jlynch | November 18, 2006 It is Saturday and that can only mean college football. It should mean grading as I got papers yesterday, but I like to prioritize.
Obviously everyone is looking forward to the Michigan v Ohio State game. I have only one thing to say .... GO BLUE! Apart from my connections to Michigan, I developed an intense dislike for the Buckeyes when they snuck past ASU in the 1997 Rose Bowl. Joe Germaine quaterbacked a 12 play, 65-yard drive in the final 1:40 for the winning touchdown. It is thus with some satisfaction that I note that Germaine's NFL career went nowhere and that he's now playing arena…
jlynch | November 18, 2006I haven't done one of these in a while ... this week's AaSb asks "Who would you nominate for Scientist Laureate, if such a position existed?"
The answer that immediately sprang to mind was Ed Wilson (but then I noticed Razib mentioned him). So treat this as a second vote for Wilson. Frankly, after him there is no one with similar scientific acumen and communication skills.
jlynch | November 17, 2006Larry Moran says it well:
I am not a Darwinist, just as most of my colleagues in the Department of Physics are not Newtonists, and most of my friends who study genetics are not Mendelists. All three of these terms refer to the ideas of famous men (Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, Gregor Mendel) who made enormous contributions to science. But in all three cases, the modern sciences have advanced well beyond anything envisaged by their founders.
Call me an evolutionary biologist.
Darwin's genius was to provide the first workable naturalistic mechanism for evolution (that is, natural selection).…
jlynch | November 17, 2006
Fog
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
Carl Sandburg
jlynch | November 16, 2006
Todays featured photo on Wikipedia is a classic - "Migrant Mother" (1936). Read the full story here.
jlynch | November 15, 2006
Buzzcocks, 1978
I was ten ... and loved this one.
And while I'm at it ...
jlynch | November 15, 2006
Birdwatchers rushed excitedly to see a swallow that hasn't been seen in Britain for 20 years - then got a nasty surprise when eaten by a hawk in front of their eyes.
The twitchers had been watching the red-rumped swallow for 20 minutes when it stopped to rest on a TV aerial.
It was then that the sparrowhawk swooped, near Montrose in Scotland.
Group member Mike Sawyer said: 'We were horrified. We had just called other birdwatchers to tell them the news, and then had to call back to say it had been eaten.'
The red-rumped swallow isn't normally found any further north than Greece.
A RSPB…
jlynch | November 13, 2006RPM writes that "they're not as stupid as we thought they were."
This seems apt:
jlynch | November 12, 2006
One freedom that defines our way of life is the freedom to choose our leaders at the ballot box. We saw that freedom earlier this week, when millions of Americans went to the polls to cast their votes for a new Congress. Whatever your opinion of the outcome, all Americans can take pride in the example our democracy sets for the world by holding elections even in a time of war. (source)
Eh? We should be proud that the "War on Terror" didn't result in the administration cancelling the mid-term elections. Why the hell would Bush even mention this? Unless ... never mind.
jlynch | November 12, 2006Carl Buell, a.k.a. Olduvai George, is back after an eight month hiatus. Wander on over
jlynch | November 11, 2006The United States vetoed a U.N. Security Council draft resolution Saturday that sought to condemn an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip and demand Israeli troops pull out of the territory. Whoda thunk it.
jlynch | November 11, 2006Wilkins had hit a good one here: the Evolution Crackpot Index. Rumor has it that the denizens of Uncommon Descent, ISCID and suchlike score in the high thousands.
jlynch | November 11, 2006Let's start with some good news. ASU's ranked (#13) women's basketball team took their season-opener 87-60 against Nebraska. The men open their season (under new coach, Herb Sendek) on Monday against Northern Arizona.
Back to football. The Sun Devils (5-4, 2-4 Pac-10) play Washington State (6-4, 4-3) later this evening. Half time at the game ASU will honor the 1986 & 96 Rose Bowl teams. 2006 hasn't quite worked out the same way. ASU needs to win two of the remaining three games (Washington State, UCLA, Arizona) to get to a mediocre bowl. Much as last year when we defeated Rutgers in the…
jlynch | November 11, 2006
The National Gallery has reportedly bought Thomas Eakins' painting "The Gross Clinic" for $68 million.
Update: On December 21, 2006, a group of donors agreed to pay the sum in order to keep the painting in Philadelphia. It will be displayed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
jlynch | November 11, 2006 It has been a while since I posted some science-related material (October 22nd to be precise ... you can blame the recent election if you like), so here goes ...
The little yellow dots you seem above are a series of minor earthquakes that occurred last week in southern California, overlayed on the 3D surface within Google Earth. The data is provided by the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and is easily accessible in real time using the following KMZ file which will automatically load in GE. Give it a try, it's mucho cool.
On a related note, I played around a little with Microsoft Virtual…
jlynch | November 10, 2006I'm wondering where my regular visitors come from. I know about my regular commenters, but am interested in those regulars who may not comment, but still regularly read the blog either by browser or RSS feed. So, if you are a regular reader (defined by visiting at least weekly), can you wander over here and add yourself. Gracias.
jlynch | November 10, 2006Outgoing Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin thinks that the upcoming Microsoft Vista "is the most secure system that's available, and it's certainly the most secure system that we've shipped." The latter, of course, is likely to be true, but the former ... not so much. As proof, Allchin offers the following:
"My son, seven years old, runs Windows Vista, and, honestly, he doesn't have an antivirus system on his machine. His machine is locked down with parental controls, he can't download things unless it's to the places that I've said that he could do, and I'm feeling totally confident about…
jlynch | November 10, 2006
On this Veterans Day, it is worth remembering that it started as the American version of Armistice Day, the day that marks the end of World War I (the "War to End All Wars"). It has subsequently become a memorial for living rather than dead veterans.
Dulce Et Decorum Est
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,Till on the haunting flares we turned our backsAnd towards our distant rest began to trudge.Men marched asleep. Many had lost their bootsBut limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to…