Blog Subscribers

So, recently, I moved my Blog's feed into FeedBurner, mainly out of curiosity.  However, I was checking things today, and to my surprise, I have a few people subscribed to my blog!  I don't know how this came to happen, but I really appreciate those of you you read my random trivialities of whatever, even though what I say is random and sometimes even pointless.  I do know that some of the subscriptions are from sitea that I have linked to read my blog to post to other places (like twitterfeed and facebook), but the number of people subscribed is more than the number of services out there.  So if you're subscribed to my blog, leave a comment, and I'll appreciate it.  Who know, maybe this will make me write better posts more often.

Physics (and other graduate things)

This week, I'm doing orientation for the physics graduate program at the University of Michigan. A few things of interest:

1) Safety training is both boring and funny at the same time.  A lot of the information is things that you HAVE to know, but so, so boring.  At the same time, the pictures of things that happen when things go wrong are for some reason funny (like the tank full of some compressed gas that somehow broke free of it's holder and made a hole in the roof of the building).

2) I don't remember much simple physics anymore.  One of the things I'm doing this week is taking GSI (Graduate Student Instructor) training, even though I'm not going to be a GSI (yay fellowships), and one of the things we had to do is "grade" an assignment.  Yeah..., I don't remember simple angular momentum.  Also, I can't grade homework.  I'm too nice...

3) Physics Graduate Students are all wacky and crazy.  I'm glad I'm not alone...

4) Having an office is cool, but at the same time, makes me feel old.  However, I'll be in there for long periods of time, especially while doing homework.

5) Even though the summer program I was part of is over, I'm still seeing the friends I made over the summer through it.  Makes me happy that we still find ways to get together.

6) Gyroscopes are AWESOME!!  Yeah, I got to play with one.

7) Being a graduate student is going to be fun.  Hard, but fun.

This week has got me looking forward to doing everything I'm going to do.  I'm excited for my classes, even if they are though, and I'm really excited to do research.  There'll be times when I wish I was doing something else (like a job and getting paid), but I think that the next 5-6 (hopefully) years will be some of the most memorable I'll have in my life.  Graduate School, here I come!

BrazenCareerist.com

Today I found out about a site that helps professionals from "the next generation" connect with each other and share ideas, brazencareerist.com. The site offers many tools for networking and sharing, and will even import facebook information and twitter updates. One can even import their blog and add that to their profile feed. People can join groups based in different categories, including professional and interest groups, and can share ideas with other members of the group. If there's a particular person that seems interesting, keeping up on that person's updates is easy: just become their fan, and all their updates will be posted on your "fan feed". In the words of co-founder Penelope Trunk:

"Starting today, we are calling Brazen Careerist the career management tool for next-generation professionals. In the online career space where experienced professionals win, we’ve created a network that will help young professionals level the playing field. Instead of just a traditional résumé, at the core of the new Brazen Careerist profile is an idea-based feed that showcases your knowledge, opinions and thoughts. In other words: Your potential. We all know there are pools of new talent coming into the market, but no career site showcases the most critical thing that talent should be sharing: Ideas."

The website promises to be very user-centric, with the idea that what the user has to say and what the user wants to see is most important. It's all about being part of a community that can help each other reach goals, give feedback, and above all, network with others.

When you least expect it…

So, for the most part, life here in Ann Arbor has been going pretty smoothly.  I’ve made a few friends, managed to learn how to get around the city, and pretty much settled down into the routine of summer classes.

However, suddenly, my roommate tells me he’s moving to another apartment.  Since he was living here before I came, this means, of course, that suddenly, I have to get a ton of thing for the apartment, things I didn’t plan on getting initially.  Suddenly, life grabs you by your neck and says “Don’t get comfortable, we’re just getting started!”

To make things worse, one of the dashboard lights in my car lit up, and according to the manual (yes, I actually read it) it’s some sort of engine emission thing.  Now, according to Kristin, it usually means that the gas cap wasn’t closed all the way, which happened to be my problem, but the light is still on, and I’m hoping that I didn’t cause something worse.

With a few weeks left before classes start, most of my friends decided to go home for a few weeks, to spend a bit of time with friends and family.   I’m not so lucky.  Most everyone I know is in Ames, and they’re getting ready for classes starting next week, so visiting might not be the best idea at the time, although I might, I haven't fully decided yet. However, with the car issue, this seems less and less like a possibility, since I don’t want to be driving my car that distance with a potential engine failure.  So this leaves me all alone here, waiting for my friends to come back, and basically just being here, doing nothing, except going out to buy things my apartment needs.

At the moment, the only major thing left for my is a dining table.  However, I never knew how expensive these could be.  For a 4-person table, everything I’ve seen is over $250.  There is one exception: an extendable 4-6 person table for $170 at IKEA.  The downside: it’s white.  However, I’m pressed for money, so  I think I don’t have much of a choice.  And I can always put something on top to make it look nicer (tablecloth, placemats, etc.)

So, the whole thing from this is that, although life seems to be throwing everything it’s got towards me, I’m still persevering.  I’ve still got a few weeks to get things to a manageable level, and I’ve still got IM and other forms of communication to talk to my friends.  Hey, maybe I’ll actually try cooking something just to pass the time…

I love this Doctor

Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?

A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?

A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?

A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good!

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?

A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! ..... Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?

A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?

A: Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans ! Another vegetable!!! It's the best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?

A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?

A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

And remember:

'Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO, What a Ride' AND.....

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat

and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat

and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans..

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine

and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine

and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION

Eat and drink what you like.

Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Friends

So, what I've found when I go to a new place is that one of the biggest impression that stays with me when I leave is the friends I made when at that place. It doesn't matter if it's only for a year, or for a lifetime. When I changed schools my senior year, for example, the people I met there made me feel really welcome and accepted, and it really made what could have been a nightmare into a really memorable and fun experience.

More recently, going to Iowa State University meant not only changing the place I lived, but also living in a completely different culture than what I was used to. However, once again, the friends I made are some of the best friends I've ever had, because they made me feel like I belonged, and that I was someone in their lives that mattered.

However, until today, it didn't really dawn on me how much making friends means to me. Growing up, I went to school at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station (currently closed). Because I was the son of civilians who worked for the Navy, I stayed in the same school (until they closed the base my Junior year of high school). However, most of the people I went to school with were military kids, meaning they usually left every three years. This, and the fact that I was a kinda shy person and not really that good with people (me in middle/high school = definitely not popular) meant that I really didn't have many friends. Sure, I hung out with lots of people, mainly gamers (from Pokemon to Age of Empires), but I never had a friend who I could share moments with, a person who I could connect with at a deeper level. And sure, I had my family, but being exposed to an American culture separated us from truly becoming close, whereas my parents, well, they're my parents. In fact, I'm pretty sure the best friend I had while growing up was my sister. However, in a way, that didn't feel like what I wanted, or like it was cheating in a sense. It wasn't someone I could share things with at a deeper level.

In a way, this is something I've always craved. One of my biggest fears when I went to Iowa State was not being able to make true friends, people I could talk about problems I was having at the time, or to confide secrets to, while also being able to have a good time. This fear is what drove me to join the Social Team at St. Thomas Catholic Church, and to go to retreats: places where I knew I would at least meet a lot of people, raising the chances of meeting people who I could connect with at a deeper level than just "hanging out".

It is sort of ironic, then, that the way I met my girlfriend was not through my over-involvement of extracurricular activities, but rather through a mutual friend. With Kristin, I've been able to find someone who I can connect with at a much deeper level than I've ever been able to do so before. In a way, it's kind of intoxicating.

However, at the same time, I know that having that sort of connection with only one person can be smothering to both parties. Thus, I'm glad that I was able to make such really great friends that I did at Iowa State. I might not connect with them at the level I connect with Kristin, but it's still more of a friendship than I got from all my years in high school.

Now, at a completely different University in a different state, I again came to face with my fear of being alone, with no friends to be able to confide things with. The first week here, although busy, was also one filled with self-doubt and fear. Would I be able to make friends again at the level I did with my friends at Iowa State? However, I've met many people in the past few weeks, and from all those people, a few have surfaced that seem to be going in the direction of the type of friend that I always seem to long for. I just hope that this does, in fact, turn out to be the case.

So anyway, I want to say thank you to all my friends who've been there with me through good and bad times. I want to thank Kristin for loving me so much and putting up with my incessant annoyances. And I want to thank my new friends at University of Michigan for giving me the opportunity to build a relationship beyond that of just hanging out (even if that is so far more or less what we've done, but the potential is there, and that's what I thank you for. It is still pretty early on). Hopefully, once the summer is over, and we go on to our respective fields of study to slave away as indentured servants of academia (just kidding), we can still find the time to get together and share with each other. And to everyone who has been there for me, or will be there for me in the future, know that, if you need it, I will be there for you as well.

The Installation of Operating Systems

So, this weekend, I decided to reinstall Ubuntu on my desktop, which is actually not that impressive of a feat, considering a) how many times I’ve done it before and b) the fact that the Ubuntu installer is very straightforward and easy to understand (at least for a techy like me). 

Well, the whole process took about a day (in this case, Friday), and by the time I was done, it was about 3am the next day.  However, I must say, I’m quite proud of myself.  There were certain issues that popped up, but all in all, this is the best I’ve ever done with an installation of Ubuntu.  At the moment, there’s only one issue with the operating system, which, considering that previously, I’ve had somewhere between 6 – 20 separate issues, is not bad at all.

Right now, the only issue I have is the fact that for some reason (and this is a known bug in the Ubuntu Forums), whenever I start Gizmo5, I cannot use any other sound (no music, youtube, system sounds, anything).  In addition, if I use one of these other programs, Gizmo does not work.  This is somewhat frustrating, since this means I can’t use Gizmo to get incoming calls when listening to music (for those who don’t know, Gizmo is an open source program similar to Skype, but it has free incoming calls and integrates quite nicely with Google Voice).

Well, I was so proud of myself for this accomplishment, that I decided it was time to reinstall Windows XP on my laptop.  My laptop had been kinda bogged down from 4 years of use, and a reinstall seemed to be in order for it.  So, the next day, I started with the (considerably more arduous) task of reinstalling XP.

First off, the whole thing took about a day and a half.  It wasn’t that hard, but having to get 4+ years of updates, including a service pack, takes a really long time (to be precise, it took me 2.5 hours to get all the updates).  Afterwards, I had to install all the programs, which is a very tedious task, since I had to look for them online, download, install, and repeat.  At least with Ubuntu, I could check some boxes, and it would download and install all of them in one go.

However, eventually, I more or less got my computer to the point where it was before, with one major difference: it now loads REALLY QUICKLY!!!  Where before my laptop would load in about 5 minutes total, it now takes about 2, which is a huge improvement in speed.  This is, of course, taking into account all the startup programs I have, which do slow down the startup process.

Anyway, right now, I have to see if I can fix the Gizmo issue on Ubuntu, and set up my new wireless-N router that I got from woot.com.  But, all in all, it was a productive computer-fiddling weekend.

My Google Voice number

Today, I finally got a Google Voice number. I've been waiting for some time for the invite, so I got the first number that I was able to find that I remotely liked. Unfortunately, the choices were fairly limited. Fortunately, I got a number I'm satisfied with.

However, after changing some settings and doing some general THINKING, I came to realise that a Google Voice number would actually not be that good of a thing right now for me. First off, I'll actually use minutes to call other Verizon numbers. Also, they'll use minutes as well. Therefore, I'll hold off with major use of my Google Voice number for another year, until I get a new plan. I'm probably going to get a Family and Friends plan from Verizon, so, I'll just add my Google Voice Number to that, and predent it's not a Verizon phone. That way, I still get free calls. However, others will not, but that's more or less fine with me, because I don't call people very often, and that is why they have minutes in the first place.

The one nice feature right now of Google Voice that I plan to use a lot is the infinite text messaging. I only have 250 messages a month on my cell phone, but with Google Voice, I have infinite. Also, since I disabled forwarding text messages to my cell phone, I only receive them online. Since I'll have easy access to Wifi for pretty much the whole 5-6 years I'll be at Michigan, it should be easy to check my text messages. So if you want to send me a text message, unless it's extremly urgent, send it to my Google Voice number (if it's urgent, it might be better to send it to my phone directly). The number is listed on my Facebook profile, as "other."

Official Google Blog: Introducing the Google Chrome OS

In a move that directly threatens Microsoft's home turl, Google announced late Tuesday night of a new product: Google Chrome OS. According to the official Google blog,

"We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work."

This seems like a good time for Google updates. With Google Wave introduced a while back, the Google Apps products recently coming out of Beta, and the (arguable) success of the Google Chrome web browser, Google's OS is in perfect position to have a strong entry into the world of PC's.

Official Google Blog: Introducing the Google Chrome OS

Life in Michigan (and the horrors of buying my car)

Well, I've lived in Michigan for about 2.4 weeks now, and I'm finally feeling settled in. These last two weeks have been the most hectic and boring of this year. Moving in, first off, was extremely chaotic, even with the help of my parents, kristin, and her dad. I was buying a lot of new thing, including (but not limited to) a bed, a desk, lamps, desk chair, book cases, etc...

Of course, the biggest purchase we made in the last two weeks (and the most hectic), was a car. First, my parents and I (Kristin and her dad were gone by this point) went around different dealers, comparing prices and features. Eventually, after about 2 hours, I settled on (and they agreed to pay for) a 2010 Titanium Kia Soul +, also known as the hamster car (because of the commercial with the hamsters...). That's when things got complicated. Apparently, and I have no idea why, I needed to have a Michigan Driver's License or State ID to buy a car in Michigan. Ok, no problem, I'll just go to the Secretary of State office and get a State ID. Not so easy...

To get a State ID or Driver's License in the State of Michigan, I needed to prove I lived in Michigan, by showing not one, but two proofs of recidency. Well, I had just moved in, so I had no mail. The only thing I had was the contract for the apartment I was renting...

By this point, needless to say, my parents and I were very frustrated. We decided to wait and see if I would get a piece of mail (one of the guys at the dealership actually sent me a letter, but we didn't know if I would get it on time...). In the meantime, we went around Ann Arbor, trying to finish other important things, like getting my M-card (Student ID for the University of Michigan) and opening a bank account. At the bank, however, we were able to get a letter from the teller which basically "proved" my recidency.

We then went to the Secretary of State Office, about 1 hour before they closed, with a huge line. However, I just wanted to get this over with, so I stayed. I filled out the form for a State ID, and then the person at the counter tells me I need to get a Driver's Licence, since applying for a State ID will (somehow) cancel my Puerto Rico Driver's License. Of course, this might mean I need to take the written driver's test. Not having driven much for the past 4 years, I wasn't sure how well I'd do, but I quickly leafed through a study book, and most of the things seemed like common sense. After I was more or less ready to take the test, the person comes back and tells me (to my relief and mild irritation) that I didn't have to take the test. They took my picture, and told me my ID would arrive in the mail in about a week (which it did, although I'm not entirely sure why they couldn't just give it to me then and there.)

Anyway, by this point, everyone was tired, but I felt like I had just accomplished a major thing. The next day, we went back to the dealer, and got the car (Finally!).

Well, my parents went back home, and I got ready for the Rackham Summer Institute (SI). The orientation was fun and informative (although the taxes protion confused the crap out of me), and I met a lot of new people, including everyone who will be in my class over the summer (Mathematical and Research Skills for Engineering and the Physical Sciences). Now I'm getting ready for the class (which starts tomorrow), and things have since calmed down a bit (sometimes a bit too much, it can get really boring sometimes...) Hopefully, this will be the beginning to a great time in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan.