Fun links

Introduction

On this page, you will find links to websites that I personally find fascinating. If you are bored, or just want to goof off, these websites are exactly what you are looking for:)

Astronomy picture of the day

Every time I look at the pictures on this site, I am reminded that the most beautiful objects in the universe are the stars, planets, and galaxies that constitute it. Maybe one day I'll call my computer systems research days done and instead become an astronomer:) My favourite pictures from this website are:

M51: the Whirlpool Galaxy in dust and stars
Dust structures in the Rosette Nebula
Planetary nebula MZ3: the Ant Nebula

Eserver.org

This website, originally maintained by Carnegie Mellon University and now by Iowa State University, hosts a collection of out of copyright works. As of recently, they have also expanded their collection to include works from authors who want their work published in alternate forms.

Listed below are my personal favourite short stories and books that can be found at eserver.org. Of course, reading a book online is not nearly as much fun as reading an actual book. There's nothing more satisfying than turning the crinkly yellow pages of a book that's so old that it has its own ghistory to tell, apart from the one inscribed on it's pages.

Somewhere (e.e. cummings)
The Canterbury Tales (Geoffrey Chaucer)
The Happy Prince (Oscar Wilde)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)
Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Caroll)

Words without borders

This website publishes stories by foreign authors translated into English. This site offers a rare opportunity for us americans to get a non-american perspective on things.

What is your personality type?

The Jung-Briggs-Myers-Keirsey philosophy divides humanity into sixteen personality types. You can find out your personality-type by taking this questionnaire. Personally, I'm not quite convinced that this is an exact science and would take the results with a rather large grain of salt. However, a few years ago, I was amazed to learn a company at which I wanted to intern required that I take a Keirsey Temperament Sorter exam as part of the application process!

So, now I'm curious as to the accuracy of this categorization. What do you think? Does the personality-type assigned to you by this questionnaire sound correct? For the curious, you can learn a lot more about Jung-Briggs-Myers-Keirsey personality-types here.

Also for the curious, according to this questionnaire, I am an INFP. You can learn more about INFPs here and here.

The complete history of Doctor Who

I admit it. I'm a geek. I absolutely adore Doctor Who. My favourite doctor is the fourth doctor who was played by Tom Baker. Why do I like Doctor Who? I think the answer lies in the doctor's personality. The doctor is arrogant and eccentric, but also charming and kind. Of course, he is also very intelligent. The combination of these traits make for a very endearing character who is fun to watch throughout all his incarnations!