armand Hammer did not create the Arm and Hammer baking soda). He collected art his entire life, and amassed a very large collection. This museum displays some works from his collection and rotates through other exhibitions. On Thursdays there is free admission, so this is a prime time to visit.

From Hammer's private collection, we saw paintings by French 19th century masters, other European master paintings, and 18th-20th century American artists. There were van Goghs, Monets, a Rubens, and very nice Rembrandts, including Rembrandt's Juno and Portrait of a Man Holding a Black Hat.

There was also an exhibition of 17th-19th century advertisements called broadsides that depicted showings like Toby the sapient pig, a dulcimer player with no arms, the real-life Tom Thumb, and fortune telling ponies.

There was also a modern art media exhibition showing, for example, a guy pushing a block of ice through a city until it melted.

There are many events held at the museum throughout the year, and the museum itself is managed by UCLA.

Technorati Tags: academia, culture, living, travel

Snap-Apple Night, was painted by Irish artist Daniel Maclise in 1833. Supposedly he painted this after attending a Halloween party in Blarney, Ireland, in 1832. The group on the left are playing divination games, the group in the middle are playing "Snap Apple", a game where an apple is dangling from a string and people, with their arms tied behind their back, try to bite the apple. The first person who bites the coin in the apple wins. The group on the right are bobbing for apples. The caption in the first exhibit catalogue:

There Peggy was dancing with Dan
While Maureen the lead was melting,
To prove how their fortunes ran
With the Cards ould Nancy dealt in;
There was Kate, and her sweet-heart Will,
In nuts their true-love burning,
And poor Norah, though smiling still
She'd missed the snap-apple turning.
On the Festival of Hallow Eve.

Halloween is a great tradition, born in Europe and celebrated all across the world. Falling between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice, Halloween is significant in many ways, most notably as it marks the change in the seasons from the brightness of Summer and Fall into the darkness of Winter, and as a chance to reflect on our departed ancestors.

Upon that night, when fairies light
On Cassilis Downans dance,
Or owre the lays, in splendid blaze,
On sprightly coursers prance;
Or for Colean the rout is ta'en,
Beneath the moon's pale beams;
There, up the Cove, to stray an' rove,
Amang the rocks and streams
To sport that night;

Amang the bonie winding banks,
Where Doon rins , wimplin , clear;
Where Bruce ance rul'd the martial ranks,
An' shook his Carrick spear;
Some merry, friendly, countra-folks
Together did convene,
To burn their nits , an' pou their stocks ,
An' haud their Halloween
Fu' blythe that night.

Many other countries in Europe celebrate the traditional customs of Halloween under festivals of different names. For example, the Roman Catholic Church moved All Souls Day to the time of Halloween in order to put a Christian spin on a traditional Heathen festival (as the church has also tried to do with Yule/Christmas and Easter). And the traditional Halloween festival is also known as All Saints Day in England, Portugal, Spain, and Mexico. St. Martin's Day, Allerheiligen, and Martinmas are also names associated with the Halloween tradition.

In Scotland they hollow out turnips to use as lanterns, bob for apples, and make Dirge Loaves out of oat flour to keep the souls of the dead safe. In Ireland, there lived a man named "Stingy Jack" who was so mean that we couldn't get into Heaven or Hell, and so was forced to walk the earth for eternity carrying a turnip candle with an ember from Hell inside. Today, we carve Jack O'Lanterns to ward off the ghost of Stingy Jack.

From Italy, here is a recipe for Fave dei Morti, or Ossa dei Morti (bones of the dead), which is a type of cookie made with pine nuts, almonds, spices, flour, and sugar, and baked in commemoration of the dead. This tradition and cookie is thought to have originated from the Roman indigenous religious traditions, and co-opted by the Catholic church.

Even Japan has a festival, called o-bon (pronounced like "oh bone") where the spirits of their ancestors are invited back into the homes - in rural areas they even sweep a path from the gravesites to the home, where the spirits are welcomed with 'welcoming fires'. There are also dances and other festivities, as well as getting together with family.

So while it may not be called "Halloween" in Japan, the spirit of the tradition is very similar. Most countries have strong spiritual traditions that recognize that, during certain times of the year, the "veil" between our world and other worlds, between this life and the afterlife, becomes very thin, allowing for certain, um, transitions, and sometimes disturbances, to occur. During those certain times of the year we are more apt to hear the floor creak unexpectedly, or see something out of the corner of our eye. Or we might even get an unexpected chill when walking outside at night. It could be a departed ancestor trying to reach across the veil to a family member, or it could be something else entirely...

So have a Happy Halloween, eat a candy apple, drink some cider, bob for apples, wear an interesting costume, think of your ancestors, protect yourself from Stingy Jack, and prepare for the coming Winter.

Oh, and don't forget to say "BOO!".

Technorati Tags: culture, living, religion, spirit

There will be an an event held at Virginia Tech titled "Bellerophon to Beowulf to Batman: The Image of the Hero", Wednesday, November 7, 2007, 7-9pm, in 113 McBryde Hall. Free and open to the public.

Motivating questions include: What is a hero? Has "heroism" changed? Does Buffy have anything to do with Beowulf?

It sounds like undergraduates will be presenting some of their research, followed by a faculty roundtable, including:

* Terry Papillon (Classics & Honors Program) - ancient world 
* Karen Swenson (English) - Norse sagas 
* Charlene Eska (English) - King Arthur 
* Stephen Prince (Communication) - modern pop culture 
* Kaye Graham (English) - Harry Potter and children's literature 
* LtCol. William Stringer (Corps of Cadets) - modern military 

Technorati Tags: academia, culture, living, virginia

A Viking ship that was built in 1892 and sailed across the Atlantic, down the Erie Canal, through the Great Lakes and to Chicago for the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, is currently in need of your help. The image above is of this ship moored in front of Manufactures, Chicago, in 1893.

This 76-foot ship, known as The Viking, is currently housed in Geneva at Good Templar Park (near Chicago). Left to neglect, this ship is doomed unless a restoration project receives funds.

From an article by the Norwegian National League:

The "Viking" was built at Framnes Shipyard in Sandefjord, Norway in 1892. It was copied after the ancient Viking ship "Gokstad". Excavated in 1880, the "Gokstad" had been called the most beautiful ship ever built. The "Viking" is approximately 76 feet long, 17 feet wide, and 7 feet high from the bottom of the keel to the gunwale. Clinker built with planking hand split from green logs, the "Viking" made 11 knots and the hull was observed to flex with the waves.

Most importantly, the Viking ship was declared one of ten most endangered historic sites in Illinois by a statewide historic preservation group.

American Express is running a competition for projects to receive funds, and the Viking ship is in the runoff. Some of the other projects and buildings in the competition might be nice things to do, but are not in as imminent danger of being destroyed --- the Viking ship will decay into the water unless we take action now to preserve this important cultural icon.

How can you help?

Go to: the partnership in preservation site, register, and VOTE FOR THE VIKING SHIP - you can vote ONCE A DAY, EVERY DAY, until voting ends on October 10, 2007.

Other links of interest on Vikings and Viking Ships:

• http://www.vikingship.us
• http://www.stigombord.dk/index_uk.html
• http://www.abc.se/~m10354/bld/viking.htm
• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vikings/ships.html
• http://sio.midco.net/danstopicalstamps/gokstad.htm
• http://www.cdli.ca/CITE/vikingteacher.htm
• http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/norse.html

Technorati Tags: academia, culture, living, technology

Curled up behind the bookcase, it looked like one of our kittens. But the snout and tail gave it away!

Technorati Tags: living, virginia

The full report of the Virginia Tech Review Panel regarding the massacre of students and faculty members by Seung Hui Cho has been released.

On April 16, 2007, Seung Hui Cho killed 32 students and faculty, wounded 17, and shot himself. While clearly the fault lies with Cho, an independent investigation was conducted to see if there were any lessons that we could learn so that these tragedies might be prevented in the future.

This BBC article gives a good summary of the results of the report, but some findings seem to be that:

• Cho's parents did not make clear to the university his mental health problems
• Virginia Tech and state health workers did not intervene effectively to take corrective action when repeated evidence of Cho's problems were exhibited
• There was a critical failure of the emergency communication process by the university and campus police
• Virginia's mental health laws are flawed and mental health services are inadequate
• emergency medical care was very effective

Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher asked a very reasonable and pointed question regarding privacy laws that do more harm than good:

Here's what I don't get. In the hundreds of interviews the panel conducted, why didn't they ask all those people whose job it is to care for students one question: How would you have handled Cho if you had let your conscience, not privacy laws, guide you?

It also seems unfortunate that Cho's high school, which recognized his mental health problems and intervened to give him special assistance, tutoring, and programs so that he could graduate high school, did not tell Virginia Tech about Cho's situation. As quoted in this article about Cho's early childhood:

"What the admissions staff at Virginia Tech did not see were the special accommodations that propped up Cho and his grades," including private sessions with teachers that spared him public speaking...

Strangely, the report did not talk about religion.

Hopefully the report's findings will be heeded by universities, governments, and mental health workers, to help prevent something like that from happening again. But we all should not forget what happened on that tragic day.

Technorati Tags: academia, culture, virginia

A colleague just gifted me with the book Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People, by Jane Bryant Quinn.

Unlike complex financial strategies based on timing the market or spending inordinate amounts of time and energy tracking various stocks and funds, Quinn's advice is motivated by the desire for simple strategies that anyone, with any schedule, can implement. Anyone has time to follow her advice and reap the rewards. Topics include buying insurance, buying a house, getting rid of debt, and how to invest money.

Technorati Tags: academia, income, living, review

So I happened upon this herd of cows. As they saw me approaching, they wondered if I had some sweets with me.

But I didn't, so they bolted.

Except for the bull, who wasn't happy that I scared everyone away, and that I didn't have any sweets.

Technorati Tags: living, virginia

It is easier than ever for anyone in the world to get a good education. Many top universities are placing their course content online, for free. There are also other educational resources put online by universities and organizations (like podcasts from NASA).

For many of the courses, not only do you get the syllabus for the course, but lecture notes, assignments, and sometimes even audio and video of the lectures!

Popsci.com recently posted a survey of many of the online resources, and I have included some below, including one that popsci missed.

• UC Berkeley Webcasts
• MIT OpenCourseWare
• Stanford Center for Professional Development
• University of Illinois' NetMath
• NASA Podcasts
• AstronomyCast
• Quirks and Quarks
• The Naked Scientists
• Harvard Extension School

So now it is easier to realize your dream, learn something new, or chart a new career. Best of all, you do not even have to get off your couch to take a class, since everything is online. Why wait until tomorrow to learn that language, write that book, solve that problem, or write that code?

Technorati Tags: academia, living

Just look at the labels or the bottled water ads: deep, pristine pools of spring water; majestic alpine peaks; healthy, active people gulping down icy bottled water between biking in the park and a trip to the yoga studio.

While the shiny labels on bottled water make us think we are doing the right thing by buying and drinking it, this story lists 5 reasons not to drink bottled water:

• Bottled water costs more than gasoline
• Is regulated by the FDA less than tap water
• The containers are plastic: 80% are thrown away each year, entering oceans and filling garbage dumps
• More bottled water means less improvement to the public water supply
• Fosters the corporatization of the water supply

Also, many investigations have shown that expensive bottled water is often little more than regular tap water with a fancy label.

While it is unfortunate that probably most people think bottled water is somehow better for them than plain tap water, as a valid reason for drinking bottled water I can see that bottled water might be useful when traveling to different towns, since you would not be accustomed to the bacteria strains present in the local tap water systems. Some also like bottled water when exercising.

As a resolution to the dilemma, I have found that buying a reusable bottle, such as the Colored Lexan Wide Mouth Bottle (32 oz.) - Nalgene Water Bottle, and re-filling it with filtered water or tap water, seems to be a reasonable compromise between not being wasteful with all the plastic throw-away yet having water convenient when exercising or traveling.

The bottles pictured above have a wide-mouth, making it easy to add sports-powders or ice cubes to the bottle, and the lexan material means that the bottle will last for many years of rugged use. Note that the bottles comes in a variety of colors, and there are also narrow-mouth versions.

Technorati Tags: living, science, technology, travel

If you are filled with the D.C. Beltway Blues, or are tired of all the big-city grime, crime, and lack-of-time, then a trip to the Marriott Ranch might be just the escape you need.

About 45 miles outside the beltway, Marriott Ranch is a working cattle ranch in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in Hume, Virginia. The ranch has about 4,200 acres, and, in addition to cattle, has a bed and breakfast called the Inn at Fairfield Farm. You can also go horseback riding, hiking, off-road jeeping, and fishing. In addition to people wanting to get back to nature, the site is also a popular destination for company retreats and weddings. Around the ranch there are vineyards and wineries, fishing, rafting, canoeing, Civil War Trails, the Shenandoah National Park, and the Skyline Drive.

We went on a guided trail ride and had a great time. We have been to other destinations for trail rides, but this one was much better---the horses were healthy and well-kept, and the trail ride was more relaxed and natural than some other rides I have been on.

My horse was not too thrilled with having his picture taken.

Saddle-up!

Here's one happy camper.

Here we are, heading out.

This is an active cattle ranch, so sometimes you see some of the other residents.

Great scenery too!

And an old timey saloon is a great place for a picnic after a hard day's ride.

They also offer other rides in addition to the basic trail ride: you can go on overnight rides, mountain rides, cattle drives, and even learn how to be a cowpoke.

Technorati Tags: culture, living, review, travel, virginia

Be more than just the master of your own domain:

• Find exactly what you are looking for on the web
• Outbid everyone on eBay
• Share one WiFi connection with multiple computers
• Learn how to make your own blog and wiki

Your friends will be amazed!

Seriously, if you are looking to turbo-charge your online experience, then you should pick up the new book Rule the Web: How to Do Anything and Everything on the Internet---Better, Faster, Easier by Mark Frauenfelder.

I went to Mark's book signing in Santa Monica tonight, held at the Barnes and Noble in the 3rd Street Promenade. There, Mark entertained a room full of people with talk about the origins of BoingBoing, the future of the music industry, the future of the publishing industry, lots of examples from his book, and insight into how the book came about.

Mark is a really nice guy and has lots of insight into how to use the Internet and Web effectively to increase your productivity and, well, happiness.

And Mark was wearing a Scott eVest shirt like I was also wearing, so not only is he smart, but he's cool too.

Technorati Tags: book, culture, review, technology

I guess now I have had the official California experience---last night we had a small earthquake:

The 4.5 preliminary magnitude quake was centered 4.1 miles north-northwest of the suburb of Chatsworth, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was extremely shallow, at only 3 miles deep.

It happened a little before 1AM, and woke me up---the bed was shaking and at first I thought someone was in the room moving the bed around.

It is very disorienting to wake up to an earthquake.

Technorati Tags: living, travel

How many of you are a little tired of all the really long, complex, rights-waiving, non-negotiated licensing agreements foisted upon us when we install software, buy products at Best Buy, or download songs from an online music service? My guess is that you really don't read those agreements, but if you did, you would see how silly these companies are getting.

However, the good folks over at reasonableagreement.org have the right idea. They have an anti-EULA that they suggest you put on your credit card slips when you sign them, or include with your warranty cards when you mail them back, or put them at the bottom of your emails.

So, while you can go to their site and see how this agreement can be customized for your particular use, here is a reasonable agreement for this webpage:

READ CAREFULLY. By reading this webpage you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies (”BOGUS AGREEMENTS”) that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer.

Technorati Tags: culture, living

Ever wanted to read more, but never seem to have the time?

If so, you may be interested in DailyLit, a site that will break up a book you want to read into easily-digestible chunks and send you one chunk per day (or more, if you like). The chunks are small enough that you can read them in less than five minutes, and so by reading a little each day, in between your moments of busyness, you can complete books that you have been meaning to read, but never quite have the time for.

The books you subscribe to can be sent to you via email or RSS. The service is free, and the books are free too.

Because if you are like us, you spend hours each day reading email but don't find the time to read books. DailyLit brings books right into your inbox in convenient small messages that take less than 5 minutes to read. This works incredibly well not just on your computer but also on a Treo, Blackberry, Sidekick or whatever the PDA of your choice. In the words of Dr. Seuss: Try it, you might like it! (Oops -- it would appear that the actual quote from Green Eggs and Ham is "You do not like them. So you say. Try them! Try them! And you may.")

Do you believe in elves? They are not just for Tolkienites, you know.

As an Icelander, I am aware that invisible creatures are lurking about all around us. Growing up in the countryside, I lived on a farm at the foot of a mountain, where consideration toward the hidden world was as common as the courtesy you pay any other farm denizen.

"Don't touch the cows while they're milking!" 
"Don't handle the lambs or the ewes won't take to them!" 
"Don't climb up on that rock because you'll disturb the
 elves!"
"Don't feed the horses before you ride. It'll make them
 gassy."
"Don't make so much noise by that hill there. Someone 
might be trying to sleep inside it!"

I've been to Iceland, and I believe!

Note that it's never to late to pursue your dream.

Recently, the famed guitarist for the music group Queen, 60-year old Brian May, handed in his PhD thesis, 36 years after interrupting his studies to play in the band.

His area of study is Astronomy at the Imperial College, London, and the title of his thesis is "Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud". He still has to defend his thesis, which will happen on 23 August of this year. Nevertheless, the completion of his thesis, especially with such a significant gap in this studies, is a significant accomplishment.

From the BBC article:

The rock star is also preparing a concert to mark the inauguration of a telescope at the Observatory of the Roque de Los Muchachos in La Palma, Tenerife, where he completed his studies last month.

Finally, for a bit of Lord of the Rings humor, you may find the following animated gif amusing:

Technorati Tags: academia, book, culture, living, spirit

A friend has gifted me with a new book: Are We Rome?: The Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America.

Recently published, this book takes the reader on a tour of the last several thousand years, specifically analyzing the comparisons between the United States and Rome---as cultures and as models for nations. The arguments advanced by the author, Cullen Murphy, who was the editor of The Atlantic magazine and is now the editor of Vanity Fair, seem to be thoughtfully put together, rather than the alarmist and shallow chatter so often heard on talk radio and in Washington D.C.

So, I am definitely looking forward to reading this!

Technorati Tags: academia, book, culture, living, review

Viking treasure found in Britain!

"We were astonished when we finally discovered what it contained."

The ancient objects come from as far afield as Afghanistan in the East and Ireland in the West, as well as Russia, Scandinavia and continental Europe.

The hoard contains 617 silver coins and 65 other objects, including a gold arm-ring and a gilt silver vessel.

Dr Jonathan Williams, keeper of prehistory in Europe at the British Museum, said: "[The cup] is beautifully decorated and was made in France or Germany at around AD900.

"It is fantastically rare - there are only a handful of others known around the world. It will be stunning when it is fully conserved."

There are many responsible approaches countries can do to help decrease dependence on polluting petroleum products and move a country's industries and population to a more sustainable lifestyle.

Italy has answered this noble challenge by...banning ties:

"Taking your tie off immediately lowers the body temperature by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius," the ministry said in a statement. "Allowing a more sensible use of air conditioning that yields electricity savings and protects the environment."

However, Italy's tie-makers aren't taking this well:

"Italy confirms that it is a strange country," Flavio Cima said in a letter to financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore under the headline: "I, tie maker, am responsible for global warming".

"We can now happily continue with our lifestyle, using cars, consuming fuel, heating and cooling our homes at leisure. On one condition: we should not wear a tie while we do so," he wrote.

Remember, all you need to do is write.

Josh Catone over at Read/WriteWeb has posted a self-publishing toolkit---how to write and publish a novel.

Follow his approach, using 100% online tools, and you will have something, guaranteed. His best idea is to check out the National Novel Writing Month as a strong motivator to get yourself writing, and Sitepoint, where you can take bids on your novel's book cover designs, for example.

Finally, sometimes you just never know what you are going to see when you look outside your bedroom window.

Technorati Tags: academia, book, culture, living, religion, spirit

On the southeast corner of the UCLA campus lies the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden. On seven acres, this oasis contains tropical and sub-tropical plants from all over the world.

I took a pleasant walk through the garden over the weekend, and plan to return, since it is a restive spot that calls for quiet meditation and attention to nature amid the city jungle of Los Angeles.

Technorati Tags: living, travel

The Vikings were some of the best sailors, ship-builders, and explorers the world has known.

The remains of a Viking warship was found in 1962, and has been rebuilt using traditional Viking tools and building methods by a dedicated team.

From the BBC news article, The return of the Viking warship:

More than 7,000 iron rivets, 2,000m of rope and 300 ancient Danish oaks were used in the reconstruction. After four years of painstaking work, the Sea Stallion from Glendalough was launched on 4 September 2004.

Now, the team behind the project wants to know whether the reconstruction is capable of making the kind of journeys the Vikings once undertook. To find out, the ship is being taken over 1,000 miles (1,600km) across the North Sea to Orkney and on to Dublin.

UPDATE: You can follow a diary of the voyage at the BBC site.

Here is probably the best way to hide your iPod or iPhone from theft---disguise it as a Microsoft Zune:

Ever wanted to watch a book being made? Here is a link to a short movie of a paperback book being printed and bound.

And just because this is where you go a lot when in Los Angeles:

Technorati Tags: book, culture, living, travel

So today I decided to make a tour around the UCLA campus.

The University of California, Los Angeles, or UCLA, has the largest enrollment of any university in the state and consistently ranks as one of the top universities in the world.

The campus is large (about 419 acres) and the buildings have a detailed, solid architectural style (Romanesque Revival?). As an example, the building below is the Powell Libary, which is the main undergraduate library. Interestingly, it was one of the original four buildings on campus.

In 1995, according to wikipedia, of the 36 PhD programs that were examined by the National Research Council, 11 departments made the top ten list.

Also, since 1998, no American university has had more applicants -- out of 50,732 applicants for fall 2007, 11,860 (23.38%) were admitted.

The building below is the IPAM building, or the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics. The mission of IPAM is to serve as a collaboration center for mathematicians, engineers, and scientists to work on a wide variety of interdisciplinary problems. For example, during the summer IPAM organizes RIPS, which is a research program for talented undergraduates to solve a variety of problems for a variety of companies, such as Symantec, Pixar, and some of the national labs (LANL, LLNL, JPL).

The IPAM building, though a break from the main architectural style of the campus, was designed by noted architect Frank Gehry in the mid-1970s. Inside there is an open design with large windows that provides a lot of light and helps foster collaboration spaces for visiting researchers.

Another building that moves to the minimalist end of design is the Ronald Reagan Medical Center, below.

Finally, on my way back to my room after touring around the campus, I stopped by a small cafe for some food. Of course, I was riding my folding bike, so when I went in to order my food I naturally carried it with me.

While I was waiting for my food, this man and woman had pulled up on a large BMW motorcycle. The lady rider, in leather jacket and helmet, came into the cafe through the door as I was exiting through the door, still carrying my little folding bike. She saw it and gave me an "All right!". So either she really approved of me and my bike, or she was greatly amused -- I am not quite sure which.

Technorati Tags: academia, culture, living, science, travel

I took my first real ride on my Downtube Mini folding bike over the weekend. I mentioned earlier that I had brought the folding bike with me to Los Angeles, since I wouldn't have a car while I was here.

Someone at work had mentioned that San Vincente Boulevard was a nice road to take to the beach, so I thought that would be a nice way to test out the new bike and to see some of the sights. The route I ended up taking is highlighted in purple (UCLA is in the upper right corner; Santa Monica pier is in the lower left corner).

The first task was to find San Vincente Boulevard. So I started at UCLA, headed South on Westwood Boulevard, and followed the Bike Path signs west on Wilshire Boulevard. The first ten minutes of my trip went fine.

However, my first mistake was to ride in traffic along Wilshire Boulevard. I am not a bike rider, but I knew that it is best to ride in the right-most lane. And after all, I was following the Bike Route signs. So all was fine, until I discovered suddenly that my lane, and the one to my left, turn into feeder lanes for the 405 San Diego Freeway.

Luckily, the Downtube Mini has a sharp turning radius, and after a bit of dodge and weave, I managed to get out of that situation.

Once I got west of the 405, I turned right onto San Vincente Boulevard. This was a much nicer road -- with a real bike lane, lots of nice houses, and being generally a pleasant place to ride a bike, as the following pictures show.

My second mistake was to not apply sunscreen. There is quite a bit of sun in L.A., especially at the beach. So about six miles into the trip, which put me near where San Vincente hits Ocean Avenue, I was starting to feel the heat. However, all discomfort was forgotten once I saw the view:

Note that in the second beach picture, the pier in the distance is Santa Monica Pier.

Also note that these pictures were taken from Ocean Avenue, which is on top of a small cliff, above the Pacific Coast Highway and above the beach.

However, when you have a folding bike (which weighs 24.5 pounds), cliffs are not a problem. No, I did not fall off the cliff, for once, but I did find some stairs going down the cliff. This picture is looking back after I carried my bike down the stairs and crossed the bridge over the Pacific Coast Highway:

However, by this time I realized my third mistake. On my next trip I will leave my backpack containing my laptop computer and some textbooks in my room. Evidently these sorts of things aren't really needed at the beach.

The fourth mistake dawned soon after -- riding a bike a long distance in the sun makes one thirsty and hungry.

Nevertheless, I rode my bike along the beach until I got to the Santa Monica Pier. There were the usual things one finds on a pier -- people fishing, people walking, people selling trinkets, people playing musical instruments -- though this was the first time I have seen a 9-story ferris wheel on a pier before:

My return trip was similar to my outbound trip, except that I rode back to San Vincente along Ocean Avenue instead of along the beach, so that I would not have to carry my bike, backpack, laptop, and books back up those stairs.

The round-trip was about 15 miles.

Technorati Tags: bike, culture, fitness, living, travel

So, iPhones have been available for a couple of hours now on the East Coast, and in just a few minutes will be available on the West Coast. As expected, the demand is great, and there are lines.

Here is the situation on Westwood Avenue in Los Angeles, where there is a line in front of the AT&T store (limit 1 per customer):

Technorati Tags: culture, living, travel

Well, at least using my experience with one trip, it works.

In my previous post, "In theory: how to survive when on travel without a car - the folding bike", I discussed this idea for staying in a city without a car. I showed a picture of the bike and a picture of the bike folded in a suitcase.

Here is a photo of the bike, unpacked from the suitcase, after a trip of 2,329 miles via airplane:

Technorati Tags: culture, living, travel

So for a period of time in the near future I will be working and doing research in a place where I will not have a car. This might not be so bad if it were not for the commute back and forth to the office.

So my solution, perhaps with my engineering background showing a bit too much, was to buy a folding bike.

The bike I chose: a Downtube Mini.

In theory:

wake up --> ride folding bike to office --> fold bike and carry into office --> work --> ride folding bike back to where I am staying --> fold bike and carry inside.

This way, I have convenient transportation, the bike won't be stolen by leaving it outside chained to some bike-rack, and, perhaps best/worst of all, I will be able to carry my bike with me on the airplane!

So here is the bike:

And here is the bike in my suitcase:

But, airports being what they are these days, hopefully I will not suffer the same fate as Stephen Orsak who, upon riding his bike from the Minneapolis St Paul International Airport, enjoined discussions with the police that did not end in his favor:

As I lay still on the pavement, Officer Wingate walked over to my glasses and smashed them into the ground with his boot. I was handcuffed, body searched and baggage searched. Reinforcements were called in, a total of (4) squad cars and a paramedic unit.

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Technorati Tags: academia, culture, job, living, travel, work

I thought John Wesley's Top 5 Ways to Build a Wonderful Life were pretty good:

• Live Below Your Means
• Put Your Money to Work
• Educate Yourself
• Develop Lasting Personal Relationships
• Work Towards a Dream You're Passionate About

The scientists who died and are in heaven
decide to play hide-n-seek.

Unfortunately Einstein is the one who is it first...........
He is supposed to count up to 100...and
then start searching.....

Everyone starts hiding except Newton.........

Newton just draws a square of 1 meter and stands in
it right in front of Einstein.

Einstein's counting:
1,2,3......97,98,99.....100........ He opens his eyes
and finds Newton standing right in front of him........

Einstein says "Newton's out..Newton's out....."

Newton denies this and says "I am not out........I am not
Newton......"

All the scientists come out to see how he proves that
he is not Newton.

Newton says "I am standing in an area of 1 sq
meter..... That makes me Newton per square
meter...... Since one Newton per square meter is one
Pascal, I'm Pascal, Therefore Pascal is OUT.......!

Technorati Tags: academia, culture, living, science, travel

Jesse Byock: Viking Age Iceland

I read this book prior to my trip to Iceland, and it really served to give me a good sense of the country, how it was settled, who settled it, and how the population grew over time. It also explained the desolation of the countryside - when you travel from the airport to Reykjavik, the land is like much like on the moon - treeless crags abound. The book explains how this came to be. In addition, the book gives a good background to the sagas and other adventures of the people of Iceland, and those who came to its shores.

NB: I saw this guy while in Iceland - how cool is that?

Technorati Tags: book, culture, living

If you want to get up-close and personal with the events in Iraq, you really should check out Michael Yon's Online Magazine. Mike is reporting on Iraq by embedding with the troops there, on the ground, with the bullets and bombs. Thus, he brings a perspective unmatched by any news broadcast from New York or the Green Zone. Not only his stories, but his images too capture a previously unseen view of life and war in Iraq. From his "A Memorial Day Message" article:

Yet Mosul is still dangerous. In January, a Humvee with five passengers rolled over a massive IED. The vehicle was completely destroyed. My first mission with James Pippin was the recovery of the five men killed. CSM Pippin set the leadership tone that horrible day and demonstrated moral strength far above and beyond what I believe most men could bear. CSM Pippin and I had just been swapping some emails within the past week, when a message came less than 24 hours ago that he, too, had been shot in Mosul.

As we toured the bar, a man approached, got uncomfortably close, and snarled his contemptuous opinion of our short haircuts in Steve's face. A brown belt with an Indian head buckle marked the border between his blue pants and beige shirt. He wore a white metal necklace, and on his right arm was a tattoo, which seemed to be a marijuana leaf. I'd experimented a little myself during the waning months of high school. It confused me-but not enough to celebrate with a tattoo. On his left arm he had taken pains to emblazon in red: Death Before Dishonor-a clear warning to all of dangerous waters, like a sign that says "No Swimming-Crocodiles".

Technorati Tags: academia, book, culture, defense, guns, living, security