Happy New Year! [General]

I eventually had internet connection here in Crystal River of Florida. I will have my last dive tomorrow and head back home. The trip so far has been perfect. I saw the Statue in Key Largo, turtles in West Palm Beach and this afternoon I saw the manatee. I got many good shots and far more beyond what I had expected before the trip.

I will be on the road tomorrow for the new year. Thanks for all the friends and your great help during the past year! Best wishes in the new year!

Weiwei posted @ 20:10:39 || Crystal River, FL || Comments (0)

Happy Holidays [General]

Hello my friends - Cheer up - it's holiday!

I had some problem with the STM yesterday and have to wait until after the holiday. Sometimes you learn what is good and sometimes you learn what is bad - both are good learnings.

But anyway, I just need to throw all of them to the back and enjoy the break. I will be travelling from tomorrow. I will go to New Haven tomorrow morning and drive with Chi to Maryland tomorrow night. We will stay in Georgia on Dec-24 and get to Key Largo on Dec-25. The first dive will be on Dec-26. On Dec-28, we will dive at West Palm Beach and on Dec-31 we will be at Crystal River. I will try to get access to the internet and update some information. Hopefully I can share with you some pictures when I come back.

Hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Weiwei posted @ 15:38:15 || Cambridge, MA || Comments (0)

Some Updates [General]

I was busy last week working on the ozone. The purpose is to cover the gold surface with a layer of atomic oxygen. Everything went smoothly - we made the oxygen layer and are ready to move on. I spent the most of the weekend working on my thesis, reading papers and did a little bit experiment. Research is fun if you are passionate about it. I am trying to finish as much as possible before the trip next week. I have been so focused on the research recently that I cannot wait more for diving.

I recieved a gift from Hui - it's cookies from New Haven. I often stole her snacks in the lab before when I was hungry during the experiment. Thank a lot to Hui - a nice gift!

p.s. I am sitting here watching NATURE. It's talking about the octopus. They are amazingly beatiful! I like Sunday night - there are so much to watch on TV.

Weiwei posted @ 17:21:45 || Cambridge, MA || Comments (0)

Wild Chronicals - A National Geographic Program [General]

The PBS now has a program from National Geographic Society called Wild Chronicals. You may check out it sometime. It's a weekly short program. Most of the stories and films are breath-taking.

Weiwei posted @ 20:05:51 || Cambridge, MA || Comments (0)

Post Thanksgiving Dinner [General]

The group gathered and had the dinner at Bob and Cyndy's home today. It's a lot of work for Bob and Cyndy to prepare the food for so many people. Cyndy's son came back home from college and Cyndy is very happy. How nice it to go back home in holiday! It reminds me when I went back home from college in holiday, how happy my mom was. A little bit missing home.

Weiwei posted @ 20:02:53 || Cambridge, MA || Comments (0)

Holiday Is Coming [General]

I seldom saw so many people crowded in the super market. Eventhough the price is really cheap in this Market Basket Mall in Somerville, this many people still remind me that the holiday is coming.

There is still a lot of work to do - but the coming holiday gives us strength to finish the last piece of job of the year. It's time to send the wishes of the season - Happy Holiday!

Weiwei posted @ 19:54:39 || Cambridge, MA || Comments (0)

Imaging Gold (111) Surface - Update [Research]

After several more days of stressful work, I finally had the image of the herringbone structure on gold (111) surface. Dilini and I worked most day of today and finally got the images. The research work most of the time is so frustrating that you would never think anything good would happen. But even the smallest results will pay off all the hard work.

Weiwei posted @ 17:08:35 || Cambridge, MA || Comments (0)

Snow Storm Dumps In Northeastern [General]

Big storm hit northeastern area today. Well this is definitely not the worst storm I saw but it set the daily snow record for Boston, Providence, Hartford and Worecester. I was doing experiment today. The interesting thing is the window of the lab is on the ground floor. So basically I could watch the snow falling whiling collecting the STM images. I believe this snow is just a beginning - more will come.

Weiwei posted @ 21:10:38 || Cambridge, MA || Comments (0)

Imaging Gold (111) Surface [Research]

Dilini and I obtained good STM images of Au (111) surface today. The STM image on the left shows clear steps on the surface. The reconstruction of this surface can be seen in the big terrace but it's not very good.

Gold is a surface easy to image. It's not a big deal to get STM image of this surface. But the point is the STM system goes back to work. The very hard work of the past month is paid off. From the past month's work, I learned a lot and got familiar with the system. There are still more difficulties ahead and there still a lot to do but I think this is a good start.

Weiwei posted @ 17:04:40 || Cambridge, MA || Comments (0)

First Snow of 2006 [Thoughtful]

I have the special feeling to the first snow of each year and I do not why. Maybe it's just the beginning of a new season or the sign for a whole new year. It lets me feel good. We had the first snow today here in Boston.

I have been watching a lot of shows recently - I finished Sex and the City, Six Feet Under and Nip/Tuck and I am following Desperate Housewife and Grey's Anatomy recently. People are desperately struggling with their lives - not merely for living but for moving forward to a higher level. Meanwhile all of us are trying to enjoy and have fun.

Weiwei posted @ 19:00:32 || Cambridge, MA || Comments (0)

A Day In New Haven [General]

I spent a day in New Haven. Eric just came back from California and we need to talk about my thesis as well as things I left in the lab. It was great to see things I am very familiar with. I still need to come back for my defense in January.

I played squash with Min. I haven't played since I moved to Cambridge. It's very good. Had dinner with Min, Weiwei, Jun, Zhao Yin and Xia. I saw the Christmas tree in the New Haven Green. The stree has been there for every December to celebrate the holiday. I took the picture in 2003.

Weiwei posted @ 18:24:57 || Cambridge, MA || Comments (0)

BBC Photographs of the Year [Photography]

Take a look at the BBC Photographs of the Year. Pay attention to the one of winning photograph - the schooling barracuda was taken at Ras Mohammed in Egypt with the Nikon D100 and 10.5mm lens. I learned the information from wetpixel.com.

Weiwei posted @ 01:09:50 || Cambridge, MA || Comments (0)

Trip to Florida [General]

Chi and I are planning a diving trip to Florida. Here is our brief schedule:

Travel to Florida in the Christmas is tough. It took me for a while to find cheap place to stay overnight. Well it's a diving trip - we don't really need fancy place to live. Seems like there are lots of diving. Plus we are going to drive down there. It must be very cool.

Weiwei posted @ 11:37:09 || Cambridge, MA || Comments (0)