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My tenth college reunion is coming up this year. I still haven't made up my mind if I am attending or not. My life is too hectic and uncertain right now, and there are many things that can happen between now and October, most outside my control.

I did attend my five year reunion. It came at the end of a particularly difficult episode in my life, and it was a wonderful opportunity to get to California and meet up with many of my old friends. At the time I did not feel like filling out the class-book info sheet, sine I did not feel like there were many things at that point which I felt too proud about. Since then I have been doing much better, but there have still been many setbacks and personal tragedies that I've gone through. I decided to fill out my class-book page this time around. I mixed factual with frivolous, and what follows is the description of my life since Stanford:

- Decided four years of Stanford Physics just wasn't nearly enough, so stayed on for an MS in Applied Physics
- Finally got sent packing to do more Physics somewhere else, ended up in Midwest, joined the Physics Department at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and managed to get a Ph.D. out of it
- During the Dot-Com bubble became yet another sucker who invested in a bunch of shady stocks. (Hey, everyone was doing it!) At least now I know not to pursue a career in financial asset management.
- Became addicted to online social networks (Orkut, MySpace, Facebook, ...) so if you see me on one of those - add me! I always need more friends.
- Decided that the current system of scientific peer review leaves a lot to be desired, so started a website (www.naboj.com) that tries to remedy the current situation.
- Been watching a lot of movies. Movies are good.
- Been reading even more book. Finally came across a book that was so bad I needed to write an online review of it on Amazon and warn people about it. This got me addicted to writing reviews on Amazon.
- I realized that since leaving Stanford I have not been reading daily print newspapers as much as I used to. These days I rely mostly on news aggregators for my daily (hourly?) news fixes. News is good.
- I've also been doing a lot of weight-lifting. For a while I was pushing the bench-press personal record, got it to 350 lbs, but then decided that the bench press was overrated and since then I just want to look and feel good. In tight cloths.
- Toyed with an idea of finding a cure for cancer, but left that task for others to tackle. There are only so many hours in a day.
- If asked to recite the first 100 digits of π, I probably couldn't do it. Probably.
- I've visited Stanford several times since moving to Midwest. It's obscene how many people are still in the area.
- When I moved to Midwest I discovered my deep passion for hiking, preferably steep hills with lots of redwoods around. Bad timing.

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 06:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I made it to 100 posts in this blog. On September 13th 2005 when I started writing this blog I really did not know what to expect. I never kept a regular diary for an extended period of time, and I was not sure if I'll have enough things to write about. Like most personal blogs this one also turned out to be primarily of interest to family and friends. Posts have ranged from trivial and generic to very personal. Some of the issues that I wrote about are probably of interest just to me, but writing about them helped me focus my thoughts and put them together in a cohesive unit. A writing practice was one of my main motivations for this blog, and it's likely to continue to be so in the future. My posts have been far from writing masterpieces, but I have probably put a bit more attention in going over what I wrote than most bloggers. That should remain the same in the posts to come as well.

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 04:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For quite some time now, I have been a regular reader of First Things, a magazine for religion, culture and politics. I have a tramendous amount of admiration and respect for First Things' editor-in-chief, Father Richard John Neuhaus. There is probably no living person who I agree more with on almost all important issues. His monthly column 'Public Square' is a must-read for the most insightful writing on current affairs. A paragraph in the latest issue of 'Public Square' cought my attention, and I decided to write to Fr. Neuhaus about it. To my great surprise and delight, he wrote back to me today! I was thrilled beyond words. I am including the whole exchenge here, together with the relevant background writing.

the excerpt from the 'First Things' read:

The editorial in The Economist carries the assertion in the subhead that "liberty should give way to equality." You can be sure that The Economist, a notorious running dog of capitalist hegemony, is not referring to the pay packages of CEOs or proposing an expansion of government regulation of business. No, the subject is the request of the Catholic Church, backed by the Church of England, that it should be exempt from a new law requiring adoption agencies to place children with same-sex couples. The request has been denied by the Blair government, and The Economist strongly approves. To the concern that such adoptions may not be in the child's interests, the editors respond that "there is virtually [no evidence] to suggest that the sexual orientation of parents affects the outcome." Of course, there is slight evidence because there has been very slight experience with same-sex adoptions. One outcome that common sense suggests is almost inevitable is that such children will have a very different understanding of human sexuality. In any event, the Blair government is quite prepared to subject children to a social experiment that is, in the view of many experts, filled with high risks.

The letter that I sent to Fr. Neuhaus is here:

Dear Fr. Neuhaus,

I am a long-term subscriber to The Economist and for a long while I
have been growing increasingly vexed with their editorials on issues
of culture and religion. Their otherwise sharp insights seem to have a
blind spot when it comes to those issues. So their inchoate
defense of the decision of the British government to place restriction on
Catholic adoption agencies came as no surprise.

The week before The Economist article came out I was having a debate
in one of the online discussion forums about the right of adoption
agencies to have their own standards when it comes to choosing the
adoptive parents. Knowing that in that particular forum arguments from
the standpoint of the freedom of religion won't have much of an
impact, I was pursuing arguments strictly along the
economic-libertarian lines. I simply argued that, at least in the case
of people who are giving up child for adoption, they should have the
right to choose what sort of family their child cold end up in. And
this is when things became surreal. The opposing argument was that
since the people giving up their child are not "responsible" parents,
they should have no right in choosing the fate of their child. I
realized that the same people who advocated the right for universal
abortion did not see the paradox here. Those same parents who could
not be trusted to do the best when it came to choosing the adoptive
parents of their children were somehow responsible individuals in
matters of terminating their child's life a few months earlier. I
think there is something profoundly evil going on in a society that
promotes unrestricted abortion and restricted adoption.

Sincerely,

Bojan Tunguz

And here is his response:

Dear Mr. Tunguz,

Thank you for writing.

You are right about both the Economist and the incoherence of the
argument against mothers having a voice in the adoption of their
children. I had not thought of it quite that way, and you put it very
nicely.

Cordially,

(The Rev.) Richard John Neuhaus

That really made my day!

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 09:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The cover story fro the January/February issue of the Stanford alumni magazine featured the article on Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first woman to be elected the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. Her election has been surrounded with a cloud of controversy, not primarily because she was a woman, but because she comes from the very liberal wing of the Episcopal Church, which has over the years essentially made a mockery of all the essential Christian beliefs, reinterpreted them to suit the changing times in a vain hope of becoming more "inclusive", while in fact it has seen the church membership plummet. The Stanford Magazine is a prototypical piece of journalism tailored for the alumni audience, glowing in its praise of yet another former student who made it big despite the odds, but entirely in the spirit of the sorts of graduates that Stanford has been known for. While at Stanford, Schori was a Biology major, and not very interested in religious life it seems. Her transformation came years later. For most people, religious and non-religious alike, it would have been the most interesting bit of information if the article told us about what exactly spurred her to become not only more religious, but a clergywoman nonetheless. And yet, those most personal and most interesting bits of information are missing. Instead, we are given a few platitudes and the whole issue is brushed aside. The whole article doesn't make even an allusion to one person that should have been the most relevant to someone's decision in becoming a leader of a Christian church: Jesus Christ. It would be too facile to dismiss such an omission with the writer's desire not to offend anyone's religious sensibilities (A sidenote: since when did we all become so wimpy and sensitive?), but Schori's own statements in other publications and throughout her career as a bishop give credence to the notion that a considerable amount of culpability can be assigned to her as well.

The Episcopal Church's gradual dismantling of first its teachings and now its outward trappings of a Christian church remind me of an old story about the axe whose handle has been replaced on one occasion, and the blade later. Somehow, we are still supposed to believe that it's the same axe.

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 04:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 films, you have no life. Mark the ones you've seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own facebook account/blog, paste this as a note. Then, put x's next to the films you've seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun.

(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
( ) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane

Total: 6

(x) The Princess Bride
(x) AnchorMan
(x) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(x) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
( ) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

Total so far: 11

( ) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
(x) Scary Movie
(x) Scary Movie 2
(x) Scary Movie 3
(x) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp

Total so far: 17

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
( ) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
(x) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
(x) Little Black Book
(x) The Village
(x)Lilo & Stitch

Total so far: 25

(x) Finding Nemo
(x ) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
( ) The Grinch
(x) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
(x) White Chicks
(x) Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
(x) Robots

Total so far: 34

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(x) Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
(x) Deep Impact
( ) King Pin
( ) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) King Kong

Total so far: 40

( ) A Cinderella Story
(x) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
(x) Final Destination
(x) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(x) Halloween
(x) The Ring
(x) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
( ) Flubber

Total so far: 47

(x) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
(x) Hellboy
(x) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards

Total so far: 50

(x ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
(x) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
( ) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask

Total so far: 52

( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number S7evin
(x) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
(x) Predator I
(x) Predator II
(x) The Fog
(x) Ice Age
(x) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George

Total so far: 61

(x) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
(x) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(x) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
( ) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2

Total so far: 65

( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
(x) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
(x) Event Horizon
( ) Ever After
( ) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
(x) The Terminator 3

Total so far: 72

(x) X-Men
(x) X-2
(x) X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
(x) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
( ) Freaky Friday
(x) Reign of Fire
(x) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2

Total so far: 84

( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
(x) The Notebook
(x) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old Virgin

Total so far: 87

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Total so far: 93

( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
(x) Highlander
(x) Mothman Prophecies
() American History X
( ) Three

Total so Far: 96

( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(x) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard

Total so far: 100

( ) High Tension
(x) Club Dread
(x) Hulk
(x) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicles Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(x) 28 days later
(x) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(x) Waterworld

Total so far: 108

(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x) Kill Bill vol 2
(x) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
(x) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness

Total so far: 112

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x)Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor

Total so far: 118

(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
(x) Animatrix
(x) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
(x) Team America: World Police
(x) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
(x) Hannibal

Total so far: 127

Well, at least according to this list, I have no life. However, one needs to establish validity of the test. ;-P

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I got my UIUC diploma in the mail yesterday. I did not attend any graduation ceremonies, so this is the first time that I have some tangible physical proof of my degree. It took it a couple of months to reach me, but I am really glad that's it's finally here. A part of me had a small fear that UIUC would mess things up again somehow, and there would be some last moment trouble, but now everything seems to be in order.

I still haven't decided whether to have it framed or not. At this point it seems like a frivolous expense, but I am pretty sure that eventually it will find its way on my wall.

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 09:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In the most ridiculous news of the day department, a wired Iraqi man triggers scare at L.A. airport

An Iraqi national wearing wires and concealing a magnet inside his rectum triggered a security scare at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday but officials said he posed no apparent threat.

Knowing that after Richard Reid's abortive effort to blow up an airplane with a bomb concealed in his shoe the term "Shoe Bomber" entered widespread usage, I wonder what we'll get this time. Asshole bomber? Anal bomber? Rectal bomber? Arse bomber? There are so many possibilities.

Also, since thanks to the Shoe Bomber we started taking off our shoes at the airports, I shudder to think what this guy's shenanigan may lead to. Deep cavity search as a standard procedure at the check-in terminals? Colonoscopy? I may be forced to forgo air travel for good ...

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 08:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)