Confessions of a Community College Dean: Research Design in a Recession “My college is planning a major student survey for the Spring. We’re drawing up questions that we think could help shape budget priorities over the next few years, assuming there’s actually enough money to have some level of discretion. (That’s far from certain.) We’ve… Continue reading Links for 2010-12-07
Dorky Poll: How Do You Say That Again?
I’m going to be at a media training session for most of the day. I had hoped to have a long and silly post about physics to schedule today, but, well, that didn’t happen. So here’s a silly poll to pass the time. The name of element number 13, chemical symbol Al, is pronounced with… Continue reading Dorky Poll: How Do You Say That Again?
Links for 2010-12-06
Surviving the World – Lesson 821 – Santa Claus Many Worlds, many presents. (tags: comics surviving-world physics silly quantum science) On jargon, and why it matters in science writing | Not Exactly Rocket Science | Discover Magazine “The bottom line is that you educate people by explaining complex ideas in a simple way, not by… Continue reading Links for 2010-12-06
Links for 2010-12-05
YouTube – MST3K – Patrick Swayze Christmas A carol to move the hardest of hearts… (tags: silly music movies television youtube video) Not Even Not Even Wrong – Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design : Built on Facts “Isaac Newton, when he wasn’t revolutionizing mathematics and almost single-handedly inventing physics as a systematic discipline, wrote some… Continue reading Links for 2010-12-05
25 Years of Great Albums
It feels a little weird not to be doing a Short Story Club entry, so here’s a different sort of pop culture item: Over at EphBlog, my classmate Derek Catsam has decided to break up the carnival of reactionary politics by commenting on great albums, jumping off from Spin‘s Top 125 of the Last 25… Continue reading 25 Years of Great Albums
Links for 2010-12-04
The 12 Days of Christmas | The Language of Bad Physics “On the fifth day of Christmas, My PI gave to me: Five Ci-ta-tions… 4 revisions, 3 rejected drafts, 2 data sets, And a pile of papers to read.” (tags: academia education silly music blogs kavassalis) A is for Ackbar | brandonpeat.com “When my wife… Continue reading Links for 2010-12-04
24 Hour News Ruins Everything
Lance Mannion has a good post on the fake outrage of the moment in sports, where Derek Anderson, the terrible quarterback of the godawful Arizona Cardinals, was caught on camera maybe laughing with one of his receivers during their drubbing by the not at all good San francisco 49ers. When questioned about it at a… Continue reading 24 Hour News Ruins Everything
Links for 2010-12-03
Cocktail Party Physics: books, books, books galore! “A couple of weeks ago, an editor asked me to name my favorite science book from 2010 for a year-end round-up her magazine was putting together. My incredulous response: “You mean you want me to pick just one?” Because let’s face it, 2010 has been a banner year… Continue reading Links for 2010-12-03
Thursday Festive Feats of Strength Blogging 120210
SteelyKid decided she needed to put on her Christmas outfit earlier tonight, and her day care class at the Jewish Community Center has begun celebrating Chanukah, so it seemed like a good night for a festive holiday Toddler Blogging picture, with some bonus Feats of Strength: Look! SteelyKid can lift a sky-bison all by herself!
Dorky Poll: Usage Question
In reading a bunch about relativity and related subjects as research for the book-in-progress, I have run across a usage question that seems like a good basis for a poll. So: The “Classical” in “Classical Physics” means:online survey Please note that none of these options include quantum mechanics, so you are restricted to only one… Continue reading Dorky Poll: Usage Question