I handed in my final grades for the term this morning, and am now on “Spring Break” which is the misleading term for the week of frantic preparation for next term’s classes that our schedule allows. Here’s a poll question for you, though: We operate on ten-week “trimesters.” How late into the ten-week term should… Continue reading Academic Poll: Drop It Like It’s Hot?
Author: Chad Orzel
Definitions
My computer is starting to run slow in that way that indicates that either Microsoft has released an important update, or it’s just been on too long without a reboot. Either way, I need to clear some browser tabs before restarting, and there are a bunch of articles that I thought were too interesting to… Continue reading Definitions
links for 2009-03-22
The Mid-Majority: Respect, Resilience, Joy and Despair  "This must be a lot of fun for you, this March Madness. It must be pleasant to rally behind something until you have no use for it anymore, to adopt and dispose the efforts of a team, to judge its efforts without any real consequence. But the… Continue reading links for 2009-03-22
First Round Thoughts
The good news is, I’m solidly ahead of Barack Obama in my NCAA pool. The bad news is, the success rate of my serious picks is distressingly close to that of the Physics Grad Programs backet… Various and sundry thoughts on the first two days of NCAA tournament action: — Not that many big upsets,… Continue reading First Round Thoughts
links for 2009-03-21
weir3 / Instant Mentor / Advice / Home – Inside Higher Ed "Unless youâre a botanist or geologist thereâs no pedagogical reason to teach outside. The first gorgeous day of spring semester will bring a clamor to meet underneath the spreading maple students spy from the window. Donât do it! That hour will pass with… Continue reading links for 2009-03-21
Twenty Years Ago This Week
I carry some of my gear to and from the lunchtime basketball game in a red and white canvas-and-mesh bag. The zipper doesn’t work, and hasn’t for years, and the logo on the side is almost worn off, but if you look closely, you can still make out the New York State Public High School… Continue reading Twenty Years Ago This Week
Hugo Nominations Announced
The nominees for this year’s Hugo Awards were announced last night. The most important category is, as always, Best Novel: Anathem by Neal Stephenson (Morrow; Atlantic UK) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins; Bloomsbury UK) Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (Tor Teen; HarperVoyager UK) — Free download Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit… Continue reading Hugo Nominations Announced
links for 2009-03-20
slacktivist: The Immortals "I’m something of an expert on the demographic implications of the baby boom. I’ve developed this expertise from copy editing hundreds, probably thousands, of articles* on the effect of the baby boomers’ impending retirement on Social Security. Based on what I’ve learned from those articles, and from closely watching the ongoing political… Continue reading links for 2009-03-20
Thursday Baby Blogging 031909
While the DVR piles up enough basketball to allow me to fast-forward through CBS’s nine-minute commercial breaks, here’s this week’s Baby Blogging picture: SteelyKid has been in an amazingly good mood this evening, and here you see her obligingly stretching out to her full length so you can see how much she’s grown.
Academic Poll: Amusing Anti-Cheating Strategies
The final exam for my modern physics class is this morning, which means I’ll have a bunch of time to kill while I proctor the test. This will likely involve a lot of brainless time-wasting, but I need to be on hand both as a formal guard against cheating, but more importantly to answer questions… Continue reading Academic Poll: Amusing Anti-Cheating Strategies