Kimchi

If you care to know more about kimchi, here's an article that was in the SF Chronicle

Finally, a purpose for science

This article talks about a scientist who wanted to test the idea of "double dipping" - that is, whether or not a significant number of germs are transferred when people dip, eat and dip again. It turns out fewer germs are transferred than expected - and thicker dips are better than runny ones because more of the dip sticks to the chip and doesn't run your germs back into the bowl :)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/dining/30curious.html?ex=1359435600&en=4685daa806b50ab5&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! This is my first post of 2008 and I'm happy to report that my resolution of exercising more is going fairly well. Actually, prior to 2008 I never exercised. I learned to use the gym/machines at work and I'm keeping track of my weight.

Other exciting 2008 news: I'm probably going to get knee surgery this year. The doctors tell me that my kneecaps are naturally too high on my legs plus I have very loose ligaments on one side which is what causes my knees to pop out. In order to solve this problem, they're going to cut into me and loosen up one side of my knee and tighten the other to balance out the forces on my kneecap. I have xrays and MRIs I can share soon.

In April, assuming my knee surgery doesn't prevent me, I'm going to be in Florence, Italy for CHI, a conference for human-computer interaction. I'm supposed to do research all over the world this year, but if my knee surgery conflicts I may have to postpone it so I can do the necessary traveling.

The week of February 11, I'll be in NYC.

Carnival is in April, Liz is getting married in September, and hopefully I'll get to go visit Caryl soon.

Overall, it's going to be a busy year!