Funny Ha Ha
pontiff | April 1, 2008Is it really true? Is Fafblog back? All that praying to the April Fool's Day Jackalope has finally paid off!
"Screw this dump!" says Giblets. "This universe is old and fat and smells like smelling and Giblets is busting out!"
"Should we go over the wall or take the tunnel?" says me. I been diggin a tunnel.
"Nuts to the tunnel!" says Giblets. "What we do is we make like we're sick. Then when God comes in to check on us we punch im in the liver an run out the door!"...
pontiff | March 21, 2008Greetings from SMF! Home to the slowest baggage claim in the west (not that I was crazy enough to check a bag.)
Even from beyond the grave Feynman gives string theory no love:
pontiff | March 14, 2008Paul Krugman proves that not only is a bad ass economist, but that he is also a pretty cool guy:
Thirty years ago I was an oppressed assistant professor, caught up in the academic rat race. To cheer myself up I wrote -- well, see for yourself. Joshua Gans of the University of Melbourne scanned a copy of the thing I wrote -- back then academics did their work with typewriters, abacuses, and stone axes -- and was good enough to send me a copy. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you The Theory of Interstellar Trade.
I wonder what the equivalent of that paper is for quantum computing? Oh, wait, ALL…
pontiff | February 27, 2008Quick, Batman! To the trademark-mobile along with a stack of three or four letter company names:
Feb 27 (Reuters) - On-demand business phone service provider Nuvio Corp said it filed a lawsuit against Garmin International Inc...alleging Garmin's Nuvifone infringes on Nuvio trademark, which it uses on its phones and telephony services.
pontiff | February 7, 2008Super Mario World vs. the Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Physics:
Those of you who know me outside of this blog will find that particular juxtaposition of physics and Nintendo very amusing.
pontiff | January 8, 2008Video from the keynote at CES:
The real question is, now that Bill is working for the foundation, which is opening an office in lower Queen Anee, will Bill be buying us a new bridge to aid his commute?
pontiff | December 26, 2007What do you call a quantum computer built in the shape of a cubic lattice and containing 450000 qubits?
Noah's ark, of course! Genesis 6:14. Sorry, I just couldn't resist.
pontiff | December 5, 2007Chad of Uncertain Principles asks what's on our office doors. Here in the Paul Allen Center, our doors are too pretty to put things on, but the little square beside our door is perfect for attaching odds and ends. Here is my door in all its glory:
A. Quantum computing warning sign. The cat is in a superposition of sleeping and scratching.
B. Me jumping off a cornice. Weeee! Mmm, cornices.
C. Spherical cow warning sign. This one causes great confusion in a computer science department.
D. Villa Sophia in the snow. Our Christmas card.
E. M.I.A
F. The Clifford group
G. Occam warning sign…
pontiff | November 27, 2007My grandfather liked to write letters to the editor. I think I inherited this disease from him. Here are the contents of a recent letter I wrote to the editor of Physics Today which I hope some of you may find amusing.
I greatly enjoyed reading N. David Mermin's last two Reference Frame columns on factoring and quantum computing ("What has quantum mechanics to do with factoring?", Physics Today, April 2007, page 8 and "Some curious facts about quantum factoring", Physics Today, October 2007, page 10.) However as the proud one-time owner of the California license plate "QUBIT" (which I had…
pontiff | November 19, 2007Here is a picture I call "STOC 2008 deadline":
STOC 2008 will be in Victoria, British Columbia. I was just across the border in Surey, BC, and shot this picture which I call "Crazy Canadian Fireplace Channel":
pontiff | November 15, 2007Uncertain Chad asks "What's your favorite dubious proof technique?" I just don't have one dubious proof technique: I have an entire book of dubious proof techniques! Seriously, I have a book where I write them all down.
But if I had to choose a dubious proof technique that was my favorite, it would have to be "proof by logical exhaustion." Now you might think that this means that I logically list all possibilities to prove something, a technique which is perfectly valid and not very dubious at all. No, no. "Proof by logical exhaustion" is where you put forth a chain of logical reasoning…
pontiff | November 14, 2007Over at The World's Fair, a challenge:
Anyway, this meme asks that you come up with your own scientific eponym. What's that exactly? Well, first read this excellent primer by Samuel Arbesman, which basically provides a step by step description of how to do this effectively. Then have a go at your own blog. If all goes well, I'd like to create a page at the Science Creative Quarterly, that collects (and links to) the good ones.
Of course there is already a formula for Best Bacon Butty, so I can't do anything about Bacon Butties, damnit. Well recently I've been thinking about how bad I am at…
pontiff | November 13, 2007Okay, there are some weird plots in science papers out there, but something about this one (which Pak at scirate.com pointed me to), taken from arXiv:0711.1751 "Paleontological Tests: Human-like Intelligence is not a Convergent Feature of Evolution," by Charles H. Lineweaver made me laugh: