Why your boss is incompetent – life – 17 December 2009 – New Scientist “The “Peter principle” undoubtedly appeals to the cynic in all of us. It is also quite possibly true, if subsequent academic studies are to be believed. The longer a person stays at a particular level in an organisation, the more most […]
Month: December 2009
Quantization of Books 3: How Many Books Is That?
When I saw the data generated by the sales rank tracker Matthew Beckler was kind enough to put together, I joked that I hoped to someday need a logarithmic scale to display the sales rank history of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog. Thanks to links from Boing Boing, John Scalzi, and Kevin Drum, […]
How to Teach Physics to Your Dog: Obsessive Update
Various and sundry updates regarding How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, now available wherever books are sold: Well, ok, that last sentence is a slight exaggeration. I spent a little while punching ZIP codes of places I’ve lived into the Barnes and Noble page, and couldn’t find any stores that have copies in stock. […]
Links for 2009-12-28
John Crowley Little and Big – Health Care Reform “At least where I live, and I bet for almost everyone with health insurance, it’s very difficult to avoid making several trips to the pharmacy to have various prescriptions filled. If you take (say) four pills a day, and will forever (or until death parts you […]
Wanted: Non-Dogs Learning Physics
The DogPhysics Pet Gallery is up to seven dogs, but as yet nobody has sent in a picture of a non-dog pet learning physics from How to Teach Physics to Your Dog. Emmy thinks this is because other pets are dumb, but I think she’s getting a little conceited. You can prove her wrong by […]
The Tissue Relay
We’re back in Niskayuna after a fun visit with my parents. I’ll have more to say about How to Teach Physics to Your Dog in the near future (including number crunching on the sales rank tracker), but I’m running a little slow at the moment thanks to what was either food poisoning, or some short-duration […]
Thursday Baby Blogging 122409
SteelyKid says “Look, Daddy! Somebody got me tissue paper!” “It’s the best Christmas present ever!” Here’s hoping you get everything you want this holiday season.
Move Over, Schrödinger’s Cat
A couple of quick book-related items that I can’t resist posting, even while on vacation: First, the sales rank cracked the top 500 on Amazon last night, peaking at 396. I don’t know if this is just a matter of relative sales volume being low, or what, but it’s a huge kick all the same. […]
The Ethics of Santa
Janet has a post grappling with the ethical implications of telling children about Santa Claus. SteelyKid is too young for this to be an issue yet, but on this issue, like many others, I turn to my favorite literary philosopher, Terry Pratchett: “All right,” said Susan. “I’m not stupid. You’re saying humans need… fantasies to […]
Links for 2009-12-23
Trapped in the USA: You’re Just Not that into Science “It’s sad to say this but most people I work with are just not that into science. It’s not that they’re not good at it – they clearly are – it’s just that they’re interested only in their little niche, and are thoroughly satisfied with […]