Janet D. Stemwedel
Janet D. Stemwedel (whose nom de blog is Dr. Free-Ride) is an associate professor of philosophy at San Jose State University. Before becoming a philosopher, she earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry.
jstemwedel
Posts by this author
December 29, 2006
Younger offspring: (climbing on a bed) Let's launch a mission to space!
Dr. Free-Ride: OK.
Younger offspring: (using a blanket and a pillow to fashion a helmet) I'm going to put on a space-suit.
Dr. Free-Ride: Are you planning a space-walk on this mission?
Younger offspring: Yep. If astronauts…
December 28, 2006
We (and 90% of everyone else in the vicinity of Washington, D.C.) went to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum yesterday. The crowds notwithstanding, it was a pretty good time. But a close inspection of the Apollo program exhibit yielded evidence of shocking obfuscation.
Space-ready…
December 27, 2006
In the midst of a hectic holiday season (at 3 a.m. on 25 December: "Can we go downstairs and start opening presents?"), I was lucky enough to catch up with SiBlings Evil Monkey and Tara C. Smith for a drink, some traditional (unamplified!) Irish music, and some delightfully nerdy conversation.
May…
December 23, 2006
If you're grabbing some quick blog-reading amongst your other goings on, I have a few posts to recommend.
At Wampum -- you know, the fine blog that runs the Koufax awards-- Mary Beth faces down a holiday with tight resources:
A few hours ago, my eldest asked me when we were going to go pick up our…
December 22, 2006
The Free-Ride family was only delayed by about 8 hours in getting from California to Maryland. This was no thanks to the very unhelpful America West/US Airways ticket agent at San Francisco, who, after we waited in the line to get to the podium for nearly 4 hours, thought to put our luggage on the…
December 21, 2006
Today the Free-Ride family schleps to the airport (with what seem to be crates of warm layers) to fly East. Assuming Super Sally's wireless internet allows it, I'll have a Friday Sprog Blog up sometime Friday.
I guess that also assumes that there are no missed connections or flight cancellations…
December 20, 2006
On the heels of the Hanukah meme, here's the Christmas meme, as seen at Musings of a Distractable Mind:
1. Hot Chocolate or Egg Nog?
If I must choose, nog with whipped cream (but no bourbon). I also like coffee with a slug of chocolate syrup and a shot of Peppermint Torani's.
2. Does Santa wrap…
December 20, 2006
On a post where I mentioned the eight-nights'-worth-of-gifts challenge, Liz left a comment that kind of tagged me with Flea's Hanukah meme.
Since the Free-Ride household celebrates both Hanukah and Christmas, the Christmas meme will be up next.
Hold onto your kippah -- here we go!
1. Latkes or…
December 20, 2006
David posted his holiday letter, but I didn't feel up to composing one of those. So instead, I'm going to do this "year in review" meme I saw at Geeky Mom's pad. (She got it from Trillwing.)
The rule: post the first sentence of the first post for each month.*
January: It must be a law of…
December 19, 2006
Brains enjoy getting information about the world around them. Although our sense organs do a pretty good job of keeping the data flowing to the brain, the occasional sense-organ-extending measuring device can add a whole new set of experiences for our brains to chew on.
We wrap up the brain-…
December 16, 2006
Only a few days out from the 19 December verdict in the Tripoli 6 case, it's hard not to come to the conclusion that the Bush administration honestly couldn't be bothered that Libya shows every sign of being ready to execute foreign healthcare workers who the scientific evidence indicates did not…
December 15, 2006
Razib tossed off a post expressing amazement that a very attractive wine bar hostess was making science fiction recommendations. The noteworthy feature, apparently, was "the intersection of science fiction & female physical hotitude."
Predictably, others have commented on this post, worrying…
December 15, 2006
I'm sure I'm not the only academic who receives final exams with doodles (as well as "thank you for the class" and "please don't fail me!" messages). But I need to share a piece of exam artwork that transcends the bounds of doodling.
Indeed, it is a cartoon illustration that demonstrates good…
December 15, 2006
Dear Santa,
I know this is short notice, but only this week, while talking with my better half about matter, I thought of something so wonderful that I hope you'll be able to leave it in my stocking this year.
What I would like is a thermos full of photons.
Imagine how much fun this would be in a…
December 15, 2006
Dr. Free-Ride's better half taught the younger Free-Ride offspring's kindergarten class about matter this week. It was a lesson that included a working definition, some hands-on explorations of the properties of different sorts of matter, and a little magic.
Working definition of matter (for…
December 14, 2006
I suppose I should have seen this coming. You provide a nice, quite room for the final exam, so why should it be surprising that a student takes this as an invitation to nap? Especially given that this is a student who attended -- slept through -- just about every class meeting of the term?
At…
December 13, 2006
On my last post, Kristine commented:
My favorite "finals week activity" was defending to two students why they couldn't take the lab exams three weeks after all of their classmates took it, just because they realized now that they never showed up for class that week. Whew. Ten minutes each, and as…
December 13, 2006
It's finals week here. My brain hurts, and I'm on what is reputed to be the easier side of the student-professor divide, so I have great empathy for my students at the moment. (At least, for the ones who aren't trying to put one over on me.)
In the last week, I have:
Conducted the last class…
December 12, 2006
The human mind seems to like creating things, and kids will use whatever tools are at their disposal to build. My uncle used to build death-defying systems of roadways with Hotwheels track and masking tape. A childhood friend of mine built elaborate structures out of Fig Newtons (largely because…
December 9, 2006
SInce John took it, and Chad took it, I figured I'd try the Brutally Honest Personality Test too.
Oh, how very glad I am that I did:
Loser- INTP
33% Extraversion, 80% Intuition, 73% Thinking, 46% Judging
Talked to another human being lately? I'm serious. You value knowledge above ALL else. You…
December 8, 2006
(This might not be the best title, since I feel like I've gotten to know a bunch of you here through this here series of tubes!)
It's the holiday spending season, and I wanted to point you toward a use of your money that won't translate into more toys on your floor. You can sponsor a runner in…
December 8, 2006
The younger Free-Ride offspring cut this snowflake. But look again -- that's not just a snowflake, that's a snowflake with the face of a monkey! Is this what floats down from the sky to make a winter wonderland of the Planet of the Apes? (Would a sufficient number of monkeyflakes be useful in…
December 7, 2006
... Page 3.14 shares the transcript. Go read what we said when Ben Cohen and I shot the cyberbreeze about Karl Popper and the allure he holds for scientists.
I can't promise it will leave you ROTFLYAO, but it might make you :-)
TTFN.
December 7, 2006
I'd like to take a moment to consider a recent comment on a fairly old post about a class meeting wherein my students and I considered some of the inconsistent views about animals with which people seem to walk around. Here's what the commenter said:
"But, as one of my students put it, 'Some of…
December 7, 2006
Uncle Fishy and RMD pointed me to this story in the New York Times about a last-minute extra assignment (due today) for students enrolled in "Critical Issues in Journalism" at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Not an extra credit assignment, mind you -- an extra assignment…
December 6, 2006
It started when someone asked Dr. B. for advice about starting a Ph.D. program with three kids in tow. Since then, the question has been bouncing around the academic blogosphere, with posts you should read at Academom and Geeky Mom. Although this is absolutely the worst time in the semester for…
December 6, 2006
You may remember the plight of the Tripoli Six (also known as the Benghazi Six), the physician and five nurses on trial in Libya for infecting 400 children in the hospital where they were working with HIV even though there is overwhelming evidence that the most likely route of infection was poor…
December 5, 2006
You know how I was sick last week? I was all responsible and stuff, drinking lots of green tea and getting to sleep early and all, and over the weekend I actually felt reasonably healthy for like a day and a half. And now? I seem to have caught another nasty cold.
Which is to explain that this…
December 4, 2006
As promised, I'm sharing the rules for the card game that my extended family played all through my youth. The idea here is that a set of rules for a bunch of favorite card games, a deck or two of cards, and a promise to play some of these games could make for an inexpensive -- and personalized --…
December 4, 2006
There are two features of games that have always appealed to me. First, the good ones put you in a place where you are explicitly thinking out different ways the future could play out -- the possibilities that are more or less likely given what you know (and what you don't know). Second, many of…