Nemoworld

I have been following an excellent course on my iPod in the train about Electromagnetism. The courseware published by MIT is performed by the brilliant Walter Lewin during 36 memorable lectures.

I’m still finishing following course #29 but since course #22 I can be happy to master and understand Maxwell’s Equations:

Maxwell Equations

It was a great pleasure to follow that course. Mr Lewin structures each course the same way:

1. Present one or two new concepts
2. Explore the consequences and possible mathematical/physical paths to follow
3. Demonstrate it with one or several experiences

It’s a lot of fun and you learn quickly to integrate complex notions with some work on the side (other than just watching the video in the train…)

Here is the lecture #22 which concludes the first part:

MIT offers lots of very interesting free courseware, and I encourage you to look at the full list.

Next one: Quantum Mecanic by Leonard Susking from the Stanford University (also on iTunesU !).

Happy new year to everybody!

This year was clearly special in many ways.

Goals for the new year to come:
- share more info on Internet
- use a different way than a blog …
- listen more classical music
- learn piano!

And more

I recently read an article about a study made by a team of researchers from Penn State University showing that beeswax and bees are contaminated by pesticides with a maximum of 31 of them!

It seems you have here a kind of combination of multiple molecules creating a highly toxic compound.

As usual in biology, the cause of a problem is rarely coming from one factor but from multiple.

Of course, this study doesn’t prove that combination is the cause of CCD but it certainly contribute. They want know study the difference of organic vs non-organic bee keeper.

Source (en): http://live.psu.edu/story/33989
Source (fr): http://www.apivet.eu/2008/09/les-pesticides-ont-ils-une-responsabilit%C3%A9-dans-le-ccd-commencent-%C3%A0-se-demander-les-am%C3%A9ricains.html

YES it’s true here is the proof …

Sorry I couldn’t resist ! Too hilarious !

Here is as a fun video that a good friend gave me

How to explain the purpose of the LHC in rap style !
Like we say in French: Tout un poême !

The fun part now is to see so many concerns that the LHC will trigger the end of the world. It’s funny but it’s sad to see a so bad knowledge of science and particularly nuclear physics.

Thank you Didier

I have found a way to put back online my old posts going back to 2004.

I can’t find my first web page hosted by my university. Archive.org didn’t exist yet !

It’s pretty good to see the tag cloud getting shaped the way it is.

Ainsi va la vie

So yesterday, after a good night of sleep, we did several bike tours around the Mirror Lake (yes it’s a tiny lake so…) and got a map of the region (to see the hiking trails).

We ended up during the evening in a very good (this time) restaurant: Great Adirondack Steackhouse & Seafood. I never ate a so good prime rib steak honnestly. It was serve like I asked (medium rare) with a smal container with gravy inside and a good baked potatoe. Friend meat lover, go there !

The rain pushed us back to the hotel at the end of the day…

Ok today, we are going to climb Wright Mountain in the south of Lake Placid. The last review I saw said 6.2hours round trip and close to 2500ft difference. The backpacks are ready.

See you

Here we are !

We got to the place (The Mountain View Inn) in about 6h through the interstate 87. And this inn is in pretty good shape and good location.

First thing, you can smell and feel the difference in the air here. It’s cooler, less humid and a smell of pine comes from time to time.

After putting suitcases and bikes, we got a small visit of the town and finally got to a restaurant called “Firestone” … Well don’t go there seriously. It’s really not good at all.

Now, this morning after a quick breakfast in the motel (coffee and fruits), let’s go biking around Mirror Lake

See ya

Ok I have chosen the wrong hosting company it seems …

Dedimove was a reseller of dedibox machines. It seems they got in trouble with Dedibox company and since then no access to my server and of course I have only an old backup of my blog …

Well, perhaps it’s time to start from scratch … again.

Anyway, this time I need a regular backup or close to that.

See you soon

Nicolas

We have started to house hunt this past Saturday.

After seeing 12 houses (some were canceled by just passing by …), 2 just stayed in our mind. One was very spacious and a bug backyard but very close to the highway … and the second one, very cute looking, a bit small and lots to repair.

We almost bought that last one, but finally keep looking for a better opportunity. This house was too small anyway and too many problems vs cuteness/location.

So, it’s just a start. It’s our first time so we are pretty green to that kind of task, bu we are learning fast !

To be continued …

Update (2008/08/29): We finally bought a house and closed end of April. Since then it’s lot of work to do as well, but lots of joy