Rop's Reflections

Well Roger didn’t play well and lost to Djokovic in the Australian Open 2008 semifinal. It’s a tough loss but this was just the first tournament of the year. He’ll bounce back.

Going to Karlsruhe, Germany tonight. Long plane ride. Don’t know what to do on the plane yet. Maybe listening to music.

It’s been over ten years perhaps since I last went to Europe. Looking forward to facing the cold and seeing beautiful buildings. Mon-Fri will be spent in XRD training center mostly though.

I’ve followed Ron Paul this US election. I agree with many of Dr. Paul’s views of non-intervention and small governments. I don’t understand why war-mongering candidate like McCain is winning.

Wars are fucking stupid.

At Australian Open, four men are left: Nadal, Tsonga, Djokovic, Federer. Djokovic will be a tough matchup for Federer. Then if he won, he’ll probably face Nadal. Not an easy road to get the 13th Grand Slam.

At Macworld Expo in San Francisco today, Apple announced their newest Mac today. MacBook Air-world’s thinnest notebook. Thickest part is 0.76 inches, thinnest 0.16 inches. 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.

Very sexy. It will be a hit. Design always sells.

January is a good month in terms of sports. Two of my favorite sports to watch are in action. Tennis is back. First Grand Slam of the year begins tomorrow. I’m eagerly anticipating to see Federer in action after a 2-month break.

The NFL playoff is pretty interesting too. New England Patriots are amazing 17-0 so far. Don’t know who can beat them. There is no team I particularly root for, but I just love watching the game.

Keeping my eyes and ears on the US presidential race. It’s at least more interesting than Thailand’s politics. Candidates seem to be more inclined to discuss real issues.

However, it’s taking way too long. It’s like a blockbuster movie that is promoted months before it hits the theaters, or NBA playoff series. Way… too… long.

Anyhow, here’s my favorite candidate so far. Barrack Obama giving a speech after New Hampshire primary.

There are two kinds of thinking. One is backward thinking. People who do this are those who just stay with the old rules and norms. They feel afraid to change. Status quo is their mantra. They think they are doing the right things, but they are backward people.

The other is forward thinking. The people in this group think for themselves. They don’t ask dumb questions like “As a member of so and so group, we are supposed to do this or be like this.” They create new ways of doing things. They make changes. They move the world forward. There are unfortunately a lot less people of this type in the world.

Video of Steve Jobs gave an inspiring commencement speech (Stanford in 2005). He talked about finding things you truly love. Even when life deals you a blow, like Jobs being fired from Apple, don’t give up. Don’t settle for less. Live each day as if it is the last day of your life.

Not sure which video game system to buy? Consult this simple flowchart.

Through the years, I’ve learned from many good teachers. Here are some great teachers/professors (all Physics), past and present, whom I have had opportunities to learn from, both in actual classroom settings and online. They have my highest regards.

• John F. Lindner (College of Wooster): One of the greatest influence for me to major in physics. Colorful, brilliant, and nice.
• William Heidbrink (UC Irvine): A dedicated, enthusiastic teacher.
• Andrew Lankford (UC Irvine): very bright, nice
• Maxwell Chertok (UC Davis): Gave a good class on experimental aspects of particle physics.
• Ramona Vogt (UC Davis): brilliant, detailed
• Daniel A. Cebra (UC Davis): my very helpful advisor and good friend
• Walter Lewin (MIT): His video lectures are colorful and easy to understand.
• Edwin F. Taylor (MIT): dedicated educator, good learning resources on his website
• Richard Feynman (Caltech): genius who explains things well

Certainly, there are others that I miss.