America Through The Lens Of

Recently I travelled a bit, got a very cheap close-up lens, and met people.



As usual, click through the link to the original post/pictures.

WAHHA GO GO

Well, this one is completely scary. Both in the beginning and in the end (while it's a bit long in the tooth inbetween).

Invisible Bugginess

A programming language is too flexible when innocent typos result in different semantics.
C++ is too flexible.

Compare the following two. If I didn't know that I have messed around in those lines just five seconds ago, this would be a tough one.

if (!recon.importSlice (newFrameImage, QTime(), true)) {
...

if (!recon.importSlice (newFrameImage, QTime()), true) {
...

Probably the longest double in the world

Everybody knows doubles can become pretty large. How large, exactly, was a mystery to me until I ran into a voxelspace allocation issue today. I had to copy the mm-value out of the debugger to properly assess its size. Now I am pretty confident that doubles can grow at least up to 17 inches and a bit. That's slightly more than one-point-four foot, I think. Or square root of two feet. Or foot. Not to confuse with two square foot. Big foot.


Click the image for full-foot glory.

Flash, Macro, Tripod

New toy parts; initial results.

MS Office 2010

The following needs to be read carefully, and from a distance, for full hilarity to take effect.

Microsoft also announced Thursday a new SKU called Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Business Edition, launching Sept. 15. It will be sold alongside the current edition available for students, and aims to simplify the product lineup. The new business version will include Entourage Web Services Edition and Microsoft Document Connection for Mac.

"These two components help bsuinesses of all size connect to software and services and mange their businesses," Wilfrid said.

Although probably the typos come from AppleInsider, the underlying absurdity can only be a Microsoft emission.

A Weekend - Housemates and Annapolis

As usual, hit the link to the original post and see the picture slideshow.

Hopkins, One Year Later

Last week, my little boss extended my contract here at Hopkins for another year. (End of newsflash, opinion piece follows.)

(I just looked up the term "op-ed", which I had presumed to mean "opinion-editorial" or sth. like that. However, it means, "opposite of the editorial page". How good I didn't embarrass myself.)

So, I've spent almost eleven months at Hopkins by now, working in Little Boss' ultrasound lab. I learned a lot about the use of ultrasound in interventional settings, about ultrasound physics, about elastography, registration, about hardware, about compilers, code optimization, and linkers, and also about students, student life, guiding students, running a lab, acquiring projects, running collaborations, and politics. Life at a private research university is stressful (luckily, I am blissfully shielded from funding acquisition almost completely).

In fact, X told me long ago that a) I would love the country for its gadgets (true), and b) I would learn how to work properly at Hopkins (also true). Unless one makes a very conscious decision to get out of lab in the evenings, one gets absorbed.

Now I am looking down the barrel of another year at Hopkins, in Taylor's LCSR, in Emad's MUSiiC lab, where by now I have seen people come and go, have seen students grow and students break, with reasonable researchers and crazy scientists, with personal quarrels and project vendettas.
It's a big place, it's got lots of people, and every day brings about a new piece of wisdom, knowledge, or at least some insight.

Mt. Washington is a quiet, green suburb. Sitting at my breakfast table on the rear deck, there is one other house that can be seen peeking through the forest. Squirrels, raccoons, and deer abound, with foxes here and there. Admittedly, one can hear the expressway in the valley when the wind is coming the wrong way, and the police helicopters' din is a staple of Baltimore life. Luckily, East Baltimore and "Death Valley" (north of JHMI) are far away.

Overall, it's a good experience. You get to work with great people, have captivating projects, get to work on your own ideas, push some publications, and have an agreeable life. In my private life, I am no smarter than I was before. Still, I'm looking forward to the beginning of year two.

Homewood, Medical School, and Mt. Washington

A few random pics from when my Mom was here for a visit.



As usual, hit the link and view the original post.

Baltimore Artscape, and Lab space

Two completely unrelated picture sets, one from the annual Baltimore Artscape festival that regularly draws crowds to music, art sales, movies, and food, and one from our lab, deserted at night.



As usual, click on the slide show to see bigger pics.

CHANEL N°5, and Audrey