Sigh.

I don't really like festive seasons...

I wish.
I wish.
I wish.

Calculating...

It seems I have to do some calculations before the next year begins....

Get to work!

*CRUNCH*

Make no mistake, hell weeks are here....

Onward.

The UROPS journey

Its not much.. But its a start.

Melvyn Congress (Final)

Onward.

Trial time

Am sitting here at my office table after a quick lunch alone..

I've had quite a lot of help on my project so far..
one guy (Thinh) who is doing something related actually went through an entire paper with me, answering all my little questions (some of which really illustrate my lack of technical skill)..
a phd student (Yimin) who took a look at the paper i was studying and said that generalising it to 4 dimensions isn't too hard, and she'll have a look at it too.

So technically these great brains (and some people in the Group who have been spending more time on other things rather than bother about my stuff) have more than what it takes to finish MY project.

!@$@^^!&!*&

After some time emo-ing last night, which lasted about 5 minutes (woohoo record time), i decided to attack it head on and start working on those things i still don't know.

Then came this morning, where i found out i completely forgot about a homework assignment for one of my modules. BLEAH. A good thing the prof said that he'll take the best 3 homeworks out of 4. So i guess I'd better ace the next two..

Planning for YPM camp is another thing.. We have so many ideas, but its like holding in a Rasengan when it all threatens to fly apart in a million directions. Are our foundations laid right? Will it stand the test of time? Do we have the resources to tap on and harness, producing a massive directed effort?

A million worries and only so many hours a day.

Onward.

My little corner

Its not much but I kinda like it..

Following the story

The goal

I hope to be able to say this at the end of this disgusting project...


















Well I'm sure my prof isn't trying to be hard on me but it seems damn impossible..

Sigh.

Onward

Group Photo

An add-on to the post below.. Here's a photo of the people in the Group..

Siandiao-ness

Hello everyone..

I decided to start posting cause my blog life is left hanging... mostly due to my massive inertia in posting about all the places I went to.. There's just too much to say..

So just ask me about anyplace you want to ask me about and I'll try to say what I can.. (If there's even anyone who wants to know LOL)

Anyhow, I manged to get a little cosy corner in the CQT, which is an acronym for Centre for Quantum Technologies. You'll note that there's a little article in today's papers, about someone working there.

My research project is not about lasers but about quantum correlations, and that would take ages to explain (mostly because I'm still not sure how exactly to view and understand quantum correlations).

Buutttt anyhow I have to give a presentation about what I've done before the semester is up, so maybe I'll put up the presentation time and place here when I know about it.

It feels nice to blog again.

Onward

The Grand Canyon

Picking up where we left off, we went to the Grand Canyon after Vegas.

We took a drive there, awfully long drive, but it was kinda fun.. I had to be V-commander.. Slightly nervous, but we got there alright..

We passed by the Hoover Dam on the way.. (Think Transformers 1)





















































The road trip was an awesome sight, with rolling plains and even a few cows and horses.. (don't have pictures of them sadly)

























































But, when you finally get there, oh boy is it an AWESOME sight.

























































We woke up at like 430 in the morning to catch the sunrise.. But it was a cloudy day, and it was a real shame that we didn't see the sun..



























You can note the little winding river at the bottom of the canyon..




















































































More Canyon pictures to come! We took a day hike down into the valley... We didn't hit the little river RIGHT at the base of the canyon, but we walked quite far nonetheless....

Mel

Concentric

Sudden wave of emo

Some songs really hit me hard..

I wish there really was some way to make it all better, to fix it, to bring colour in again.

If only I was a better man some years ago.

I think I need some quiet time, amidst all the bustle of this trip..

Mel

SMRT munchers

We interrupt our regular program for a special telecast.

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 6

This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard.

Well, one of the stupidest.

Friends, here's a question for you. If you see a mother feeding her baby from a milk bottle, will she get fined?

Of course not!

It was the baby who was drinking milk. Fine the BABY $30. The mother is innocent.

Duh.

How can anyone NOT know the answer to this?

Backward.

Las Vegas

Continuing the story, we move on to Vegas..

Not called Sin City for nothing, Vegas offers MANY forms of entertainment. (Heh heh heh) In fact, you can even start gambling the moment you touch down in Vegas, before you even leave the airport.. That says a lot I guess..
















We stayed at the Stratosphere.. Its not really expensive, but its comfy. If you intend to put up there, you should try to check in early. We got a smoking room, and it was pretty horrible..





















The buffet was amazing, as you can see below.. heh..














































In Vegas, the food isn't that expensive. The rooms aren't pricey either... Not in our hotel, at least.. I came to the conclusion that the entire industry is focused on one thing.

Entertainment.

Everything else is created JUST to support that focus.

It made me think about school, and how some people have to fight for housing, and worry about CCA and whatever not.. It made me think about church too..

Wouldn't it be easier if we just stopped for one minute, and thought about how everything fits into the entire system?

We also did some shopping in some premium-outlets place.. Basically its some place that has tons of factory stores, and we just went around grabbing cheap stuff.

Get this.

15 USD Levi's jeans.


=)

Mel

More of San Francisco

Continuing the story after Day 1 and 2, this is more about San Francisco..















We walked around a bit in the morning, exploring San Francisco, and then we went north to Fisherman's Wharf.. Fisherman's Wharf is THE place for seafood. San Francisco is also the place to go to for sourdough bread.















































We also had Ghirardelli ice cream!
















Ghirardelli is the name of a chocolate maker and the ice cream is SUPERBLY good. (But I'm guessing its due to the chocolate..)



The important part of the day was the trip to Alcatraz Island!
















Alcatraz island was the super maximum security prison of its time. Basically, from a quote I think I remember, written on the wall,

'If you messed up outside, you got sent to prison. If you messed up in prison, you got sent to Alcatraz."

So you can imagine what kind of super crazy place it was.. (That's where they filmed The Rock, by the way)































The place is absolutely freezing. The currents are insanely strong and I can only shudder at the kind of desperation it must have required to even dream of escaping.
















By the way, the slamming sound the doors make when they shut is really very spinechilling.....


Mel

New format

Since I screwed up the daily report for my trip ages ago, I have decided to change the format of my trip updates and start writing about whatever place I want to...

Day dunnowhat

I have decided to stop counting days (cause there was no internet in Vegas and in the Grand Canyon)

Anyhow i have to state that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. (NO I DIDN'T GET MARRIED)

And the Grand Canyon is absolutely breathtaking. Nothing really explains how the colours shift as the sun rises over the canyon nor how the winds gust and blow, threatening to suck the body heat out of us as we desperately try to operate our cameras with numb fingers. Its supposed to be summer, but its been raining for a month in the canyon.. We woke up at 4 to catch the sunrise, but the cloud cover scattered the light all over..

Food has not been much of a problem, everyone seems to be having a healthy appetite. No digestive problems..

Interpersonal issues have been settled quite well.. Seems to be a good balance of power in our 5-man party..

Timings have all been met.. There is an awesome discipline within the group.. We just have been tiring ourselves out a lot.. We decided to skip the sunrise at the canyon this morning just to rest.

Good choice it was, it was super cloudy and it rained on us when we went on a ranger talk about fossils..

Photos to come up.. I don't have a lot cause I forgot one battery charge phase for my cameras. I'll try to upload my friends' pics someday..

Someday, I'll come back to the canyon for more than a week.

Onward.

Day Two

Today we hit Napa Valley on a wine tour!!

We hopped onto the tour bus at about 830 in the morning and went to some really pretty places..

The triangular thingie in the right centre are actually rows of vines planted..















Rows upon rows of vines.. They aren't full grown yet, but come october or november they will be bursting with sweetness. Most of the wine sold in the US is made from the common watery kind of grape.. The grapes grown here in Napa valley, however, are of much better quality..















Red wines are aged in oak barrels... Even the kind of oak matters, and some people plant oak trees just for wine barrels.. They go for 1200 USD per barrel!!















We also had the time to go WALK on the Golden Gate Bridge, and it was absolutely breathtaking.















I may have to make some tough decision tomorrow.

Sigh. This completely sucks.


Onward.

Day ONE!

We made it through day one with headaches, turbulence and a general lack of sleep..

But hey, you guys already know that I don't like flying..

Some pictures.. (only from my camera, but more to come soon)














































Bleah. Its almost 3am here.. I shall put pictures into Facebook next time and link to those pictures when I get back from some wine tour tomorrow.

I managed to find some cheap shirts in Old Navy.. They have 50% off for men's clothes... I have no idea why, but it just happened to be there.

Food has been awesome, servings have been huge and I have been frozen almost solid by the air in San Francisco.

WHAT SUMMER?

Goodnight!

Grades

This is long overdue, but I suspect I have to write something about this sooner or later. One reason for the mega delay is how i'm wondering what kind of emotion to imbue into this.

But what the hell.

I got my best grades ever!

They're not THAT amazing, but after quite a few hours in the library and a new mentality of 'come on are you just going to roll over and die' i actually did quite well.

Onward.

Million and one things to do

Okay. This trip is proving to be the most insane thing i've ever embarked on.

Okay. Perhaps the second most insane thing. The most insane thing has got to be choosing my major to be in physics.

THERE ARE SO MANY DAMN THINGS TO DO.

ARGHHHHHH.

okay.

back to reading.

meeting my prof tmr morning.

Onward.

Breakthrough

One and a half days, one coffee stain and a lot of scribblings later...

I understand ONE journal article!

I realise it wasn't that hard... Just that I needed to sit myself down and keep smashing at it..

Onward.

On Quantum Teleportation

Reporter : Can you teleport only the body, or also the spirit?
Asher Peres : Only the spirit.

What holidays

I reserved a book in the library cause my prof recommended it.. So I'm now sitting in the library reading through it.

The stupid lunch queue at 12pm is LONGER than the usual lunch queue on a SCHOOL TERM.

What
the
hell???

CAN YOU PEOPLE ALL GO WASTE YOUR HOLIDAYS AWAY SO I HAVE A CHANCE TO CATCH UP

ahem.

yes..

science is pure and has no motives.

RIGHT.

onward.

UROPS

I had an appointment with a professor today and I walked out of that meeting finding myself a bit stunned, to have a UROPS module in my pocket.

UROPS - Undergraduate Research Oppurtunities Programme in Science

Although I firmly believe he thinks i dunno much.

AH well.

work work.

Onward.

Analysis

After doing horribly for Mathematical Analysis I in Year 2 Sem 1, I have to bite the bullet and face up to the shit all over again.

The only reason why I'm staying for a 7th Sem without Honours is because of my 2nd major.

And I only have 2 mods left to clear.

Complex Analysis I
Mathematical Analysis II

BOTH of which require Mathematical Analysis I as a prerequisite.

Sigh. Analysis has come back to bite me in the ass. Or. ANAL-yse me.

Lets see how far obsession gets me

Onward

Holiday Rush

I think I said before, either on Facebook or here on this blog, that at the end of your exams, you don't really get your life back. You just have months of your life on backlog, and you have to chase it all back so you can earn your holiday..


Yup thats happening right now.

I DECLARE THAT I WILL

not wake up so late any more
email a prof about a research project
wrap my mind around the things i need to wrap my mind about
(i would explain those things, but i realise i need to wrap my mind around them first.)
be more conscientious in planning for my US-Canada trip

Onward

Mathematicians are weird

I just HAVE to say that this is the weirdest thing I have ever seen in my wiki-surfing.


Hairy Ball Theorem!



Its about the study of surfaces!
Essentially, with a sphere with lines poking out evenly (hairy ball), by combing the hairs flat you will create regions on the surface with different hair densities.
So the ball will have more hair on some spots, and less hair on other spots, with the roots of the hairs evenly spaced out!



What were you thinking?? It's just a hairy ball!

Only By Grace

Only by grace can we enter
Only by grace can we stand
Not by our human endeavour
But by the blood of the Lamb

Into Your presence You call us
You call us to come

Into Your presence You draw us
And now by your grace we come

Getting used to low performance computing

It's been more than a week since my laptop's network card has died and it has been HORRIBLE.

I can only say that me holding the fort without my Thinkpad connectivity is like being Emperor Palpatine without his Force Lightning.

My E63 lightsaber can only go so far..

Arghhhhhh..........

So many things I want to do.
I need time to plan.

Onward.

Always check for toilet paper

This is for Samson and Estella.

Always check for toilet paper.

You never know what your support singers have to do when you're missing......





Okay I confess I think the girls are hot. But still. The lesson remains.

testtesttest

No its not a test post.

Wait it is a test post.

Its not a post done just to test whether the post works.

This is a post about tests.

Yes.

Onward.

The Book of Torak

"From the timeless reaches of Infinity, I gazed upon the future. And I beheld that there were two Destinies and that they must rush toward each other from the endless corridors of Eternity. Each Destiny was Absolute, and in that final meeting, all that was divided should be made one. In that instand, all that was, all that is, and all that was yet to be should be gathered into one Purpose."

David Eddings, Enchanters' End Game

Have I ever mentioned?

I'd like to acknowledge my friend Bobby in doing this over and over again.

1) Give glum smile

2) Ask a friend 'Have I ever mentioned to you? I wish I was smart'

Repeat the cycle

Onward.

Shudder and shake

I don't get it....

I have this very uncanny feeling, and I can't shake it off.

Probably nothing is going to happen. Probably its just going to be fine, but I don't know.

My heart is racing. My senses are heightened.

My mind is going to blow soon.

I don't want to imagine. Don't want to think about it.

The waiting is the worst part.

UoTrip meeting #2

Here are some pictures from our planning this evening


Here's Zhanjiang and Weilin

















Jay here smiling while Weilin frantically searches for accomodation

















I'm taking a picture of people taking a picture of the whiteboard!





















Not too bad for an evening of thinking and google mapping..
I'm getting more and more excited as we keep on planning! It sounds like it will really be a blast!

WOOHOO!

Reconfigure

My consciousness is rewiring itself, or whatevernot you want to call it..

The catching up on sleep has been good, because I actually feel that my body is taking things better. I don't like the side effects of the medication though.. Feels like it makes me drowsy..

Hopefully I can just finish the work I've been putting off.


Oh! I now have my first beginnings of a camp committee.

Being sick sucks

I'm lying in bed blogging from my phone.. i managed to get my e63 to link up with my router..

Being sick sucks.. I really don't mind feeling feverish and shivering under my blanket but coughing every few minutes feels horrible.. Cause your throat just keeps feeling worse..

Anyhow, the worst is over, the fever has mostly subsided and I'm still up not because of my cough, but because i took a nap in the evening already..

Still quite sad to miss the hike. Ah well. There will be Grand Canyon..

Great Experiment

Great One's experiment is so great that it takes both lab demonstrators on duty, and a lab tech to combine their powers to assist him.

















(Lab demos are the first two on the left. Chen Ming is 3rd from left. Lab tech is rightmost.)


Actually it reminds me of Moses holding up his arms while the Israelite army fights on.

Tech haul

After braving 5 hours at IT Show 2009 in Suntec City, I have the following loot.

Optics
A digital camera: Fujifilm Finepix F60
A pair of binoculars: Bushnell Falcon 7x35mm

Communications
A mobile phone: Nokia E63

Camera price was typical, but the Bushnell cost was $68 and the E63 cost was $98 with 2yr plan..

Not too bad I'd say..

What happens when you study too much?

If you understand this joke, you ARE a geek.












Acknowledgement: Picture taken from xkcd.com

Phone sex(iness)

Despite what the header seems to suggest, I am just considering a new phone..

I am deciding between a Nokie E71 or a E63.... I really like the inbuilt connectivity, namely the 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Both look really good, but they have to be. Glenn considers me the device-introducer. I have a reputation to consider.

I know they both look almost the same, but there are quite a few differences..


First and foremost, the E71 is more expensive, selling for more than 100 bucks above the E63.


And this part is ripped off from some website someplace..

Here are the differences between the budget E63 and the high-end E71:

* The E63 has a colored plastic shell versus the E71’s metal one. The front is a metallic-finish, whilst the back cover is a soft-touch finish - both attract far few fingerprints than the E71’s.

* The E63 is nearly identical in dimensions to the E71 except for the depth - the E63 is around 1.5 times the depth of the E71.

* The E63 has a 3.5mm jack on top versus the E71’s 2.5mm jack on the side. This appears to be the first E-series to have a standard headphone socket - something normally saved for N-series.

* The E63 has no side buttons for volume or voice recording. It’s also missing the E71’s IR window.

* The E63 has a revised keyboard layout, adding a ‘/’ button on the lower row, shortening the space bar.

* The E63 appears to have a slightly smaller dimension screen although it is the same 320 by 240 pixels as the E71.

* The E63 lacks internal GPS.

* The E63 does not support HSDPA data.

* The E63 has the same 110 meg internal memory, but is shipped without an additional memory card (although a slot to add one is present).

* The E63 has a 2MP camera versus the E71’s 3.2MP and has a fixed focus.

* The E63 adds a flashlight function that allows the camera’s LED flash to be used as a torch.

* The E63 lacks the E71’s faux-leather slip case.

And here's the key business features still present in the E63:

* WiFi
* 3G (there had been some rumours this was 2G only)
* Microsoft Exchange sync via MailForExchange
* Expandable memory
* Fast operation and stable S60 3rd Edition FP1 OS
* Pre-installed QuickOffice
* E-series security and encryption functions
* Huge 1500mAh battery

The most important differences here for me are that the E63 allows a 3.5mm output (thats the usual earphone connector we see). This means I can just throw in a huge micro sd card and i carry/charge one less device, which is my mp3 player.

But the E71 has A-GPS!!! I know its probably useless for most purposes.. But.. its.. a... GPS... device........ The tech side of me is struggling.

Oh yes. And the colours for the E63 are far less appealing than the E71 colours. That counts too.

I just have to make sure that it doesn't lag. Those of you who have seen me use my trusty N70 will know that it works like a truck. It will probably do a whole host of things, but it will take years. Hopefully the new Eseries will be a turbocharged 5-tonner.

Comments? Maybe i should hold a poll..

Things to buy

The plan is to fly to LAX, go to the Grand Canyon for a few days, then punch our way NORTHEAST from the SOUTHWEST corner of the US, and get to Toronto where UoT is.

This is going to be harder than I thought.

But anyhow, I'm going to start shopping soon... I'll need a

1) Camera
2) Binoculars (small ones for the Grand Canyon trip)
3) a good hat
4) maybe a huge sturdy backpack
5) a GPS?
6) a pair of walkie talkies? (The comms person in me is really tempted.)

Suggestions are welcome!

All hail to my sister, President of OCF Flinders for her divine gift to this nondeserving brother. I will use it with cautious heed, keeping in mind the reasons it was bestowed.

Influx

Hahahahaha...... Its very strange how things all work out...

Hard Disk fail

CRAP my hard disk just suddenly went unresponsive!

Going to get it fixed.

ELEMENTAL DON'T DIE ON ME YET.

Summer Programme

I don't believe I managed to get it!

unbelievable.. And I seriously thought I wasn't going to be able to go overseas and use Science Faculty money haha..

The other unbelievable thing is that my other 3 year 3 physics major friends also got their application accepted, and we're going to be flying off to Toronto together!

Thats simply amazing.. and I guess reality won't really sink in until i'm actually on the plane with my friends, being scared to be in a plane (nasty fear of heights, you have to understand), and finally landing in some weird place with not-so-humid air.

P.S. you guys may only see this post a bit late.. I realise i only feel comfortable posting when I feel that people aren't going to use anything I write.

Breach

It appears, that things are not quite what they seem.

Projects anyone?

For those amongst us who need to do up projects and submissions, may I suggest the following cover sheet.

*gasp*

It went better than I expected.. I don't really like confrontations, but it went very well, much better than i had expected..

Hopefully this entire operation bears fruit somehow, and it will all have been worth it.

Onward.

Tough decisions

When you have difficult decisions to make, you should take some time to think them through.

Onward.

Stasis

Hmn.

Nothing big is changing.

Nothing drastic is happening.

I am going to take some time to plan..

CNY aftermath

I have only managed to fulfil resolutions 1 and 3 this time...

Well i have like 15 days of CNY right haha...

Made some decisions and conclusions, realised that my initial plans were correct and on course.

As usual, it only takes the courage to complete the task.

Onward.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that's all folks

Thats the end of CNY....

Finally I made it..

Back to my lovely clinical labs and my equations..

I've never felt so at home......

You tell me what to do

What am I supposed to do.

Move out?

Teach them to be human beings?

Instruct them on family ties?


I don't deserve this.

Theoretically I have always told myself that things may happen to you, but you are responsible for your own life, and you have to try to make do, to try and fix whatever happens to you.

Its not that simple.

dongdongdongqiang

CNY approaches! but with all my labs piling up it hardly feels like a holiday...

Over this holiday season I resolve to
1) eat as much as I can
2) drink as much as I can
3) sleep as much as I can

that hardly leaves me time for doing my labs...

But I'll think of something..

Have a blessed Chinese New Year everyone!

CHEATED

ARGHHHH NUCLEAR ASTROPHYSICS IS A DEVELOPMENT OF STATISTICAL MECHANICS

i want to die...

Why am I whining? This is not typical of me.

urgh.

Oh no. Oh, no... Not this. Not now.

Just when I thought it was all dealt with, and completely past.

The entire boat threatens to sink again.

I can't risk everything i've built so far...



No.

Under no circumstances.

Not unless the condition is satisfied.

Radio silence.

No contact.



Onward.

Mysteries of the Universe

One of my modules (yes the one with the boring lecturer) is called Nuclear Astrophysics, and the title of the text is The Physics of Stars.

As I start to work through the equations I am feeling an odd mix of awe and dread, that we human beings could dare to approach understanding such huge celestial bodies, and indeed the very processes that create these things.

All things bright and beautiful
All creatures great and small
All things wise and wonderful
The Lord God made them all

It is quite humbling that our creation is so intricately connected to the splendour of the stars.

Handmade, friends. We are handmade.

Wow.

School begins

I am horrified to have learnt that I have an utterly boring lecturer for Nuclear Astrophysics..

Sigh..

I think its a lot of library work for me..

Hopefully the rest aren't so bad..

Onward.

Router zhngness

I am proud to declare that I took a bold step of faith and updated my router's firmware with a 3rd-party program. For those of us who have no idea what I just said, I have basically erased the brain of my router and replaced it with a free software. A better one, I might add.

This is like making your Fujitsu pretend to be an IBM. HAHA. (Sorry I don't like Fujitsu)

Anyhow. So after months of worrying whether my router would go into a coma, I took a step of faith and updated my router's brain with a program called DD-WRT.

It does a lot of wondrous things. Most importantly, from the usual 28mW of transmit power, you can up it to a WONDERFUL 251mW. That is an amazing jump.. Kinda guarantees you'll receive a signal almost anywhere at home. Whether your laptop can transmit to the router, however, is another problem.. haha.

However, increasing the transmit power by 2 times does not increase the intensity by 2 times. It increases the intensity by a factor of root of 2. (Basic wave theory here). If you want to double your signal, increase your power 4 times.

I wouldn't recommend transmitting at full blast though. You guys still want kids right? Your own, I mean?

.
.
.

LOL.

Anyhow, i haven't used many of the functions in there.. but if you're more technically able, then give it a shot. There are a huge number of functions inside.

My router is a trusty (and cheap) Linksys WRT54G version 2.0 router. The firmware works on many routers, even those not under Linksys. Some even allow you to overclock your router, making it do its job faster.. Reducing the time you take between click and webpage viewing.

So give it a shot.. Its not covered under warranty though.

Teching my way to infinity and beyond,
Mel