The Washington Monthly "I wonder why people are so angry about bonuses. Do they hate the rich? Do they want to punish success?Are they eaten up inside with resentment? Do they just not want to admit that some people work harder and are more talented than they are? Or could it be one too many… Continue reading links for 2009-03-30
Social Media and the Animal Kingdom
I’m putting the finishing touches on Monday’s lecture notes when the dog comes into the library, looking concerned. “Shouldn’t I be doing something to promote the book?” she asks. “Since it won’t be out for another nine months, I don’t think it’s that urgent.” “But aren’t there more Internetty things I could be doing?” “Well,… Continue reading Social Media and the Animal Kingdom
Tolkien, Religion, and the Death of Western Culture
I was rather surprised when Friday’s quick post about Tolkien spawned a lengthy comment thread full of people arguing against the suggestion that The Lord of the Rings is affected by Tolkien’s Catholic faith. I’m no Tolkien scholar, but my impression of the field is that this is simply not a controversial statement, that there… Continue reading Tolkien, Religion, and the Death of Western Culture
links for 2009-03-29
Optics basics: Youngâs double slit experiment « Skulls in the Stars "As Iâve so far been restricting my âoptics basicsâ posts to discussions of fundamental concepts related to optics, it might seem strange at first glance to dedicate a post to a single optical experiment. What will hopefully become clear, however, is that Youngâs double… Continue reading links for 2009-03-29
“Will He Need Oxygen?”
Twenty-five-ish years ago, my father and I went on a fishing trip in the Florida Keys with a very dear friend of the family, who had been going their for years. I’ve written about him before, because he had a severe case of polio shortly before Salk’s vaccine was developed, and needed a good deal… Continue reading “Will He Need Oxygen?”
Disgustingly Cute Baby Video Blogging
SteelyKid has developed a bunch of new skills recently, which she shows off in this video of her sitting up like a big girl, and pulling toys out of her shape sorter box: (Thanks to Ewan and Jenny for the shape sorter box, by the way. It’s pretty much the ultimate dog toy (a selection… Continue reading Disgustingly Cute Baby Video Blogging
links for 2009-03-28
The Washington Monthly "All of that’s changing, slowly but surely. The GOP lock on evangelicals is loosening. Poverty and global warming are just as serious for many younger evangelicals as whether two consenting adults of the same gender can get married. And Pat Robertson’s Regent University has an official student organization for Democrats." (tags: blogs… Continue reading links for 2009-03-28
Tolkien Not Religious?
Arts & Letters Daily had a link to a City Journal article about religious symbolism in science fiction, which attempts to claim that there has been a recent swing toward Christian symbolism in the genre (at least, in movie and television SF– the only books mentioned are forty-ish years old). There are a number of… Continue reading Tolkien Not Religious?
Physics Video Quiz
OK, “quiz” isn’t really the right word, because I don’t know the right answer. But here’s something weird that I noticed a while ago, and since I needed an excuse to fool around with video a bit, I thought I’d shoot some pictures of it: Here’s the deal: My cell phone is gently curved on… Continue reading Physics Video Quiz
Tunguska Explained… Again
The Tuguska event of 1908 is one of the most frequently “explained” events in recent history, trailing only the Kennedy assassination. The arXiv blog reports on the latest explanation of what knocked down all those trees without making a giant crater: Now a new analysis by Edward Drobyshevski of the Russian Academy of Sciences in… Continue reading Tunguska Explained… Again