It's true: you can sprinkle them on anything to make it better. Some examples:

• Structures (obviously)
• Reverse Osmosis membranes
• Semiconductors
• Fuel cells
• Solar panels
• Scaffolds for nerve regeneration

Certain technologies seem to have this magical quality of near-universal applicability to engineering problems. They not only make possible what would have been fantasy otherwise (space elevators, in the case of nanotubes) but also have a knack of improving everything they touch, or of being applied to a breathtaking variety of already-familiar applications.

I'm sure that all three of my regular readers will notice the long-in-coming change now visible at eikimartinson.com. Most of my friends are probably sick of telling me what they think of innumerable design mock-ups, so I just went ahead and implemented one of my ideas, and I'm actually happy with the results. It's not too fancy, but I think it'll get the job done.

All the pages are valid XHTML and CSS, or they should be; if there are any exceptions to that, I'm interested to hear about them. That contact page, by the way, is a new feature; I've implemented a mailer form and script for purposes of spam protection. The site is composed according to the vertical rhythm concept (click the check box in the footer to see for yourself) with a new addition of my own—a bit of javascript to maintain the rhythm across images of any possible height.

I spent some time after my training session in Denver driving around with my co-workers in the Rockies, seeing some worthwhile sights; I apologize for the pictures but all I had was a disposable camera.

Nothing fancy, this; but that's okay: dinner was done and on in the table in exactly 15 minutes (disclaimer: I had to go to the supermarket, wash dishes, clean the cast-iron pan, etc—you didn't think it would really be 15 minutes, did you?). Take your tilapia fillets, add salt and pepper and squeeze out a lemon onto both sides. Meanwhile, get your well-seasoned cast iron skillet to medium-high temperature and coat the bottom with olive oil. Lay your fillets down in the pan, away from you to avoid splattering yourself with hot oil. Try to avoid flipping or moving it more than is strictly necessary as it will fall apart when it gets close to done; I'd recommend flipping with a spatula rather than tongs for the same reason.

Cook for three minutes per side, which should give it a golden-brown surface and just-barely-done center; the thinner parts of the fillet will get crispy, but that's part of the appeal. Serve with salad and rice or whatever you want. Some brown crispy bits will be left in the pan which just cry out for deglazing and making into a pan sauce, but I haven't experimented with that just yet.

I promise not to let this site become a recipe blog. I post things like this really more for my own reference (the three minutes per side number is something I tend to forget).

in the smallest of ways. I was an extra (excuse me, "Background Artist", as they like to be called now) in the Twentieth Century Fox movie Marley and Me while it was being filmed in Fort Lauderdale. Observe closely the scenes in the Sun-Sentinel offices and you might just catch a brief glimpse of the back of my head, say. If you want your money back because the movie made you cry or disappointed you, address your demands elsewhere: I just stood where they told me to stand. All I added to the picture was a handful of photons. Of course I'll still get the blu-ray disc when it comes out, if only to freeze-frame through the scenes I was in!