End of Chapter 2

2013 is drawing to a close. The last few days though have been very hollow. I defended my dissertation in December but that did not bring the feeling of relief I thought it will. Productivity has been zilch and a sense of emptiness is creeping in. A need to start afresh. 

Lessons

Never show your cards, even if you are sure of winning ;)

Grumble grumble

If someone were to map the thoughts in my brain right now, it would resemble spaghetti in a chicken soup dipped in chocolate sauce topped with bacon and almonds mixed with strawberries and covered in pudina chutney with dumplings and taquitos with wasabi for sides. Though the last few days have been ok in everything, there’s a lot of thought sitting jumbled up like jalebis. Concentration span has been reduced to seconds and I am jumping from one thought to other like a kangaroo on hot coal.  Need a chat with an expert soon!

P.S. The national animal of Scotland is Unicorn. No Kidding.

Supertiny and Superbig

Is our perception bounded by the scale and lifetime of things we can measure? If the multiverse theory is correct and there is empirical evidence that it is correct, then our universe or any universe is the smallest building block in that collection of universes. According to one theory there are many times more universes than the number of atoms in our observable universe. Now think of us as observers in our universe and the scale and the life time of things we can measure, from galaxy clusters with super massive black holes to fermions and hadrons. We know these exist, because we can measure their scale in some way, either direct or indirect. This is what our universe is composed of or so we think. What lies beyond our power of measurement? Is there a universe which completely lies within the confines of the smallest subatomic particle? A universe with a lifetime so small it destroys itself even before it can be measured? It's more of a question of philosophy in science rather than pure science but then science and philosophy do meet very often. A similar question can be asked on the other end of the size spectrum. Is there a universe so huge and with a lifetime so vast that we can't measure it? Beyond our universe, multiverses where we are relatively small like a fermion? A universe so vast that it has remained practically unchanged in the last 13.8 billion years our universe has been alive? To an observer in that huge universe are we like a tiny universe which would disappear in a millionth of the time it takes to blink his eyelid?

Of this and that

Last one month has been busy but productive, a bag of joy and disappointment but generally good. It started with writing the comprehensive report for which I was already late and in the end only had 3 days to document almost 5 years of my work. Didn't do a particularly good job but at least I’ll have a second chance when I write the dissertation. Then there was the hastily arranged comprehensive exam which went OK  Relieved to say the least. In between all this, worked on the papers, submitted some re submitted and re re submitted. In between all this my phone decided not to cooperate and stopped working. Took it to a repair shop, which charged $44 for opening it and then the incompetent fellows returned it back. So repaired it myself and upgraded it to jelly bean. Hope to be more productive and get more work done this week.

Image: Mauna Kea, Hawaii  http://link2hawaii.groupsite.com

Random Post

I have this strong urge for renaming my blog to .. "Sorry I crushed your Nimbu Mirchi ..." ... fists clenched ...  counting from 100 to 1 .... lets see if the urge goes away.
Update: The urge is still there and I made a quick picture with free internet clip art

Welcome Back Windows

The experiment with Ubuntu seems to be over. Ubuntu desperately bum-kicked Windows on my laptop and sort of installed itself, while also formatting my hard disk and leaving no trace of all my data. I seem to remember it happened when the dinosaurs were still around, but it’s only been about 45 days. As they say, it was fun while it lasted. I taught myself a number of things, including the fact that nearly no half-decent video chatting software works on Linux. Except maybe a pre-Roman-Empire-era version of Skype. Nevertheless (yay I get to use it!) Ubuntu is useful if you actually want to do some work and be productive. But since I am a grad student and spend most part of my year writing beautiful text in Word like software and making beautiful presentations on powerpoint like software, Ubuntu seems as useful to me as the large hadron collider to a caveman. Last week I made a powerpoint presentation on a borrowed PC and accidentally opened the file in Ubuntu (Libre Office) and saved it in the source. Libre Office made sure my beautiful, animation laden presentation was successfully made unreadable and I had to redo it. So that was that, and in spite of Ubuntu not willing to allow Windows back in a gentlemanly manner (which is a whole different story), I installed Windows back.  

The Customary New Year Post

It has been a fantastic beginning to the year. Ubuntu was so desperate to get installed on my laptop that it completely kicked Windows out with all my data. Those people who are reviewing my paper better accept it as it is, since I don't have the figures and the data anymore. Some of my code also got the boot, so I will have to rewrite it. I am still trying to figure out what would be the best way of telling my adviser about this catastrophe. Any idea which does not involve projectiles being hurled vaguely in my direction would be welcome. Ubuntu is definitely handy, I hope I don't miss Windows though. I love the feeling of using free software without any need for piracy.

I wish to write something,.. anything everyday in this new year. That's a sort of a resolution. Apart from that I hope I graduate this year and that one thing I have dreamed of for years comes true.

Image: Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica. http://costaricawaterfalltours.com/jaco-arenal-volcano-tour/

Excuse me! Your shoelaces are undone.

My shoelaces come undone a lot and people get concerned that I would fall down. Strangely I have never fallen down because of my untied shoelaces. So this got me thinking, can shoe laces really cause people to fall down and if so how have I escaped almost every day. I did a 2 minute exercise and had this observation. Since while walking you never lift or put down both of your feet at the same time the only way you can fall is when you step on your undone shoelace. Moreover to fall down you will need to step on the shoelace of your other foot. Now when you plant your foot on the ground your shoelaces naturally tend to get thrown forward because of momentum.  Assuming that the shoelaces are thrown straight up in the direction you are walking and stretch to their maximum length, to make you fall down your other foot will need to land on the shoelaces. This means that your foot should not go beyond the distance that your shoelaces extend to. In other words in order for you to fall down your shoelaces should be bigger than or at least equal to half the size of your footstep. Taking that into account it is impossible for me to fall down since I have long footsteps. People who have smaller footsteps and long shoelaces however still may fall down and small children especially. This is not to say that tall people may never fall down. For example in sports where you run a lot and change direction and size of footsteps suddenly, you are still prone to falling down, because of undone shoelaces. In normal walk or run however there are very less chances of that happening. So next time you buy shoes/ shoelaces make sure they extend less than half the size of your average footstep. ;) Enjoy!

How People Form Opinions and How To Evaluate Them

When people come across a statement on which an opinion can be formed, they instantly form an opinion, mostly based on biases. The bias usually arises from relevant or irrelevant information previously gathered.  Once an opinion has been formed, they then search for support of their opinion. This is not the correct way of forming an opinion but I am yet to find a person who follows the correct procedure of first figuring out the support of all the possible opinions and then choosing the best one.

In spite of, people following the wrong way of forming an opinion a lot can be said about them and their opinions by seeing the kind of evidence they produce as their support.  I usually classify support in the following eight categories listed in the descending order of acceptance.

1.  Peer reviewed journal and conference papers: This is the best form of support anybody can have for their opinion and would have my immediate attention and the most chances of convincing me. A person with such a support would say something like this, “I believe X is correct because all these papers published in journal P, Q and R say it’s correct”.
2. Cumulative expert’s opinion: Sometimes you cannot find peer reviewed papers for your opinions. I in such cases if you can find a number of experts agree on an opinion, I would take that. A person with such a support would say something like this, “I believe Messi is a good football (yes football) player because a number of experts say so”.
3. Single expert: An opinion which is formed on the support of the verdict of a single expert or a very minuscule number of experts will draw attention but will not be sufficient to get me convinced. A person with such a support would say something like this, “I believe global warming is not happening because 2 % of climate scientists say so.”
4. Blogs: A number of people form opinions by reading blogs by other people like them. This can be very misleading since bloggers are often taken as experts while they are not. You need to understand that a bloggers opinion may or may not be backed up by facts and this will result in you having a very hollow opinion. The best you can get out of me by producing such support is a shake of a head. A person with such a support would say something like this, “I believe X is correct because I read it on a blog.”
5. Own Experience: A single person's experience can be a tricky thing and is really difficult to judge. This kind of support would be the one which would get me to do more research of my own on the opinion.A person with such a support would say something like this, “I believe X is correct because I have done X this way and it worked.”
6. Social Networking Sites: People actually do form opinions based on support from stuff posted on the facebooks of the world. Any evidence produced from a social networking site would at best produce ridicule from me. A person with such a support would say something like this, “I believe X is correct because I saw a picture posted on facebook which said so.”
7. Word of Mouth: Even fourth graders of South Park know not to trust word of mouth. This is the second worst form of support anybody can produce. To believe in something that you heard from someone else is almost as ridiculous as it can get. A person with such a support would say something like this, “I believe X is correct because my friend told me so.”
8.  Belief: And this is as ridiculous as it can ever be. A person with such a support would say something like this, “I have firm belief that X is correct” or “I have faith that X is correct.” Such a support is not even worth considering and would immediately convince me what you are saying is not correct and you are trying to protect your incorrect beliefs by shielding it with such statements.

Things to do in 2012

Graduate
Graduate
Don't get old
Take a vacation before the world ends.
See a lava lake.
Watch Sachin's 100th 100.
Burn my underwear in protest of unfair treatment of humanity
Escape the 2012 apocalypse (of course with a pretty girl. Who wants to live alone on an island?)
Repopulate the earth.

New Look

Just changed the look of the blog, the old one was ..well old. Needed a fresh look, a minimalistic design which isn't too dark or in your face and here it is.

Caffeine and Memory

Just read a very interesting paper on caffeine and how it affects our memory. Specially interesting since a number of us consume caffeine the night before an exam to mug things up or in other such instances when you have to be up all night. You probably already know too much of this stuff will make you nervy and will be no good but is it even fine to take in moderation. The answer suggested by this paper would be yes and no.

Effects of caffeine is influenced by more factors than you can think of including the time of the day, your personality, what kind of information you want to process and you gender for example. Might seem contrary but in general caffeine is better for long term memory tasks than the short term ones. Authors of this paper carried out a survey and experiment and the results show that while moderate amount of caffeine facilitated short term memory in females, contrary to popular perception it actually impaired the short term memory in males. However a higher dose of caffeine is good for both sexes.

Confused? Let's just say the paper suggests, either take no caffeine or if you have to take it take lot of it but then again not so much so as to make you restless and nervous.

Reference: The Effects of Caffeine, Impulsivity, and Sex on Memory for Word Lists, by Mary Ellen Arnold et al.

It's a New Year Folks

Didn't realize it was a new year until the first day was over and somebody called me up. Well for the first time I did celebrate the new year and during the celebrations forgot why we were doing it. Unlike last few years haven't retrospected and made any list ....maybe sometime later ... haven't got any alone time yet.

One thing I wish though is that Sachin starts this year with a century again also that I finish my PhD. At least one of them is possible.

Well Hapy New Year

The Rediscovery

This is one of those rare days when I feel like writing something .... anything .. and I want to write about my rediscovery of geology. I love geology and with every rock I hold in my hands, every mountain i see, every stretch of barren or fertile land, flowing or still water, melting snow it seems to grow. I wish I could be a geologist. That doesn't mean I don't love being a Computer Scientist, especially now that I am learning to like math and learning to see how beautiful it can be, but the earth fascinates me.

Just finished the book "Earth in 100 Groundbreaking discoveries" and it was captivating. The way our earth has come into existence, the way it functions is just mesmerizing. The most fiercest natural powers, the volcanoes the plate tectonics, the ice, the ocean which have terrorized people over all the history are in fact the powers which sustain life. The vast time scale makes us so insignificant in the grand scheme of things but more on that some other time.  Last few days have been entertaining and enlightening in this aspect, so much so that after hiking illegally on protected islands, swimming in the ocean and getting bitten by poisonous fishes, the next thing I want to see is the lava lakes of Kilauea in Hawaii and Erta Ale in Ethiopia.

On a different note Lucky Ali's Aap Per Arz Hai is well just beautiful.

History repeats itself

Once again I am waiting for the results of all those engineering entrance exams as eagerly if not more as I was waiting for them 9 years ago. The same goosebumps, butterflies in the stomach, fingers crossed. Reliving every moment of that anxiety and uncertainty.

Stories from the road - 1

Woke up to the sound of waves of the bay hitting the rocks and sun peeping from distant mountains. We had breakfast and saw that the west wind was slowly dying. Finally time to go out and do something. We decided to hike up to the Angelitas. Wow! the hike up to the mountain didn’t look too much of a problem from the ground but boy was it difficult. Even more so with the scorching sun and no shade. We made it to the top after about 90 minutes of hiking. The view of bahia from the top was breathtaking, those last 90 minutes of sweat and exhaustion totally worth it. Once on the top we decided to dig out a geocache. It was a difficult one but after half an hour of hunt we finally found it. Had food and water and came down. Coming down was much easier. Once we were back we decided to find another geocache, this was an easier one, hidden in a boat and only took 10 minutes.

                The next thing we did was set up a network between two of Dylan's neighbors. This was fun and we used walkie talkies to communicate between the sites :D. One of the neighbors offered us Sting ray burritos, my first experience of unusual food. It was a little different but totally edible :P.

               For dinner we went to a taqueria and I had the best tacos of my life yet. Came back played the game of life watched Indiana Jones and went to sleep to wake up another beautiful day.

Rambling

Rambling: A long meandering talk with no specific topic or direction.

If I write a blog entry everytime I think about writing one, I would average about 30 per month. Right now it's less than 1 per month.

I am making good progress on my research. All I need now is magic.

There is a tiny wild flower in front of my house. Its the harbinger of spring, grows at the same place at about the same time every year ( or at least the two years I have seen it there)

Euphoria's The Road is awesome.

Euphoria's Kaise bhoolegi mera naam is awesomer. At one point of time, the song constantly kept playing in my mind for 4 days non stop. Even while I was sleeping.

Indian bowling is not as weak as it is made out to be. Still very capable of loosing the world cup.

My randomness is very carefully planned.

Interference must die.

The one with the new year

Bye Bye twentyten. Not a very nice end to an otherwise fine year and a poor start to the New Year. Reason ... I am lazy and forgetful to an extent not forgivable and I am no Sachin Tendulkar to start the new year with a ton.. This year though is promising and I already have my list up, a relatively short list. I hope this year gets better as it progresses and that I fulfill the promises. Cheers!

Andaaz aaj shayarana hai

December ki is sardi mein, 

jab thandi thandi hawa chali.

Hawa chali to ek kitab khuli.

Yaadon ki kitab, khwabon ki kitab,

thodi anban, thode jhagde,thode pyar ki kitab.

Kitab ke panno mein chhupakar, 

rakha tha ek gulab.

Gulab ki pankhudiyon ke niche tera naam nikla.

Tere naam ko dekha, 

to aankhon ke samne se,

apne ek ek pal ka karwaan nikla.

In palo ki kadiyo se, 

ulajhti sulajhti chali gai do kahaniyan.

Hawa ki sihran ne bataya,

kaise in kahinyo se apni kahani bani .

December ki is sardi mein, 

jab thandi thandi hawa chali.