Monday, March 31

continuity

This perception is repeated, virtually every time I spent the better part of a night awake: the world is a continuous experience.

I realize the affirmation doesn't make much sense (if it makes sense at all, that is), but I don't see much into it (and if I need an excuse for that, tell yourselves it's five o'clock in the morning - I'll tell myself that's just the way I am).


Usually, I effortlessly split the world into "day" and "night", my existence going between waking up, doing my daily things and going to bed. To my perception, I virtually don't exist at night, at all.

In all this sequence, I try to salvage some time in the evenings, by going to sleep later, and taking some time for myself, or in the mornings, by going later to office.

More or less, my life is, to me, an array of days, one coming after the other.

Every time I stay awake through a significant part of the night though, the continuity of it all strikes me: my perception shifts from the last week-yesterday-today-tomorrow kind of abstraction, to a continuous flow passing through "here" and "now" image, a view of day changing into night and back into day again, with no interruption.

Maybe I should spend more nights awake, just to break my "discreet view" of things. On the other hand, I already know I'll be sort-of paying for it tomorrow, most probably through concentration lapses, while working, or through drinking more coffee (neither of which I'm particularly fond of).

It doesn't matter though ... have a good night ... wherever you find yourselves.

Edit: It seems I'm not the only one describing this sensation:
I also didn’t decide to stop because of the general weirdness of polyphasic sleep. It took me many weeks to psychologically adapt to this pattern of sleeping, but I did eventually adapt. It gave me a whole new perspective on the passage of time. I saw time as passing continuously rather than being chunked into individual days. That was such an interesting experience. (from Polyphasic Sleep: The Return to Monophasic)

Wednesday, March 26

mouse of the future ... err ... apparently



(via Things From Life)

The thing's website is futuremouse.com. I'd definitely like one, but at the time they come to market I expect the would be very very expensive :(

Tuesday, March 25

plastic fair play

plastic fair play

I will probably post fewer pictured for a while as my new camera produces RAW files that open very slowly (14Mb per file). This means that until I manage some hardware opgrades (that is, until I buy a new computer) I will limit my post-processing somewhat.

Monday, March 24

new office

Well ... we moved. The office is more or less at the same location (three hundred meters down the road) but we have mountains view, sea view, more space, more light, and all kinds of other good things.

As it is now, I feel a cool breeze in my back (large thermo-pane windows are open wide), and everything is right in the world ... or something (this will probably change somewhat when the AC unit on my side will need to be turned on but who cares?)

There are also cardboard boxes and packaging wraps all around, people are still unpacking stuff and part of the network hasn't been set up yet, but this comes with the territory.

In the meantime, I can see the mountains, right in front of me. I'll probably put some pictures up at one point or another, but right now my home laptop is kind-of broken and I need to get something new so ... in the meantime ... no pictures processing :(

Monday, March 17

the most common-sense filled statement on quantum mechanics

On the other hand, I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics. So do not take the lecture too seriously, feeling that you really have to understand in terms of some model what I am going to describe, but just relax and enjoy it. I am going to tell you what nature behaves like. If you will simply admit that maybe she does behave like this, you will find her a delightful, entrancing thing. Do not keep saying to yourself, if you can possible avoid it, "But how can it be like that?" because you will get 'down the drain', into a blind alley from which nobody has escaped. Nobody knows how it can be like that.


Excerpt from Quantum Mechanics by Richard P. Feynman (The Messenger Lectures, 1964, MIT).

Quite rarely do I find something so filled with common-sense, regarding a subject so far apart from common-sense as quantum mechanics is.

Later edit: Who knew Feynman practiced zen?

smarter image resizing

Friday, March 14

Happy π Day!

Today is 3.14, a day when some weirdos are celebrating the number π. Happy π day, mathematically inclined people, wherever you are!

Tuesday, March 11

wherever you go, there you are!

I'm back in office again. Yay!. Luckily yesterday was a public holiday, because I needed Saturday and Sunday to recuperate.

I slept a lot through the weekend, and yesterday I got out of my burrow for two hours, and went to Kurion to take some pictures. I was aiming for the kites people are raising on Green Monday, but they were not that interesting to photograph.

In the end I took some pictures of the sunset (that look like all other sunsets methinks :-\) and generally caught my fingers in my new camera.

It was fun though, and I might get a pleasant surprise when I start post-processing.

Meh! I need a coffee.

Thursday, March 6

steam-like

achievment unlocked: workoholic

random impressions

Well ... Sofitel is nice ... and so is Vienna; the flight was a bit too long to be nice.

We arrived yesterday afternoon, after an escale in Zurich, and I only managed twenty minutes of sleep or so (that's what I get for bringing good books with me on the way).

I took some pictures with my camera phone, but I'll probably manage to put them online only after getting back :(.

Doesn't matter much though.

Tuesday, March 4

change

Sometimes, change is so slow that you could swear that today repeated yesterday and yesterday repeated the day before, to perfection.

Sometimes ... well ... sometimes tomorrow I'll be in Vienna. The whole ... party started with "we're going to need to send either you or X to these guys, probably sometimes this week".

Now, my ticket's on my desk, I'm rambling stuff on my blog about it and I need to go home and start packing. I also need to decide how much money to take along, what to take with me, and if I will have any time to take pictures.

As far as changes go, this one is a nice change, although I don't think I'll have much time actually see things around there.

Wish me a good trip :)