UPDATE: I have re-enabled mightyreason.com -- Tech support explained what I needed to do!

Much Stupidity

UPDATE: I have re-enabled mightyreason.com -- Tech support explained what I needed to do!

I forgot to renew the mightyreason.com domain and so I am now dealing with many problems. To continue to reach me, you can use reason (at) tuffmail (dot) com until I come up with a more permanent fix.

Currently I just hate myself for being so crap that I let this happen.

UPDATE: I have re-enabled mightyreason.com -- Tech support explained what I needed to do!

Vindicated

Hooray! We got our experimental paper which was submitted to PRL on April 19th accepted by the editors on October 11th. We are very happy and bought drinks for coworkers to celebrate. We are now working on turning the theory chapter of thesis into a theory paper.

This is posted from Edinburgh, where I am staying yet again for the weekend. Last night was another dancing night at Citrus. Today was a bit of sleeping then a bit of shopping. Tomorrow I should pick a Halloween costume.

I would write something about the tyranny that Bush has created and which Congress has just rubber stamped, but that would be tiresome for you to read. Just remember: the president seized all those power unlawfully long before Congress came along with its useless fig leaf of legislation. If you think the president would have relinquished the powers in the face of (so far non-existent) congressional opposition then you should go cold turkey on those happy pills you are taking.

Humor reminder: Go read http://www.xkcd.com/ including the archive...

Four weeks

How have I been spending the 4 weeks since my last post?

4 Nights in Prague.
8 Nights in St Andrews.
16 Nights in Edinburgh.

A couple of friends from Texas can up to visit my in Edinburgh for 4 days. That was a blast, and it was a great change to catch up with them.

But the new computer getting turned on the Maths building required a power cut to the Physics building on Saturday. And then it all went "kerbloowee" and the power has still not been restored. The generators will up and running by this evening, but that will not let me run any of the laser systems. What lasers? Why our new laser of course. It is a Femtosource Rainbow which was installed last week by its creator, and managed to produce state of the art short pulses, only 5.8 femto seconds long (by a FWHM definition). Which is about 2.1 cycles of light at the carried wavelength of 800 nm.

Friday the 13th will be another party in Edinburgh. I may costume since "fancy dress" is recommended. Also need to plan ahead for Halloween.

New Weird Al video: White and Nerdy (and lyrics)

Tanzen

Mood: excited. Reason: Going dancing this weekend. Unrelated: CNN.

Fringe 2: Laugh Harder

I caught some of the end of Fringe this past weekend.

1. Paradox: Set Phasers to Pun! "Space! Big isn't it? These are the journeys of the spaceship, Nebula. Its mission: to explore new possibilities for parody, to seek out bad puns, to use appropriate grammar in original ways. Achingly funny. www.twoshadesofblue.org.uk"
• The humor was based on puns. If your sense of humor is more evolved then you won't like it much. References to StarTrek/StarWars/DrWho/QuantumLeap/Babylon5
• I liked it.
  
2. Four on the Floor "Featuring winners and finalists from the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year 2006. The competition has unrivalled ability to spot future stars; previous finalists include Ardal O'Hanlon, Omid Djalili, Daniel Kitson and Simon Pegg."
• Not the funniest bunch.
3. Pluck - The Specialists "The world's most stupid musicians are back! Pluck's international hit show returns, revamped, for five days only. Mozart meets Marx Brothers! 'Gloriously funny' Scotsman. 'I laughed so hard it really hurt' Three Weeks. Directed by Cal McCrystal."
• Amazing and Funny. They did physical comedy while playing violin/viola/cello.
4. Nick Doody - Before He Kills Again "Quiet neighbour Nick Doody never meant to do it. Take that, political establishment and all major religions! You drove him to this... 'Superb... you found yourself laughing whilst consciously trying to bite your lip' www.bbc.co.uk"
• Great dark humor. Opened with a song, sort of an ode to clowns. Too bad I can't get a copy of this song.

Next stop: Prague.

The Meme that ate Manhatten

I am finially following up the game of tag, so via Third Wavefunction:

1. One book that changed your life?

Perhaps I don't have a good answer to this because I generally do not read the types of books that change people's lives. I became a scientist via an accumulation of math and science book exposure. For the fiction, there is no particular life altering book, though some are much better than others. Literature...I could read them and occasionally analyze them for class. So I will have to go with role-playing rule books. If I had never read those, then my life would clearly have been different. And that started with Dungeons and Dragons.

2. One book that you have read more than once?

"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values" by Robert Pirsig. I think I have read it twice. lite-pseudo-philosophy. But it is a more interesting answer than scifi or a textbook. I read it first as part of the Dean's Scholars program seminar in college, and enjoyed the discussions we had around it. Your mileage may vary.

3. One book you would want on a desert island?

"The Idiot's Guide to Island Survival", or maybe the complete works of Shakespeare. That would be a good amount of bang-for-buck. Perhaps learn iambic pentameter. Or maybe write sonnets in the white sand.

4. One book that made you laugh?

"Cryptonomicon" by Neil Stephenson. Really good geek humor and a good story. Not everyone likes it, but there are many of us who do. The amount of material he covers is quite large, and keeping a story together with that much in it was no small feat.

5. One book that made you cry?

I can't recall one right now from fiction. There have been some very sad short stories. From non-fiction there is certainly a lot of painfully sad history that I have read. But actuall book inspired tears aren't something I recall, but it might simply be a casualty of my poor memory.

6. One book you wish had been written?

"The Whole Truth" by R. M. Nixon. After the pardon it would have been relevatory to get the full story of all the criminal activity and intent. And it would have damned his former staff, e.g. Cheney and Rumsfeld. And perhaps explained the Vietnam war better. And perhaps revealed the "Southern Strategy".

7. One book you wish had never been written?

I could try and wish away whole political movements by erasing "Holy Bible", "Mein Kampf", "Koran", or "The Communist Manifesto" but that is over-rating their effect on history. I think I will go with "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion".

8. One book you are currently reading?

"The Perfect Heresy: The Revolutionary Life and Death of the Medieval Cathars" by Stephen O'Shea. It covers the suppression of a large group of heretics and those who had learned to tolerate them in the early 13th century. A good reminder of how monstrously brutal the times were, in this case at the direction of the Popes.

9. One book you have been meaning to read?

"Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. It is a well recommended yarn.

Fringe!

This past weekend I dropped by Edinburgh, but not as I knew it. The Fringe Festival is ongoing this month: hundreds of venues running comedy/dance/plays/shows/etc all day and night. I saw

1. Chanbara : "This extraordinary new show, from the creators of the Yamato Drummers and the sword masters behind Kill Bill, combines the power of the Taiko drums and the Samurai sword in a breathtaking and explosive spectacle."
2. This is So Not About the Simpsons (American Voyeurs) : "Welshwoman Judith Owen, ('Keenly observational chanteuse' New York Times) and Harry Shearer (The Simpsons, This is Spinal Tap) dissect American democracy and cosmetic surgery with music, incisive humour and derisive video."
3. Puppet City: A Korean Fantasy : "Let the characters of Puppet City lead you on a fantastic journey to their unforgettable land of music and dance. Open your eyes to a magical new world. Suitable for all ages!"
4. Jump - Martial Arts Comedy : "2005's sell-out extravaganza of feet, fists and fun that entertains all ages with hilarious spectacular acrobatics. 'One of the best shows you'll ever see' Scotsman. 'Did I give it 5 stars? Make that 50!' Evening Standard."
5. A MidsummernightsTree : "Uniquely magical evening of sensuous cabaret beneath the stars. A leaf-canopied circus fantasy at sunset, with music and fire. For lovers of world-class acrobatics, dreamers and romantics of all ages. Featuring stars of 'La Clique'. 8 shows only. (Please bring suitable outdoor clothing, a torch and something to sit on.)"
6. The Midnight Carousel : "Decadent beasts and bewitching beauties: a late-night whirl of cabaret, burlesque and other dark doings hosted by Dusty Limits, master of comic cabaret, the 'New Age Noel Coward' Backstage NY. Dress to beguile, dance till dawn. www.midnightcarousel.net"
   

1 was impressive; where else can you see saumari sword technique?
2 was funny but not as much as I had expected, given Shearer
3 was very amusing and beautiful; it was funnier than I expected
4 was fantastically done and hilarious; seeing it done live was impressive
5 was amazing to behold, had to remember to blink
6 was variously entertaining, of course; opened with Tom Lehrer's Vatican Rag

Continuum

The trip to Leicester for Continuum via train was a bit slow...I ran 2 hours late getting there becuase the first train run 2 hours and 40 minutes late.

But I have some pictures of that and other things up. You may find me dressed a shaman and as a pirate.

The games were fun, and I got to play with very experience folks, which made holding my own all that more rewarding. I was a siberian shaman (I bought the drum in the picture before getting on the train), a goth rock star (and vampire; Led Zeppelin t-shirt not in the photos), and a theater owner (in hoc to the mob; no real costume or any photos). Not bad for two days.

Note: two week to snakes on a plane. Don't forget to book early.

FCUP 3/n

Work is at a busy stage this week. So no new movies for now. But unlike the ninja, I like Pirates of the Carribbean. The Superman movie was just not working for me.

As an aside, the Lamont campaign is a small source of good news to me in the world right now.