silliness
drorzel | October 6, 2007It's as good an explanation as any for this:
I'm not sure what this particular bit of Engrish is advertising, but I like the poster. It was hanging on a wall in Kamakura when we visited there in the pouring rain.
The original image, and 140 other pictures from Kamakura, can be found in this Flickr photoset.
drorzel | September 29, 2007America's Finest News Source has the last word in generic science articles:
According to the scientists, the electromagnetic science-maker will make atoms move and spin around very quickly, though spectators at the hearing said afterward they could not account for how one could get some atoms to move around faster than other ones if everything is made of atoms anyway. In addition, the scientists said that the device would be several miles in circumference, which puzzled onlookers who had long assumed that atoms were tiny. Despite these apparent inconsistencies, the scientists, in Rep. Gordon'…
drorzel | September 29, 2007From the "You Read Too Much SF" file: I was really disappointed by the press release that went with the headline:
Mysterious energy burst stuns astronomers
A headline like that really ought to involve bodies strewn about a remote observatory, and enigmatic alien forces roaming free, perhaps being hunted by menacing government agents. Sadly, it just refers to some sort of surprisingly large radio emitter in the very distant reaches of the universe.
drorzel | September 28, 2007Via a mailing list, two giraffes beating each other up:
I'm sure that an actual biologist could explain something about what this odd behavior signifies, and there's probably some fascinating biophysics in the way that they whip their necks around like that.
But, really, in the end, my main reaction is "Dude! Head-butting giraffes!"
(YouTube, of course, provides a wealth of other fighting-giraffe video, including this oddly disturbing video of a bald guy beating up a stuffed animal in the snow, to the sound of "Afternoon Delight" by the Starland Vocal Band. The Internet is an extremely…
drorzel | September 13, 2007A critical question has come up in looking over stuff for the book:
Does a dog have Buddha nature?
I mean, a dog has particle character, obviously. And quantum theory tells us that a dog has wave nature. But does a dog have Buddha nature?
Hard questions make Emmy sad. Or maybe she's just pondering the enlightenment and salvation of all beings. Sometimes it's hard to tell.
bergman | August 24, 2007Or, "Stealing Chad's Ideas: First in a Series".
When you write 'log', do you mean base 10 or base e? What field do you work in?
Update: Or base 2 for you CS-types.
drorzel | August 14, 2007A simple but high-stakes fill-in-the-blank question:
The right and proper symbol to represent the square root of negative one is _______.
The incorrect answer will brand you as an engineer, and you will be cast into the outer darkness to spend eternity converting drill sizes into sensible units.
Choose wisely.
drorzel | August 13, 2007A simple question today:
Which do you prefer, e or π?
They're both irrational, they're both "about three," and of course they're related by Euler's formula, but they're very different. One is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, the other is the base for the exponential function.
You can only pick one: which one is it?
I think I'll go with e. Nothing against π, but I've spent a lot of time working with differential equations, and you just have to love a function that is its own derivative.
And nobody has ever been dorky enough to attempt to show off by memorizing the…
drorzel | August 8, 2007
The "Ankle-Breaker Crab" (Coenobita iversonii) is a species of carnivorous land crab found in the Caribbean Islands. It closely resembles the ordinary Caribbean hermit crab (Coenobita clypeatus), but is distinguished from its more common cousin by its habit of living in special titanium-reinforced shells, and its diet, which consists primarily of hikers.
Coenobita iversonii are most commonly found at altitudes of 150 m or more above sea level, living in colonies of 100 or more in the underbrush near hiking trails. They are the only arthropod known to feed primarily on humans, and they hunt…
drorzel | July 23, 2007Why is it that when non-famous people are quoted in the news media, their ages are always given? Just about every story in the paper features a sentence like:
"Of course, I'm aware of the wave nature of matter," said Tallulah Johnstone Black, 47, a homemaker from Waterloo who witnessed the incident while walking to the store, "But I never thought I'd see an elephant diffract."
Unless the story is about age specifically, I don't see the point. What am I supposed to do with that information?
Stranger still, the one time I was interviewed by the police as a witness to a "domestic disturbance"…
drorzel | July 11, 2007The Weasel King posted a link to the classic Five Geek Social Fallacies essay, which you have no doubt already read. If you haven't, and you're reading blogs, you really should, because you're bound to recognize some of what it says.
Of course, that article dates from 2003, so it wouldn't be worth noting, had one of the commenters in LJ-land not misread the title:
I first read this as "Five GREEK Social Fallacies" because boy howdy, the entire fraternity/sorority system is built on almost all these fallacies. Except Greeks don't see this as a problem.
What follows is a great spoof, and funny…
drorzel | July 11, 2007A man in Oregon tied 105 helium balloons to a lawn chair, and flew into Idaho, 193 miles away. Do you believe that? A man tied 105 helium ballons to a lawn chair, and flew into Idaho! He flew 193 miles. In a lawn chair, with balloons tied to it.
He used 105 balloons. That's a lot. Can you count to 193? Can you say "Idaho?" Good!
Sorry.
I needed to get some work done on my car, and spent an hour and a half sitting in the customer lounge at the dealership, where a small girl was watching "Dora the Explorer" and related shows on tv, with the volume turned way up. To paraphrase Travis Hime, this…
drorzel | July 6, 2007"Ahhhh... summer at last. No more classes. No more committee meetings. Do you realize what this means?"
"Ummmmm.... no. What does it mean? What are we going to do this summer, Brain?"
"The same thing we do every summer.... Try to do PUBLISHABLE RESEARCH!!!"
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"Are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
"I think so, Brain, but diffusion pump oil is all stinky and viscous, and won't the chickens get upset?"
"You are the very quantum of imbecility, Pinky."
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"The first step in our plan is to use a grating-locked diode laser to-- yes, Pinky?"
"Um, Brain?"
"Professor Brain."
"Um…
drorzel | June 28, 2007Presenting the hottest new product in the telecommunications sector: the rPhone:
rPhone combines three delightfully diverse products into one awkward and cumbersome handheld contraption -- a revolutionary steam-powered satellite phone, a stylish French musicbox, and a vibrasonic multi-purpose tool that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike a Sonic Screwdriver. rPhone is the first portable telephone constructed of materials you've come to associate with progressive technology... from its exquisite rosewood paneling to the handsome brass frame, it shouts "This is the 18th century!" and "Gee…
drorzel | June 25, 2007Scott Eric Kaufman must have a dissertation deadline coming up, because his procrastination is getting intense. He's just set up a text adventure game on his blog:
You are standing near the Moral High Ground. To your South are Theists (or Theorists). To your North are Atheists (or Anti-Theorists). To your East and West are scorched earth, battered egos and hurt feelings.
> e
The land has been salted with the blood of Deleuze. There is nothing for you here.
> w then
You can play by leaving instructions in the comments. Go help Scott avoid work.
sarahdasher | June 13, 2007Summer is nearly here, and beef is in the air: or at least in the mainstream media. A cursory search of Google news earlier this week turned up eighteen different stories about beef posted within a twenty-four hour period, among them: South Korea Opens to US Beef Imports, Pampered Beef Cattle Generate a Niche Profit, United Food Group Recalls More Beef, and my favorite, Roast Beef Helps Restore £9m Church.
Why is beef on everybody's brain?
Although beef production has levelled off in the U.S., global demand for beef continues to rise. According to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture…
drorzel | June 12, 2007Via the Little Professor, I learn that Geoffrey Chaucer can hath cheezburger.
For many dayes ich haue desyred to maak Lolpilgrimes from the smal peyntures that Mayster Linkferste hath ymaad for my Tales of Canterburye - not oonly wolde it be a thing of muchel solaas to me, but it wolde be a good "pre writing exercise" (the which myn tutor, Archbishop Arundel, did alwey saye were of gret necessitee). And thus to-daye whanne ich had a smal spot of tyme bitwene a meetinge wyth a feng shui consultant and a recopyinge of the inventorie of carpentrie supplyes in Windsore, ich did go unto the…
drorzel | June 4, 2007The LOLcat phenomenon has reached the world of physics, with this Schrödinger cat picture, which is pretty good. I'm also amused by Serge's poem from Making Light:
Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
Is Schrödinger's Cat dead?
That remains up to you.
I may need to get out more.