Aahhh... it's that time again... thinking time...

Found this video while surfing the 'net.
Got me thinking... We all, in fact everything in the universe and beyond, are nothing but nothing...
Watch the movie, ponder about it, reflect on it and chart your destiny...

LHC is alive... and so are we...

The large Hadron Collider (LHC) has successfully managed to perform what it was supposed to do... a 7TeV proton collision... (no no, not the Wira, Perdana, or the likes)...


Yet, we are still here... the earth hasn't been swallowed by black hole (yet?)... anyhow, more news on the net.. one of it is here ...

Some light reading (for some)...

On the Origin of Gravity and the Laws of Newton

Starting from first principles and general assumptions Newton's law of gravitation is shown to arise naturally and unavoidably in a theory in which space is emergent through a holographic scenario. Gravity is explained as an entropic force caused by changes in the information associated with the positions of material bodies. A relativistic generalization of the presented arguments directly leads to the Einstein equations. When space is emergent even Newton's law of inertia needs to be explained. The equivalence principle leads us to conclude that it is actually this law of inertia whose origin is entropic.

Ha ha... you got this far... so here's the full theory...

My wish for this Christmas...

Parabolic Reflector for USB 3G/EDGE/Wifi

I recently started using wireless broadband for my mobile internet access. While I was able to get around 1mbps at my office location, the coverage doesn't extend well to my housing area. I have to be contented with EDGE. EDGE would still be okay for my occasional internet need at home but the signal strength is so bad that I could barely make any connection.

So, again, I'm off to the internet for a solution. A full parabolic dish would probably be an overkill for my need so I settled with parabolic reflector instead. After about 20 minutes on the PC for the parabolic design and g-code generation; and another 20 minutes on the Sherline CNC, my simple parabolic reflector was born. Made from acrylic (left over from other projects, thus the multiple colors), the reflective portion is covered with the kitchen grade aluminum foil.

As shown above, the reflector can be set vertically on the table or attached to a normal handphone holder bracket for more articulated positioning (below).


How did it perform?
I have no way of measuring true dB improvement but the signal meter on the software provided went up by 2-3 bars when the reflector is used. For now, I could utilise EDGE almost full speed (around 200kbps) without fail. Happy at last... :-)

Duit Raya... from Google AdSense

As always, me as skeptical as ever... wondering whether Google will actually make the payment since I've heard various horror stories regarding the AdSense payment. Well, my balance finally hit the magic USD100.00 minimum required for payment and I anxiously waited for the moment.

After typical processing time line, I check my account at AdSense again and it was stated that payment has been issued (without any email advising me on the matter). To avoid possible embarrassment at the bank, I called up Western Union customer care to check if the payment is valid and genuine. The Philippine lady who answered my call confirms it.

So, today I went to the bank. The first time I ever receive any money via Western Union. Rushed to the nearest CIMB Bank, fill up a form, waited for the counter to call my number and voila... the proof in sight...

Cheap interactive screen with WII Remote

Found this video on the net... Did some surfing on the subject... maybe my next project... hmmm.... Link is here