Future of Steam Energy

Someone just made water boil without heating.

An article from Popsci:

Today in mind-bendingly cool stuff that nanoparticles can do: A team of researchers at Rice University in Texas has demonstrated a mechanism by which they can create steam in just seconds by focusing sunlight on a mixture of water and nanoparticles. This isn’t just some artificial means of lowering boiling point either; this solar powered “boiler” can produce steam before the water even gets warm to the touch, without ever bringing the aggregate water to a boil.

***

The technology works by mixing a small amount of either carbon or gold-coated silicon dioxide nanoparticles, each just one-tenth the diameter of a single human hair, with water in a glass vessel. Their small diameters--smaller than the wavelength of visible light--means that they can absorb most of a light wave’s energy rather than scattering it. So when sunlight is focused on the vessel with a lens, the particles quickly become quite hot--hot enough to vaporize the water directly surrounding it.

This creates a bubble of steam that envelopes the nanoparticle, which is now insulated from the cooler liquid water by the steam, which allows it to grow hotter still, vaporizing more of the water immediately around it. At some point the nanoparticle and its steam envelope become large enough to grow buoyant, at which point the whole steam bubble--particle and all--floats to the surface. The steam is released into the air, the particle falls back into the cooler water and sinks back down until it begins to absorb sunlight and heat again, at which point the process starts all over.

 That's amazing. Right now, all we have to turn turbines with steam is through nuclear plants and polluting coal plants (on top of hydroelectric dams and so on). This, if it succeeds in progressing to industrial scale, is going to be the game changer of clean energy.

But then again, what if this becomes a weapon instead? Imagine the oceans evaporating themselves at a higher rate than they are evaporating now...(shudder)

TED

I don't know why it was named TED.

Anyway, it is still one of the more worthwhile websites you can visit today.

TED features videos of the presentations  of the many speakers which grace TED conferences. These speakers are often the movers and shakers of their respective industries and, in these presentations, they share something about themselves and their passions.

Some presentations are interesting, some are funny or provocative, while others are simply inspiring.

Here's the link to the site.

Self-Portrait

Here's my new face. With a new bad-ass scar above the eyebrow. Cool.

The Sermon And The Gospel

Once upon a time, I thought of doing a blog post homily every Sunday (based on the Gospel for the Day of course). I thought about it as advance practice if Divine Will should dictate that I become a priest. But, like almost every idea I can think of these days, it never materialized.

Simply put, it is hard. Coming up with a 15-minute sermon based on a 2-3 paragraph Gospel reading is not what it seemed to be.

I guess the blame points back to me. Either I didn't try hard enough or I aimed too high.

I wanted these sermons to be earth-shattering revelations full of intimate reflections and newly-found truths. I didn't want to sound like those priests I criticized way back who were content with rehashed and hackneyed homilies. In the end, I was in a state of paralysis: not wanting to start because the perfect idea for the sermon hadn't come my way just yet.

Looking back, I have a better appreciation for priests in general. It's hard to put out an inspiring message every week, let alone every day. It's doubly hard when the message had to be grounded upon a text (the Gospel) that has been around for quite some time and which has been analyzed, shared, refined, and reflected upon for so many years. Against this backdrop, even a decent homily is a great accomplishment for a priest and a great and novel homily, in turn, is a miracle.

Tito Sotto's Side Of The Story

While, for the past few weeks, everyone was busy castigating a senator for alleged plagiarism, a columnist quietly set the record straight.

Here's an excerpt from Neal H. Cruz' column last November 20, 2012:

Media reporting on the plagiarism issue was incomplete and distorted, Senate Majority Leader Tito Sotto cried at the Kapihan sa Manila at the Diamond Hotel on Monday. 

“I am not accusing media of inaccuracy,” Sotto said, “but the sound bytes were incomplete and so gave a distorted view of the controversy.” 

“I am being accused of plagiarism, that I plagiarized a speech of former President John F. Kennedy and used his words as my own in my speech in the Senate against the RH (reproductive health) bill. I did not,” he said, adding: 

“Plagiarism is when you use somebody else’s work and claim it as your own. I did not claim the Kennedy quotes as my own. On the contrary, I said the quotes—by Kennedy and by others—are not mine. I was just using them to aid my arguments against the RH bill.” 

There is speculation that it’s the fault of Sotto’s ghostwriter. The speculation goes that the ghost, pressed for time as his deadline approached, was forced to use the Kennedy quotes—forgetting to use quotation marks—to finish the speech on time, and that Sotto himself did not know that at the time. But Sotto was man enough not to use the ghostwriter as a scapegoat and accept responsibility. 

But according to Sotto, what happened was that his staff researchers had accumulated so much quotes and information on birth control that when his speech was being crafted, they did not know who said what. 

“I made a general disclaimer,” he said in Filipino. “I said: ‘These are not my words but of others in the know on the subjects—birth control, contraceptives and abortion.’ Read my speech; the disclaimer is there. I never claimed the quotes as my own.” 

So the sin is that you forgot to use quotation marks and give proper credits? a reporter asked. 

Sotto replied: “As I said, the problem was that there was a welter of quotes that it was difficult to determine who said which quotes. So I made a general disclaimer: ‘I am not saying these. Others said them.’ I disclaimed authorship of the quotes in my speech.” 

Why don’t you furnish reporters copies of your speech? 

“I did, but the reporters disregarded the disclaimer,” the senator said. “You see, they got copies of my draft speech. But I made the disclaimer during my speech in the Senate.” 

So why don’t you give them copies of the Senate Journal where your exact words are recorded? 

“I also did that,” Sotto said. “But they paid no attention to it. They are doing it because of my opposition to the RH bill, and I know who are behind the black propaganda.”

I'm not a fan of the senator (and I have no intention of voting him if he runs again) but it was good to have his side of the story come out even from a single column. I've always had this lingering thought that perhaps something was amiss during the entire new blitzkrieg that happened several weeks back. Perhaps, some reporters from an otherwise impartial media have some explaining to do why his side wasn't reported as well.

Or maybe this is another PR stunt. In that case, only the Senate Journal can tell the truth.

Fraternities

Now that the first semester of my law school life is over, the question begs itself: what do I think about fraternities in law school?

If I were to ask myself now if I'll ever join one, the answer would be an emphatic no. There's simply no point in joining at all.

Of course, one would argue that joining a fraternity can do wonders in expanding one's connections, something that will prove to be vital once one is already a lawyer, but still the act of joining a fraternity is not a necessary part of surviving law school.

Studying is admittedly a solitary activity and so is passing law school and eventually the Bar. Fraternities have nothing to do with how well you study or how well you fail.

As for the argument for "connections", a classmate has this to say: If you're smart, people will eventually gravitate towards you (actually, he spoke this in Bisaya but it sounds better in English).

At this point, let me stress that I'm not against fraternities. Some people need it. Some people don't. And for some who willingly subject themselves to humiliation through initiation (like the suckers who visit the office to perform errands for Cathy, an office mate who's a sorority senior), maybe they sincerely believe it's all worth it to be part of the clique.

Ate's Wedding

I'm really proud of my Ate.

That statement succinctly sums up my reaction to her wedding.

For the information of the general public, Eula Marie E. Bataller got married last October 20, 2012 in a wedding ceremony held at Our Lady of Fatima parish. It wasn't a lavish wedding (I was a lector for several weddings and I can say that with confidence) but it was complete. All the people that really mattered were there: family, friends, and God. Just like what my Ate wanted when she confided to me several months back.

Now, allow me to qualify why I'm so proud of my Ate.

First, she never broke my parents' trust. She and her fiance ultimately adhered to the saying, "Kasal sa, bago buntis", and proved, in these cynical times, that true love can really wait.

This might seem quite a mundane achievement to some but, for me, inundated lately with a lot of news of friends, relatives, and acquantainces getting pregnant out of wedlock, her wedding was a breath of fresh air.

Second, she saved for this event. Admittedly, putting up the money to hold a wedding was a joint effort between her and Tyrone (my brother-in-law's name), but still, she saved money. My ate, who is not exactly known as a saver, did something quite contrary to her established nature.

Third, she managed the wedding with full grace and poise. No frantic last-minute arrangements, no hang-ups, no stressed moments. Just her great smile. You could blame the wedding planner for this though. But for someone with no professional event planning skills to boast about, she did pull it off.

And did I mention she was other-worldly beautiful that day? 

Six Degrees Of Separation

Just want to get my facts straight.

I think I mumbled this up during my conversations in the office but I wasn't sure if I got it right. Basically, I tried to explain that each of us can be related, by way of actual relation or information, to just about anyone in the world through several people (I mentioned eight but the actual number is six).

I also think the Wikipedia article can do the explaining better:

Six degrees of separation is the idea that everyone is on average approximately six steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world, so that a chain of "a friend of a friend" statements can be made, on average, to connect any two people in six steps. It was originally set out by Frigyes Karinthy and popularized by a play written by John Guare.

Cool, isn't it? Nowadays, some are already stipulating that all of us can now be connected by just four degrees.

Gymming

Gymming is a term I got from Kit Loma. And yes. I'm still going to the gym. Alone.

I'm writing  this post because of some habits I've observed among the gym rats. Actually, I'm annoyed with these mannerisms but since I'm not the only one paying for the use of the gym, I have to put up with these annoyances every time I go. I'm writing this down because you, reader, might be guilty of one of these and it is my hope that, now being aware, you'll stop from getting on my nerve.

1.) Dropping the dumbbells - There's this guy who, after finishing his sets, drops his dumbbells. He doesn't gently put these on the floor. He drops them from several inches up. It's annoying because it's not necessary, it's loud, and he's clearly doing it to show off.

2.) Grunting - There's also this guy who does a lot of guttural noises whenever he does push-ups. Every time he does it, I roll my eyes and wish he'll just shut up. There's no need to advertise your macho effort or your distress.

3.) Staying Too Long In An Equipment - I also understand that you need time to recover after a grueling set but if you stay for five minutes, just sitting there on the workout bench, I'm going to ask myself why you're wasting my time. Sit somewhere else. I need to use the pull-up bar.

4.) Staring At Me - I'm not flattered whenever you do that. I'll just think of you as a closet gay guy looking at me. Creepy. Stare at someone else please.

Facial

Okay.

By the time you see me again, I'll have a scar slightly above my left eyebrow. Plus, some of my eyebrow hair shall be missing. I'll be Harry Potter except that my scar wasn't brought on by malevolent forces but only by a freak accident.

Still, I think I'm cool with that. It's going to add some character to my face (as if I needed another one) and it's going to be another topic during dinner which I can talk about when I'm with my friends ("How did you get that scar? What happened? Tralalalala...")

I'm just eternally grateful it didn't get my eye or teeth. Now, that would be a tragedy.

A Book?

I was thinking of having this blog published as a book in time for this blog's fifth year anniversary next year. It's going to be self-published and I got the idea while I was perusing through a bookstore and saw Jessica Zafra's Twisted, a series of books about her columns. 

It's interesting because I never thought I'd see myself still writing in this blog after three to four years. I've always thought blogging was going to be a pastime I'd grow out of as soon as I find something new to do.

So I'm publishing a book by next year and it's going to be a physical collection of everything I wrote in this blog. Maybe, ten or five copies are enough, just so I could have an archive of sorts if ever Google goes down and takes my blog along with it (the horror).

Deja Vu

This is a picture taken last 2008. I'm with my colleagues in BayanTrade, my first company. The place is Bohol Beach Club, where we had our company summer outing.

From left: Me, Kit, Ma'am Grace, Clinton, Glenn, Pansit, Lea, Palang, Jeff, Ciara, Maricor, Criselle, Bern

Here's the same pose but with a different set of characters: my colleagues in BPI, my second company. The place is somewhere in El Nido, Palawan.

From left: Sam, Henry, Yotz, Sir Ramy, Me, Sarah, Grace, Nica

A Review Of My First Semester In Law School

My first semester went well.

I passed all my subjects. I adjusted well with my new routine.

However, to be honest, I really didn't give my 100% focus on being a law school student. I didn't finish reading my books. I missed reading some cases along the way. I skipped classes when I didn't feel like going.

In a way, my shortcomings are acceptable. I'm working and I also have other priorities in mind. But I'll try to do better next semester.

To be clear, the aim now is simply to pass law school, not become a top-notch student (this one  I cannot do given the constraints of work and time). But that's okay. I'll just have to make sure I pass the bar when the time comes.  

See You Soon Sir Ramy

That was dumb.

Only realized now that I can't post this video on Youtube or Facebook because it might be flagged for copyright violations (Blogger might flag this as well though).

But I digress. Below is our tribute/despedida video to a local icon in our office, Sir Ramy:

Good luck sir.

Note: This video is officially the second time I edited something (the first was the MTV for KFC Punta Dumalag). I'm not really fancy when it comes to execution but I make up for it by starting out with a good concept.