The Virtuosi: Time Keeps On Slippin’ Alright, so how do we go about quantifying how “good” a watch is? Well, there seem to be two main things we can test. The first of these is accuracy. That is, how close does this watch come to the actual time (according to some time system)? If the… Continue reading Links for 2012-02-13
Month: February 2012
Syncretic Pre-Schooler Blogging
We send SteelyKid to preschool at the Jewish Community Center in Schenectady, because when we looked at day care programs back in the day, they had the one we liked best. This is a mixed blessing in a number of ways– they close for a lot of religious holidays when nothing else closes, creating some… Continue reading Syncretic Pre-Schooler Blogging
Links for 2012-02-11
Jeremy Lin, Landry Fields unveil nerdiest handshake in NBA history – San Jose Mercury News Jeremy Lin and Landry Fields of the New York Knicks may comprise the most intelligent starting backcourt in NBA history. It’s certainly hard to top a duo that boasts college degrees from Harvard (Lin) and Stanford (Fields). So it’s not… Continue reading Links for 2012-02-11
Language and Statistics Poll: Define “Vast”
Prompted by a number of people using the phrase “vast majority” recently, I wonder where the line between “majority” and “vast majority” is. Thus, a poll: What is the minimum level of support that constitutes a “vast majority” Assume for the sake of argument that the issue in question is a simple yes-or-no question, with… Continue reading Language and Statistics Poll: Define “Vast”
Links for 2012-02-10
Why the Proponents of a Gay Marriage Ban Will Soon Be Speechless – Slate Magazine So there you have it: That’s the best case that can be made against gay marriage. An appeals court dissent that rests on the premise that states needn’t act rationally, or offer evidence of rationality, or even be rational in… Continue reading Links for 2012-02-10
Random Note That Wouldn’t Bother Normal People
In a book that I read recently (either The Cloud Roads or The Serpent Sea— I finished the first and immediately started the second), as some characters are traveling from one place to another, there’s a passing mention that they weren’t able to hunt at night because the moon wasn’t out and it was too… Continue reading Random Note That Wouldn’t Bother Normal People
Links for 2011-02-09
Why The Planet Doesn’t Care About Your Eco-Friendly Lifestyle | Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation Co.Exist:What does the average environmentalist get wrong? Wagner: Environmentalists, all too often, think that the best way to go about solving the problem is to get everyone to do as they–we, I included–do. I don’t eat meat. I don’t… Continue reading Links for 2011-02-09
Course Report: A Brief History of Timekeeping 04
Through a weird quirk of scheduling, I haven’t actually taught the intro modern physics course since I started writing pop-science books about modern physics. So, this week has been the first chance I’ve really had to use material I generated for the books to introduce topics in class. In the approximately chronological ordering of the… Continue reading Course Report: A Brief History of Timekeeping 04
How to Teach Physics to Your Polish Dog
I have a Google alert set up to let me know whenever my name or the title of one of my books turns up in one of the sources they index. This is highly imperfect, sometimes missing interesting articles, and often blorting out 57 different pages on which my name appears in a sidebar link.… Continue reading How to Teach Physics to Your Polish Dog
Reminder: How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog Photoshop Contest
A quick reminder: How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog (cover in the left sidebar) will be released at the end of the month. If you’d like to win a signed copy early, though, you can enter our Photoshop contest. Just edit a picture of Emmy into another picture having something to do with physics.… Continue reading Reminder: How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog Photoshop Contest