erice - nanophotonics school

i’ve only recently returned from erice, italy, from a summer school on nanophotonics. as kintaro would say “it was so educational”. it was also rather exhausting, but a lot of fun nonetheless. i’ve met some interesting people, both participants and lecturers.

erice is a small town in sicily at an altitude of 750m, overlooking the sea. the town is simply great; lots of narrow cobblestone streets angled at funny angles…a perfect setting for medieval larping (live action role-playing). there’s also a ruined castel at the outskirts of the town which started out as a temple to aphrodite and was later rebuilt as a late medieval castle. very nice place to hang out by night, after the poster session, with some good company and the obligatory cups of marsala wine.

well, in a nutshell, i had a great time. next stop: palmse, estonia, polymer micro-/nanofabrication summer school in september.

nyarlathotep

those of you familiar with the writings of h. p. lovecraft have probably heard of nyarlathotep before. he is an outer god, a messenger to azathoth and is also named the crawling chaos. (if you don´t know who lovecraft is, just wiki him, i don´t have the time or space to properly introduce him here)

as you can see form the above pictures, i´ve managed to summon a small plush nyarlathotep from beyond the stars and bind him to my will. he now guards my home while i´m away and whispers the dark secrets of the universe to my during the night. i have to be careful however as he is always plotting to free himself - you can see him trying to take over the internet using my laptop (but osaka is not afraid)

zettai shonen

it´s time for another anime review. zettai shonen falls in the supernatural mystery, slice of life category; it was directed by tomomi mochizuki (ranma ½, twin spica) and the character design was done by masayuki sekine (mind game, yokohama shopping log) . the story follows the adventures of a boy, ayumu aizawa who travels to the countryside to spend his summer with his father. the plot can be divided into two parts, one that takes place before the cat dance festival, where the main element is the supernatural and the mysterious occurrences, and the second part, after the cat dance festival, where the story focuses on the characters and the relationships between them – let´s call them summer arc and winter arc.

while during the summer arc the emphasis is on the supernatural element and on building up anticipation (you just know from the start that something will happen during the cat dance festival), the winter arc is more about the characters and their happiness or sorrow (this doesn´t turn the show into a generic high school romance though, due to the well developed, and somewhat eccentric characters and the constant presence and involvement of the “material fairies”). another interesting aspect underlined several times in the winter arc is how the advent of modern communication (internet, cell phone) affects our relationships with others (perhaps this is even more acute in japan than in europe).

overall zettai shonen is a pleasant anime to watch in those moments when you're just looking for some relaxation without having to strain your brain cells and you aren´t in the mood for action movies (hellsing, black lagoon). the characters are lovable in their own way (i liked the way kisa kept sending e-mails to her future self) and the ending is also quite satisfying.

towel day

the 25^th of may was is the international towel day, it commemorates the late douglas adams, the author of the hitchhiker´s guide to the galaxy. on this day, his fans all over the world carry around a towel wherever they go. why a towel, you ask, well, a towel is probably the most important item a galactic hitchhiker can carry:

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

i was also proudly carrying my towel around, hoping that people would ask me about it so i could tell them how awesome douglas adams is. but apart from a few inquiring glances on the bus, nobody asked me anything; this might have to do with the fact that i work in an underground lair (read optics lab) and don´t meet too many people. nonetheless it was great fun.

on robi´s blog (link is on the right side) you can see some friends of mine wearing their towels in a bar in cluj, now there are some froods who really know where their towels are.

the 25^th of may is also the nerd pride day and the universal day of the jedi (bleh-desu...)

immelmann loop

named after a german ww1 ace, max immelmann, the maneuver is in fact a half loop and a half twist, after which you end up the opposite direction from which you came (unlike in a regular loop). while this stunt isn´t very useful in a dogfight, it is a lot of fun on a rollercoaster.

i´ve had the luck to try out a rather fancy rollercoaster in copenhagen, in tivoli gardens (btw, tivoli means amusement park in icelandic). first of all, i had to discover that huge scary steel rolercoasters are much more pleasant than the puny wooden ones. they offer a much smoother ride, while the wooden ones bump you against the sides of the car as you aren´t strapped in properly.

my only regret is that i didn´t have an mp3 player with me so i could listen to manowar while riding ( power would have been quite an appropriate song); lacking the proper music all i could do was yell from the top of my lungs SATAaaa ANDAGIiii when i got to the top of the loop (i wonder how many of you get this joke!?).

ps: the pic was taken right after coming out of a zero g roll; you can see how calm i take it all (mostly cause it was my 3^rd time on that ride :p).

for great justice...

there you go claudiu.

these are gold wires, on a sub-micron scale fabricated by reducing chlorauric acid (HAuCl4) triggered by a two-photon absorption process (this was detailed in another post so i won't go into details).

the area of interest in this image is the top right corner where you can see the inscription "ayb", mirrored, though, as the sample is upside down relative to the objective. (the image was taken with a 100x oil immersion objective)

and no, claudiu. i don't have any "s" or "ncc-1701" inscriptions :p

the cleanroom

for lack of a better topic, i´ll just post a picture from the cleanroom. i´m the fat guy in the middle, right next to the ellipsometer. the cleanroom itself is somewhere between a class 100 and 1000 (this means the number of particles of 0.5 micron diameter per cubic feet).

there is a lot going on in there , but i myself, right now, am doing some thin gold strips on a specific polimer -benzocyclobuthene- by means of uv photolithography (they will serve as plasmonic waveguides).

birthday, birthday...

first of all i wish to thank all of you who have wished me happy birthday. it’s the second time that i spend my birthday away from all family and friends -it looks like i’ll make a habit out of this- so getting some simple greetings form friends and acquaintances means a lot to me.

since i throwing a party was out of the question i still thought that doing some fancy cooking might uplift my spirits a bit (good food does have that effect on me, what can i say? i’m that cheap; just give me a turorudi and you have won my heart forever). after long hours of pondering i have managed to narrow it down to two candidates: chocolate cake or sushi. you can see from the pics which of them won in the end. It was yummy…though eating alone is rather sad.

and i haven’t forgotten about the pictures from the cleanroom, pete. maybe next time.

the power of procrstination

procrastination (latin: pro- (forward) and crastinus (of tomorrow)) is somewhat related to the ancient romanian custom of “mint rubbing”. it basically involves (but is not limited to) all those small activities one does at work or school in order to improve his productivity – like drawing random caricatures, reading webcomics or counting the cracks in the ceiling. in modern times, due to the advent of the internet, procrastination is easier than ever, still, if you’re somewhat confused and don’t know how to start, you might wont to check out some of these sites (the first one is really kawaii and involves permutations):

- grow (http://www.eyezmaze.com/grow/cube/index.html),
- big red button
(http://www.transbuddha.com/mediaHolder.php?id=747),
- progress quest (http://www.progressquest.com/),
- 1d tetris (http://www.tetris1d.org/),

enjoy and have a productive procrastination

chocolate fondue....mmm

tonight we -me and some neighbors of mine- had chocolate fondue, complete with bananas, pears and oranges. it was great fun. by the time it ended we had fondue all over the place (the table, us, our clothes), which is quite a frequent occurrence in my case, though it felt got not to be the only one :)

+2 flamming mousepad of the moon

well, this is my new mouse pad. cute, isn’t it? it reads “space protectors” instead of invaders, cause we don’t want to infringe any copyright law, now do we? (this grammatical structure is called a ‘tag question’ *gains +10 in english grammar skill*). anyway, i’m looking forward to using it.

shin seiki evangelion

it’s quite difficult for me to review this one as it’s my favorite anime of all times. a masterpiece. truly unique. if you pick this up i promise you, you’ll either love it or hate it. (it’s important that you watch the entire series and don’t stop halfway through at episode 14)

an acquaintance of mine from france once told me when i inquired about him seeing eva that he is not into mecha anime. EVANGELION IS NOT ABOUT MECHA!! keep this in mind. if you want an action mecha anime pick up gundam, macros or anything else, there are a million plus one titles out there. for those unfamiliar with the term, mecha stands for anything from powered armor to giant robots/mechs (basically any mechanical thingy that has 2 or more legs and is piloted by humans).

the anime is rather old (it’s 10 years anniversary will be sometime in spring if i’m not mistaken) so the animation might seen somewhat outdated by today’s standards. but it really doesn’t matter. it’s not the animation or the action scenes that make eva great, it’s what lies underneath. and i can assure you, there are plenty of layers below the surface. i could write about the philosophy or the religious symbolism or the psychology of the show, but i won’t. just get the anime, find some time to watch it and if you liked it you’ll find plenty of forums and sites with detailed info and interpretations. just don’t expect to understand everything after the first viewing, you won’t.

after watching the 26 episodes of the series there’s also a full length feature called “the end of evangelion” which is an alternate ending, but it’s as much an integral part of the show as the 26 episodes (so don’t go to sleep before you watch that too). again, i can’t emphasize enough (maybe some caps will help) THIS ANIME IS A MUST SEE !! it doesn’t matter what genre you like, if you are into anime, you must try this one out.

also, as a not entirely off-topic side note, if you are interested in a crash course on kabbala you might want to read “inner space” by rabbi aryeh kaplan (amongst other things it explains in a comprehensive manner the basics about the ten sefirot and their standing in the context of jewish mysticism). just keep in mind that by reading what some contemporary rabbis wrote about some medieval rabbis who wrote about the kabbala, you won’t become an expert on the subject, unless you’re madonna of course.

and to finish with a well suited quote:

"god's in his heaven, all's right in the world!" - robert browning

shiroi kisetsu [white season]

it was the 18th of november. saturday. it snowed…a lot. when i woke up on sunday morning the snow was around 30-35cm. it was simply great. usually snow doesn’t last too long around here, since it’s not cold enough (can you believe that?!) and a colleague of mine made a bet that it wouldn’t last for more then 4-5 days. she lost the bet, as today is the 30th and we still have some snow left (though very little).

i wonder if we can expect some snow for the winter holidays (hanukkah :p, that is)

asoiaf - grrm

i’ve been neglecting my blog somewhat lately, but that’s mainly because i’ve been reading the 4th book in the “a song of ice and fire” saga by george martin. well, i can only recommend it to everybody, it’s fantasy literature at it’s best. forget about those shitty dragonlance and forgotten realms books (i’m ashamed i’ve ever read those). this is true literature, not some stupid wizards of the cost novel (they release three or so every month, but they are not worth the paper they’re printed on).

also, you can forget about tokien’s high fantasy and the war between the absolute good and the absolute evil (the former always winning, i still think sauron should have won, a few centuries of darkness might have been welcome) in a song of fire and ice all the characters are grey, and have their own goals and ambitions.

the plot is thick and runs on multiple threads. george martin uses the multiple point of view characters narration, which means that you experience the story through the eyes of different characters (thus you know more than any single character, but you’re not truly omniscient). far from being just a rewritten history, the novels were somewhat influenced by the war of the roses, and two of the main families, the starks and the lannisters represent, to a certain extent, the house of york and house lancaster, respectively. the story is truly epic in scale spanning several continents and featuring more than one hundred characters (from podrick the squire to ser gregor clegane, the mountain that rides); also all the names are perfectly pronounceable and make sense (no “yafein val'sullisin'rune” here).

the plot, like i’ve said, is truly complex, no trace of the typical “farm boy becomes magician and undertakes journey to defeat dragon and marry princess” cliché here. we are faced with political power struggles, a clash of religions and many subtle or violent twists. the only drawback: seven books are to be released, but only 4 are out so far, the fifth being released sometime in spring 2007 (and i can’t wait any longer!)

so whether you’re into fantasy or not, grab the first book (ask viki to lend it to you) and start reading. decide for yourself if you’re interested in the rest or not. (i think pete and andrei will like it, endi should first finish the black company though).

and to serve as an ending, the oath of the night’s watch:
”night gathers, and now my watch begins. it shall not end until my death. i shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. i shall wear no crowns and win no glory. i shall live and die at my post. i am the sword in the darkness. i am the watcher on the walls. i am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. i pledge my life and honor to the night's watch, for this night and all the nights to come.”

pic of the day

i promised you some pics so here´s one of them. i tried to do a 180 panorama, but since i don´t have a support for my camera it´s far from perfect. the image alignement isn´t too good and also there are some mistakes in the photo (but i think they can be corrected with photoshop)

welcome...to old home

it’s been some time since i did an anime review so here goes: haibane renmei.

first of all this as a great anime. it’s no eva or lain, but for me at least it’s right there in the top with those two. haibane renmei started out as a doujinshi written and illustrated by yoshitoshi abe (character design for lain, texhnolyze) so this alone is reason enough to watch it!

the anime starts with two strange images: a girl falling through the sky with a crow flying beside her trying to stop her fall but to no avail; then we are presented with the image of an old dusty corridor where a girl carrying some boxes accidentally stumbles upon a large cocoon growing out of the ground…

during the 13 episodes you’ll follow a young girl joining the haibane (winged creatures with haloes above their heads) while she retains no memory of her previous life – not even her name – and the joys and hardships she endures while becoming a haibane. in the first three episodes you’ll be introduced to some scenes form the lives of the haibane who live along with regular humans in the town of glie, a town surrounded by a wall that nobody is allowed to cross. after these first few episodes you’ll have so many questions that you’ll just want to continue watching all of the 13 episodes (some of your questions will be answered, some will not). i’ve found a several-page-long essay on haibane renmei discussing the nature of the unknown, the unknowable and faith (but i won’t link it here since it contains spoilers). yes, it’s one of those anime that require you to think.

the animation is exceptional, somewhat different from traditional anime (instead of vivid screaming colors you get a lot of shades and worn-out colors) which makes the setting feel more real. the music is also great and it supplements nicely the majestic landscapes of glie. the characters are well-drawn and very lifelike (much like miyazaki’s ones) and a lot of attention is given to details.

bottom line: if you want a very beautiful, emotionally compelling anime that will also make your brain cells jump a little then go watch haibane renmei. if you want a deeply philosophical, psychedelic experience then go watch eva and lain (though these are not recommended for everybody)

perspective, birds, cats...and latex

it was one week ago that my plane landed in iceland, give or take 2 hours. i like it here. slowly i’m getting used to the place. i’m not sure yet, maybe it’s too early to judge, but i think i might have found here the place i’ve been looking for in france. i’ll just write some more impressions, nothing coherent, just some thoughts.

one striking feature here is the landscape. due to the lack of tall buildings and the relative flatness of the terrain (at least in my side of town) you can always see the horizon far, far away; and somehow the clouds are so low you have the impression of being closer to the sky. it’s really nice here when the sky is clear (and even when it’s cloudy it still seems majestic). and the buildings and trees seem to be scattered in a random fashion, unlike in grenoble, in neatly engineered rows; this makes the landscape seem wild and primordial.

the day before yesterday i saw a bird flying upside down. i’ve always believed this to be impossible. there were actually two of them, crows or ravens as much as i can tell. and one was chasing (courting?) the other. when it would get above the other this latter one would always do a corkscrew maneuver, several times in a row. stupid drunken icelandic birds.

the only animals i’ve seen apart from birds are cats. i was told there are quite a few stray cats in reykjavik. well, it’s still better than stray dogs. especially the ones that live in bucharest and feed on japanese businessmen. i like cats. i like cat-girls even better. hmmm. do you think if i’d take in a stray cat she might turn into a cat-girl like it happened in true love?

i’ve also started to learn to use latex (got myself some documentation too from the prof). i think it’s just like linux: easy to use, difficult to master. i only wish i had taken advantage of pete and sanyi and learn some tricks from them while i had the chance.

i’ll post some nice pics of reykjavic soon…tomorrow maybe.

random thoughts...

i’ve been here for a few days now and i’m slowly getting acquainted with this place and the people. there was some mix-up, and the i had to move to another room cause there’s somebody housed already in the previous one. my new room looks a bit basementish (i suppose it’s because it is in the basement). in the other room i had two huge windows and a balcony, here i only have one small window but the wireless connection is much better (it was useless in the other room). so i’ve basically traded sunlight for internet connection, fair enough (i only have to get a wireless adaptor now).

at the lab, i already have my desk and a pc. the prof asked me “are you a windows user or a linux guy” and i was like “aaa….windows”. “because we have a pc here for you but i’m not sure if it has win on it, if it doesn’t we’ll just buy you one“ (gao!) he tells me. turned out the computer was a brand new out-of-the-box dell optiplex 620 (2,8ghz/1gb/80gb) – oishii.

i entered yesterday the cleanroom for the first time. pretty neat. i felt strange. did you notice that in any movie/anime where a science facility gets to be overtaken by armed forces, there are always those unarmed scientists in clean environment suits (no name, no face) who are shot down by a machinegun or a flamethrower half a second after they scream “no please..” (or even sooner sometimes). technicians always carry sidearms or crowbars, but scientists-in-fancy-suits are fully expandable and die in the lamest most useless possible way. well that’s what it felt like :D of course, gordon freeman is an exception to the rule cause he is a theoretical physicist, much like sanyi and szabi.

yesterday's post today

well, i’ve arrived safely to iceland. the trip was mostly pleasant and uneventful if i don’t count all the explanations i had to give at the borders (yep, it’s difficult to travel with a romanian passport – we’ll see if anything will change after we enter the eu).

anyway, first impressions. iceland is expensive. and i don’t mean, my that’s expensive, i mean holy fucking shit mother of god expensive. well 6 eggs, 1 liter of milk, oil, cup ramen and some other things i could get for less than 8 eur in france here i paid 15+ eur for. (shocking - gao gao!). the fee for a monthly pass on public transportation costs 60 eur (in france it was 25). gao !!

second, the tap water does seem to have a subtle mineral taste, but not as bad as the one at borsec. i’ll have to get used to it anyway since i won’t be able to afford any juice – i wanted to drop that habit anyway.

the people seem nice and helpful, and most of them speak english to a certain degree. it’s not cold or dark at all, at least for now. but i was told that temperatures don’t really drop below -7c (so much for the superconductors at room temperature :p )

i’ll write some more about the lab and the ppl in my next post.

take care and don’t misbehave

also, my deepest thanks to everybody who cheered for my arrival - it's good to know you're not alone as ai-chan would say (you figure it out)

a new beginning

so, due to peer pressure (pun intended for those who get it) i'm restarting this blog i've just returned from bucharest this morning so this will be a short post as i'm rather tired. i'm flying to reykjavik this friday via berlin. i've found a pic of the plane i'll be taking from berlin, nice. i used to joke about the fact that since it has only two engines, if one should malfunction, it would only be able to fly in circles - for some reason my mom doesn't enjoy these jokes :( anyway, i'm back on the job and i'll post next time on saturday maybe