Workaholism vs passion?

So last night I went into the cleanroom at 9 pm. Don't get me wrong... I don't always stay till this late, but I had to check on my epi growth with S. Anyway, when I went in, there were like 15 people inside! Most of the PhD students were there, as well as a few of the engineers.

Now PK will be really happy to know people are working so hard. But it gets me wondering... what motivates people at IME? Are we really so passionate about our work? Perhaps we are workaholics? I hope it is not due to being forced by circumstances. I prefer to think that people really like their work here. Will this be my life in grad school? Hmmm...

浪淘沙

仙剑奇侠传三 - 问情篇

结局三 - 《浪淘沙》

翠柳戏炊烟
莠草疏栏
桃源别有一片天
解剑放舟清波上
随遇而安

鸳鸯不羡仙
今夕何年？
人生有酒需尽欢
醉卧红尘最深处
遥望千山

Purpose of this blog

So I have this blog for a few weeks already. I didn't need a blog b4, and don't really need one now. Besides, judging from the number of comments i have, hardly anyone reads it. So what in good heavens is this blog for?

Well i guess i started an account so i can write comments on other people's blogs. But another useful purpose has emerged - for me to practise my chinese. It's been a while since i write in chinese and i am really rusty. It is crucial i dun degenerate into another ang moh pai person. After all, feelings and emotions are best expressed in chinese - english just ain't sufficient for this purpose. Maybe us chinese are very emotional people.

一切从今天开始

2005年11月13日。我会永远记住这一天。

这两年来，我常重复《红雨》的一句歌词在我脑海里:
“所有昨日说过的誓言
像是一场下过的雨...”

所有前尘往事，就随历史的尘埃烟消云散吧。

让一切从今天开始！

云海玉弓缘大结局

金世遗带着历胜男的尸体出海往火焰岛，让我想起仙剑的结局。赵灵儿为了除魔而牺牲，李逍遥向阿奴告别后黯然离去，阿奴独自在悬崖上吹箫落泪...

我想世上若有个女人像历胜男一样为自己的爱人付出性命，不管她做了多少坏事杀了多少人，任何一个男人都会被她深深地感动吧。

Quantity vs qualitty

We all know about the KPI - your worth is measured by how many papers you published. Simple logic leads to the Minimum Publishable Unit (MPU) as the solution. Change the material = 1 MPU. Change 1 parameter = 1 MPU. Lots of MPUs = more papers than anyone else = higher KPI = fast promotions! Sigh... does it have to be this way? About 80% of all papers have only 0-1 citations... wouldn't it be better to just aim for a few high quality papers?