Apps

I'm working with science and technology every day. Therefore I'm not very interested in playing with gadgets outside office hours.

I prefer to spend my free time reading, writing and skiing.

Yesterday I made a great leap forward: I got my first smart phone. Not because I'm interested in smart phones, but simply because people expect me to read mail when I'm out travelling. There have been some problems and misunderstandings when I didn't (like messing up time and place for drivers to pick me up in Moscow, not a good thing to do).

So, now I've got a brand new HTC phone (that's what they give us at work). And where do I go to learn how to use it?

Answer: Ask the kids. They have a natural feel for how these things work (older boy has an iPhone4S; guess who paid for it).

The kids taught me how to download apps from the Android Market. There are thousands of apps, for doing all kinds of rediculous and useless things.

So far, I've downloaded one app: Kindle Reader for HTC >:)

(That's a picture of my new phone, downloaded from the HTC homepage. I vivited their site to get the user manual on a pdf)

Tiger sharks

They appeared before my eyes, right inside of the door in the ski-shop by the lift; a pair of Völkl TigerSharks, demo skis, used once or twice, on sale for 1/3 of the list price.

I asked the cashier if I could try them a couple of runs on the slopes (buying skis is like buying a car; you should test before you buy). I made up my mind before I finished the first run, and bought the skis for $450, including bindings.

The TigerSharks are slalom-shaped skis (length 168cm, curvature radius 15m), perfect for making short turns, excellent grip at high speeds. They're pretty aggressive, and they bite, not me but the snow.

This is my 4th pair of skis. I have two pairs of giant slalom skis; my good old Dynastars that have served me well for almost 10 years, completely worn out, and I have a pair of Rossignol skis that little boy is currently using for downhill and Super G, so they're adjusted to his boot size right now. Also, I have a pair crappy twin-tip skis (K2), OK for jumping (which I hardly dare to do anymore), but to soft to make a proper carving turn.

So, as you can see, I really needed the TigerSharks >:)

(That's my new Völkl TigerSharks in the picture. I've been skiing them for 6 days in row now, and I'm very happy with them.)

Room with a view

I'm out traveling gain. This time I'm on a domestic flight on the west coast. This is one of the places I couldn't live. The town is nice, but it's too little snow in the winter. Skiing areas are too far away.

The funny thing that happened on this trip was as follows: I knew the hotels would be pretty full this week, so I booked long time in advance. Yesterday when I arrived, it turned out that the travel agency had messed up the booking, so I didn't have any hotel, and all of them were full.

But I found a solution, a small pension near the town center. It's a small and simple place. I think I'm about the only person staying here right now. Kind of scary to be alone in an old and empty hostel. Reminds me of The Shining. Bad weather and heavy winds outside, all kinds of weird and mysterious sounds ... mwuuuhaaahahaaah >:)

The price is less than 1/3 of the hotels we normally use on business trips, and the pension only has 7 rooms. It's like living in someones private house. I don't complain. This is different, and interesting.

Here are the pros and cons of a place like this:

Pros: Breakfast is very good. I'm being served by a table on my own by the lady who runs the place. Nice and cosy, and they do have a WiFi. No TV; then I don't need to waste my time on that (I hardly ever watch TV anyway. Bought a cool book in the airport yesterday; Invisible by Paul Auster). The center of the town, with bars and restaurants is a five minutes walk away. There is a library downstairs, same as the breakfast room, with books and newspapers.

Cons: No bathroom and shower in my room. I have to go down two stairs to get to the shower, and three stairs to get to the WC. Front door closes at midnight. Yesterday I checked in 5 minutes before closing time. Tonight I've got my own key to the front door, so I can come in as late as I want.

Cool place to stay. I don't miss the luxury of a high-class business hotel, not at all.

(It's my pension in the picture above. I downloaded it from the internet. It's a nice old house, in the old central part of town. I'm staying on the top floor. I have a nice view of the town center in the morning when it's getting light.)

Heat

It's been a freezing cold day with a lot of heat.

At work today, I solved the heat equation. I try to simulate a stack of sedimentary rocks being heated by the crust below, and how temperature develops through geological time.

When I came back home, I lighted the fireplace to heat the kitchen and the living room. Then I made a hot meal for the kids.

Tomorrow is race day for little boy. This evening, I waxed his skis. It's a long and tedious process to do it properly: First, sharpen the edges with a file. Second, heat the wax with a waxing iron and melt it into the base. Third, scrape of the excess wax. Finally, brush and polish the base. Then the skis are ready for the super-G race.

Now I'm relaxing with a hot cup of tea.

My old lady has been away on a business trip today. When she comes home tonight, I hope the heat is on >;)

(I computed the plot above at work today. It shows the diffusion of heat from below through a package of sedimentary rocks. After 50 million years, hot magma intrudes the sediments. The time-step between each temperature curve is 10 million years ... not much God could have done about it in 6 days, and resting on the 7th.)