September 2, 2009
This was delayed a day by yesterday's ranting, but I wanted to explain the significance of the people in Monday's lesser-known quantum mechanic smackdown. I'm happy to see that, as of this morning, three candidates have rallied past the "unique flower" option.
In reverse order of popularity:…
September 2, 2009
Pimp My Novel: Self-Publishing: Great Idea... or Worst Idea Ever?
"Very occasionally, a self-published novel will be something that was somehow overlooked by the publishing industry as a whole and is actually quite good and/or salable. 99%+ of the time, however, these books are either written by…
September 1, 2009
As a veteran of Usenet, I've only grudgingly come to accept the practice of putting all responses to an email in a lump at the top, with the quoted text below. I much prefer to have the responses interleaved with the original points being responded to. I've pretty clearly lost this one, though, and…
September 1, 2009
It's probably a good thing that I don't have full-text access to Mark Slouka's article in Harper's, with the title "Dehumanized: When math and science rule the school." Just the description in this Columbia Journalism Review piece makes me want to hunt down the author and belt him with a Norton…
September 1, 2009
Infinite Summer » Blog Archive » Join the Tunnel Club
"It's decision time now, though (it takes at least a month to line up Guides, guests, and so forth). And while I continue to have no solid plan, I am slowly tumbling to the realization that I am going to continue the site, at least for a…
August 31, 2009
One of the nice things about being a parent is getting to introduce SteelyKid to my own obsessions. Like, for example, the great game of basketball:
"You want me to throw this how high?"
Maybe we'll stick with something a little smaller for now:
(Hey to Todd Clark, who gave us the toy hoop...)
August 31, 2009
SteelyKid's day care is closed today, meaning that I will be spending the day chasing her in circles in a variety of different places. this doesn't allow a lot of blogging time, so you get a poll to pass the time.
We'll go back to the historical physics thing for this one. The following poll lists…
August 31, 2009
LOLSaints | Saints with a Smile
Even religious iconography can be improved by strategic misspelled text.
(tags: religion blogs culture silly pictures art history)
Making Light: Flash of insight: swift, blinding, pointless
"Saints were the Pokémon of the Middle Ages."
(tags: history culture art…
August 30, 2009
I finished re-reading Infinite Jest this week. I'm a few weeks ahead of the Infinite Summer crowd, which is a little frustrating, because I really want to see what they say about the later bits, but they won't get there for a while yet.
Anyway, this is a tough book to summarize, because it's both a…
August 30, 2009
Here's some cute to get your Sunday off to a good start: the first 55 weeks of Thursday Baby Blogging pictures strung together into a movie showing the growth of SteelyKid:
(Thursday of week 20 was Christmas Day, and there are limits to even my geekery. I don't know what happened to Week 41.)
It's…
August 29, 2009
SteelyKid shows off the latest in clothes for geeky toddlers:
It's not really the official Twitter logo bird, but it's pretty close.
After this was taken, we spent a good half hour playing a rousing game of "Clueless Mail Carrier":
She picked up the padded shipping envelope that the memory card…
August 29, 2009
The Corporate Masters are considering some steps to take ScienceBlogs more in a community/ social network/ Web 3.14/ whatever direction, and have asked us our opinions of various potential features. I have opinions on the subject, but they're ultimately less important than the opinions of you, the…
August 29, 2009
slacktivist: Vincible GooFiness
"Set aside the edges of the bell curve -- the innocent fools and the diabolical Becks and Limbaughs and the rest of their kind. The vast, vincible middle is constituted of people who, like the GooFies, are to some degree simultaneously innocent victims and…
August 28, 2009
The Female Science Professor is thinking about what advisors owe their students:
When I got my PhD and went out into the great big academic world, I felt that I had the respect of my adviser, but I knew not to expect anything more from him in the way of support in my career other than the standard…
August 28, 2009
Dave Munger on Twitter drew my attention to this blog post on college costs, and I really wish he hadn't. The post in question is really just a recap-with-links of an editorial by John Zmirak, blaming the high cost of college on an unlikely source:
[W]hat if universities began to neglect this basic…
August 28, 2009
Roger Ebert's Journal: Archives
"In my case, I haven't taken a drink for 30 years, and this is God's truth: Since the first A.A. meeting I attended, I have never wanted to. Since surgery in July of 2006 I have literally not been able to drink at all. Unless I go insane and start pouring booze…
August 27, 2009
SteelyKid says "Pose with Appa? No way! I'm a baby on the go!"
I actually did get a couple of reasonable Appa-for-scale shots (one is below the fold), but I like the action quality of this one. It's an accurate representation of what she's like at the moment, too.
I'm already up to 178 pictures…
August 27, 2009
I'm feeling slightly better, but still a little wobbly, so here's what may be the dorkiest Dorky Poll yet:
How do you like your quantum mechanics?(trends)
August 27, 2009
One of the most remarkable things I've ever seen was the posthumous rehabilitation of Richard Nixon about fifteen years ago. Here was a man who resigned as President before Congress could throw him out, whose whole term in office was characterized by an all-consuming arrogance and a contempt for…
August 27, 2009
Why Our Analemma Looks like a Figure 8 : Starts With A Bang
"We got a good number of thoughtful comments, many of which are on the right track, and many of which have some misconceptions. Let's clear them up, and then let's give you the explanation of what gives us our figure 8, and why other…
August 26, 2009
I've caught the intestinal thing that was making Kate's life miserable the last couple days, and the less said about that the better. Happily, my new camera arrived (Canon Rebel XSi/ 450D), giving me something to play with while I try to remain hydrated. And I have to say, it's a nice new toy:
I…
August 26, 2009
Janet is currently exploring the implications of the California university furloughs. If you haven't been paying attention, California is so grossly dysfunctional that the state government has had to order all employees-- including university faculty-- to take 9% of their work time off as unpaid "…
August 26, 2009
For my birthday, my parents got me two tickets to see Bruce Springsteen play in Saratoga Springs last night. The idea was that Kate and I would go, and they would come up and spend an evening with the grandbaby. Unfortunately, Kate had some sort of intestinal bug (which I now have, joy), and couldn…
August 26, 2009
News: Flu and Football Season - Inside Higher Ed
"Personally, I don't see any major college or professional sporting events being canceled as a result of H1N1," said Bronson Hilliard, a spokesman for the University of Colorado at Boulder, where eight probable cases of the virus have recently been…
August 25, 2009
I'm doing better today, but still a little wobbly, and trying to conserve my energy for the Bruce Springsteen concert tonight. Thus, a poll:
Imagine you have a light switch box containing multiple switches, like to one at right. These switches control lights in adjoining areas of the house-- say,…
August 25, 2009
NPR last week had a story about the changing kilogram:
More than a century ago, a small metal cylinder was forged in London and sent to a leafy suburb of Paris. The cylinder was about the size of a salt shaker and made of an alloy of platinum and iridium, an advanced material at the time.
In Paris…
August 25, 2009
Tor.com / Science fiction and fantasy / Blog posts / Making Lists: Mindblowing SF by Women and People of Color
"[S]ince someone always finds a way to claim that they just don't know where to find such or who the women and/or people of color writing in the genre are, I hope that this list will go…
August 24, 2009
"So what do I need to do, again?"
"First, you have to pick a username. So people know who you are."
"OK. How about 'Emmy the Magnificent, Queen of Niskayuna and Surrounding Regions.' That should do the job."
"Ah, no. That's 64 characters. Nobody would ever reply to you with a username that long.…
August 24, 2009
I'm suffering through a wretched cold at the moment, which will limit my blogging activity. If you're looking for something to do, though, you might want to check out the Revolutionary Minds blog set up by the Corporate Masters. This is basically a short-form online version of a feature from Seed,…
August 24, 2009
Tor.com / Science fiction and fantasy / Blog posts / Goodbye, Dortmunder: Donald Westlake's Get Real
"There couldn't really be a conclusion to these books -- what could it possibly be? The gang will just keep on forever looking for one more job to keep them going. The regulars in OJs will keep on…
