Becky Hirta is thinking about exams: For the giant calculus class I'm starting to write multiple choice questions. For a class like that, really the only issues for me to consider about the final are how to avoid cheating (change the order of the MC questions and the numbers in the long-answer), how to make that many copies before the copier breaks, and how to get it graded efficiently. We don't teach large classes here-- even the intro mechanics course is broken down into multiple small sectiosn, so the largest class I've had to teach has been about 20-- but this did remind me of a great…

Mark P. comments on particles and waves: I think it can be argued that a particle is a "thing" while a wave is a "behavior", so it's like asking: bicycle or running? Yes, and? Why wouldn't that work as a poll question? Here's let's try: Bicycle or running? Pick only one, and leave your answer in the comments. I'd have to say bicycle, because running for its own sake is just annoying. Running in the service of a game of basketball is great, but running just to be running stopped being fun in grade school. A bicycle, on the other hand, is shiny, expensive, and cool. I'd rather have a bicycle…

I really, really did not like Glasshouse, Charlie Stross's Hugo-nominated novel from last year. I enjoy his "Laundry" books, though (The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue), and at Worldcon I had a conversation with Robert Sneddon, who recommended the forthcoming Halting State as closer in tone to those, so I picked it up a few weeks ago. Halting State carries back-cover blurbs from three people: 1) Vernor Vinge, 2) John Carmack, lead developer of Doom and Quake, and 3) Bruce Schneier, the noted security expert. That pretty much tells you what you're going to get right there: a highly…

The Claim: Zinc Can Help You Beat a Cold - New York Times Old joke: With our product, you can cure a cold in just seven days, but left untreated, it could linger for a week! (tags: medicine science) Tara Parker-Pope on Health - Teenagers and Sex - New York Times "The lesson for public health workers is that hip-hop is not just music but a support system and social structure that dominates youth culture, Dr. Muñoz-Laboy said. " (tags: medicine science society news) Cognitive Dissonance - Social Psychology - New York Times "We tend to think people have an explicit agenda to rewrite…

Boggling discovery of the week: ESPN will be broadcasting from my alma mater: Williams College will play host to archrival Amherst College in football at noon in the 122nd meeting of "The Biggest Little Game in America" on Saturday, November 10th. ESPN's College GameDay Built By The Home Depot with host Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard will make its first appearance at a Division III game when they kickoff their show at 10:00 ET live from Weston Field. OK, that's just freaky. I should note, though, that this is not the first time that ESPN has visited the Purple…

Today was Election Day in most parts of the US, and while there aren't any big national races going on, there were a number of local contests-- town boards, county legislatures, state judges, and so on. I stopped by the local elementary school on my way home, and did my bit for representative democracy, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank George W. Bush. Thanks to our intrepid President, it took me about six seconds to vote. I was in the booth for a little longer than that, just to look at the cross-listings of candidates (most of the candidates on the ballot were endorsed by…

You can only pick one. Leave your answer in the comments.

This is somewhat belated, as it's no longer active, but I had a bunch of other things to do last week, and never got around to posting about Blog My Wage: HOPE asked Houston City Council member Peter Brown to spend a week living on the wage of a city worker. Council Member Brown took the challenge and lived -- and blogged -- on the wage of city employee Belinda Rodriguez, who has just $23.03 a day to buy food, gas and clothing for herself and her three children. Better late than never, though. It's a brief but fascinating look at what being poor is like. I've been fortunate enough in my life…

Gesturing helps grade-schoolers solve math problems Hand-waving is the key to any calculation. (tags: academia education math) Easily Distracted » Blog Archive » In Which I Pick Some Nits A historian reads Novik's Temeraire books. (tags: books SF) slacktivist: Gay-Hatin' Gospel (pt. 5) The conclusion of the series: "I think it has very little to do with religion and everything to do with politics." (tags: politics religion US gender culture society) slacktivist "It reminds me, somehow, of a little kid doing art therapy in the school guidance counselor's office, drawing elaborately…

Dave Bacon has been assimilated. He only has one post up at the moment, but I'm sure there'll be more soon. Update your bookmarks and RSS readers, and go visit his new digs.

I'm suffering muscle twinges in my neck and shoulder that are usually linked to excessive typing. As I have a grant proposal to review, a senior thesis to help whip into shape, and a book under contract, this means that blogging will be substantially reduced while I ration my typing to those things that pay the bills. You'll get more linking and less thinking, at least until my shoulder calms down a bit. I don't want to pass up a set of links-- two press releases and a news story-- on some new results regarding friction: If you want to reduce the friction between tiny objects, just increase…

I realized that last week's scavenger hunt posts neglected half of my favorite genre fiction, so here's a post to make up for that: What items should appear on a Science Fiction Novel Scavenger Hunt? Some suggestions to get things started: One Big Dumb Object One improbably brilliant genius scientist who is able to both invent a new Theory of Everything and use it to build a time machine/ star drive/ whatever in his basement lab One book offering a "scientific" explanation for some "paranormal" phenomenon One alien planet consisting of a single ecosystem One reference to special relativity…

Recommendations of SFWA Copyright Exploratory Committee How... distressingly sensible. Where's the train wreck I've come to expect from SFWA? (tags: SF books) Shtetl-Optimized » Blog Archive » Unparadox Contest "[T]he Birthday Unparadox: 'If you put three people in a room, chances are no two of them will have the same birthday.'" (tags: physics math silly computing) Teamwork increases student learning and career success "A two-year study of college students at The Pennsylvania State University (PSU) proves that students learn better and develop higher-level skills by participating in…

Here's a picture of the haul from the World Fantasy Convention: (We got two of the bright blue bags with the odd aspect ratio, but I only put one in the picture.) The small pile on the left is a collection of samplers and free magazine issues (if I read them all, I'll have a really good idea of whether I should subscribe to F&SF). The pile in the middle is stuff from the bag of free books that you get for attending WFC. The pile on the right is stuff we bought in the Dealer's Room. We may need to reinforce the office floor one of these days... Contents of the piles, for those who care.…

The Patriots are playing the Colts this afternoon. And they're both undefeated. Why doesn't anybody tell me these things? You'd think a story like this might merit a mention or two on ESPN... I fully expect this game to suck, as games receiving this absurd level of hype almost always fail to live up to it. I hope it doesn't suck, but I'm not counting on it.

"Hey, dude, what's in the box?" "You know, I've asked you to stop calling me that. You should show some respect, since I'm the only one of the two of us who has opposable thumbs." "Whatever. What's in the box? Is it for me?" "Amazingly, yes, it is. It's a rawhide bone." "Oooh! People love me!" "Yes they do. In this case, it's from Mike, who was my thesis student last year." "The one with the camera?" "Yeah, he did take a lot of pictures. He's in grad school now, at the University of Connecticut, and when he heard about the book, he sent you a bone by way of congratulations." "We always did…

I've gotten away from posting Japan pictures, but here's what may be my favorite warning sign ever: In case you have trouble reading the text in the image: Stranger whosoever thou art and whatsoever be thy creed, when thou enterest this sanctuary remember thou treadest upon ground hallowed by the worship of ages. This is the Temple of BHUDDA [sic] and the gate of the Eternal and should therefore be entered with reverence. I think that's fantastic. Of course, the tourist shop selling the glow-in-the-dark Buddha keychains was about fifty feet away. Outside the gate, though-- I guess you take…

In the same basic spirit as the previous post, but with a physical science slant: What items should be on the list for a scavenger hunt through an academic physics department? The idea here is to keep a big group of grad students occupied and entertained for an afternoon by having them find items characteristic of academic physics research, such as: One working piece of apparatus powered by vacuum tubes One obviously broken piece of apparatus being kept "for spare parts" One obviously broken piece of apparatus being kept for no apparent reason One piece of computer software that's at least…

The World Fantasy Convention is being held just up the road in Saratoga Springs, and Kate and I are commuting to it for the next few days. That means light blogging, which means it's Dorky Poll time. Here's a literary Dorky Poll (a more conventionally Dorky version will follow shortly), suggested by Kate: What items should appear on a Fantasy Novel Scavenger Hunt? This came up at the Australian party last night, where it was noted that they had packed the room by offering free books. Somebody else said that you could probably clear the room by telling people there were free books on the roof…

So, the final numbers are in, one day late thanks to that bastard Colbert. The official Uncertain Principles DonorsChoose Challenge raised $3,607 from 48 donors over the last month, good for second place among ScienceBlogs blogs, in both categories. That's better than I realistically expected to do (last year's challenge brought in about $1,400 in two weeks, so we more than doubled the take by going to a full month). Many thanks to all those who contributed. Your generosity is much appreciated. I still owe some of you blog posts, and I'll get to those as soon as I can-- I'm at the World…