102 Into the Fold

My two nephews came over last weekend. Their combined age is about 6 1/2.
This is what I did with the TV prior to their arrival ...

The big shrink wrap

Yep.




As the days go by ...
Thank you Picard for being the best captain EVER and for providing me with endless hours of entertainment ... 

Hey! who's that last girl supposed to be?

While I've been working these last couple of months, I have enjoyed listening to all 7 seasons of ST:TNG [for the non-nerd, if you haven't figured it out yet, I am talking about Star Trek: Next Generation.] Yes, you heard me, I am not actually watching it that much, just listening. And that is changing the experience completely, it's a whole other show. There are some things such as Beyveyrley [i.e. Dr Crusher] who is turning out to be the most annoying character/actress to listen to. I had heard people hating on her, but I had always defended her saying she wasn't that insulting. However, as a listener, I have to say, I found her annoying in over 150 episodes. There is something about that voice...
And then I also noticed that Diana Troy is by far the worst actress of the bunch, listening to her, enhances the flaws of her performance to the point where it cannot be ignore. Maybe her looks distract us from really getting to the truth because, there's no ambiguity here, she definitely sounds like she is reading a script [which she is].
Oh my!

The Higgs ...
In September 2011, the Opera experiment reported it had seen neutrinos traveling faster than the speed of light. That was HUGE news.
[see earlier post called: Be Infinite]

I want to travel that fast!

The team has now found two problems that may have affected their test in: one in its timing gear [causing lower results] and one in an optical fiber connection [causing higher results].
More tests will determine just how much they affect measured speeds.

Collision inside the accelerator

I ask you: "What the fuck?"


 Drive

Great Jacket

Several months ago I saw Drive and was blown away by how much it exceeded my expectations. The last time that happened was when I saw Timeless. I saw both movies in the plane, so maybe there's something to be said about THAT great viewing experience.
When I watched Drive, I wasn't completely awake at the time so the whole thing is fuzzy and dreamlike but I remember that it seemed like I was having a "bunch of fun." It was great.
The reason I am mentioning the movie right now, other than telling people to see it [without explanations or any review on my part] is that between episodes of ST:TNG I have been listening to the soundtrack and it's bringing it all back to me again.

Enjoy this one, it's free.

Neighborly ways
Here is the latest update on the next door neighbors:  Still assholes.

098 Be infinite

My last investigation of 2011

I did achieve something important this year. I ended it completely obsessed with understanding the Higgs Boson particle. But in order to even grasps that, I had to go back to the beginning.
The particles
Th elementary particles [and their spin]
Fermions, quarks and neutrinos
And then the photon [s1] and the graviton [s2]
And then finally the most exciting ideas floating aroud: Dark matter and Higgs Boson.

Guys, I am so proud of myself, I know understand the basics of this image:

Standard Model of Matter

I am still learning and there's still a lot of confusion floating around in my tired brain. I just wish I knew a theoretical physicist, to talk about all of this.

In the meantime, check out the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.


My first thought of 2012
Do you think human beings can truly understand infinity? Not just as a concept but a true understanding of something without boundaries. Is it beyond human comprehension? Are we biologically incapable of grasping the concept? Or is it just a matter of culture? Or learned thought processes?

What's up with "our" 13.75 billion year old universe?
I've often pondered this:
If "our" universe if infinite, how come it is also expanding?
that's true right? If you are expanding into something, there must be a boundary to expand against, or there's nothing to grow into ...
But then, I realize that we were never actually told that "our" universe is infinite. I just assumed it.
Well, apparently we can't see that far because of the limitations imposed by light speed. The rules are: we can't observe space beyond the limitations of light and so we can't know for sure what the size of the universe is finite or infinite or both or neither. [What the fuuuuuuuck?]

I do vaguely remember Einstein's theory of relativity and something about things mathematically moving towards infinity. All of this is abstract, but there is not mention of real, meaning "non-abstract" state of infinity. I may be wrong and I will begin 2012 with this first investigation.

My first wish of 2012 

Look, there's even a knife involved

Seeing my Krav Maga instructor again and not make a fool of myself by not being able to get through the lesson because I am so out of shape [I got winded yesterday walking up the stair to my bedroom and it really freaked me out, just thinking about going back to LA and doing that intense workout again, FREAKING OUT]




Happy New Year.