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About me

My name is Adam Purkrt. I was born in 1978. I live and work mostly in Prague, Czech Republic. I'm a PhD. student focused on renewable energy technology, primarily solar cells and energy storage. I'm also interested in nuclear energy and generally in physics/mathematics/IT. Apart from that, I occasionally play (electric) guitar and piano and cycle. When I was younger, I used to hike in the woods as a boyscout. For some time, I was also a member of a school choir. My personal pages can be found at http://purkrt.net.

Favorite debates

• Debate: Solar energy
• Debate: Space-based solar power
• Debate: Space elevator
• Debate: Thorium based nuclear energy
• Debate: Nuclear energy

Philosophy

• Beauty of ephemerality.
• Choice. However little can it be, it is always there.
• The hardest battle of them all is the battle with yourself, since victory in it is actually a defeat; whenever contemplating about whether you are winning, you are losing big time.
• No matter how much you know, life is unpredictable.
• Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect. - Mark Twain
• God is an imaginary friend for adults.
• Ever been surprised that life is real?
• Yeah. It can all end right now.
• You cannot understand your life. You just live it.
• But the goal is not to make the world simple. Change to protozoon if you want a simple life. The goal is to make the world as complex as possible.
• Nobody knows.
• Although this may seem a paradox, all exact science is dominated by the idea of approximation. - Bertrand Russell
• Life can't be postponed.
• Don't fear your own emptiness.
• Repetition gives the illusion of eternity.
• Not everything, that comes to my mind, is a good idea.
• Definition of success. How do you/I define it?

"For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of a triumph - a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters and musicians and strange animals from the conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children, robed in white, stood with him in the chariot, or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting." - George C. Scott as gen. George S. Patton

Bizarre music video from Prague

I've recently came across this bizarre clip, that was filmed in my (sometimes) dearly beloved (almost) home city of Prague.

Why is it bizarre? Since it was filmed in 1987, i.e. two years before the fall of communism (nevermind the incorrect information on the blog). Until two weeks ago I would probably not had believed that such a great clip could had been made in Prague at that time! Given the "quality" of socialist "culture" then produced and - in the first place - the restrictions on almost everything at the time, this just looks like a thing from another planet. Well, the socialist regime in effect at that time valiantly succeeded in protecting its people from this "greedy capitalist's commercial scum" - while obviously carefully listening to the language of (probably australian) dollars at the same time.

By the way in the end of the clip, in a shot that takes place at the Old Town's square ("Staroměstské náměstí") - it begins with the Prague's Horologue - the director had to cunningly avoid panning to the right, since it would bring into view an ugly scaffolding that surrounded the Tyn's church for loong years during the communist era, with hardly any progress in the repairs to the church. The repairs were done (and the scaffolding disappeared - there and on a lot of other places in Prague) rather quickly after the fall of the real socialism. A good, real-life example that Capitalism is better than Socialism. -- Renergy 15:47, 3 October 2009 (CDT)

Special Halloween video

It's Halloween today. We don't celebrate it much in the Czech Republic (there are some signs that this is changing though). I personally have never cut a pumpkin for example. Anyway, this video just rocks. Enjoy. Btw, does anybody know why informatics celebrate Halloween and Christmas at the same time (that is, twice a year)? Since OCT 31 = DEC 25. -- Renergy 06:36, 31 October 2009 (CDT)