Here you can find information from my old blog, which used to be at http://seimys.blogspot.com

Matas Seimys - World and Physics

This site is dedicated to show how things are and how they should be, there are a lot of subjects where knowledge is full of superstitions and ignorance. Let's try to improve!

MONDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2006

Google Visibility

Recently I noticed that by entering "matas seimys" in Google search engine you get this blog as a first page. Some of my friends have also read and made a few friendly laughs about my writtings. My first intentions were to write a sort of "online diary" (for me and readers who don't know me), but as this got public it really changed everything.

One could say: If Internet search engines cannot find you - you don't exist. This is a kind of modern philosophy: one cannot tell if thing is real until he sees it (finds it). I bet Immanuel Kant never thought of it like this, afterall, hundred years before who could imagine about this www phenomenon :)

WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 2006

A Jump to Biophysics

A few days ago I transformed from theoretical physicist into biophysicist. By this I mean, that I will continue my studies, but in a field of biophysics.

This is a description of biophysics from Wikipedia: Biophysics (also biological physics) is an interdisciplinary science that applies the theories and methods of physical sciences, especially those of physics, to questions of biology.

This subject has always been interesting to me. I had to make decision: continue studying theoretical physics, where I did some work and have some basic knowledge, or study something that is really deeper and can be applied to solve a lot of problems. I have chosen the unexplored way as I am still young and eager to learn.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 07, 2006

Academical Situation in Lithuania

In a couple of days I am getting my degree in Theoretical Physics. The situation in university doesn't look good - lot's of cheaters, lazy. Some of them will get a degree in physics knowing less than they did before entering university. But of course, lecturers can do it two ways: write grades according to knowledge (1) and after a couple of years half of the new students will be gone or write something "minimal" for absolutely nothing (2). Most of them have chosen "minimal for nothing" strategy.

If we write marks not for the knowledge, then the second way can be divided into two:
(2A) write minimum for all, but if you know a bit better - you get a bit bigger;
(2B) write maximum for the best, and minimum for the worst. The rest - somewhere in between, like Gaussian curve with a peak at average:).

So in my university I say that the lecturers can be put to these categories:
(1) a couple or so
(2A) majority
(2B) less than a quarter

Should Lithuania follow the rest of the world and make subjects easier, then all the teachers could be in 1 category, or continue with 2A,2B? Hard to tell...

Note added (2006 10 30)
To make things clearer I would like to describe the difference between (2A) and (2B):
in (2A) case, you get almost plain distribution, in (2B) - you have Gaussian. It means, if we have 20 people, 5 minimum and 10 maximum score (that's the grade system in Lithuania), we get:
(2A) - 5 5 5 3 2 and (2B) - 8 6 3 2 1 (mark increases from left to right).
Sentence of the day
I am not against religion - I am more or less "in doubt". Today I wanted to tell you one good sentence by George Bernard Shaw, I am translating it from Lithuanian, so it is not very precise:
"Fact, that religious man is happier than skeptic means the same as drunk is happier than sober."

It really gives some insight into two different states of human mind, which are quite uncomparable.

SATURDAY, MAY 13, 2006

Way of thinking

I find it difficult to discuss with people these days. The simple reason is this - they know a lot of separate facts, they make them into one mixture and make far reaching conclusions.

If I ask, what is your principle, key idea. They answer my question with counter-questions or some sentences unrelated to the topic. They are not stupid, but it's just a messy-state-of-mind, which you get when living in this information age. There are millions of opinions, hundreds of views and when you read them all - you just don't have your own stable thinking. Internet made this possible.

My advice to such people: stop and think for a moment. What is the most important idea? What is the key principle? What is the thing, that you ground your ideas on?

Then we can talk.

SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 2006

Notes on Linux and Fortran

Currently I am writting from my freshly installed Ubuntu Linux system. A lot of scientific application (like MCHF package) are based on linux, so I really need it to work.

Ubuntu looks better to me than Fedora Core. Less problems, all is working:)

Most of scientific programs are written in the old language Fortran. My "supervisor" (i.e. older collegue) works on Fortran 77 which means, that it's syntax was created in 1977. I suggest using fresh new fortran, which is available free for personal or research work, you can get it from Intel: http://www.intel.com/cd/software/products/asmo-na/eng/compilers/flin/index.htm

SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2006

ITER and thermonuclear fusion

There is a great interest in thermonuclear fusion and energy it generates. Research and experimental reactors cost billions of euros, so it is international project: USA, Canada, EU, Japan, Russia, China. It is the second biggest project after International Space Station.

Science is all about the money: scientists try to present things as best as they can to get money from politicians. After this stage politicians try to convince society that some particular project is of the great importance (to make a good reason for spending collected tax from taxpayers), and thus even more money is spent in advertising compaigns. I am not against, but it is just an example of free and liberal society manipulated by advertising compaigns. We see it all the time.
Perfect Tool for Blogs
There is this extension for Firefox called "Performancing" which let's you publish a blog with a couple of clicks. You can do it while surfing the web.

Firefox is really ahead of all the other browsers, so if you don't have it yet - download it! :)

Download sites:
Firefox: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox
Perfomancing: http://performancing.com/firefox
World and Physics - First Post
The basic idea behind this site is to give my overview of some particular properties of the world. I hope to make this blog an interesting place for all kinds of people: scientists, students, open-minded, intelligent people.

This page will be in both languages: English and Lithuanian, as I am not experienced enough to express some of my complex ideas in English. However, most of it will be in English.

This is more or less like a diary and will reflect my current state of min, which might change later on. Please comment if you think some ideas are short-sighted or incorrect.