All posts by kirsch

My left knee

This wouldn’t be the first time I post images of my insides… no, it would be the third one (one, two). But like my mom always used to tell me, when judging people, it’s what’s inside what counts. Or something like that.

In any case, here’s an animated MRI of my left knee that just looks too cool to pass up. I used OsiriX, an amazing Open Source medical imaging software for Mac OS X, to generate it from the original DICOM files.

My First iPhone App

Myself and some colleagues started going over the iPad and iPhone Application Development course. It’s a class taught over at Stanford University and available for free (as in beer) on iTunes U.

After two sessions, it was time to get my hands dirty. Today I completed my first assignment: An RPN Calculator.

Left to right: iPhone, Mac, Proud Developer.

Not much credit to me here, I was mostly following a tutorial (but unlike in the tutorial, I made the background gray).

Here’s a glorious screenshot:

I understand that if the App Store was an actual physical software store, all my readers would already be lined up to buy their copy. Well, the good news is that the App Store is not an actual store where you have to go get in line like a schmuck. The bad news is that this app is not going to be available for download at all. It’s really a piece of junk.

But I am already brewing (in my mind) what will become the app that will make me rich beyond anyone’s dreams. The brewing is not going well so if you have any ideas, please feel free to pitch in.

At some later date I may write a little bit about my impressions of Xcode, Objective C, Cocoa Touch and this whole iPhone app development thing.

Guanajuato

Shlomit and I decided to trade turkey for enchiladas mineras and spent the full Thanksgiving week in the state of Guanajuato, México.

We visited:

  • Guanajuato: the famous mummies, the Alhóndiga de Granaditas, Callejoneada, etc.
  • León: A large industrial town, known for their quality (and affordable) leather products. Yeah, we went leather jacket shopping!
  • Dolores Hidalgo: The cradle of the Independence.
  • San Miguel de Allende: A lovely colonial town now overrun by retired gringos and their pooping dogs.
  • Atotonilco: A nice church surrounded by four or five tiny houses. Home of the “Mexican Sistine Chappel”
  • And last, some photos from Karina’s wedding.

As usual, a bunch of innocent and non-compromising photographs have been posted to The MKX® Photo Central.

Oh, and three videos:

Impressive breakdancing by a Mexican mime in San Miguel. Yes, Impressive:

Impressive brick tossing by Mexican construction workers in San Miguel. Yes, Mexican:

Impressive dancing routines by Cirque du Soleil performers. Yes, Cirque du Soleil:

Today’s quote: Isaac Asimov

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.
― Isaac Asimov

I will add a second one by Walter Isaacson from his excellent book Einstein:

A popular feel for scientific endeavors should, if possible, be restored given the needs of the twenty-first century. This does not mean that every literature major should take a watered-down physics course or that a corporate lawyer should stay abreast of quantum mechanics. Rather, it means that an appreciation for the methods of science is a useful asset for a responsible citizenry.

The theme is clear: The lack of not only scientific understanding, but of basic respect to science is commonplace in the United States. Issues such as global warming are debated and questioned by politicians, media, and the general public on a daily basis in spite of there being near complete agreement among scientists about it. I think that this attitudes will cost the U.S. its scientific leadership unless it is reversed.

Queretaro

One of the perks of being an engineer is that you get to constantly travel to remote and exotic locations.

Ok,that’s a lie. But last week I did get to spend a few days working in Queretaro, Mexico. I even got to check out the city a little bit. Here are a few photos and a couple of videos from the trip. I am quite pleased with their quality, given that they were taken with a cell phone.

Some kind of Folkloric dance:

Energetic street dancing (using performance enhancement drugs?)