Bench Talk

Some days I just stare off into space and think about the impact the Internet has on our lives. I recently took a break to listen to a song. The fascinating thing is the comments below the song. They, at the time I was listening, were encouraging. You hear all about stupid people on the Internet, but there are also encouraging people. How different was it before the Internet?

When I think of encounters with extraterrestrials I imagine them coming in their big space-traversing ships and with far more knowledge than we have. This is of course assuming that they find us. Not only do they find us, they decide to visit us.

I got to the end of my last blog and found myself so excited about the possibilities of Radio Frequency Identification that I could not help but sit down and do some thermal engineering to satiate my desire for some math and physics, the foundations of engineering.

The awesome thing about the human mind is it never fully shuts off. The terrible thing is, this does not always mean it is being clever. Case and point. Some time ago I went to Body Worlds, a traveling exhibition of preserved human bodies and body parts that are prepared to reveal inner anatomical structures. By the by, never take friends to Body Worlds without first feeding them. Hunger plus Body Worlds can make for an unpleasant experience.

Awhile back I was walking past the door to the lab where I work and noticed that there was a meeting going on to which I had not been invited. I guess they assumed the sophomore-level undergrad did not have much to contribute. It’s not that they would be wrong, but still it’s nice to be invited. As I walked into the room I noticed that I did not recognize one of the people, and he had a distinct accent. I went on to learn that he was Spanish, but is a professor at Aalborg University in Denmark, both of which might account for his accent. He was giving a presentation on Smart Grids, and since I am helping out with my professor’s Smart Grid research I figured I would stay.

I often find myself at the end of the incredulous question, “What are you doing?” My perfunctory responses run from “adjusting the clock” to “checking the charge this capacitor can hold.” The next question often is something like, “Why did you think it was OK to pull wiring out of the wall in your classroom?” or “Why is our microwave in several pieces?”

I know there are all kinds of rules against anthropomorphizing the equipment with which you work. It makes you overly attached to it, but I just can’t help it when it comes back with a Fourier Transform like this...

Star Trek's transporters. Star Wars’ death ray. The Jetsons’ flying car. Back to the Future's time machine. Stargate’s (and many other) cloaking devices. Science Fiction has a myriad of cool gadgets and gizmos. So my question to 2014 is: Why did I end up with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's appliances?

I have long wondered how I would respond to being knocked out and having some of my body parts forcibly taken from me. The recent necessity of needing my wisdom teeth removed gave me the perfect opportunity to find out.