I did some much needed Spring cleaning of my apartment. Washed every fabric I can see, dusted every single piece of furniture, and wiped everything down till they were shining in the sunlight. The weather outside is hot (90F), but there are advantages of living on 6th floor apartment right next to a vast grass field/lake. The wind through the windows are cool and they carry the pleasant fragrance of flowers and trees. Now this is what I call Spring cleaning.
The whole thing took about 4 hours. Dusting all the bookshelves alone took some effort, and I had to sort through all sorts of notes and sketches strewn across my desk to figure out which ones to keep and which ones to throw away. It might not sound like much, but the problem is in that my desk is a converted workbench I picked up for cheap in some yard sale by the wave hill park. The thing is vast. I can actually go onto it and sleep with all my limbs spread out. I'd say it's about half the size of my bed, which is also inexplicably large for a bed in a bachelor's apartment. Whatever. I'm not complaining.
There's something about maintaining well-organized, clean living environment that's very fulfilling for me. I think it has to do with how dojos and zen temples place so much emphasis on cleaning and wiping down everything all the time. I used to think it was annoying (and yes, I spent some time in both of those places. Maybe I should write about that sometime), but now that I'm older, I think I can see some point in all that. There's a serene and calming quality to organization of the environment around yourself, and the fact that inevitable wave of entropy will eventually make everything messy again just adds to the quality of the experience.
The fact that my entire apartment begins to smell like middle of a pine forest whenever I open my windows just adds to the experience I think. I probably won't be as committed to cleaning stuff up if my apartment was facing a railroad tracks for example.
The only sobering fact of the whole necessity of cleaning the world is that I feel like I'm missing out on so much simply to maintain some semblance of order in my life. The four hours of cleaning is fours hours of time I couldn't spend on working with the synthetic biology software suite (something I'm using to study biological systems in synthetic context these days, fascinating piece of software, though I'm just beginning to learn the ropes myself).
That is why the humanity needs robotic butlers/maids I think.
I'm impressed with myself for connecting robotic butler/maids with the zen practice of self-reflection. I think I'll go out reward myself with some burgers.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Net
Look at this website http://startpanic.com
If you give that website a permission it will scrounge through the database of your web browser in use and list every single webpage you've ever visited using that browser (unless you were using some session masking ability available on some browsers like the chrome and safari). Of course, it's a mere showcase of the security vulnerability of web browsers on the market, and all the private data is perfectly safe and for your eyes only, so I suggest you to try it just for the scare factor.
It's rather surprising that the utility/algorithm for the webpage is capable of retrieving even deleted histories of the web browser in question. I think the sites does that by reading through permissions files and cookies, but then I'm not too proficient with the internet technology in general. That is, I know what tools to use to get my stuff done, but not enough to know how those tools work in practice, just like the vast majority of web users out there.
Considering the continuous push from governments around the world toward 'controlling' the net and its information content for one reason or other, this is rather disturbing. I'm even more amazed that most browsers that are considered better compared to internet-standards-ignoring heap of mess they call IE are still vulnerable to such simplistic snooping. The whole issue of internet security and privacy is edging closer toward some kind of critical mass, and I don't know what will happen once the movement hits the threshold. I don't want to sound too alarmist or anything, but this seem to be something worth worrying about.
Only way to stay safe from such snooping would be to run a separate server that encrypts ever one of your signals, but that would be an overkill not to mention detrimental to general web performance, something that can't be tolerated in this day and age. The most consumer-friendly way to offset the danger of privacy would be twofold. First would be continuous pressure on the governments from the population itself, and the second way would be for software developers to come up with better, more secure web browsers.
I'm pretty big on the whole search for the ideal web browser. I think I might have used practically every single major web browsers on the market by now. How many layman these days can say they've used Sleipnir/Lunascape/Opera/Chrome/Firefox/Chromium/Lynx/Telnet/IE on regular basis just to find the web browser that is perfect for almost every usage scenario? I certainly tried them all and quite extensively too. And every single one of them fall short in one way or the other, some of them even more so then others.
At the moment I'm leaning towards a mix between Opera and Chrome. I used to be a major firefox user, but all those extensions really bog the browser down, to the point that it takes some ungodly amount of time to just start the browser, at least compared to the competition. I thought I would miss the extensions for firefox, but the fact of the matter is extensions built right into the browser are becoming increasingly niche in this age of web 2.0 applications. For example in Chrome I can block ads and pull websites off the browser and onto the desktop, transforming them into an instant program I can access by double clicking a single button that opens up in its own application window. Like Gmail/Gchat and even third party sites like the del.icious bookmarking service (which had been quite a life saver in my cross-platform journeys). So the focus of web browser for me is in speed and safety. At the moment Chrome is the browser that fits the two profiles perfectly. The whole java sandbox idea is much more isgnificant than it would first appear. The sandbox system is capable of stopping almost every single unintended break-in to the system from the web front. It's also quite possibly the fastest browser on the market, and has full backing of the google corp. Lot of people have mixed feelings about google corporation, but I like them. At least they are better than microsoft.
If there's one trouble with Chrome it would be the amount of RAM and processing power the browser requires. I think the whole architecture of separate tab processing cycles and sandbox mechanisms make it necessary to consume such resources. For a compulsive multitasker and laptop user like me resource consumption of web browsers is something to keep a keen eye on, and Chrome is a monster in that regard. Which is the reason why I keep Opera at hand for some excessive multi-tabbing. Opera is really well optimized for older operating systems. It's probably the only modern web browser capable of running in win 98/95 environment.
If you give that website a permission it will scrounge through the database of your web browser in use and list every single webpage you've ever visited using that browser (unless you were using some session masking ability available on some browsers like the chrome and safari). Of course, it's a mere showcase of the security vulnerability of web browsers on the market, and all the private data is perfectly safe and for your eyes only, so I suggest you to try it just for the scare factor.
It's rather surprising that the utility/algorithm for the webpage is capable of retrieving even deleted histories of the web browser in question. I think the sites does that by reading through permissions files and cookies, but then I'm not too proficient with the internet technology in general. That is, I know what tools to use to get my stuff done, but not enough to know how those tools work in practice, just like the vast majority of web users out there.
Considering the continuous push from governments around the world toward 'controlling' the net and its information content for one reason or other, this is rather disturbing. I'm even more amazed that most browsers that are considered better compared to internet-standards-ignoring heap of mess they call IE are still vulnerable to such simplistic snooping. The whole issue of internet security and privacy is edging closer toward some kind of critical mass, and I don't know what will happen once the movement hits the threshold. I don't want to sound too alarmist or anything, but this seem to be something worth worrying about.
Only way to stay safe from such snooping would be to run a separate server that encrypts ever one of your signals, but that would be an overkill not to mention detrimental to general web performance, something that can't be tolerated in this day and age. The most consumer-friendly way to offset the danger of privacy would be twofold. First would be continuous pressure on the governments from the population itself, and the second way would be for software developers to come up with better, more secure web browsers.
I'm pretty big on the whole search for the ideal web browser. I think I might have used practically every single major web browsers on the market by now. How many layman these days can say they've used Sleipnir/Lunascape/Opera/Chrome/Firefox/Chromium/Lynx/Telnet/IE on regular basis just to find the web browser that is perfect for almost every usage scenario? I certainly tried them all and quite extensively too. And every single one of them fall short in one way or the other, some of them even more so then others.
At the moment I'm leaning towards a mix between Opera and Chrome. I used to be a major firefox user, but all those extensions really bog the browser down, to the point that it takes some ungodly amount of time to just start the browser, at least compared to the competition. I thought I would miss the extensions for firefox, but the fact of the matter is extensions built right into the browser are becoming increasingly niche in this age of web 2.0 applications. For example in Chrome I can block ads and pull websites off the browser and onto the desktop, transforming them into an instant program I can access by double clicking a single button that opens up in its own application window. Like Gmail/Gchat and even third party sites like the del.icious bookmarking service (which had been quite a life saver in my cross-platform journeys). So the focus of web browser for me is in speed and safety. At the moment Chrome is the browser that fits the two profiles perfectly. The whole java sandbox idea is much more isgnificant than it would first appear. The sandbox system is capable of stopping almost every single unintended break-in to the system from the web front. It's also quite possibly the fastest browser on the market, and has full backing of the google corp. Lot of people have mixed feelings about google corporation, but I like them. At least they are better than microsoft.
If there's one trouble with Chrome it would be the amount of RAM and processing power the browser requires. I think the whole architecture of separate tab processing cycles and sandbox mechanisms make it necessary to consume such resources. For a compulsive multitasker and laptop user like me resource consumption of web browsers is something to keep a keen eye on, and Chrome is a monster in that regard. Which is the reason why I keep Opera at hand for some excessive multi-tabbing. Opera is really well optimized for older operating systems. It's probably the only modern web browser capable of running in win 98/95 environment.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Waiting
It's four in the morning. I came back home at around two thirty from the diybio nyc meetup. I've been trying to get some simulation codes working in mathematica that I need to use for tomorrow's presentation. This may not have been the best idea, since I'm now tired enough to actually feel pain in my head.
Well, the code's already rolling and I need to stay awake until it comes to a conclusion, one way or another. I might as well write something while waiting. It feels a little strange to be writing on this little device when I have a thinkpad with fantastic, full sized keyboard right in front of me. I just don't want to waste any part of the main laptop's processor cycle in anything other than work though.
I'm not a computer savvy person. I just happens to do a lot of things that require thinking, and in modern society it means using a lot of computerized tools. What will come of this? What will come of the world where doing science means interacting with and using computers to some specialized degree (at least in the eyes of the layman)? Whatever the outcome may be, the future will be an interesting thing to see.
The nyt interview/GFP experiment went swimmingly. I had a lot of questions I had on structure and function of plasmids answered. I think I'm about prepared to do an actual wetwork using the biobrick parts. (Dracova, if you're reading this, maybe we should talk about more bio stuff?) I'm thinking of beginning by putting together a little cellular automata that's capable of turning its own light on and off. Maybe I can do it with algae and make a little glowing garden that is also a form of cellular automata computer. Not very productive, but it will be beautiful, something straight out of Miyazaki Hayao's best works... Maybe I have better qualification as a bioartist rather than biotechnician.
I think I've decided. I'm going to actively pursue the idea of using biobrick parts to construct a living cellular automata that changes its signal through GFP induced light. After it is done I might be able to reapply the same methodology to algae, which has a far more complex architecture compared to the naturally competent strain of E.Coli K12 we usually use.
The mathematica is about to churn out its results. I guess it means I can get some sleep at last.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
Well, the code's already rolling and I need to stay awake until it comes to a conclusion, one way or another. I might as well write something while waiting. It feels a little strange to be writing on this little device when I have a thinkpad with fantastic, full sized keyboard right in front of me. I just don't want to waste any part of the main laptop's processor cycle in anything other than work though.
I'm not a computer savvy person. I just happens to do a lot of things that require thinking, and in modern society it means using a lot of computerized tools. What will come of this? What will come of the world where doing science means interacting with and using computers to some specialized degree (at least in the eyes of the layman)? Whatever the outcome may be, the future will be an interesting thing to see.
The nyt interview/GFP experiment went swimmingly. I had a lot of questions I had on structure and function of plasmids answered. I think I'm about prepared to do an actual wetwork using the biobrick parts. (Dracova, if you're reading this, maybe we should talk about more bio stuff?) I'm thinking of beginning by putting together a little cellular automata that's capable of turning its own light on and off. Maybe I can do it with algae and make a little glowing garden that is also a form of cellular automata computer. Not very productive, but it will be beautiful, something straight out of Miyazaki Hayao's best works... Maybe I have better qualification as a bioartist rather than biotechnician.
I think I've decided. I'm going to actively pursue the idea of using biobrick parts to construct a living cellular automata that changes its signal through GFP induced light. After it is done I might be able to reapply the same methodology to algae, which has a far more complex architecture compared to the naturally competent strain of E.Coli K12 we usually use.
The mathematica is about to churn out its results. I guess it means I can get some sleep at last.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Dreams
What are dreams? I think I've been having quite a few vivid ones lately, the unusually vivid and memorable kind. Those kind of dreams mark a visage upon the dreamer that extends even into the waking world.
Maybe it's just the weariness getting to me. Maybe it's something else, an alteration in my brain chemistry. Maybe it's the stress I've been getting from people around me. The dreams are getting more and more vivid yet I can't seem to be able to recall them all too clearly. I might not be able to remember the exact stories of the dreams but individual scenes and moments of the dreams are burned into my memory like they actually happened to me. What is the difference between a memory of unmistakably realistic dream and memory of things that really happened to me? Only the physical consequences remain to help me make the distinction.
It's really interesting when you think about it. What part of the emergent system that is the human intellect drives such a phenomanon? What composes the fabric of the dreams and merge it within the framework of human memory? Will it be possible to engineer dreams in such a way to combine it directly with the everyday memory?
And just what drives people to keep on finding fascination within their dreams?
It would be interesting to be able to apply the framework of synthetic biology to the study and manipulation of the nervous system. A controlled study of dreams on cellular levels might even be beneficial to learning the characteristics of complex emergent systems...
Speaking of vivid memories and dreams, I need to ask if they are in any way related to imagination as well. From my experience people who have interesting dreams don't necessarily have vivid imagination, but then how many people with capacity for imagination do you see these days? A lot of trash-heap sentimentalities (meaning:without compassion) or vulgurities disguised as realism/realpolitik, but no imagination. Nothing that breaks out of the usual mould of cause and effect that direct the development of minds.
Yes. It's my sincierest wish that I might someday be able to have a genuine capacity for imagination, that is beyond the simple result of environment and time. At least I try, and I know that most people can't seem to be able to recognize how pedestrian and downtrodden many of their most imaginative ventures are, so I might be making a step toward having a genuine imagination... Just think about it. What kind of future would we build without a true capacity for imagination? Without the ability to imagine, the future will simply end up being a stale derivative of what we have at the moment. And that is one thing people interested in future tries to avoid, isn't it?
Or am I just a sarcastic clown now? The time will tell.
I'm thinking all the dreams might have to do with my longing for long journey to faraway places. The timing certain feels on the spot. It's funny. The will to find another future intermingled with memories of the past, all of them one and the same. I must be a lot more interesting guy than I give myself credit for.
At the moment I'm seriously considering taking the plunge and get some unique perspectives on biosciences and physics from other places around the world. The academy is still as fragmented by location as any other human endeavor, and from what I hear there are a lot of different advances and discussions going on in other parts of the world.
I might be able to come to a real decision in a month or two.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
Maybe it's just the weariness getting to me. Maybe it's something else, an alteration in my brain chemistry. Maybe it's the stress I've been getting from people around me. The dreams are getting more and more vivid yet I can't seem to be able to recall them all too clearly. I might not be able to remember the exact stories of the dreams but individual scenes and moments of the dreams are burned into my memory like they actually happened to me. What is the difference between a memory of unmistakably realistic dream and memory of things that really happened to me? Only the physical consequences remain to help me make the distinction.
It's really interesting when you think about it. What part of the emergent system that is the human intellect drives such a phenomanon? What composes the fabric of the dreams and merge it within the framework of human memory? Will it be possible to engineer dreams in such a way to combine it directly with the everyday memory?
And just what drives people to keep on finding fascination within their dreams?
It would be interesting to be able to apply the framework of synthetic biology to the study and manipulation of the nervous system. A controlled study of dreams on cellular levels might even be beneficial to learning the characteristics of complex emergent systems...
Speaking of vivid memories and dreams, I need to ask if they are in any way related to imagination as well. From my experience people who have interesting dreams don't necessarily have vivid imagination, but then how many people with capacity for imagination do you see these days? A lot of trash-heap sentimentalities (meaning:without compassion) or vulgurities disguised as realism/realpolitik, but no imagination. Nothing that breaks out of the usual mould of cause and effect that direct the development of minds.
Yes. It's my sincierest wish that I might someday be able to have a genuine capacity for imagination, that is beyond the simple result of environment and time. At least I try, and I know that most people can't seem to be able to recognize how pedestrian and downtrodden many of their most imaginative ventures are, so I might be making a step toward having a genuine imagination... Just think about it. What kind of future would we build without a true capacity for imagination? Without the ability to imagine, the future will simply end up being a stale derivative of what we have at the moment. And that is one thing people interested in future tries to avoid, isn't it?
Or am I just a sarcastic clown now? The time will tell.
I'm thinking all the dreams might have to do with my longing for long journey to faraway places. The timing certain feels on the spot. It's funny. The will to find another future intermingled with memories of the past, all of them one and the same. I must be a lot more interesting guy than I give myself credit for.
At the moment I'm seriously considering taking the plunge and get some unique perspectives on biosciences and physics from other places around the world. The academy is still as fragmented by location as any other human endeavor, and from what I hear there are a lot of different advances and discussions going on in other parts of the world.
I might be able to come to a real decision in a month or two.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
Monday, April 13, 2009
The longest journey
I've been a little busy lately. Oh who am I kidding I've been busy for a long time. The events of the days happen so fast in such rapid succession next to each other that I'm beginning to find it all very tiring. I'm under a serious need to stop myself and think about what it's all for, that kind of stuff. I keep on thinking about going on a long journey, or at least moving my base of operations to somewhere else, maybe in Europe, to study with new people as well as taking in the sights.
I'm currently eying the institutions in Germany or somewhere in that region, maybe even enroll in the SymbioticA course for the time being. I'm sure the credit will be transferable to the colleges in U.S. I think I might even be moving to Boston soon, so it might be something worth thinking about. I'm coming to realize that I'm usually the happiest when I'm on the move for some reason.
I haven't been keeping in touch with my family, that is my mother and father for a long time now. I do keep in touch with my extended family in other parts of the world though. It's rather odd now that I think about it. All I know about my birthparents at the moment is that they are still living within the North America, so I guess that doesn't mean much. I have no wish to see them anytime soon either. All they are are like specters of bad memories and abuses.
I've been thinking about fantasy... Or rather, imaginative worlds a lot lately. In literature scene the d&d and other licensed products (the lord of the rings even) destroyed so much of the people's individuality that you cannot use the word fantasy without evoking scenes of wankers with swords playing around in pseudo-medieval getup. It's really a sad state of things. When I say fantasy writing, I'm really talking about the kind of writing that doesn't happen within the confines of the 'real world', or whatever it is humorless dicks call their shallow interpretation of the world these days. Worlds and ideas that are really 'fantastic' and imaginative, fitting of the namesake.
When I write, and I do a lot of that these days, I write much better and faster when it's directly from my head, with no regards for facts and figures and equations. No political considerations and no concern about where and when I should use certain types of vocabulary. When I write within soe sort of confine the result tend to come out horrible and I end up spending just as long trying to salvage the whole thing as I spent writing it in the first place. But when I write something off the top of my head, a sort of extended freewrite exercise, I can just go on and on writing about my own thoughts and various imagined situations and characters, and the whole experience brings me such a feeling of fulfillment. I don't know why that is. Maybe it has something to do with all the wanderlust I've been feeling lately.
I'm thinking, maybe I should really write something. Of course, I write pages after pages of stuff every single day, I'm talking about something more imaginative and dedicated. Something fantastic and coherent. I've been writing little bits and pieces of such musings all over the place now. Like the bits set in the universe of the library of Babel. Or the hundred years of solitude. things set in art schools and laboratories, little bits of poetries and whatnot. Maybe I should try to pour all of those things into a single coherent story, a single universe with such fantastic components. Maybe I can even steal a character or two from my favorite writings, like the script for the adventure game longest journey. I'm even thinking of making a different version of April Ryan as the main character in the world. She'll probably be an art student just like in the original story. Maybe she can major in the field of bioarts, where they use tissue and genetic engineering to create works of art. There would be such wonderful worlds waiting for her.
I'm currently eying the institutions in Germany or somewhere in that region, maybe even enroll in the SymbioticA course for the time being. I'm sure the credit will be transferable to the colleges in U.S. I think I might even be moving to Boston soon, so it might be something worth thinking about. I'm coming to realize that I'm usually the happiest when I'm on the move for some reason.
I haven't been keeping in touch with my family, that is my mother and father for a long time now. I do keep in touch with my extended family in other parts of the world though. It's rather odd now that I think about it. All I know about my birthparents at the moment is that they are still living within the North America, so I guess that doesn't mean much. I have no wish to see them anytime soon either. All they are are like specters of bad memories and abuses.
I've been thinking about fantasy... Or rather, imaginative worlds a lot lately. In literature scene the d&d and other licensed products (the lord of the rings even) destroyed so much of the people's individuality that you cannot use the word fantasy without evoking scenes of wankers with swords playing around in pseudo-medieval getup. It's really a sad state of things. When I say fantasy writing, I'm really talking about the kind of writing that doesn't happen within the confines of the 'real world', or whatever it is humorless dicks call their shallow interpretation of the world these days. Worlds and ideas that are really 'fantastic' and imaginative, fitting of the namesake.
When I write, and I do a lot of that these days, I write much better and faster when it's directly from my head, with no regards for facts and figures and equations. No political considerations and no concern about where and when I should use certain types of vocabulary. When I write within soe sort of confine the result tend to come out horrible and I end up spending just as long trying to salvage the whole thing as I spent writing it in the first place. But when I write something off the top of my head, a sort of extended freewrite exercise, I can just go on and on writing about my own thoughts and various imagined situations and characters, and the whole experience brings me such a feeling of fulfillment. I don't know why that is. Maybe it has something to do with all the wanderlust I've been feeling lately.
I'm thinking, maybe I should really write something. Of course, I write pages after pages of stuff every single day, I'm talking about something more imaginative and dedicated. Something fantastic and coherent. I've been writing little bits and pieces of such musings all over the place now. Like the bits set in the universe of the library of Babel. Or the hundred years of solitude. things set in art schools and laboratories, little bits of poetries and whatnot. Maybe I should try to pour all of those things into a single coherent story, a single universe with such fantastic components. Maybe I can even steal a character or two from my favorite writings, like the script for the adventure game longest journey. I'm even thinking of making a different version of April Ryan as the main character in the world. She'll probably be an art student just like in the original story. Maybe she can major in the field of bioarts, where they use tissue and genetic engineering to create works of art. There would be such wonderful worlds waiting for her.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Snowing in the rose reading room
Got into the reading room for the morning, will need to head back to school after lunch. I can see some flurry outside the window, in the backdrop of skyscrapers and murals of twilight clouds.
It's beautiful and the world looks good. There are people in the reading room silently going about with their business, all reading or writing something with a sort of intense concentration that can't be seen with most people outside of here.
My laptop is on the desk crunching away at numbers and figures, and I have an old book of Ovid open in front of me to pass away the time of calculation. I love the smell of old books and slight scent of coffee in the air. I guess some of them just got off the daily dose of morning bagel and coffee.
In this brief moments of the days I feel very much alive and and recharged. It's a calm feeling that your life is going in the right direction, and the reminder that you are, and will be devoted to your dreams. It's a very gentle promise of the world that there are people who see far enough to worry about something more than their immediate comfort and survival. It's the sound of the future being laid out, probably for the better.
I might move to Boston sometime soon. I'm trying to get to MIT and there's a chance that I might actually be able to make it. I'll really miss this city once I'm gone.
While I'm still here though, I really need to get the diybio nyc rolling. It's really hard to find good people who are interested in diybio itself, rather than showing off with half-baked notions of 'biohacking' and whatnot. I need people who have demonstrated a capacity to stick with something and see it through to the end. Not something that takes months but something that takes years of continued effort and devotion. At this stage of the group letting in unproven people with questionable devotion and motivation would be devastating to the morale of the group. Not to mention, the group is in a very financially uncertain state. I would need people capable of supporting the group financially as well as technically. The members would have to be givers as well as takers. There have been some progress but I still need to find some way to get more of such qualified people working with the group. Once the group itself stabilizes a bit more, with decent funding and reliable, dedicated members, we would be able to accomodate people who are not as dedicated.
Well, it's time for me to go off and do some real work again.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
It's beautiful and the world looks good. There are people in the reading room silently going about with their business, all reading or writing something with a sort of intense concentration that can't be seen with most people outside of here.
My laptop is on the desk crunching away at numbers and figures, and I have an old book of Ovid open in front of me to pass away the time of calculation. I love the smell of old books and slight scent of coffee in the air. I guess some of them just got off the daily dose of morning bagel and coffee.
In this brief moments of the days I feel very much alive and and recharged. It's a calm feeling that your life is going in the right direction, and the reminder that you are, and will be devoted to your dreams. It's a very gentle promise of the world that there are people who see far enough to worry about something more than their immediate comfort and survival. It's the sound of the future being laid out, probably for the better.
I might move to Boston sometime soon. I'm trying to get to MIT and there's a chance that I might actually be able to make it. I'll really miss this city once I'm gone.
While I'm still here though, I really need to get the diybio nyc rolling. It's really hard to find good people who are interested in diybio itself, rather than showing off with half-baked notions of 'biohacking' and whatnot. I need people who have demonstrated a capacity to stick with something and see it through to the end. Not something that takes months but something that takes years of continued effort and devotion. At this stage of the group letting in unproven people with questionable devotion and motivation would be devastating to the morale of the group. Not to mention, the group is in a very financially uncertain state. I would need people capable of supporting the group financially as well as technically. The members would have to be givers as well as takers. There have been some progress but I still need to find some way to get more of such qualified people working with the group. Once the group itself stabilizes a bit more, with decent funding and reliable, dedicated members, we would be able to accomodate people who are not as dedicated.
Well, it's time for me to go off and do some real work again.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
Monday, April 6, 2009
Productivity
Spent the early hours of the morning going through papers in the lab. Since about 6 in the morning to be precise. I needed some place to work on my stuff and it turns out that I didn't have much choice during such wee hours of the morning.
Now the day is almost over and I'm writing this as I wait for a friend of mine to join for dinner. Such is the lifestyle of the modern datamancer.
Also got some light lunch at the cafe zaiya's. The place is really beginning to go down hill I think. I can still remember the days the cafe had a whole lot more on the menu for a lot less. I guess the economy is hitting away at one of my favorite hangout spots as well(at least in the midtown region I guess).
Spent much of the day cooped up in the rose reading room at the central library, concentrating on drafting papers for my lab work and some side stuff for the diybio group. There must be something strange in the air at that place. It feels as if I do my best works in that place. I just find it much easier to concentrate in that place for some reason. There is a kind of intensity in the air, and you can't find anyone dicking around in that place. No one chatting with a friend, no one watching some video on the net or browsing some meaningless website. The air of pure academic learning and pursuit of something that normally remains beyond the reach of average men.
As I was writing down equations after equations, and drafting course ideas for the synthetic biology class I saw rays of afternoon sunlight streaming through the old windows. The effect was nothing short of solemn. I wish I was able to capture the feel of the
Other than the usual, I wrote some rough draft for diybo $300 course. The idea is to be able to offer a decent 2-day diybio course with full wetlab component for $300 per head. It's a sort of side idea I came up with after reading about the $3000 five day MIT course. Mac Owell sounds quite enthusiastic about that idea, and I really think it might be able to take off. I think the group will be able to offer something by the October of this year, but of course I would need to talk the whole thing through with the group members first and thus the need to think about all possibilities and come up with a workable draft. I will be putting the whole thing up on my blog soon, after I put some finishing touches on the agenda and such.
Being able to come up with some sort of diybio courseware had always been a secret passion of mine. How amazing would it be to be able to do a full scale wetlab exercise in diybio style? Any suitably motivated person would be able to do a biology related research on his or her own. Well, it's already possible actually. Anyone can learn minimal amount of python coding and run BLAST interface through the internet by connecting to GenBank. It's diy bioinformatics and there are some people making noticeable contribution to the field by working with a laptop and minimal scripts.
I see two main problems at being able to run a diybio class though. The first is the relative ignorance of the target audience. Any diybio class would be targeted at novices with no background in academic research. I'm fine with that. I am however, worried about the kind of people who have preconceived notions of what diybio is/should be. There are so many people out there who can't tell the difference between reading stuff on computer screen and actually researching something in academic capacity. It's easy to teach something to people who don't know. It might even be fun. But attempting to teach something to someone who already thinks he/she knows everything there is to know about the subject is painful both for teacher and the student. It's very disheartening to see people who cannot tell the difference between studying and glossing over textbooks.
The second problem is the usual. The need for materials and resources for diybio. It's very difficult, perhaps impossible to grab hold of basic biobrick materials, at least any organization that is not sanctioned by the local government as an educational institution. There will be a lot of red tapes to jump through if I were to pursue an actual wetlab project.
On lighter note, I finally got the java based irc client working on my blackberry. Apparently the program can run on 'regular' cellphones as well since it's completely based on java architecture. Maybe I should give it a try on some of my older cellphones as well. I'm having a bit of fun speaking to the peeps at phys lab and funcom server people trying to solve the arg puzzles. Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
Now the day is almost over and I'm writing this as I wait for a friend of mine to join for dinner. Such is the lifestyle of the modern datamancer.
Also got some light lunch at the cafe zaiya's. The place is really beginning to go down hill I think. I can still remember the days the cafe had a whole lot more on the menu for a lot less. I guess the economy is hitting away at one of my favorite hangout spots as well(at least in the midtown region I guess).
Spent much of the day cooped up in the rose reading room at the central library, concentrating on drafting papers for my lab work and some side stuff for the diybio group. There must be something strange in the air at that place. It feels as if I do my best works in that place. I just find it much easier to concentrate in that place for some reason. There is a kind of intensity in the air, and you can't find anyone dicking around in that place. No one chatting with a friend, no one watching some video on the net or browsing some meaningless website. The air of pure academic learning and pursuit of something that normally remains beyond the reach of average men.
As I was writing down equations after equations, and drafting course ideas for the synthetic biology class I saw rays of afternoon sunlight streaming through the old windows. The effect was nothing short of solemn. I wish I was able to capture the feel of the
Other than the usual, I wrote some rough draft for diybo $300 course. The idea is to be able to offer a decent 2-day diybio course with full wetlab component for $300 per head. It's a sort of side idea I came up with after reading about the $3000 five day MIT course. Mac Owell sounds quite enthusiastic about that idea, and I really think it might be able to take off. I think the group will be able to offer something by the October of this year, but of course I would need to talk the whole thing through with the group members first and thus the need to think about all possibilities and come up with a workable draft. I will be putting the whole thing up on my blog soon, after I put some finishing touches on the agenda and such.
Being able to come up with some sort of diybio courseware had always been a secret passion of mine. How amazing would it be to be able to do a full scale wetlab exercise in diybio style? Any suitably motivated person would be able to do a biology related research on his or her own. Well, it's already possible actually. Anyone can learn minimal amount of python coding and run BLAST interface through the internet by connecting to GenBank. It's diy bioinformatics and there are some people making noticeable contribution to the field by working with a laptop and minimal scripts.
I see two main problems at being able to run a diybio class though. The first is the relative ignorance of the target audience. Any diybio class would be targeted at novices with no background in academic research. I'm fine with that. I am however, worried about the kind of people who have preconceived notions of what diybio is/should be. There are so many people out there who can't tell the difference between reading stuff on computer screen and actually researching something in academic capacity. It's easy to teach something to people who don't know. It might even be fun. But attempting to teach something to someone who already thinks he/she knows everything there is to know about the subject is painful both for teacher and the student. It's very disheartening to see people who cannot tell the difference between studying and glossing over textbooks.
The second problem is the usual. The need for materials and resources for diybio. It's very difficult, perhaps impossible to grab hold of basic biobrick materials, at least any organization that is not sanctioned by the local government as an educational institution. There will be a lot of red tapes to jump through if I were to pursue an actual wetlab project.
On lighter note, I finally got the java based irc client working on my blackberry. Apparently the program can run on 'regular' cellphones as well since it's completely based on java architecture. Maybe I should give it a try on some of my older cellphones as well. I'm having a bit of fun speaking to the peeps at phys lab and funcom server people trying to solve the arg puzzles. Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
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