Q+A

A few random bits and pieces for now. I still have to discuss the trip last Sunday to Nara including the visit to a temple with some of the oldest wooden structures in the world. The post needs some serious editing and will have to wait.

Some quick links for now. First, the excellent videos from the ASTI summer school are back online, having been unavailable for some time. These are perfect for first year particle physics students and would probably be good for keen undergraduates, too.

Secondly, a software tip: I'd used Google Desktop Search as a superb way to search within files (specifically for searching through the jungle of PDFs in the mire of folders on my computer) for a couple of years now, expecting by default that Google software would be the most convenient for a windows user. However, after a little searching I realised that there are many other very good free products out there. In particular, I've found that Copernic Desktop Search to be better at pinning down particular files and you can organise how the search is displayed. There's also a window where you can preview the files on the search page. It's not integrated within Firefox, as Google Desktop Search is, but I still prefer the interface. Anyway, if you haven't come across these products, they are vastly quicker than the default windows search function.

While we're on the subject, if you're a high energy physicist working with Firefox, I recommend the Spires search plugin. I can't find the original Mozilla page I installed the plugin from but there is one which looks identical to the one I use here. Save valuable seconds on your searches!

Having just had a good chat with Hari Dass, who gave an interesting talk on QCD strings from the lattice perspective, I have lots of leads to follow up...have a good weekend folks!