What I Want?

不是什麼深奧的人生哲理，只是很簡單的"我要什麼"。明白的說，就是"我想要買什麼？"

常常在網路上，商店裡，或是從朋友那裡，看到很喜歡的東西，想買嘛，不是沒有多餘的錢，就是現在買下來的邊際效用(marginal utility)太低。例如，想買一本很好的書，但是現在根本沒有時間看，那買下來除了沾灰生霉，除非是絕版最後一本，實在沒有即刻擁有的必要；或是說， 基於自已慾望的追求想買的東西，是沒有非買不可的必要，但是或許某天會給自己一個獎賞，這會是令人相當快樂的。

諸如此類的情況，幾乎每天都會遇到，而心中就有那麼一小塊的空間，堆滿這些想買但又不是時候的東西。

但是，好記性不如爛筆頭。所以，為了避免有遺珠之憾，我在MSN Spaces上設立了一個Wanted Wish List，把這些東西簡單的列在上面。

另外一個目的是，偶爾在台灣的家人想寄送一些東西給我，或是有朋友從台灣來美國可以順便帶點東西，甚至是自己回台灣可以好好shopping，一時之間，想得起自己要什麼東西嗎？沒錯，Wanted Wish List就是我的指標。

不錯吧！當然，如果你想送我禮物，但不知道要送什麼，Wanted Wish List上的東西一定沒有錯的啦！

基督徒的萬聖節

在我分享我萬聖節刻南瓜的照片後，在Purdue的一位好朋友寄給我這篇文章：A Christian Perspective on Halloween by 700 Club

老實說，基督徒是否可以和大家一同裝扮鬼怪，玩treat-or-trick，或是刻南瓜，這並不是我留下這篇文章的目的。因為對我來說，在每件事情上，是否以基督為行事的中心及準則，就給了我們一個答案。就像在中國的傳統文化上，基督徒面對清明掃墓最是很明顯的案例。 哥林多前書第八章，有提及在面臨異教文化上，不單單是要自己靠著基督站立得住，至高的主讓我們不受邪靈的傷害；但更重要的是要看顧你身旁弱小的弟兄，尤其是那些年幼的小孩。

「 只是你們要謹慎，恐怕你們這自由竟成了那軟弱人的絆腳石 」
哥林多前書 八：9

天國在那裡？

「　神的國來到，不是眼所能見的…因為　神的國就在你們心裡」
路加福音十七：20-21

天國裡誰為大

「我實實在在告訴你們，你們若不回轉，變成小孩子的樣式，斷不得進天國。所以凡自己謙卑像這小孩的，他在天國裡就是最大的。」
馬太福音十八：3-4

什麼是小孩子的樣式？

在我心中，小孩除了是天真可愛的天使，也是自私無理的。不順自己心意的，就哭喊吵鬧以達成自己的慾望；無法用道理說服他，打罵也不是辦法。一場父母與小孩的拉鋸戰，不經意的，通常都是以"順服"小孩收場。舉一個極端的例子，公共場合嬰孩餓得哇哇叫，你不當場餵飽他是不可能的，無論你是在何種場合下。

當然，耶穌說的小孩子的樣式，並不是這個。毫無虛飾，而且完全的信靠(父母)，才是耶穌要我們學習的課題。如同小時候倚靠父母，我們也應該要完全的倚靠我們的天父；而且，假冒為善的人，是遭受耶穌最嚴厲的指責。

做為　神的兒女，就應該有一個身為兒女應該有的樣式。

Aerogel - 01/27/2004

The first time I saw this thing is couple of years ago on TV. They demonstrated it is almost able to float in air and be shaped by your own hands, but it's somehow still solid. How could this happen in reality? It seems you could only see this kind of material in science fiction!

Aerogel, in which 99.8 percent of the volume is empty space, is only about 3 times denser than air. Many people may speculate that aerogel is the recent product of most modern technology. In fact, the first aerogel was produced in 1931 by Steven. S. Kistler in Stanford University. The newest one is lighter than the 1930's version by NASA and it has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the solid with the lowest density.

The ideal of the structure is very simple, removing the liquid from the wet gel without damaging the solid component. Like gelatin, after mixing liquid silicon compound and a fast-evaporating liquid solvent, the gel is dried in a "pressure cooker" and then heating and reducing pressure produces glass-like sponge of silicon. Regarding as a silicon-based solid with porous, it is a new member of glasses family.

"Obviously, if one wishes to produce an aerogel, he must replace the liquid with air by some means in which the surface of the liquid is never permitted to recede within the gel. If a liquid is held under pressure always greater than the vapor pressure, and the temperature is raised, it will be transformed at the critical temperature into a gas without two phases having been present at any time."
(S. S. Kistler, J. Phys. Chem. 34, 52, 1932)

Surprisingly, this seemingly brittle material support up to 1000 times its own weight and efficiently absorbing kinetic energy. Because of its large internal surface area, aerogel also provides 39 times insulating than the best fiberglass insulator. And many other unusual properties.

At present, aerogel is applied in experiments by NASA. One is the famous 2003 Mars Exploration Rover, which Spirit and Opportunity are under their exploring missions on Mars right now. Another is called Stardust. As a collector faced toward Comet Wild 2, aerogel will capture hypervelocity particles from Space. In future, It could be used for computer chips, which may reinvent what we call "processing speed"

Reference:

1. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/tech/aerogel.html
2. The Microstructured Materials Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory http://eande.lbl.gov/ECS/aerogels/aerogels.htm