User:Tigerhawkvok

Hello, I'm Philip. I'm from California, and graduated with an Astrophysics degree at the University of California, Berkeley, Class of 2008.

I joined Wikipedia during November 2005. My general contributions are minor (or not so minor) corrections to scientific articles, in accordance with my field of study. You can follow me outside of Wikipedia at my website, or on Twitter.

Computers
Computers occupy a large, central portion of my time. I have been the webmaster for more than one website, had a summer job in Best Buy's Geek Squad, and custom made last two computers. For those interested, I use a desktop with the following specifications:


 * AMD Opteron 2344 CPU
 * 8 GiB of DDR2 (ECC)
 * 22" Widescreen monitor
 * 3x 150 GB WD "Raptor" HDDs in RAID 5 + Seagate 750 GB
 * DVD $$\pm$$ RW optical drive
 * ATI Radeon 2900 HD
 * B-Enspirer 7.1 Audio

On it, I massivley multitask, photo edit, 3D animate, program, video edit, and play computer games (ranging from Portal, to Rise of Nations, to online D&D).

Science
I'm incredibly interested in anything pertaining to science, especially physics, astrophysics, and chemistry. As of 5/2007, I've completed the following (non-survey) courses at UC Berkeley in the sciences:


 * General Chemistry for Chemistry Majors (Chemistry 4AB)
 * Honors Mechanics, Electromagnetism, Optics, Special Relativity, and Quantum Mechanics for Scientists and Engineers (Physics H7ABC)
 * General Cosmology (Astro 3)
 * Introduction to Astrophysics (Astro 7A)
 * Quantum Mechanics (Physics 137A)
 * Basic Semiconductors (Physics 111)
 * Cosmology (Astro 7B)
 * Stellar Mechanics (Astro 160)
 * Quantum Mechanics (Physics 137B)
 * Relativistic Astrophysics and Cosmology (Astro C161)
 * Special Relativity and General Relativity (Physics 139)
 * Vertebrate Evolution (IB 183)
 * Advanced Mechanics (Physics 105)
 * Advanced Laboratory (Physics 111)
 * Electromagnetism (Physics 110A)
 * Fusion Reactors (Nuclear Engineering 180)
 * Biomechanics (IB 135)
 * Herpetology (IB 175)
 * Thermal Physics (Physics 112)
 * Biophysics (Physics 177)
 * Radio Astronomy (Astro 121)

I also co-teach a class on Mesozoic marine reptiles and Saurischia. Therefore, edits in these categories can be considered verified and up-to-date. I also follow science extracurricularly, and therefore have a rather wide basis and thorough grounding.

My research involves doing research on stellar microvariability and on biomechanics of sauropods. Currently, my work on sauropods is undergoing the steps necessary for publication at the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Personal Life
As a few minor random tidbits, my favorite constant is $$c \equiv 299792458 \frac{m}{s}$$, favorite equation is $$ d s^2 = g_{\mu\nu}dx^\mu dx^\nu$$ (the Minkowski Metric), my favorite abstract equation  is $$G_{\mu\nu}=-\frac{8\pi G}{c^4} T_{\mu\nu}$$ (the Einstein Field Equation) and favorite theorem is the Equivalence Principle of Relativity.

Additionally, I'm a self-proclaimed Trekkie, love fencing and archery, and, well, I think that's all you're getting here! And yes, I quite recognize I had *way* too much fun with the user boxes. C'est la vie.