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Posted by on 2nd April, 2005

Finally Settled In

Finally Settled In

So, I have finally unpacked, started my job, sold my former house and settled in (somewhat). I am very excited about where I am at; I love the neighborhood, weather and environment. The weather has been spectacular, all though I have been told this winter has been an extraordinary pleasant winter. The mountain landscape is breathtaking and the drive to work relatively short and scenic. I am very happy with my new job, the truly excellent team I am working with and the projects scheduled for this year. The city of Snoqualmie is famous for its falls, which is only about 1 mile from my new house. The town is about 20 miles from bellevue and 25 miles from Seattle. Nicely located: far away from downtown, but still nearby should I need a downtown. Anyways, this post is just to announce that I survived the moving process and am recovering nicely. I will be able to answer my emails again and will be working on some new experiments pretty...

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Posted by on 17th January, 2005

Heading West

Heading West

It has been a hectic few weeks and that is all part, of course, of the moving process. I have had more stress than I wanted to, but I hope it will be soon over. Tomorrow morning the moving truck comes to pickup all the stuff and drive it more than 3500 miles in a North Westerly direction towards Seattle. I am really looking forward to this change and I will be back when I receive the things and have moved in… I think I will miss South Florida somewhat, but right now I am really not thinking about it (I probably will during freezing nights and Nordic winter storms). In any case, if I don't answer your email promptly , I am offline for the next week or so, probably worrying about closing dates, installing home utilities and the moving insurance I should have...

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Posted by on 9th December, 2004

Dear Cellphone User

Dear Cellphone User

I rarely write about anything off-topic, but this requires a post… "After reading a story in the NYT, Jim's wife Heidi came up with a method to fight back against the obnoxious cell phone users that we all have to deal with in stores, restaurants, trains and pretty much everywhere else. That's right. We're tired of having to listen to your loud, obnoxious conversations. We don't care about your new haircut or what "he" might have said to you the night before. (We couldn't believe it either!) It doesn't interest us in the least whether or not you are going to attend the company Christmas party or when you need to pick up your ugly kids from soccer practice. No. We don't want to hear it. We're fighting back…" [button link=”http://www.coudal.com/” color=”#FFFFCC” size=”1″ style=”4″ dark=”1″]read...

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Posted by on 6th December, 2004

High IQ test

High IQ test

There are many sites that offer IQ tests for a fee. This one has decent tests and gives you a score right away. If you score higher than 126, you are allowed to subscribe to be a member of the club. Update: I scored 127 and (barely) managed to go on to the members page. Well, it turns out that you have to pay $65 dollars to become a life-time member. I wonder the prestige it has to be a member of this society and if it will actually help with a job-hunt or something similar. I think I am going to pass for now… [button link=”http://www.highiqsociety.org/flash/nonmembers/iqtests.htm” color=”#FFFFCC” size=”1″ style=”4″ dark=”1″]read...

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Posted by on 3rd December, 2004

Aerial photography with RC models

Aerial photography with RC models

As a kid I had several Radio-Controlled models; a speedboat, an electric car, a gasoline powered car and an airplane that flew 50 meters and never flew again… I guess it is one of those toys that is neat for kids but really cool for adults. It has been a while since I picked up a new hobby, but this site made me seriously consider getting back into it. Gravityshots.com makes photography and video of anything that needs to be shot from a different angle. With camera-mounted helicopters, the views and imagery is truly breath-taking. They have an archive of almost 3000 images (watermarked). [button link=”http://www.gravityshots.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Recent_Images&reference=ALL&model=&location=ALL” color=”#FFFFCC” size=”1″ style=”4″ dark=”1″]read...

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Posted by on 25th November, 2004

World statistics meter

World statistics meter

Clever approach of providing pseudo-real-time statistics on world metrics such as Population, Environment, Economics and many more using Javascript. This is an interesting and very sobering site to visit and to realize truly how good we (or some of us) really have it. [button link=”http://www.worldometers.info/” color=”#FFFFCC” size=”1″ style=”4″ dark=”1″]read...

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Posted by on 18th November, 2004

Neighborhood statistics

Neighborhood statistics

While doing research on cities and neighborhoods to live in before making my decision to move to the Seattle/Puget Sound area, I visited many sites that help you with the weather conditions, traffic problems, school statistics and much more. But there is one site that really stood out above the rest, giving a complete report on a certain city or neighborhood including, demographics, crime, housing, family facts, education, economy, health and climate. It is free and you can use it to find out how your neighborhood ranks or to compare it with another one. You can even define your ideal place to live in by indicating the importance to you in each of the categories. The server then runs through thousands of calculations and displays a ranking of the cities which best meet your criteria. [button link=”http://www.bestplaces.net” color=”#FFFFCC” size=”1″ style=”4″ dark=”1″]read...

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Posted by on 17th November, 2004

How to Learn a Language

How to Learn a Language

I have had the tremendous luck of growing up in Europe and at age 17 be fully fluent in four languages, and that without making the slightest effort. As a kid, you seem to learn everything with no effort at all. Older now, I have always wanted to learn more languages, or at least able to understand the basics, but realize it is not as easy as it used to be. I have bought books, tapes and even looked for foreign language clubs. Many books and tapes later I discovered that determination is the key ingredient. Recently I stumbled upon this article from a linguophile who has some interesting tips to share if you are interested in learning a new language. [button link=”http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2004/11/9/195744/646″ color=”#FFFFCC” size=”1″ style=”4″ dark=”1″]read...

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