1. High-performance computing, and computing in general, is in a state of flux and is possibly in the process of undergoing a paradigm shift, which is simultaneously unsettling and exciting.
   
2. My decision to emphasize software flexibility and adaptivity in my preliminary planning for a 3-year astrophysics software development project has not only been ( Read more... )

Today I picked up my key to my new office, which is in this "green" building:

( Read more... )

Why can't I stay awake at 3pm? And, more to the point, why can't I sleep at 3am ( Read more... )

My cold has quietly taken up shop in my left sinus. Of the Mayo Clinic symptoms of sinusitis, I've had some facial pain on the left side (though only when I bend over), dental pain on the left (infrequent), nasal congestion, halitosis, a bit of a cough, and slight nausea. However, I have not had a fever for several days. And I'm feeling better ( Read more... )

This week I have been psyching myself up to start bicycling regularly again. I haven't biked regularly in over a year. I was planning on going for a couple shortish rides, 10 miles or so, today and tomorrow. And the weather is really nice out, even by San Diego standards. But I'm not going to ( Read more... )

I haven't posted in awhile, so I figured I should.

For Christmas my parents got me a subscription to Sky & Telescope Magazine, the first copy of which arrived a few days ago. Which I was happy about, even though it was the February one, which I had already read at my parents' when I visited them Christmas ( Read more... )

I remember in high school (circa 1980s) seeing a table of names for orders of magnitude in a science book. The table looked something like the one below. (For a more complete list, see this page)

milli- 10-3kilo- 103
micro- 10-6mega- 106
nano- 10-9giga- 109
pico- 10-12tera- 1012
femto- 10-15peta- 1015
atto- 10-18exa- 1018
Many ( Read more... )