Liloia.com

Where'd you go?

Ok, so I have been almost completely absent on the blog for the last few weeks. It's for good reason, and I am finally here to tell you why. Two weeks ago I spent my last day with Triosyn Corp. and made the transition back to PerkinElmer.

For those of you that know me, this is the place I had worked for almost 4 years previously, and where I had to leave because we had moved to Vermont. I am glad to say that after some long conversations I have now rejoined PerkinElmer as the new E-Commerce Adoption Manager responsible for North American online sales. I couldn't be happier. I love the team that I am working with, the job is really cool (I get to blog internally for PerkinElmer, and my boss is a really great guy), and I get to work from home when not traveling.

So there you have it. Surprise surprise, Dave Liloia changed jobs again. After you recover from that shock I have a bridge to sell you online.....cheap.

Playing with Poo

Tonight, the ECHO Science Center held a preview of this summer's Grossology exhibit—based on the popular book series.

Trevor had an excellent time. He played a life-sized game of Operation, smelled the bacteria that make feet stink, and filtered potassium out of blood and into urine. But his favorite spot was called "Paint with Poo." Kids were painting on a paper-covered table with brown-colored shaving cream. Trevor started out with a paintbrush, but it wasn't long before he was squishing his hands through the trays of shaving cream. I have to admit, it did feel neat.

Trevor shouted to every kid who hesitated to touch the brown piles, "It's just shaving cream and paint... here!" and slopped a pile of it into their hands before they could object. The adults nearby were getting a kick out of how gleeful Trevor was playing with the mock poo. The staff member running the exhibit asked for a camera to snap a few photos of my poo-covered, giddy son.

There were snacks ("pus tubes" which were filled with yogurt), trivia games (I won a prize for knowing that a periodic spasm of your diaphragm muscles is a hiccup) and a climbing wall of magnified human skin. It's a good thing I renewed our ECHO membership tonight... I have a feeling we'll be back there a few times this summer.

Look at me! Look at me! I'm light!

Light did some crazy things in the lab this year, not the least of which was going faster than itself.

In their experiment, [Rochester University's Robert] Boyd and his team split a burst of laser light, sending one beam through the optical fiber and allowing the other to travel without interference, for comparison. Oddly enough, the first beam’s peak exited the far end of the fiber way ahead of the peak of comparison pulse.

Odder still, the exiting peak escaped even before the orginal peak had entered the fiber. What had happened was that as soon as the leading edge of the original pulse entered the fiber, the fiber instantly cloned an identical pulse at the far end. That cloned peak exited before the rest of the orginal had been introduced.

Liloia.com has obtained an exclusive chat transcript from that day:

MrOhm1964: OMG.
MrOhm1964: dude
Mitochondruid: ?
MrOhm1964: we made light go faster than istelf today
Mitochondruid: did you see survivor? i can't belive Aras won. wanker.
Mitochondruid: no way
MrOhm1964: yes way!!!
MrOhm1964: agreed. he was totally riding terry's back the whole time
Mitochondruid: pics of light!!!
MrOhm1964: gmail or univ account?
Mitochondruid: gmail.
MrOhm1964: I am totally getting a nobel prize
Mitochondruid: those are for peace
MrOhm1964: I wanted Cerie to win
MrOhm1964: she was getting hot toward the end
Mitochondruid: youa re sick. mcd's today?
MrOhm1964: um, no... I'm busy MAKING LIGHT GO FASTER THAN ITSLEF today. but thank you
Mitochondruid: heh
MrOhm1964: bring me back 2 applie pies.
Mitochondruid: k. give me a dollar when I get back
MrOhm1964: dude. I just MADE LIGHT GO FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF LIGHT and you can't spot me a dollar for two apple pies?
MrOhm1964: WTF?
MrOhm1964: I am NOT thanking you in my nobel prixe speech
Mitochondruid: oh is your faster than light light going to bring *peace* to the world? cause you're not getting any prize otherwise
MrOhm1964: KMA. there's the peace prize and there are OTHER prizes. bring me pie.
Mitochondruid: later.

Which is worse?

George W. Bush vs. Bird Flu

After todays announcement that GWB authorized domestic wire-tapping.....I vote for Dubyah.

Be all that you (almost) can be.

Cory Doctorow reports that Disney plans to take it down a notch in the Mission: Space department. My own experience on the ride was less than ideal. And I did heed the warnings.

The first day we arrived in Orlando, we dropped off our luggage at All-Star Movies and spent the rest of the day in Epcot. Dehydrated and headachy from the flight down, I opted-out of Mission: Space after reading—and carefully considering—the multiple warnings.

Trevor and Dave got off the ride raving about the realism. I figured if a seven-year-old could handle it, it was fine for me. On our second day at Epcot, I succumbed to the beaconings of Gary Sinise and boarded the ride. But I knew there was going to be a problem when we were buckled in and the air conditioning started blowing in our faces. Why do you blow cold air into someone's face? To stop them from getting sick. I never felt nausea, but I did feel like I might pass out during simulated takeoff, and I was shaky for the rest of the day.

The upside of the new alternate ride is that the Mission: Space line may be shorter.

Summer Reading List

I have been picking through eBay this week, looking for discounted versions of the books that have been languishing on my Amazon wish list for years. Here's what's coming in the mail over the next few days.

Martha Inc.
The Tokaido Road
If the Buddha Dated
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

It looks like this is my summer reading list. Remember those? You had an entire summer to read The Grapes of Wrath, but always ended up speed-reading it during the last week in August. Even if you liked reading.

We also won the bidding on a lot of 40 Goosebumps books for Trevor as well... let the words begin.

What's for dinner? Steak & Crispy Waldorf Salad

Everyday Food is my new favorite magazine. Which is saying a lot from someone who (at one point) received over twenty magazines each month.

Last night, I put together their recipe for Crispy Waldorf Salad. (Chain restaurants have a tendency to throw chopped apples on a salad and call it a "waldorf salad," but the traditional version includes a thick mayonnaise dressing.)

Everyday Food's take on the salad is a light, crispy mix of thinly-sliced fennel, celery and apples, with chunkier bits of grapes and pecans. Instead of slathering all of that veggie goodness with mayo, their version substitutes yogurt, EVOO and lemon juice. Dave and I ate most of the salad, Trevor tried it, but we couldn't convince his best friend to give it a taste (maybe when we have vareniky...). I also couldn't find the fennel until I realized the market had it shelved under "anise," even though it's a completely different plant.

Two notes:
1. MSLO's recipe URLs are not very user-friendly. (Mouse over this one.)
2. I would like a mandoline.