Saturday loose ends

Santiago is still standing after the storm yesterday which caused a couple of blackouts through the night (link from here).

I fear that this means that my code which was running overnight will not have been saved, so I'll have to go back and restart that some time this weekend.

In the meantime I've been trying out a new piece of software: Mnemosyne, which is similar to the interval learning software, Genius, which I wrote about some time back. The benefit of Mnemosyne is mostly that there are plenty of ready made word lists in Spanish and Chinese (amongst many other languages). The interface takes a little more time to get comfortable with, mostly due to its simplicity, but it seems like another good system for interval learning. (NB. See also Kevin's page with some great links to more Chinese files for Genius)

This morning I also found a series of lectures at the Perimeter Institute (as I followed a link from Bee's blog) which look excellent. In particular, this course from Alex Buchel which is an ongoing course on String theory promises to be a valuable resource for those starting off in this subject without any other directed learning. Also check out the extensive course on Quantum field theory.

(Random, no context link to a multigigapixel panorama from the Online Photographer. I shan't be processing anything like this any time soon!)

Anyway, another busy weekend beckons including the promise of plenty of good Chinese and Korean food tonight with a Korean birthday to go to. Kimchi supplied by yours truly.

Incoming

Record low pressure is predicted, the rain is building and the wind is whistling. Schools are closed and classes canceled in the university today (though we're all still here, listening to any word from the Galician weather services working down the corridor). It could turn out to be nothing but the promised storm may be a biggie. I'll keep you up to date.

Head in the clouds

I'm now in Munich and have just given my talk to the string theory group. The researchers here have been doing some very similar work so we have plenty to discuss which is always enjoyable. It seems that tonight this discussion will be taking place mostly in a beer garden which should be a lot of fun.

Yesterday night we sat on the runway in Mallorca for some time while thunderstorms delayed our departure. We missed most of them but still had some fireworks up at 30,000 feet. Some fine cumulonimbus showing their muscles. I'm expecting similar in the flight next week from here to Beijing so I will try and get some storm cloud photos if possible.

In the meantime, here is another shot from Cargese, with the light from the rising moon over the mountains, and Jupiter glowing bright, you can also make out the Milky Way stretching from the middle to the bottom right. In this photo Jupiter is not terribly sharp, but with a good camera and a lens of order 100mm it was possible to see two of her moons with a 20 second exposure.

Tomorrow I'll try and get out in Munich for some photography too and will post anything noteworthy.

Wudaokou deluge

I know Britain is having a pretty hard time of it at the moment with so much rain, but, at least from the point of being drenched, if not flooded, I can sympathise. I took this photo while sheltering under a bridge in Wudaokou. We're having hot, muggy days (often about 90% humidity) at the moment with frequent rain or storms in the afternoon. The storms can be a lot of fun but the rain is just getting tedious.

Summer storms

Where best to be during a spectacular summer storm but on the roof of a 30 story building. For a couple of hours last night the sky to the North West of Beijing was alive with sheet lightning dancing in the clouds. The sky directly above me was clear and for once we could see a few stars. It's taken me almost two years to realise that one of the most stunning views in the city can be found from the building just next to mine. I sneaked in at about 10 pm, went up to the 28th floor and then took the stairs to the roof where students hang their clothes and do calisthenic exercises. The storm continued to bubble silently so I quickly shot about 300 photos, desperately trying to get the lightning, trying everything from many half second exposures to a few at 15 seconds plus. Getting back I had many photos of the lights of North West Beijing but few of the lightning itself. The one I did capture below (click for larger) was, I believe, a 5 second exposure. I'll be experimenting more over the summer:

and a few more of the view from the top:

Including the centre for microgravitational research:

Random images

I've been in contact with the people over at SciTalks about extensions and the future of the site. There are some incredibly exciting prospects for it but it deserves my full and undivided attention to write about it.

For now I will just urge you to go over there and start posting videos to build up the database. I'm told that the short URL problem has now been fixed.

For now I'll give you a couple of slightly random images.

The first is from my office window a couple of days ago, taken at about 2 in the afternoon. The sky changed from the usual hazy grey to a dark brooding mass of fast moving clouds, thunder and lightning over the course of about half an hour. This was just before the rain really started pelting down:


and secondly a picture of a painting from the school I visited with my uncle when he was out here. We went to play parachute games with the kids (photos of the afternoon are here). Following the games we walked around the school and found this painting in the main lobby. It was a little while later that I found that this is a painting of the businesswoman who had founded the school and commissioned the picture. You can form your own opinions.