Korea Blooms

At the campus - cherry blossoms

Cherry trees

Outside the hostels

Towards Grad School

On my way back home from the airport - what delighted me most was the "still blooming" cherry trees at the very last stage. It rained already and we only have a day or two to enjoy them.... It looks beautiful and this is just the beginning!

KNOWLEDGE IS OUT, FOCUS IS IN, AND PEOPLE ARE EVERYWHERE

This article is a must read when in the age of technology and a sea of information we find oursleves lost and at times unable to focus...

A great read...!

DAVID DALRYMPLE Researcher, MIT Mind Machine Project

Filtering, not remembering, is the most important skill for those who use the Internet. The Internet immerses us in a milieu of information — not for almost 20 years has a Web user read every available page — and there's more each minute: Twitter alone processes hundreds of tweets every second, from all around the world, all visible for anyone, anywhere, who cares to see. Of course, the majority of this information is worthless to the majority of people. Yet anything we care to know — what's the function for opening files in Perl? how far is it from Hong Kong to London? what's a power law? — is out there somewhere.
I see today's Internet as having three primary, broad consequences: 1) information is no longer stored and retrieved by people, but is managed externally, by the Internet, 2) it is increasingly challenging and important for people to maintain their focus in a world where distractions are available anywhere, and 3) the Internet enables us to talk to and hear from people around the world effortlessly.
Before the Internet, most professional occupations required a large body of knowledge, accumulated over years or even decades of experience. But now, anyone with good critical thinking skills and the ability to focus on the important information can retrieve it on demand from the Internet, rather than her own memory. On the other hand, those with wandering minds, who might once have been able to focus by isolating themselves with their work, now often cannot work without the Internet, which simultaneously furnishes a panoply of unrelated information — whether about their friends' doings, celebrity news, limericks, or millions of other sources of distraction. The bottom line is that how well an employee can focus might now be more important than how knowledgeable he is. Knowledge was once an internal property of a person, and focus on the task at hand could be imposed externally, but with the Internet, knowledge can be supplied externally, but focus must be forced internally.
Separable from the intertwined issues of knowledge and focus is the irrelevance of geography in the Internet age. On the transmitting end, the Internet allows many types of professionals to work in any location — from their home in Long Island, from their condo in Miami, in an airport in Chicago, or even in flight on some airlines — wherever there's an Internet connection. On the receiving end, it allows for an Internet user to access content produced anywhere in the world with equal ease. The Internet also enables groups of people to assemble based on interest, rather than on geography — collaboration can take place between people in Edinburgh, Los Angeles, and Perth nearly as easily as if they lived in neighboring cities.
In the future, these trends will continue, with the development of increasingly subconscious interfaces. Already, making an Internet search is something many people do without thinking about it, like making coffee or driving a car. Within the next 50 years, I expect the development of direct neural links, making the data that's available at our fingertips today available at our synapses in the future, and making virtual reality actually feel more real than traditional sensory perception. Information and experience could be exchanged between our brains and the network without any conscious action. And at some point, knowledge may be so external, all knowledge and experience will be shared universally, and the only notion of an "individual" will be a particular focus — a point in the vast network that concerns itself only with a specific subset of the information available.
In this future, knowledge will be fully outside the individual, focus will be fully inside, and everybody's selves will truly be spread everywhere.

Stockholm Cathedral

Cathedral from the back of the street
The Stockholm Cathedral from the front and on its right is the Royal palace.

It is also known as Church of St. Nicholas and is loacted next to the Royal Palace.
It's most precious treasures include a wooden statue of Saint George and the Dragon attributed to Bernt Notke (1489). The statue, commissioned to commemorate the Battle of Brunkeberg (1471). A replica of this statue is also found on one of the streets in bronze in the streets of Gamlastan on a hill-top.


Saint George and the Dragon



Candle Holder

Stockholm : Gamla Stan at Night!

Vallingby - Store and Malls

Gamla Stan - Old town Stockholm

Sight Seeing is like a must do if visiting a city, in case, if a city has an old history - it is an endless treat. I fall in love with Gamla Stan (old city) where we have the royal palace, Stockholm Cathedral, National museum and beautiful cafes and shops in colorfully painted architectural art works among the winding/narrow streets. This Old Town Gamla Stan is Stockholm's most charming part. This is where the old and new Stockholm combines. There are a lot of unique things to see when visiting the old town in Stockholm which is said to be the original Stockholm. The town was set up during the 13 century. There are about 3000 people living in the old city today. Most buildings are from the 1700s and 1800s. Palaces and museum can actually be a very interesting. That's why I decided to take a look at the area as soon as I got here. If you are ever visiting Stockholm you have to take a look at that awesome neighborhood where I went almost every day.



On my first day, my coolest guide a native of Stockholm, whom I met on the train from Norrkoping, gave me all names and directions to important sites of Stockholm. He was of Bosnian descent and himself an avid traveller. I asked him about the official mosque in Stockholm & this is where I set my foot first - there are many other mosques - at a smaller level too. This mosque was beautiful but the staff (esp. the women's section) was not just rude but really inconsiderate to say the least. They had an entire section for women and I guess, their attitude was one thing I never expected of them. I don't want to generalize this but more often than not, I have come across the most unfriendly people working as the staff in mosques around the world. I must say that the staff at the mosques in Seoul, in Paris, and in Philadelphia are rare exceptions. Person who was really trying to help me get information and locate the mosque was literally surprised at the attitude of the people in the mosque.

Anyhow, it was a good learning experience in many ways.

Losing Pictures during download...

Downtown Norrkoping

Trams of Norrkoping..

Downtown!

Central part of Norrkoping!!!!

I left Nokrrkoping on Saturday afternoon. All through past week, I was busy with the workshop & so I could not download photos and hence accumulated quite a few about about3,000 ( my camera has 3GB space). On my arrival to Stockholm on Saturday, while staying at a youth hostel for a while, I had some limitations and concerns. First is that I am carrying my entire research project and there is only 50% of the backup files for it in Seoul so its is very risky! Second I have too many gadgets and I'm not even a big fan of gadgets!

Anyhow, on early Sunday morning, I went out for a coffee & plugged in the computer & started downloading pictures and seeminly they were saved in a folder. I could NOT see them right after the download completed & without reconfirming I turned off my computer and deleted the photos from my camera! After few hours I thought I should send a few pictures to my mom. To my surprise the folder was there but it was empty! I searched but there is nothing.

I have no clue due to my limited knowledge of the computers as to what happened and where should I find something or who should I contact? My heart and my feeling of loss and emptiness has just overpowered me...I am stuck and am not moving on with this loss that I have not a single picture from past 4 days!

SoooooooTerrible! With every click of my camera I think of my lost pictures!

A journey that started with a lot of excitement and hope had its first setback.

Norrköping

Norrköping is a city of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County. The city has a population of 127,059, making it Sweden's tenth largest city and eighth largest municipality. The city is situated by the river Motala river, an inlet of the Baltic Sea. It has several nicknames such as: "Sweden's Manchester". I was at the Linkkoping University for a workshop that lasted a week. It was a wonderful experience. People here are very helpful. If I had to find my way back to hostel or the city center (my point of reference/direction) as I got lost, they showed me the way. Architecture here is so beautiful and if I have to compare it with Seoul, a metro city - with 12 million population, I felt like I'm in the wilderness. :-) Norrkoping is pronounced as Nor-ja-ping and the name dates back to 1283. Norrköping offers a rich combination of culture, sports, & outdoor recreation. There are many museums and libraries. It main attraction is the campus of Norrköping, a part of Linköping University, there are around 6 000 students in a wide variety of disciplines. Among the famous ones are teacher's training, engineering, nursing and migration studies among others. City has a very nice man-made water fall and the Strömmen river flows through the city. Entire city is connected by Trams which are a familiar part of Norrköping's street life. They are an easy, pleasant – not to mention environmentally friendly – way to get around. Trams have been around in Norrköping since 1904. Bus transport appeared in the 1920s. One has to buy a transport card sold at 7Eleven or Pressbyran (Convienient Store. The price starts with 150 Swedish Koronas (SK) which is about 25$ and the girl said that it was good for 5 rides (5$/ride)-very expensive. One must NEVER take a taxi. What I paid for a bus ticket from Stockholm to Norrkoping (160 SK)- my 2 min ride cost me 120 SK which gave me a heart-attack...and I haven't recovered yet. Public transport: http://www.upplev.norrkoping.se/Med+sp%E5rvagn+%26+buss__1033.html http://www.ostgotatrafiken.se/ About the city: http://www.norrkoping.se/ http://fjarde.se/ http://www.twincities.com/

Stockholm-Arlanda Airport: Sweden (p-3)

Bus stop Exchange Rate: 9 April 2011 Post card Souvineirs SAS: Beautiful sky Arlanda Aiport Information Center At the tourist information center at Arlanda Arlanda Snow removing equipment

Skies over Stockholm

Greater Stockholm neighborhood

Stockholm  − the capital’s international airport 'Stockholm Arlanda' is Sweden’s largest airport and an important hub for both the Stockholm region and Scandinavia − with 167 destinations around the world and its well connected ground transport services to and from other parts of the Stockholm region is very effective.

According to the official website: "During 2009 16.1 million people travelled to or from Stockholm Arlanda Airport. Passengers: Total: 16.1 millionInternational: 12.1 millionDomestic: 3.9 million Movements: (take-offs and landings)Total: 192,500International: 122,500Domestic: 69,900 Cargo: Total: 152,400 tonnes goods and mail Airlines: 81 airlines fly from Stockholm Arlanda 63 airlines fly international routes5 airlines fly both international and domestic routes3 airlines fly domestic routes10 airlines fly cargo and mail Destinations: Total: 176 destinationsInternational: 144 destinationsDomestic: 32 destinations Runways: 3 start- and landing runways(3,300 m, 2,500 m and 2,500 m) Conference facilities: 52 conference rooms for up to 700 people1500 m2 exhibition space for up to 1, 000 delegates Shops and restaurants: 52 shops41 restaurants, cafés and bars"

Beijing Capital International Airport: China (part. 2)

Dragon Shape of the Airport (photo credits @ foster and partners) Shunyi District where the airport is located

China Daily

Transportation

Logo!

Never ending construction at the site of the airport

Beijing Capital International Airport, 北京首都国际机场; is the main international airport of China. It is located 32 km from Beijing's city center. The airport's code is PEK and is the worlds' bussiest aiport. It is a hub for Star Alliance and main stop for Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS).

It is the largest covered structure on Earth and is designed by esteemed architect Sir Norman Foster. This massive structure was built in just four years. Terminal 3 itself would be the largest airport in the world if it stood alone; it is larger than Heathrow's five terminals combined.

Its area is approximately 1.3 million square metres, mostly under one roof. The first building to break the one million square meter barrier, it will accommodate an estimated 50 million passengers per annum by 2020.

This new terminal offers an unparalleled traveling experience, not only technologically, but also in terms of operational efficiency, passenger comfort and access to natural light.

Natural light, which is a great feeling compared to airport where this option is missing and one end-up being tired