nanoarun

preamble: The title of the post (which means "this journey is successful") is from a malayalam poem - http://malayalam-kavithakal.blogspot.in/2011/05/saphalamee-yathra-by-n-n-kakkadu-with.html . I do not claim to understand the inner meanings of that poem, neither do I claim to mean this post in a philosophical sense about my life itself (though, well, at this point if my my life ceases, I could perhaps say that phrase) ... This post is just about "journeys" - places I have seen I am not counting a "stop-over" in an airport or "passing by in a train without getting down" as "seen". Driving thru in a car are counted - because invariably I would stop to see something or other In Kerala : Of the 14 districts, I think the only ones left are Kollam and Pathanamthitta. so 12/14 .. Have gone through these two districts also in train... In India : Out of the 29 states (delhi not counted), Kerala, TN, Karnataka, AP, Telengana, Goa, Mahar...

"Whether a cat is black or white makes no difference. As long as it catches mice, it is a good cat." - that famous quote from Deng Xiaoping  was made in the early 1960s. However he really showed to his people, and to the world what he meant after he rose to power in 1978, ridiculing the Mao led Cultural Revolution's slogans like  "it is better to be poor under socialism than rich under capitalism" , "a socialist train coming with a delay is better than the capitalist one that comes on time"  Of course, the other thing that Deng was (in)famous for was his alleged o rdering of the crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.  Deng seems to have put China on a path that continues even today - and much more aggressively. Movements like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Hong_Kong_protests and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_and_uprisings_in_Tibet_since_1950 seems to have least bothered the Chinese.. and now they are after many more...

Taken using mobile (and looks better in it) at the Lumbini Gardens. Was that Oscar Wilde who wrote:  I stood and watched the crimson sunset glow From the lone chapel on thy marshy plain The sky was as a shield that caught the stain Of blood and battle from the dying sun, And in the west the circling clouds had spun A royal robe, which some great God might wear

Just came across another "suggested alternate to ArFi" litho - http://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology_articles/newsid=47727.php - "self-collapse litho" In fact the article itself lists various other "molecular patterning strategies" that are/were tried - s oft lithographic microcontact printing (µCP), replica molding, nanoimprint lithography, polymer pen lithography, nanotransfer printing, decal transfer printing, and nanoskiving. Add to it the "multi ebeams" and DSAs and then those fancy named ones - SCALPEL:Scattering with angular limitation projection electron beam lithography ; PREVAIL: Projection Reduction Exposure with Variable Axis Immersion Lenses ; LEEPL: Low Energy Ebeam Projection Litho ..       Nothing "stuck" -pun intended - on the wafer ! Closest seems to be EUV, but thats yet again changing the source for a mask-based litho.. indeed in this case the change to a reflective system is a big one Con...

Some one once told me this math - 52 weekends in a year. So how many weekends in your life ? Come this Nov, I as "Arun" would have already completed 38 years on earth. If - and thats a big if - I don't get rammed down by a speeding car while crossing a road, or not beaten to death by a mob (as my wife always says, given my nature of picking up arguments with random people when I feel something is wrong), or taken over by a failed liver or so (yes, in spite of being a non-alcoholic) -- I expect may be 12 more years of "active life". That gives me about 600 weeks - 600 weekends as well. Now, here is another math... In a week, assume a 9hr sleep, you are awake for 15 X 7 , 105 hrs.. Let say 2 hrs per day for daily routine, that leaves you with 90hrs. You are "paid" for 40hr per week at work - let us say practically you spend 50 hrs, and 10 hrs on commute, that still leaves you with 30hrs a week. Add some weekend outings and relaxation time of 1...