Mountain Views News          Saturday, November 20, 2010

12

THE WORLD AROUND YOU

 Mountain Views News Saturday, November 20, 2010 


UK Scientists Create “Mini Big Bangs” in Large Hadron Collider

 UK scientists working on the Large Hadron Collider’s 
(LHC’s) ALICE experiment at CERN are celebrating the 
LHC’s latest achievement which opens up an entirely new 
avenue of exploration. The successful collision of lead ions in 
the accelerator at record energies allows matter to be probed 
as it would have been in the first moments of the Universe’s 
existence.

“We are thrilled with the achievement!” said Dr. David 
Evans from the University of Birmingham. “The collisions 
generated ‘mini Big Bangs’ and the highest temperatures and 
densities ever achieved in an experiment.”

“This process took place in a safe, controlled environment 
generating incredibly hot and dense sub-atomic fireballs with 
temperatures of over ten trillion degrees, a million times 
hotter than the center of the Sun,” Dr. Evans added. “At these 
temperatures even protons and neutrons, which make up the 
nuclei of atoms, melt - resulting in a hot dense soup of quarks 
and gluons known as a quark-gluon plasma. By studying 
this plasma, physicists hope to learn more about the Strong 
Force, one of the four fundamental forces of nature. The 
Strong Force not only binds the nuclei of atoms together but 
is responsible for 98% of their mass. I now look forward to 
studying a tiny piece of what the universe was made of just a 
millionth of a second after the Big Bang.”

“I am so excited that the ALICE experiment is finally going 
to be able to glimpse lead ion collisions from the LHC,” said 
Birmingham University PhD student Zoe Matthews. “The 
environment the collisions will create is mind-blowing, 
and observing them will offer up insights about the earliest 
moments in our universe’s life. I feel so lucky to be a small 
part of this exciting piece of history.”

The 10,000-ton ALICE experiment 
has been specifically designed to study 
the extreme conditions produced 
in these lead collisions. While 
the conditions created in the LHC 
detector will be a world record for 
man-made experiments and represent 
a great achievement for science and 
engineering, they pose no threat. More 
energetic particle reactions occur 
regularly throughout the Universe, 
including in the upper atmosphere of 
the Earth itself.

ALICE is one of the four main 
experiments at the LHC designed to 
study the physics from ultra-high-
energy proton-proton and lead-lead 
interactions. Physicists working on 
ALICE will study the properties, still largely unknown, of the 
state of matter called a quark-gluon plasma. This will help 
them understand more about the strong force and how it 
governs matter; the nature of the confinement of quarks—
why quarks are confined in matter, such as protons; and how 
the Strong Force generates 98% of the mass of protons and 
neutrons. The ALICE detector is placed in the LHC ring, 
some 300 feet underground, is 52 feet high, 85 feet long and 
weighs about 10,000 tons.

The UK work on the ALICE experiment is funded by that 
country’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) 
with physicists from the University of Birmingham playing a 
key role.

Located near Geneva, Switzerland, CERN is one of the 
world’s largest and most respected centers for scientific 
research. Its business is fundamental physics - finding out 
what the Universe is made of and how it works.

For further information, see the CERN LHC website:

http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/lhc/lhc-en.html

You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@MtnViewsNews.
com.


Ask jai……


Windows turns 25 on 
November 20, 2010. First 
introduced in 1985 as an 
add-on to Microsoft MS-
DOS, the operating system 
would come to dominate the 
personal desktop computing 
market and now runs on fully 
90% of the world’s computers. 
Just about anyone who’s done 
any amount of personal computing using a 
Windows machine can relate that all has not 
been well during the last 25 years and some 
of their experiences have been downright 
crappy, to put it mildly. It’s almost become a 
sport for some to belittle the humble Windows 
PC in this age of iPad’s and smartphones but 
while the longevity of these products still has 
yet to be determined, the Windows OS has 
stood the test of time and has provided the 
shoulders for new technological innovators 
to see further from. 

This last quarter of a century has provided 
the computing world with more than a 
few highlights and lowlights featuring the 
Windows OS. While the number of entities 
introducing true technological innovation 
to the computing marketplace continues to 
increase these days, the solid groundwork laid 
by the Windows OS played no small part in 
making the consumer computing landscape 
what it is today. The popularity and ease-
of-use that Windows provided the end-user 
caused the price of the hardware supporting 
the OS to drop to the point where the average 
consumer could afford to purchase a computer 
of their very own. In the very early days of the 
IBM-PC Compatible and other clones there 
were many different technical standards for 
the hardware that made up the component 
parts of a PC. Some standards worked well 
for Windows and others worked well for 
other operating systems. After the market 
began to sense that Windows would be the 
OS to build for, the technical manufacturing 
industry began to produce hardware better 
suited to the Windows OS. This also led to 
a huge growth in programming centered on 
developing and supporting applications for 
the Windows platform. This concentration 
of effort was the jump-off point for the 
biggest market-supported focus on personal 
computing development and has led directly 
to the wide variety of systems (both Windows 
and non-Windows) currently available to the 
consumer today. The road to where we are 
now as a fully computer-integrated society 
has hardly been a smooth one for Microsoft 
Windows or any other OS out there today 
(remember Windows ME) but even the most 
ardent anti-Microsoft critic would be remiss 
in not giving Windows its props for putting 
the personal computer into the hands of the 
home user. So without further delay…Happy 
Birthday,Windows!

(Full Disclosure – This article was typed 
prepared on a Apple MacBook running OS X 
10.6.5)


Ask jai is a weekly column that will strive to honestly answer your job search 
questions relating to job searching techniques, networking skills, resume writing 
and interviewing. The employment situation is getting better, however, it is still a 
challenge finding were the jobs are located and how to get pass the “gate-keepers”. 
As an Executive Recruiter I was privy to working directly with Corporate Recruiters 
and understanding their process in selecting which candidates to interview and 
hire. I will candidly answer your questions, possibly bluntly answering you 
questions, but I will be totally honest. My objective is to help you achieve your 
employment goal. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

WINDOWS!

Q: I have posted my resume on numerous career 
sites and recently received e-mails from people 
stating they are interested in my employment 
background. They are requesting I send my 
resume and contact information. I am really 
perplexed by this since all that information has 
been posted by me on their site. Their e-mail 
only lists a name and phone number. I called the 
phone number but only get a voice mail. The voice 
mail does not have any company information. I 
am really anxious to be considered for a position 
and to become employed. Should I respond and 
send my resume? Suspicious

Dear Suspicious:

Trust your instincts. If an e-mail looks or feels 
suspicious to you, then do not respond. There 
are “bad people” out there searching and luring 
job seekers like yourself looking for employment. 
This internet technique is called “phishing”. It 
is not an old technique, just one that keeps 
evolving to target new and unsuspecting 
people. A phishing technique was described in 
detail in 1987, and the first recorded use of the 
term "phishing" was made in 1996. The term 
is a variant of fishing, probably influenced by 
phreaking, and alludes to baits used to "catch" 
financial information and passwords (wikipedia.
org/wiki/Phishing). I vehemently suggest you 
do not reply any e-mail that does not include 
all of the following: a company name, address, 
phone number, a job description or position 
information. Spend your job-search time 
responding to legitimate employer requests and 
inquiries for employment. 

Q: My supervisor recently informed me I will not 
receive an increase in my salary due to cut backs 
in the department budget. She said I might 
receive an increase after 90 days, regardless of the 
fact that my performance reviews are good. Well, 
I do not have 90 days to wait. I have financial 
responsibilities that I can not meet due to the 
low salary that I am receiving. So, I’ve started 
looking for employment. My company is sending 
me out of town for a 3-day industry related 
conference. This will be my first time and I am 
sure I will not know anyone attending. Would 
it be wrong for me to let people at the conference 
know I am looking for another position or if they 
could help me find employment with another 
company? Want to do the right thing

Dear Want:

YES! Conferences and conventions are great 
places to meet new people and discuss your 
work history, skills and experiences. The most 
important thing here is that you must be very 
professional in the way you present yourself, 
your current position and employer. Do not 
present yourself as a dissatisfied employee. 
Spend the first few days introducing yourself and 
getting to know your colleagues and exchange 
business cards. Research and investigate their 
companies. Develop a target list of who you 
want to approach. I would suggest that you only 
approach those people who you feel will keep 
your job search confidential. You do not want 
to jeopardize your current position. The last day 
of any conference is usually spent networking 
and discussing employment opportunities. 
Relationships have developed and people usually 
feel comfortable with each other. Take advantage 
of the opportunity and go for it!

Thanksgiving: 

Our Dependence Day! 

RICH Johnson


Ahh Thanksgiving week 
is upon us. 

I wonder if the spirit of 
Thanksgiving has held 
on all these years because 
it is essentially illegal to 
‘diet’ on Thanksgiving? 

Or possibly many of us are thankful on 
Thanksgiving because that’s the one day in 
a year family members travel hundreds of 
miles to be with other family members? And 
we are thankful we see those people only 
once a year. Who can say?

In any event here are some ponderables to 
consider around the Thanksgiving table.

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose 
weight. That’s because by then your body and 
your fat have gotten to be really good friends.

The easiest way to find something lost 
around the house is to buy a replacement.

Did you ever notice the Roman numerals for 
forty (40) are XL?

If you can smile when things go wrong, it’s 
because you have someone else in mind to 
blame.

The sole purpose of a child’s middle name 
is so he can tell when he or she is really in 
trouble (Richard Otis!!)

Did you notice when you put the two words 
‘the’ and ‘IRS’ together it spells ‘theirs”?

 When you are dissatisfied and want to go 
back to your youth, think of algebra.

One of the many things no one tells you 
about aging is that it is a nice change from 

being young. Yeah, being young is beautiful. 
But being old is comfortable.

Back to Thanksgiving here are a few notable 
quotes on the subject:

“Thanksgiving, man! Not a good day to be 
my pants.” Kevin James 

“On Thanksgiving Day we acknowledge our 
dependence.” William Jennings Bryant

“Coexistence…what the farmer does with 
the turkey – until Thanksgiving.” Mike 
Connoly

How many cooks does it take to stuff a 
turkey? One, but you really have to squeeze 
him in!

Finally, here is a poignant Thanksgiving 
poem to help you celebrate your holiday:

 

May your stuffing be tasty

May your turkey be plump.

May your potatoes and gravy

Have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious

And your pies take the prize,

And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off your thighs!

Anonymous

 

I am particulary thankful this Thanksgiving 
for my writing partner, Lisa Bowman. Apple 
has just released our App for the IPhone. 
Called UpElevator it’s best described as a 
clever, motivating quotes from mostly dead 
guys. App. Lisa is best described as the beauty 
and the brains behind this odd couple. And 
special thanks to Lisa’s husband Chuck for 
letting Lisa come out and play. 

Have a wonderful holiday.

 
What are your Thanksgiving 
traditions? Do you cherish 
your aunt’s signature cranberry 
relish or your grandma’s green 
bean casserole year after year? 
Does your family gather round 
the TV with the dedication of 
zealous fanaticism to watch football? 

I vaguely recall that my family used to share 
such traditions when more of them were 
alive and/or in the area. At my 
grandma’s house half of us would 
busy ourselves in the kitchen while 
the other (male) half watched the 
game with varying degrees of 
interest. And every two years 
there’d be a heated political debate 
following the recent elections. 
But now my family’s numbers are 
dwindling and my mom usually 
hosts Thanksgiving.

How does this change 
things? Well, for starters my 
mom’s mid-life conversion to veganism has 
gradually obliterated any carnivorous aspects 
of the holiday. At first my family and I were 
enthusiastic about trading individual steak or 
salmon fillets for the traditional dry turkey. 
The past few years, however, have seen a 
total overhaul in the form of curried lentils 
and savory seitan (wheat gluten pronounced 
suspiciously like “Satan”). I don’t mind this, 
since I was never devoted to the standard 
stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy. A little 
whey protein never hurt anyone.

I must admit that when trying to think of 
something to write about for Thanksgiving I 
came up blank. My family just doesn’t have any 
unique traditions (heads up -- this is a preview 
of my Christmas and New Year’s installations). 
After querying my friends I found that several of 
them have traditions involving Chinese food or 
sauerkraut. I also turned to the internet in search 
of interesting holiday rituals. One family I read 
about dresses up like pilgrims if they’re hosting 
dinner, and the guests dress up like Indians. Cute, 
but that story made me appreciate my family’s 
loose grasp on tradition. I’ll keep 
my regular clothes on, thank you.

One “tradition” I don’t look 
forward to, however, is my mom’s 
inevitable request for me to make 
dessert. She’s nice to say “dessert,” 
technically opening up a world of 
possibilities, instead of blatantly 
telling me, “Make pumpkin pie!” 
No matter how far my family 
strays from tradition, there 
is always the expectation of a 
smooth, creamy, pumpkin pie 
with a voluptuous plop of whipped cream. When 
I think back upon my childhood Thanksgivings, 
there was always a homemade pumpkin pie, 
baked, I assume, by my grandma, (She always 
baked pies for our church’s Thanksgiving festival, 
so she was well-practiced.). I won’t say I can’t 
bake at all. I’m usually capable of cakes and 
cookies. But part of culinary maturity is knowing 
your limitations. So, this year I will again bring a 
pumpkin pie to Thanksgiving… with the help of 
my good friends at Marie Callender’s.

TOFURKEY