Random
catdynamics | September 27, 2010We are now just 12 hours from the release of the National Research Council Data Based Assessment of Graduate Programs.
The tension is just overwhelming...
An interesting thing about the 2010 NRC rankings is the methodology, and a final version seems to have been settled upon.
As you know, Bob, the primary purpose of the new methodology is to make sure Princeton wins, and Harvard is suitably humbled provide a robust and objective ranking of US graduate programs, for the ages, which is not a subjective grossly lagging metric.
The complaints about the methodology have already started to bubble…
catdynamics | September 27, 2010
"Yet let's be content, and the times lament, you see the world turn'd upside down."
catdynamics | September 20, 2010The intertoobz have exploded over the unfortunate Dr Henderson's bemoaning of the impending Bush tax increases, and the hardship of getting by in todays society for two income families
We watch in awe as netizens arise to dissect the issue, and munch popcorn as the show goes on:
Todd Henderson's original tirade
in which he shows some misunderstanding of what constitutes discretionary spending, financial planning and marginal tax rates.
He must have known for several years that Bush's tax increase was coming in 2011. Shouldn't live on the edge like that...
(Hm. He may have taken it down, or…
catdynamics | September 18, 2010A few years ago Ball Aerospace pulled a cute stunt
Ball Aerospace logo - from telestarlogistics blog (click to embiggen)
Using the QuickBirdcommercial imaging satellite, they took a picture of Ball Aerospace parking lot, with some employees dressed in white standing on a blue tarp, spelling out Ball's logo.
0.6m telescope.
Note the white dashed lines on the tarmac on the road are resolved.
Not bad.
(cf here the later WorldView-2 first light image of Dallas airport)
rallain | September 2, 2010Yes, I love python. However, I am no expert. Most of the stuff I write in python is dirty and ugly code. Sometimes I figure out new things (things that programmers already know) and sometimes I forget these things. So, here are a few tips and tricks that I use from time to time. Really, I am writing this for future Rhett when he does a google search for "how do you save data to a file in python".
Saving data to a file
Suppose I am modeling a basketball falling through the air. I want to plot this data, so I save position and time data in lists. For example: Here is the info from scipy…
catdynamics | August 24, 2010so, er, anyone hear of any new exciting results?
y'know: loads o'planets, measurements of dark energy EOS, burpy black holes?
and wtf will Kepler announce on thursday, eh?
- or, y'know, be considerate and stop publishing exciting new stuff when the rest of us are trying to get term started!
oh, and the NRC rankings of grad programs come out in 5 weeks...
rallain | July 26, 2010Here is part of a picture some of my friends posted from a recent high school reunion.
It may be hard to tell, but this is part of a picture of 7 females all wearing black. I just wanted to show you that they were indeed wearing black without giving away anymore details. If you are one of these people and you want your whole picture included, I will be happy to make that change and include your face.
Anyway, my first comment was: "Wow, everyone is wearing black. Was this a planned event or was black part of the dress code?" The response was that it was just pure chance that all the women…
catdynamics | July 22, 2010but they don't know it yet
feeling a bit bolshie today:
freedom is just another word
for nothing left to sell!
how dare they buy our products
and still they don't respect us!
mood music for the afternoon
catdynamics | July 20, 2010ok, hiatus over, while negotiations take place
I long for the morning,
when they realise...
like shortest walkout ever, brothers and sisters
bummernickels, that means I got to think of, like, content, and science, and shit
again
catdynamics | July 20, 2010never cross a picket line
PZ on strike
see also Chad
1/4 of the blogs on Sb have shut down and several are on strike or hiatus waiting to see what happens.
catdynamics | July 19, 2010More Sb departures...
Coturnix leaves, with a most elocutory epilogue
whose ball is it?
catdynamics | July 15, 2010Apparently I write like David Foster Wallace...
Say what?
Oh, that David Foster Wallace.
Er.
Cool.
Now you go play with "I write like"
h/t Chad - who apparently has dissociative writing disorder or something...
catdynamics | July 15, 2010quick: how do you pronounce "unionized"?
well?
is it: Uhn-Eye-On-EyeZed or You-Njuhn-Ized?
rallain | July 9, 2010In regards to the recent PepsiCo blog situation (you know the one I mean), I wasn't going to say much. First, because Chad did a good job at expressing my views (without me even telling him ). Second, I am just happy to be at ScienceBlogs - I had been kicked off two servers and had to hitch a ride on a friend's server (thanks Bill) before arriving here.
Some other bloggers, were a little more put out. Now I understand why. I came to this understanding by doing a thought experiment. What if it wasn't PepsiCo that paid for a sponsored blog? What if instead it was ESPN's Sport Science? I…
catdynamics | July 7, 2010I just had an ice cold Pepsi this afternoon.
It was 35+C (ok, in the mid-nineties), I had just come back from a long hot walk through the kidfest day at the Artfest and I just had to have it.
It was so refreshing, and cool, and invigorating. Why it was exhilarating.
Don't know about the "Aids Digestion" bit - 'course it was Diet... not the same, eh?
It will, probably, be the only pepsi I have this month.
So, us physical science bloggers can be like total sluts, what with Pepsico having bought a blog on scienceblogs.com and many of the other bloggers quitting or suspending operations.
Not.…
catdynamics | June 22, 2010So, it appears that Le Bleus were ill-starred in the World Cup.
There may have been some lions in defence, but not enough water carriers and too many goats...
Yes, Domenech, the french coach, uses astrology to select the team...
"...few took Domenech seriously. It was discovered that he consulted the Zodiac in squad selection. Robert Pires was supposedly rejected owing to his mistrust of Scorpios, while William Gallas is among those challenged by perhaps his most infamous remark: "When I have a Leo in defence, I've always got my gun ready." "
I guess Anelka was in opposition.
Maybe you…
catdynamics | June 19, 2010Sean at CV is going on hiatus, pressure is on for the co-bloggers at CV.
In the meantime, here is an appropriate send off, hope the Caltech Glee Club used an appropriate arrangement...
it is not a hymn, dammit
catdynamics | June 16, 2010there have been some speculative stories out there on catastrophic consequences of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, up to and including Florida being swallowed
can't happen
the ecological consequences are going to be bad enough, along with damage to economy and tourism
the leak has now been estimated at 60,000 barrels per day,
or 2.5 kb per hour, as I'm sure BP would like it to be referrred to
if the leak continues for 3 years, without being capped, that would be about 60 million barrels, or 2.4 billion gallons, or about 10 billion liters of oil.
that is probably about the maximum that…
catdynamics | June 8, 2010Who is Responsible?
found on facebook
- I gather the fb site is either being pranked or couldn't handle the love
so link is to a blog that hijakced it first posted it - turns out it is from Rachel Maddow blog.
read it and weep