2.29.2008

Weird Meme

Okay, here it is: find the book closest to you. Turn to page 123. Locate the fifth sentence. Post the sixth, seventh, and eighth sentences.

The book closest to me was The Physics of Information Technology, by Neil Gershenfeld. The selection is below.
To find the field distribution everywhere, it's necessary t o solve Maxwell's equations in cylindrical coordinates for a diverging wave. This is a surprisingly non-trivial calculation [Yariv, 1991], but the result drawn in Figure 8.4 for the fundamental radial and azimuthal mode TEM00 is close to what we just found. At the focus, the phase fronts are parallel and the transverse amplitude has a Gaussian dependence with a standard deviation of w, the beam waist.
So, that was fun! Do it, people of the world!

2.14.2008

Very Tired

Between work and moving, there is little rest for the weary, let alone the wicked.

2.05.2008

Tourist Tips for D.C.?

Anybody have any? The people at Pentagon directorate did decide to bring me out for an interview.