Tour de France 2010

How can you come to Paris in the summer and not watch Le Tour de France? Michelle, Lee, and I headed out of Cite U to watch the last stage down Les Champs-Elysees. The wait was long and crowd growing. We made some attempts to get closer to the finish line but were met with barricades. We were afraid we'd miss them. But we'd have a couple hours ahead of us until that. We munched on Lee's peanuts and saw some... interesting floats go by. Finally the crowd started cheering and we readied our camera's for capture. This massive collection of bike jerseys, pedaling limbs, and spinning spokes flew past us. Who was who and many discernible features were lost in the sauce. So maybe I saw Lance Armstrong. Anyway those they zipped by so quickly, especially relative to our wait time, it wad exhilarating to see them go.

Afterward we stopped by some neat places like the Toyata store, Lauderee, and Kusmi Tea and managed to get gifts for people. No one bought a car.

La Rochelle - Part 2

Saturday morning we rose after adequate amounts of sleep. We checked out and were lucky enough to keep our stuff at Kyriad for the day. We set out to rent bikes and ride them all the way to Ile de Re where there are beaches and clear, blue skies. We explained our plan to the guys at the bike shop, they looked at the clock, and chuckled. They told us we had to ride quickly and gave us the bus schedule. It was 13h00 then. With an 11 km ride to and bus ride back from the island ahead of us we were going to have to bust our butts to get back by 18h00.

Now let me explain to you all how much of a life changing experience this was setting itself out to be. I have only ridden a bicycle a handful of times before (most of that handful was with training wheels). Growing up in NYC I spent most of my childhood cooped up in an apartment. So an 11km ride in traffic, down busy streets, over bridges, along curvy, narrow paths was either going to take or change my life. It took some time to get use to the bike (crashed into stationary things like rocks and fences about 3 times) but my own hesitation was the biggest obstacle. It was great, feeling air rush past me as I pedaled and watched the scenery fly by. I'm definitely getting a bike once I'm back home.
We stopped at the first sign of beach. It was pristine. There were very few beach goers, mostly older women and young men flying kites or wake boarding. It was nice to take a deep breath and then plop ourselves on the sand and finish strawberries we picked up at the farmers' market earlier. The water I will admit was cold and fun trying to get into. After walking on the sand picking up neat seashells and taking in the view we decided to hydrate and get back to town. Unfortunately the bus was late. We hopped off quickly and decided to follow the signs as we biked the last bit back. I can't imagine what possessed us to think the signs would take us back in the most straightforward and efficient way. It was a mad dash to get back and when we did it was 18h32. But as we continued to notice during our stay in La Rochelle, its inhabitants are as nice as the scenery beautiful. The bike shop was still open and they took our bikes back with no questions asked except for if we enjoyed our ride. We had to get back to the hotel, get our bags, and make our 19h52 train. No sweat, Michelle and I had plenty of time. Or so we thought. What happened after this I can't divulge fully but let's just say we went through great feats and arrived at the train station literally two minutes too late. Covered in sweat and disappointment we went from ticket machine to ticket machine with no way of purchasing another ticket. Michelle thought we should ask a security guard for help. I was a bit hesitant- the guy had a shaved head, a long goatee, and was beefy. He motioned for us to walk with him and all of these scenarios in which I get punched in the face kept playing in my head. It must sound paranoid to you.. Well maybe it was. The guard turned out to be a considerate person and explained to SNCF employees, hidden in a dimly lit room, our situation. These SNCF employees were not like the ones in Paris. Oh no. They signed the back of our tickets requesting permission for us to get on the next train to Paris.. Which happened to be 12 hours later. I must have made a sick face because they were all very concerned if it was all right with me. La Rochelle is populated by angels I tell you. After expressing our many thanks we hurried back to Kyriad. Unfortunately they were booked and Michelle and I were looking to experience homelessness. It would just be another addition to the list of firsts I had racked up since Friday. But we managed to reserve a place even cheaper than Kyriad. We almost didn't because the only form of communication was my Skype and the concierge giggled for most of our broken conversation. We got to Hotel Savary by 23h. The concierge was very impressed that we understood him fully in French and gave us a discount to boot. We slept and rested our aching feet and butts. No more being late for us.

Early morning as few groups of friends walked around with unfinished bottles from the night before, some musicians stirred I'm their tents, and couples snuggled in their cars we said our goodbyes. What a wonderful place and time.
We were able to get seats for the train ride back and had little quarrel about our tickets. The ride was nice with giant sunflower fields and wind turbines outside our window. Minus the child behind us playing Michelle's seat like a bongo and repeating the words 'Pokemon gooulld ou seelver' it was very soothing.
We did it. We made it to the coast and back feeling good and accomplished. We explored a small town with a whole lot of character. Michelle said she'll live in that town someday. I hope I get to visit.

Adieu La Rochelle! Oh how we'll miss you.

La Rochelle- Part 1

Wednesday evening Michelle and I were in our rooms when suddenly an idea popped into Michelle's head.

"Let's go somewhere!"

And that we did. We decided on a nice little port town called La Rochelle about 3 hours southwest of Paris via train.

Our plan was to leave early Friday morning spend the night and leave Saturday evening. This would give us enough time to both enjoy and relax on our weekend. Though the trip wasn't going to be cheap, round trip tickets ~120euros each, hotel room ~40euros each, Michelle assured me this was our vacation and that it was a small expense for the experience.

Friday morning came and we ran to Montparnarsse. We managed to find the SNCF TGV train station with ten minutes to spare. We went to one of the ticket kiosks and only managed to get our return tickets, not our departure. Unfortunately, we were unable to get them. Since they were through iD-TGV, a special company, we had to print them beforehand. We attempted to print them the night before but Deutsch de la Meurthe has 4 Compaq computers and 1 nonfunctioning printer. So alas they were nonrefundable. It was too late to turn back so we painfully purchased another set of tickets. The coast would be waiting for us and it would all be worth it. After shooing away pigeons pecking at our pain au chocolat crubs we got on the train. No seats and little sleep for us. Oh how we clung on to the idea of the coast.
We arrived around noon to this quaint little place (which we later found out wasn't so quaint). It was grayer and cooler than expected but it was a nice change from the heat wave that we had to endure in Paris. Onward we went to the hotel to check in and drop off our stuff! Kyriad Hotel was nice with very interesting complementary origami flip-flops. We walked over to the town with our trusty map. When we got to the harbor we noticed a lot of people walking about, performers in the street, instruments left and right, and a lot of sales tents. Turns out we arrived on the festival of Francofolies. A festival originating in La Rochelle celebrating francophone music. The port city was bubbling with people, music, and neat attractions. It was a nice scene and we found everyone to be very kind. Michelle and I strolled along hoping to find neat gifts we could bring back. There were some neat clothing tents; one that we drooled over in particular sold Zeena brand. Bongos, ice cream, puzzles, small animals walking on tight ropes, portrait drawing, henna tattoos, an assortment of too many things to list in this blog. As late evening approached we decided to visit La Rochelle's aquarium.
I had never been to an aquarium before come to think of it and this was a very impressive aquarium. We hopped into a dark elevator made to look like the inside of a submarine room. When we stepped out we were in a Plexiglas hallway surrounded by water and tiny floating jellyfish. I'll admit, I was freaked out for a second. Progressing through we saw children, carpeting, tanks of neat little sea critters surrounded by non-offensive beige wallpaper. So it felt less like we were lying in the deepest depths of an ocean. There were sea horses, chambered nautili, sawfish, parrot fish, jelly fish, sponges, anemones, sharks, piranhas (right below rope bridges), turtles, and a fish Michelle called 'the fish that became man.' The piano playing over our heads and the water and marine life flowing around us brought up so many questions in our minds. Despite having all of these unanswered questions, like why would matter bother turning into a jellyfish, we couldn't help but stare and feel at peace. It really felt like one of the most beautiful experiences I've ever had.
We left pretty late with some awesome gifts for family back home. Francofolies was far from over and we ran into some neat street performers on our way to Kyriad. There was a very lean, healthy young man in, and there's no better way to describe this, a large cloth diaper. I know what you're thinking, 'that doesn't sound enjoyable at all', but in fact it was. He was very charismatic and had audience members assist him as he juggled fire and displayed some acrobatic skill. The funniest part I will say is when he decided to sit on one assistant's head. A little further down the street in front of a church was a ensemble, 2 accordions, a clarinet, and a guitar. They were dancing and playing passionately, making us laugh (even though I didn't understand about 70% of what was being said) between songs.

Those extra train tickets were a thing of the past and long forgotten by the end of the day. This. This is what life's about.

Where to begin

It's been a long while since I've last spoken to you all. Seems like I start a lot of blog posts in this fashion. I have plenty of exciting stuff to recount though.

Wednesday of last week was Bastille Day the French equivalent of the 4th of July. The festivities include a large parade on the Champs Elysees and an impressive fireworks display off the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately it was rainy for most of the day. It managed to clear up just in time for the fireworks, but alas I must be truthful, the fireworks didn't live up to expectation. It was a fun experience regardless. Sean, Robyn, and I ran to get to the train heading back to Cite Universitaire because there was a massive crowd coming toward us. It was like the Storming of the Bastille all over again.

Thursday I headed off to the Musee d'Orsay, which is open till 21h45 on this particular day, after work. I spent close to 2 hours there and didn't even finish looking at the galleries on the first floor. Their collection is great. I enjoyed so many pieces; it took quite some time for me to move from one piece to another. I jotted down names of artists I particularly enjoyed so I could pass it onto my pal Zach who has taken up painting as a hobby and is getting quite good at it might I add. My list got pretty smudged so a lot was lost, but I enjoyed: Seurat, Degas, Signac, Henri-Edmond Cross, Odilon Redon, Jules Laurens, smudge, and bigger smudge. Also, Lee, there is a statue by Emile Fort titled Abel Mort that looks just like you. Orsay needs a second visit most definitely.

What ensued over the weekend deserves it's own blog post with pictures. Michelle and I had a fun time so expect to hear more on that. Seems like I end a lot of blog posts in this fashion.

A toute a l'heure mes amis!

Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musees de France

So this post is not on windowing. So I lied. Still working on it though.

Pat and I met up with Julien at the CRRMF yesterday. This center is located on the grounds of the Louvre Museum. Here researchers study paintings using a myriad of techniques ranging from the fields of Optics, Chemistry, Biology, to et cetera for the conservation, preservation, and study of artwork. They can tell you the time in which a particular piece was made, where it came from, what materials make it up, what particular crystallographic structural the elements used have, what modifications have been done, what to look out for, and based upon this figure out a way to best preserve it.

It was nice to see such a facility filled with a lot of researchers (young and old, male and female) working in this place with the resources that they had. Their work is important for not only the study of the artwork, learning about the artist's method, figuring out what medium was used, but also for world history, and preservation of our cultural heritage.

Some of the techniques Julien explained to us:

• X-ray tomography - In this room there was an X-ray machine and swiveling platform sculptures can be placed on. This allows for the creation of a 3D view inside the object.
• Fluorescence Setup- Helps to distinguish metals in particular.
• Photography using different frequency light - This was probably my favorite room. It was filled with large light filaments. Here they can take a painting (a very large one at that) and take pictures. Visible: Record the paintings current visible state. IR: Reveals the under-drawings and original painting, which can be subject to change due to religious or political reasons. UV: Shows what modifications were done, reveals defects and other things not available through the visible. Parallel incidence: The surface profile (edges of wooden panels, cracks) of the painting can be viewed.
• Raman - I'm sure it's used spectroscopically.
• Particle Accelerator- This is particularly used to very accurately determine the elemental composition of a sample. This revealed that the origin of the Babylonian statue of Ishtar's ruby eyes and navel, a stone not found commonly found in that area, was most likely either Burma or Vietnam.
  
• X-ray diffraction - Is used to determine the crystallographic structure of a sample (e.g. diamond).
• Microtopography - Is a method in which the defects of a lens, chromatic aberrations, are used to determine the surface profile of an object.
• SEM - Scanning electron microscope shoots electrons of a particular energy at a sample and looks at the back scattering and secondary electrons to produce an image. One thing I didn't know about the SEM is that it can also give you information on composition. Just make sure you have an idea of what you are looking for.

There is probably a lot more I am neglecting to remember but I hope this sounds interesting to you all. I know that while in there I felt reinvigorated and very excited. It was awesome.

A toute a l'heure mes amis!

LabVIEW: Windowing Program

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the delay. Last week and yesterday I spent most of my time fiddling around with LabVIEW. Currently I have a program that takes two inputs waveforms (reference and sample THz signals), plots them in time, allows for the selection of 1 region of interest for each, then apodizes those sections, and through the use of an FFT, finally plots their phases and magnitudes versus frequency.The front panel starts off with separate reference and sample time plots. Cursors 0 and 1 allow the user to select the ROIs. The effect of different apodization functions (aka smoothing and window functions) on the ref and sample sections can be observed in the graphs below. To the left of these graphs there is a ‘Windows’ drop down menu with an accompanying number slide bar. And below all of this are the phase and magnitude versus frequency plots of the apodized waveforms. There is a stop button on the front panel because, as will be shown in the block diagram, the functions being performed are in a while loop. This allows for the run to be continuous, thus allowing for uninterrupted observation of the changes the user makes in the front panel.
Much of the block diagram is reminiscent of my first program, which was explained in full detail in a previous blog post. The new VIs include:

• Extract Portion of Signal - This extracts the ROI defined by the cursors, replots it on the original graph where it is highlighted, and feeds the waveform data into the windows 2 subVI.
• Windows 2 – This subVI I customized (with Bianca’s guidance) to allow the user to select different apodization windows and input parameter values when needed. This was done by creating a case structure containing cases for every window function. The user can select which window function he or she would like to use through the drop down menu on the front panel. The menu item selected has a numerical value attached to it that informs the case structure which case to perform. The waveform is then reconstructed with the new apodized amplitude values. *I will explain what such functions do, the motivation for why they are applied, and discuss which ones are/aren’t advantageous for the particular THz data I’m working with. Expect this in the next blog entry.*
• Align and Resample - This VI looks at both the apodized reference and sampled waveforms and makes the following changes: resamples both using the lower dt of the two, and makes the waveforms equal length by appending a zero amplitude tail at the end of the shorter waveform. *This is important when it comes to sampling in the frequency domain and parameter extraction, which will also be explained soon.*
• FFT – The temporal waveforms undergo a Fast Fourier Transform with the use of this VI. The THz radiation signals can be plotted as phase vs frequency and magnitude vs frequency graphs.
• While Loop- All of these VIs are contained in a while loop. The user can now note immediate changes to the graphs as he or she changes ROIs, window functions, or window parameters.

A Month In Paris

So we've all been here a while. I'm getting pretty accustomed to the lifestyle. I definitely plan on adopting the fork in left hand, knife in right thing among other things. The plan now though is to work hard and take advantage of the city on the weekends. So expect pictures and posts.
Last Sunday Robyn and I dipped are hot feet into the cool fountains at the Louvre, walked around the Champs-Élysées, stood beneath the Arc de Triomphe, and visited a place that is not so popular it seems, the Grande Arche. It's at La Defense, last stop of the M1. This area is the financial district of the city so the buildings are shiny and tall. It was really a soothing place and the density of people very tolerable.