Ever heard of octonions ? They're not a new kind of vegetable, but are part of a high dimensional algebra, which is disturbingly fascinating. While reading the introduction, I got the disturbing sense that the author was just making stuff up and seeing if he could get away with it.

But I guess that's the technical definition of "research in mathematics". Truly, it is: the researcher sits or paces, possibly muttering, and then writes. The basic idea is that you come up with an idea and see just how far you can stretch it before it breaks or passes the Hooke's Law limit.
It is important also to stay away from the Hooke's law limit on one's own mind. More coffee and other mind-altering substances have been consumed in the pursuit of mathematics than in all of sysadminnery, it seems...

White shores - palm trees on the beach - pancakes with chocolate and French toast for breakfast - free cocktails - unknown stars and constellations (I spotted Andromeda and Pegasus high in the east) - pimps waking us up in the middle of the night, showing us their 'merchandise' - Wolfsheim music in the lobby - sun strokes and inner ear damage :

Back in Belgium after a two week vacation in the Dominican Republic. Very hot out there, and very cold in here. Luckily, we still get a warm feeling by looking at our pictures.

Lessons learned :
1. transatlantic flights suck
2. I have way too many black t-shirts.

Which would upset you more, your brother dying, or a dozen kids across town getting killed because their bus collided with a truck hauling killer bees?

Which would be bigger news to your neighbors, those dozen mutilated bus children across town or 15,000 dead in an earthquake in Iran?

Inside the Monkeysphere is a very interesting - and humorous - article from David Wong, which describes perfectly the negative impact that a large group of people has on our behaviour : why we care about some people while not giving a rat's ass about most every one else.

This page has 5 IQ tests with a very good content. Be prepared, this is not for the weak of mind or the short of time.

Now I am trying the "Test for exceptional intelligence". The crack that authors of this stuff were smoking is so strong that it qualifies under weapons of mass destruction.

How do you stay organized? PDA? Paper? Maybe, you're not and need to start? However you may organize yourself, you might what to have a look at this tool even, if just for the sheer beauty of the concept and implementation. PocketMod is a browser-based tool and the only requirement is that you have the Flash player plugin installed. Once there, you'll be able to build a portable paper organizer that gets printed on one page of paper. You then fold it in a special way to create a little book.

And if you think PocketMod is cool, you should take a look at Douglas Johnston's D*I*Y Planner, a series of lots of templates distributed under a Creative Commons license, including a 'widget kit' in OpenOffice.org Draw format to assist in creating your own! The D*I*Y Planner is available in several sizes, and new templates are included in every release.