tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60230932012-01-19T16:32:23.651+08:00Aeryise. "When it comes to the task of understanding ourselves and our world, I think we pay too much attention to those grand themes and too little to the particulars of those fleeting moments." - Malcolm Gladwell, <i>Blink</i>.SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comBlogger8271100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-36029413825693559472012-01-19T16:27:00.002+08:002012-01-19T16:32:23.661+08:00

I have days where the profound illogic of appealing to emotions really gets to me.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-7592015687599904802011-09-22T21:28:00.002+08:002011-09-22T21:36:29.563+08:00

My new work has changed me beyond all recognition. I exercise an entirely different set of skills than before, and my old skills have rusted away somewhere from the pressure of using the new set day in day out. As I sit here wearing jeans again on a workday (training day, actually) for the first time in eons, I wonder what it all means.At least my new skill set has enabled me to speak up more

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-34312619089426142212011-05-28T13:56:00.000+08:002011-05-28T14:06:43.169+08:00

I have not truly written anything for more than half a year, as I have been adjusting to my career change. Perhaps a few things remain to be updated: I have been engaged since last September but officially engaged since last December :) the proposal was memorable.I am amazed at how my husband has loved and continues to love me through my career change.My work environment has changed from being

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-78622870561488972342011-02-03T08:18:00.001+08:002011-02-03T08:18:01.096+08:00

Another poem of the same structure by Toh Hsien Min, from the same collection. Coffee, yum yum. I think poems which have this structure have particular aesthetic appeal to me.UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF COFFEEYesterday I met a man who hadA coffee-pot atop his head. The potHeld every droplet percolated throughThe years. Which left him whole, his name unsaid,His values sure and solid, like a clotOf

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-88730131404782170262011-02-02T14:52:00.002+08:002011-02-02T15:01:17.624+08:00

To some extent I have a dystopian view of life, exemplified by Toh Hsien Min's poem below. From his poetry anthology The Enclosure of Love (Landmark Books, 2001).EMPIRICALAll night your shrieks and screams ripped through the houseAs though borne on the wind from some untamedSavanna. In the morning you were well.The lilies nodded whitely. You would rouseEvery so often from staring into hellAnd

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-49796939972776489142010-11-22T11:00:00.002+08:002010-11-22T11:03:54.569+08:00

"By now we'd learned a great deal about how to discharge people, how to prepare them for the terrors of freedom - learned just how pragmatic an art psychiatry was - how getting someone back to the 'real' world was not a matter of THEORY or TECHNIQUE or SELF or OBJECT but of the nuts and bolts of where will they live and how will they eat and what will they do all day long and who will they have

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-91052634240038848782010-11-22T10:55:00.004+08:002010-11-22T10:59:52.280+08:00

"But with many of the others, as long as we were open to something happening and free of thought and not too focused on chasing that 'click', sooner or later the 'click' would be there. Then we would see that what a person in the solitude of terror had always thought of as his or her secret and unique sickness - what psychiatry labels 'psychopathology' - is in fact, when opened up to plain view,

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-50787501412969179812010-11-12T11:23:00.000+08:002010-11-12T11:24:46.916+08:00

Karpman Triangle - victim, persecutor, rescuer. Sounds familiar?

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-850629139143924352010-10-11T11:13:00.002+08:002010-10-11T11:21:20.754+08:00

Biomolecular 3D Literacy, also known as how well you use protein/nucleic acid molecular visualization programs. HT: a PDB newsletter article.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-69685870844544602142010-10-07T20:41:00.006+08:002010-10-07T20:51:23.316+08:00

"All learned occupations have a definition of professionalism, a code of conduct. It is where they spell out their ideals and duties. The codes are sometimes stated, sometimes just understood. But they all have at least three common elements.First is an expectation of selflessness: that we who accept responsibility for others - whether we are doctors, lawyers, teachers, public authorities,

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-73858430890591769522010-08-31T17:08:00.003+08:002010-08-31T17:17:04.912+08:00

Perhaps I have read enough materials of various kinds and lived a flow-like life enough that the encouraging insights of Flow: The psychology of optimal experience by Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi appeal to me only transiently, much as a McDonald's french fry would. I get the same sense of mild unhealthiness in consuming either.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-61109134864271583062010-08-20T11:14:00.001+08:002010-08-20T11:15:48.423+08:00

A 25-page pdf article by a mathematician on maths education and the joy of maths, which he compares to an art, but I feel a comparison to science would be more accurate. HT: Gabriel. (where does he get all these interesting things?)

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-31250911393792402202010-08-19T16:46:00.001+08:002010-08-19T16:46:51.812+08:00

Spam email subject of the day: Trust in the force.Yes, quite.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-59272190899607785142010-08-17T14:46:00.001+08:002010-08-17T14:46:22.213+08:00

A quotable quote from D: "oh well....brilliance is in coming up with an explanation of why things don't work..intelligence is in making them work :-) "

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-84808166623014455182010-08-17T14:42:00.002+08:002010-08-17T14:44:24.850+08:00

My work computer desktop has never looked clean before now. Usually it would look like the above.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-21462442879950709642010-08-11T18:39:00.001+08:002010-08-11T18:42:24.723+08:00

This is what I would have said when I was 17, except that I was never a valedictorian and I was as yet too unformed to make those points proudly. =) I thought I was the only one and only whispered them in the corners of my mind. But this is yet another one of those things about school that people should know. HT: Gabriel.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-62701970475777497292010-08-04T18:23:00.004+08:002010-08-04T18:26:25.072+08:00

The long and short of why I detest pages that have Flash intros, or worse, use Flash entirely. From The Oatmeal. HT: Gabriel.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-62752427834313384732010-07-08T12:25:00.002+08:002010-07-08T12:33:25.502+08:00

Public transport woes. Damn funny, and true too. A few other famous MRT personas that were left out: the standing spineless wretches who lean against the whole pole, the ladies with huge handbags that can carry a laptop and a bowling ball (similar to the 'backpack guy'), and the people sitting down with long long legs which simply must be extended.And of course, crush load in real life

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-34264812915244961352010-07-05T14:41:00.000+08:002010-07-05T14:42:05.215+08:00

So very Alfian. HT: Gabriel.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-52574567481649129552010-06-29T16:42:00.000+08:002010-06-29T16:43:39.562+08:00

Classic essay and case example of open-source software development, The Cathedral and the Bazaar, by Eric S Raymond.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-53578995903231776212010-06-28T13:49:00.003+08:002010-06-28T15:33:02.549+08:00

The evil slavery of science: http://www.miller-mccune.com/science/the-real-science-gap-16191/HT: takchek, via ChemistryBlog (you have got to see the scanned letter on this link).

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-80830042689632267222010-06-23T08:28:00.000+08:002010-06-23T08:28:00.233+08:00

Word of the day: exiguous.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-56020115192286479772010-06-22T10:38:00.004+08:002010-06-29T16:44:16.573+08:00

First paragraph of Why hackers do what they do: understanding motivation and effort in Free/Open Source software projects, by Karim R Lakhani and Robert G Wolf:"What drives Free/Open Source software (F/OSS) developers to contribute their time and effort to the creation of free software products?" is an often posed question by software industry executives, managers, and academics when they are

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-38831625293240642502010-06-21T11:43:00.002+08:002010-06-21T11:44:21.291+08:00

Managing volunteers! Karl Fogel again.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-11901406025769235072010-06-18T14:24:00.004+08:002010-06-18T15:57:16.274+08:00

Again from Karl Fogel's Producing open source software: how to run a successful free software project, a chapter on how money does and doesn't talk in a free-thinking environment, particularly about displaying one's motives and motivations. An excerpt follows.The key, of course, is presenting it right. It will never do to insist that simply because you deal with a large number of users, and

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-9004405071010567952010-06-18T13:56:00.003+08:002010-07-05T14:45:25.558+08:00

From Producing open source software: how to run a successful free software project, by Karl Fogel, some thoughts on the legitimacy of contributors to the project, generally applicable to all public fora and free societies:When To VoteThe hardest thing about voting is determining when to do it. In general, taking a vote should be very rare—a last resort for when all other options have failed.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-88875270461710749852010-06-07T23:18:00.002+08:002010-06-07T23:23:17.855+08:00

From the author's dedication in a very interesting textbook:To J----For teaching me daily that:What's useful is knowledge,What's important is love.And the detailed Acknowledgements say,"J---- C---- has been editor, critic, colleague, and collaborator. Most of all, she has been a source of power through her caring, belief, and support. She has helped me keep my priorities straight in the

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-63721037661398275532010-04-29T22:48:00.003+08:002010-04-29T22:59:20.365+08:00

On Wednesday December 19 2007, I included a few links by Paul Graham in my blog post of the day. I find them still relevant.Today I find another essay by him that explains a great deal about the nature of school, particularly secondary school. And a sequel. HT: Grace.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-20973200178211702532010-04-27T16:49:00.001+08:002010-04-27T16:50:25.664+08:00

OpenTrolley, a Singapore online bookstore. But you should look at the prices on Amazon, though, which are often similar or cheaper, even with the shipping charges.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-85434067140662415122010-04-06T14:27:00.004+08:002010-05-01T23:25:33.126+08:00

Life proceeds apace. My 2nd nephew was born last Saturday (actually, early Sunday morning). He is healthy and well, but 2 weeks early. The confinement nanny is not here yet and our schedules are chaotic in taking turns to help with their household chores while my sister is recovering.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-42699467447471309192010-03-08T11:05:00.000+08:002010-03-08T11:06:55.687+08:00

Yesterday I wept copiously upon my boyfriend. How bizarre.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-89417047164229247292010-03-05T17:40:00.005+08:002010-04-27T17:52:04.627+08:00

The reason I cannot really do science, is because I believe in this more than any other as the meaning of life:"But the important thing is not the finding, it is the seeking, it is the devotion with which one spins the wheel of prayer and scripture, discovering the truth little by little. If this machine gave you the truth immediately, you would not recognize it, because your heart would not

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-4031927943448295272010-03-02T10:49:00.001+08:002010-03-02T10:51:08.306+08:00

Highly addictive word association game: Funny Farm. http://shygypsy.com/farm/p.cgi

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-40942541870648571302010-02-01T23:33:00.003+08:002010-02-02T22:03:57.333+08:00

After not blogging properly for some time, there is a trepidation in putting words to paper once again. Would I be who I was before? Who amongst you expects me to be that person, still, and thus who would I disappoint?Certainly not the people I have come to know. :) Perhaps only those who have, or had, come here all agog and starry-eyed to know me for the first time, or yet again, and who had

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-56878735405551862662010-01-11T23:09:00.002+08:002010-01-11T23:12:22.150+08:00

"Growth purely for its own sake is the philosophy of cancer, Schitt-Hawse."-- Thursday Next, in Lost in a Good Bookby Jasper FfordeHodder and Stoughton, 2002, p. 86.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-50159153304116398072009-12-23T15:51:00.005+08:002009-12-30T14:18:37.750+08:00

Singapore in an exquisitely crunchy soundbite, with an interview with MM in National Geographic. Here. You know an article with the 2009 National Day Parade's Eye of Sauron as its main pic has got to be good. Take a good look at the other pics (and captions) too.Edit: The transcript of that interview. HT: Bee.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-10026337546991652432009-12-11T16:49:00.002+08:002009-12-11T16:50:53.171+08:00

The famous Scotts Rd beef noodles stall has moved to the Ang Mo Kio Hub foodcourt. The boyfriend was amused at my delirious happiness at finding it again. I told him it had sentimental value.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-55444905224370220172009-11-30T22:59:00.007+08:002009-12-02T20:21:08.149+08:00

I went to India last week, for a holiday with the boyfriend and his colleague friends, also en route to one of the colleague friends' cousin's wedding in Delhi.Normal temperature in the day was 26 deg C. Normal temperature at night was okay with just one heavy jacket outdoors, and indoors was very warm. India in late Nov is hotter than Europe in high summer. We went to Jaipur, Ranthambore,

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-18358296475257332752009-11-05T21:24:00.008+08:002009-11-05T22:59:07.702+08:00

HT: No To Rape campaign against the marital rape exemption in Singapore.Here is the episode of Get Rea!, hosted by Cheryl Fox, which focuses on marital rape and was first broadcast on 14 September on Channel News Asia. It features moving interviews with two women who have had personal experiences of marital rape, as well as No To Rape. http://www.notorape.com/blog/2009/09/18/

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-2526145398333696812009-10-20T12:05:00.003+08:002009-10-20T16:47:17.602+08:00

Lately I have been feeling puzzled over the lack of direction in my life. I'd previously been happy to indulge in pleasures of the mind such as science, political philosophy, legal philosophy, and current affairs, mostly in the form of books and blogs. Ever since I'd met my boyfriend though, things have changed; I derive the same amount of pleasure from his smile and from sharing meals and

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-46785446479013249322009-10-14T23:04:00.002+08:002009-10-14T23:19:51.780+08:00

Why I enjoy wisdom teeth extractions more than facials:You don't feel anything at all when someone is poking at your face. I nearly fell asleep near the end of my recent extraction, which was pretty nice, all things considered. There is that thrill of having something go perhaps desperately wrong (like sitting on a roller coaster but more useful), AND being fully covered by insurance for it.You

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-50475368413199217842009-09-08T23:03:00.002+08:002009-09-08T23:15:59.086+08:00

"If I am asked what I mean by difference of quality in pleasures, or what makes one pleasure more valuable than another, merely as a pleasure, except its being greater in amount, there is but one possible answer. Of two pleasures, if there be one to which all or almost all who have experience of both give a decided preference, irrespective of any feeling of moral obligation to prefer it, that is

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-79029953925094354712009-08-16T09:19:00.002+08:002009-08-16T09:22:23.161+08:00

A Singaporean taxi driver with a PhD from Stanford: http://taxidiary.blogspot.com/ . I read it all from the most recent to the earliest. And I am most interested in every word, for reasons that are well known to people who know me in person but shall remain undisclosed and undiscussed on this blog.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-68483020309373423862009-07-28T22:50:00.002+08:002009-07-28T22:56:56.957+08:00

The boyfriend, upon reading my most recent post, protests that if there were any waves he would obviously talk to me first instead of jumping to conclusions, and so I should feel free to write what I want. Yay to the boyfriend.Which brings me to another revelation that most of my non-work time is spent with him and those things are certainly not for public consumption =) and I have never

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-45251375155837024422009-07-18T23:41:00.003+08:002009-07-19T00:11:49.419+08:00

So much for larvae. All in life is normal, and yes, that includes work and school.I have met up with great clouds of the boyfriend's friends in the past months we have been together. Unsociable ol' me initially tried to get to know all of them very well, but I eventually gave up that exercise as being logistically impossible with all else I have on my plate. I find it easier to get along with

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-80769322202997465492009-06-22T17:34:00.004+08:002009-06-22T17:37:59.135+08:00

"Larvae of at least 200 mg weight were naturally infected by gentle rolling each larvae on the surface of sporulating fungal culture in a Petri dish [ref] or by injection of the indicated number of B. bassiana blastospores in the volume of 5 microlitres."I now have mental images of happily lolling larvae on a mossy bed. Okay back to work now.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-59901736987875399002009-06-15T10:46:00.001+08:002009-06-15T10:46:41.180+08:00

I seem to be happy. It is quite an alien feeling.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-15786820373744662582009-04-26T13:08:00.002+08:002009-04-26T13:36:01.964+08:00

Why I object to the new Exco of AWARE, in a (funny) quoted nutshell:"The new AWARE exco did not behave as if AWARE was a civil society group. They behaved as if it were some condo committee. The new AWARE exco were the opposite of open, refusing to explain themselves in the AGM, or to offer what they saw was wrong with the old gang, or right with themselves. The new AWARE exco gave perfunctory

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-35425815504828257652009-04-22T13:47:00.002+08:002009-04-22T13:51:55.977+08:00

For the people with iPhones and iPod Touch: The PDB in your pocket, everywhere, anytime. Link to news article here.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-49746129735517611802009-04-16T14:37:00.001+08:002009-04-16T14:37:36.464+08:00

Note to self: Try out Chimera for molecular visualization.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-82683717329479553012009-04-05T00:53:00.004+08:002009-04-05T01:04:38.525+08:00

I have never done a food review because I've not been all that interested in food. However the boyfriend likes finding nice places to eat. In the course of our culinary adventures I found and strongly recommend this place on Purvis St (behind Raffles Hotel), Limon. About $45 for two people at dinner. Spanish food, Thai food, and Spanish-Thai food. Very nice. We went there for the second

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-45138885890878062012009-03-27T18:12:00.002+08:002009-03-27T18:37:59.914+08:00

Some months ago in December, Chiao recommended to me a book on consciousness, by a person doing philosophy of mind for a career. This particular book is not at all like the other philosophy books I normally read - it was a collection of short reviews on many other books about consciousness. Nonetheless, I decided to try it and see.I have only finished it very recently as other developments have

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-8768614292641912172009-02-19T23:33:00.001+08:002009-02-19T23:34:42.182+08:00

Quip of the day from a colleague, during group meeting:"It is better to have loved and lost, then to have loved and married."(with apologies to Lord Tennyson)

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-28618427216605010882009-02-09T22:39:00.000+08:002009-02-09T22:42:45.427+08:00

The PDB is primarily an archive for structural data determined by experimental methods. In the past some theoretical and homology models have also been deposited with the PDB. As of October 15, 2006, the wwPDB no longer accepts theoretical models, following the recommendations of a workshop held at the RCSB at Rutgers University in November, 2005. At this meeting, a working group of experts in a

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-55206686450136331632009-01-25T23:40:00.002+08:002009-01-25T23:41:06.703+08:00

I have been working on some task that is a little bit private, thus, no blogging for the moment.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-43920927267383085202009-01-19T18:02:00.002+08:002009-01-19T18:05:21.642+08:00

Watched Red Cliff 2 today! 万事俱备, 只欠东风 。

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-14080216112280300862009-01-08T13:01:00.001+08:002009-01-08T13:09:03.439+08:00

"I get meaner as I get older", redux:There are people who genuinely cannot remember Chinese names such as Zhi Jing (hypothetical example). The consonants confuse them. The vowels do not linger in their minds. Fair enough.But my name does not necessarily sound like a Chinese name. If you can't remember my name and use the "oh I don't remember Chinese names" as an excuse, I think it's perfectly

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-18470432915189789432008-12-30T17:15:00.001+08:002008-12-30T17:17:12.266+08:00

The latest horror story I'm reading is:"Mosquitoes were selected from the same cohort 6 or 7 days after emergence. For injection, overnight-starved mosquitoes were fed for 20 min directly on a restrained chicken with parasitemia between 15 and 30%."

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-68246250556888058322008-12-27T20:16:00.003+08:002008-12-27T23:59:29.631+08:00

Book review, The Dispossessed, by Ursula K Le Guin. First published 1974.At its heart, The Dispossessed is a delicate tale of relationships. A classic fantasy of a hero protagonist's growing-up years trailing all the way to middle age, the hero spends a great deal of time talking to himself or to no one at all, this being the key relationship in the book. I could have said that this was a tale

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-89024809392065706772008-12-26T00:33:00.002+08:002008-12-26T00:36:27.641+08:00

I am back at work tomorrow (technically, today). The thought is strangely ... exhilarating. I think I've gone to too many gatherings where women are expected to be traditionally decorative and unopinionated.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-61103232862347323712008-12-15T22:10:00.005+08:002008-12-15T22:49:53.169+08:00

"Ha ha! Of course not!". Thank you. Thank you very much, that is good to hear. I had to ask; some guys are really nuts, and being married is no assurance of "quality control" either. ;)I heard this on the radio yesterday, while doing my weekly household chores between the lunch and dinner gatherings. It's been a while since a song has been this arresting. And it's a very old song, without

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-9164701376444165212008-12-02T16:10:00.001+08:002008-12-02T16:16:50.970+08:00

SCOP and CATH are the two indispensable structural classification databases for proteins ("Look, Mummy, my nose looks like yours!" "Yes I see that too dear, the curve is short and sharp." "But it's also short and sharp quite like your friend Aunty Maria's....."). However their respective introductions leave a lot to be desired.The following are taken from a textbook by Arthur Lesk, Introduction

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-35913635895625912122008-12-01T21:28:00.004+08:002008-12-02T00:19:40.585+08:00

A Russian-American teacher speaks about how education is necessarily to achieve competence in something and contrasts his learning under communist Russia with that in American undergraduate education. Published 1993 (pdf).Link courtesy of Jiahao.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-76398076722478261402008-11-26T19:12:00.005+08:002008-11-27T20:53:26.957+08:00

Suppose that 20 units of the fluorescence observed is due to background fluorescence, 32 units is due to background fluorescence + water, and 68 units is due to background fluorescence + water + drug of interest.20 background fluorescence32 background fluorescence + water68 background fluorescence + water + drug of interestAnd we want the fold change in fluorescence due to the drug. Would

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-87737648153725739082008-11-25T16:18:00.000+08:002008-11-25T16:19:55.913+08:00

"Associative arrays are usually used when lookup is the most frequent operation. For this reason, implementations are usually designed to allow speedy lookup, at the expense of slower insertion and a larger storage footprint than other data structures (such as association lists)." (wikipedia)

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-74159454514151017102008-11-23T20:29:00.002+08:002008-11-23T20:52:54.080+08:00

Having a very small child to chatter at, wave brightly-coloured things at, and bring sightseeing around his present domicile, makes me wonder how to distill the meaning of life into choosing what to chatter to him about, wave in his line of vision, and et cetera. Most of these heavy decisions will be left to his parents =) . Perhaps for all of his guiding period I will continue as I have begun:

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-34960932624919511352008-11-18T22:49:00.002+08:002008-11-18T22:55:06.122+08:00

Friend: i think it's easier for memories to retain the clarity of the initial experience if the frames of reference of the initial experience have not shifted around themMe: ah.Me: a good way of saying itFriend: if you or your life changes, memories formed pre-change start to lose definitionMe: indeed.Me: and i recover by changing quickly, to admit the possibility that yes "it" not only exists

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-63774026880836986222008-11-09T16:40:00.002+08:002008-11-09T17:01:57.421+08:00

Six months, nearly.The faintest twitch of memory leads me to check back my records. Not six months, as it turns out, but 1 1/2 years.One-and-a-half years.A wound, bone-white flesh with faintest threads of pink, little blood welling out, neither hot nor cool to the touch. No pain, not infected. Innocuous. Perhaps, healing. But not healed, as a recent event has shown.You would not know the

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-41718526320842067442008-11-07T16:57:00.001+08:002008-11-07T17:00:03.808+08:00

Cryptic note:Cluster concept, cluster concept *mutters*. Singly not necessary and jointly oversufficient. What is a lemon? What is a game?

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-92064439031137831652008-11-07T00:11:00.000+08:002008-11-07T00:11:01.192+08:00

God's Debris: a thought experiment, by Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert). I'll find the time someday to read it.Link via thegreatsze.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-44138902970155278562008-11-06T10:22:00.001+08:002008-11-06T10:22:53.386+08:00

Ronald N. Giere, in Taking the naturalistic turn: how real philosophy of science is done, UChicago Press 1993, Werner Callebaut ed., p. 317:"Science is a complex phenomenon. It has all kinds of aspects that one could not expect to capture in a single family of models - even a fairly extensive family. There are cognitive aspects involving the creation of models and judging how well a model fits

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-76886625433754165532008-11-04T16:50:00.007+08:002008-11-27T17:43:01.715+08:00

The following are from a textbook by Arthur Lesk, Introduction to Protein Architecture (OUP 2001). Page numbers are indicated.Unnumbered table. Structural parameters for protein secondary structures. (pg 67) Structure phi psi n d p alpha-helix -57 -47 3.6 1.5 5.53(10) helix -49 -26 3.0 2.0

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-15364268465901265382008-10-28T00:00:00.003+08:002008-10-28T00:17:16.852+08:00

Sarah Palin:October 24, 2008 ARLINGTON, VA -- Governor Sarah Palin today delivered the following remarks as prepared for delivery in Pittsburgh, PA, at 9:00 a.m. ET:Thank you all very much. I appreciate the hospitality of the people of Pittsburgh, and I'm grateful to all the groups who have joined us here today. The Woodlands Foundation, the Down

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-36812851851940731422008-10-24T15:21:00.001+08:002009-05-19T17:17:05.710+08:00

I assume that one has better things to do with one's time than run all over the Web figuring out how to make Java work to its fullest potential in Linux on a 64-bit computer. So here goes.[19 May 2009: Instructions below are slightly outdated since Sun Java has released JRE 6 update 12, which has a 64-bit web browser Java plugin. Follow the Sun Java installation instructions on "fedora 10

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-85997233727062897272008-10-16T22:49:00.001+08:002008-10-16T22:51:00.147+08:00

I cannot remember the taste of bread, nor the smell of grass.(paraphrased from ..................................).

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-25107778104385169512008-10-11T00:16:00.001+08:002008-10-11T00:34:41.509+08:00

"The perfect is the enemy of the good." - VoltaireTwo men each very different from the other, both saying the same to me a week apart. One indicating disappointment when I could not tell him what my Holy Grail was, the other expressing a heartfelt prayer for the success of his new venture (which sentiment I wholeheartedly concur with), both sounding like they believed this saying totally. What

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-67740119500652576102008-10-04T13:17:00.002+08:002008-10-04T13:36:19.156+08:00

On anatomy dissections, from here:Although anxiety may be present in students during the experience, 'suppression and repression' are used to cope with these feelings; the anatomy laboratory aids the process of detachment.... The laboratory is the place where students 'prove' themselves by controlling their feelings.This reminds me of the work I did ..., let us see, seven years ago

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-35449417814265617162008-09-28T21:35:00.002+08:002008-09-28T21:42:17.679+08:00

Tending my nephew on weekends instead of blogging. This gives my sister some time to rest. He can turn his head now to look straight at you when you talk to him. He still likes bright objects, and doesn't know what his hands are. He loves being sung to.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-78720345045718066532008-09-14T01:22:00.002+08:002008-09-14T01:34:38.439+08:00

This afternoon my nephew was fidgety and kept waking up after we'd put him down to sleep. He fell deeply asleep only after I left my hand on his abdomen for 45 minutes while I tried to spend time productively by reading my work. After 45 minutes, I was too keyed up from glancing at him every time he moved and soothing him, to continue reading. I spent the subsequent half hour unfreezing my

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-51177910309848714252008-09-12T19:52:00.000+08:002008-09-12T19:53:19.461+08:00

Good. I like the part about putting a handful of real people near the center of everything.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-34218402753240974522008-09-12T12:24:00.002+08:002008-09-12T12:24:58.999+08:00

To fully understand what the following is for, read it out loud, slowly:Thank you.Please forgive me.I love you.I forgive you.Goodbye.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-35465396409389112932008-09-05T20:20:00.001+08:002008-09-05T20:30:01.133+08:00

Perhaps noteworthy.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-51345479989457546842008-09-04T22:09:00.005+08:002008-09-04T23:36:21.562+08:00

Many years ago, when I first staked the claim that my home is in empty spaces, I meant it as how it was then, characteristic of its time as events in my personal life were unfolding, young leaves to the ageless sun born out of night.I enjoy empty spaces, still. This is somewhat unexpected. Somehow I'd thought (or my younger self had thought, rather) that I could have a fulfilling life

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-66877730883876470822008-08-31T12:36:00.002+08:002008-08-31T12:48:12.116+08:00

I am glad you like the fat brilliantly glowing duck. Get well soon.In other news,Name: C (Mr)Relationship: NephewPresent occupation: BabyJob description: Uses larger older persons as personal transportation to look alertly at interesting things. Mastery of assorted repertoire of cries to indicate shock, diaper change, hunger and general 'pick-me-up'ness. A little narcoleptic - falls asleep

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-47053020854228531062008-08-21T19:55:00.002+08:002008-08-21T19:56:26.556+08:00

Today I did some measured yelling at a client. It was the strangest thing ever, because the measuring of it actually worked very well - all targets achieved.I have an irresistible urge to grin, as a result.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-43842096051703100112008-08-18T22:18:00.003+08:002008-09-04T21:50:24.402+08:00

American healthcare blog, 1 of the ten thousand million out there. Angsty. Written by a doctor. How representative it is, I do not know. If true, would put House of God in the shade. Feels more real than House of God though, probably because contemporary. Found via Jolene.Disadvantages of an elite education. Found via strangeknight, who is one of the nicest nicest people around. Jolene

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-65835330127877681712008-08-18T13:08:00.004+08:002008-08-18T13:31:00.329+08:00

In the remains of my shattered mind, I read this:"When we're in a group, we tend to think as that group does: we may even have joined the group to find "like-minded" people. But we also find our thinking changing because we belong to a group. It is the hardest thing in the world to maintain an individual dissident opinion, as a member of a group.It seems to me that this is something we have all

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-41915062392234126692008-08-17T23:25:00.001+08:002008-08-17T23:26:34.435+08:00

If you were looking for that stunning video of Jason Lezak winning the 4x100 men's freestyle relay for the US of A (and for Michael Phelps as well), it's here. Awesome, I tell you. Awesome.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-62593790538562552392008-08-17T11:58:00.001+08:002008-08-17T12:00:18.028+08:00

A scant 2 1/2 months later..... The Rogers Indicator of Multiple Intelligencescreated with QuizFarm.com You scored as Verbal/LinguisticYou have highly developed auditory skills, enjoy reading and writing and telling stories, and are good at getting your point across. You learn best by saying and hearing words. People like you include poets, authors, speakers, attorneys, politicians,

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-4379123301144094152008-08-17T11:19:00.003+08:002008-08-17T11:27:41.250+08:00

From Chiao-Lun:http://www.thechiao.com/wordpress/2006/05/09/pride/PrideTuesday, May 9th, 2006I can trust that I know myself, at least, better than anyone else does. From this sovereignty flows firm convictions about improvement and happiness, about the manifest desires and ambitions that power my core, and how they instantiate and tie together the actionable principles on the surface. I am whole,

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-6715467166703244412008-08-11T21:36:00.002+08:002008-08-11T22:15:23.747+08:00

DSG,When you told me you were "a little different", some time ago, I didn't realise how different you were until I started working where I'm working now. The others of your profession are exceptionally alien - I wonder if I've landed on another planet. When stopped in their tracks they smile widely and say hi. Two milliseconds later they break eye contact and keep looking anxiously past my

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-91434274574056648072008-08-09T20:02:00.002+08:002008-08-09T20:09:53.647+08:00

When Zahara told me what anhedonia and a foreshortened future were, I recognized those immediately.You know you're hopelessly in love when the NDP fireworks look far more beautiful over the Marina seafront than yesterday's spectacular China Olympic ceremony fireworks. Now the question is whether I'm trapped in an abusive relationship. ;-) Happy National Day.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-78375375070708987862008-08-03T23:03:00.000+08:002008-08-03T23:04:44.769+08:00

Thegreatsze on truthseekers. Hear hear.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-58274439365702960782008-08-03T12:13:00.002+08:002008-08-03T12:16:23.095+08:00

Adrian Tan, in possibly the most concise punchy commencement speech ever known. I'm atypically young to have read The Teenage Textbook but I have :) very many years ago.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-91449271395828606922008-08-02T02:08:00.001+08:002008-08-02T02:08:21.533+08:00

I'm walking away from this blog until such time my mind returns to me.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-30806176063054870592008-07-27T23:47:00.002+08:002008-07-27T23:55:47.480+08:00

When a friend asked me how I'd spent my weekend, I told him I had nightmares. He then asked if they were interesting. (I have interesting friends.)It was of a haunted house. And there was one corner of it where two players sat with a gameboard. Their pieces were on adjacent squares. Those squares had words. And the game required them to jump two spaces each time they moved.I remember the

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-65222664429792168172008-07-26T15:40:00.002+08:002008-07-26T15:41:19.598+08:00

Two days ago, on 24 July 2008 in the afternoon, my first nephew was born.This is to remind me in the years to come, in case I forget his age. :P

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-70176897895620610012008-07-21T23:31:00.003+08:002008-07-22T00:08:13.623+08:00

I think many of us do not realize how alone we really are. We are born alone, we live our lives like flickering torches, and we die alone.Somehow this engenders fear in the people who've never really thought about the meaning of life. The people who think that having loyal friends, having an enjoyable job, having a happy family, are ends in themselves. But if you rip those all away, what would

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-20736333998295991742008-07-20T21:31:00.001+08:002008-07-20T21:33:12.710+08:00

me: the past 2 weeks have been pretty overwhelming. it's only now when i sit down for a while that i realise just how much work i've done in that period.Friend: okme: i can't control my sleep anymorenightmares, memories, hopes, wishes, dreams. they march past, i can still remember them when i wake but there is no resolution and i remain tired.Friend: you realise that's normal sleep for most

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023093.post-84185830616531334972008-07-18T22:16:00.002+08:002008-07-18T22:19:39.128+08:00

I have caught a hot case. It will reap great returns with directed minimal effort. This pleases me.Also I have managed to close up previous cases, which is always good.

SMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12557943676967548787noreply@blogger.com