Bruce Springsteen misreads the national mood in his halftime performance. – By Stephen Metcalf – Slate Magazine A desperately stupid article about the Super Bowl halftime show (tags: politics stupid society sports music) PHD Comics: Not a good sign "I should be done in a year…" (tags: academia comics silly) Doing Physics is a two… Continue reading links for 2009-02-04
Recommended SF Reading
Locus magazine has come out with its “Recommended Reading” list of science fiction and fantasy published in 2008. There are, as always, some annoying quirks– several of the books making the list have been published only in the UK or by small presses, so I’ve never even seen them– but it’s a reasonably good consensus… Continue reading Recommended SF Reading
Is There Anybody Out There?
The Arxiv blog highlights a post on John Scalzi’s favorite science question: the Fermi Paradox: We have little to guide us on the question of the existence intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. But the physicist Enrico Fermi came up with the most obvious question: if the universe is teeming with advanced civilizations, where are… Continue reading Is There Anybody Out There?
links for 2009-02-03
Feministe » A Story in Pictures See if you can spot the difference. (tags: politics news gender pictures law history) Fafblog! the whole world’s only source for Fafblog. ""The earth will quake and the sea will boil and the moon will be as blood and every knee shall bow before the coming of the Fafblocalypse!"… Continue reading links for 2009-02-03
Dr. Biden Isn’t the Sort of Doctor Who Can Help You
Via Janet, the LA Times gets snooty about titles: “Ordinarily when someone goes by doctor and they are a PhD, not an MD, I find it a little bit obnoxious,” Sullivan said. “But it makes me smile because it’s a reminder that she’s her own person. She wasn’t there as an appendage; she was there… Continue reading Dr. Biden Isn’t the Sort of Doctor Who Can Help You
Denis Dutton Goes On About Art
There’s a mini media blitz underway promoting Denis Dutton’s new book The Art Instinct. He was on the Colbert Report last week, he’s reviewed in the Times, and he’s featured in this week’s Bloggingheads Science Saturday: While it’s kind of entertaining to listen to John Horgan struggling to get a word in edgewise, I’m kind… Continue reading Denis Dutton Goes On About Art
Foundation and Left Behind
In Friday’s installment of his ongoing examination of Left Behind: The Movie, Fred Clark points out some gaps in the movie-Antichrist’s plan, where it departs from the loopy prophetic cosmology of the Left Behind books. He then notes how they could’ve done better: If Team Nicolae had really done their homework, they’d have consulted with… Continue reading Foundation and Left Behind
links for 2009-02-02
Misha Lemeshko’s blog: The greatest math problem ever "This is a problem, which can be easily solved by children before entering elementary school. If you want to give it a try, please forget everything you have ever studied." (tags: blogs math silly) The terrifying prospect of an America without lawyers. – By Dahlia Lithwick –… Continue reading links for 2009-02-02
Academic Set Theory
Theorem: The set of students who can learn the material of a course without attending lectures or working homework problems is always smaller than the set of students who think they can learn the material of a course without attending lectures or doing homework problems. Years of intense study have so far failed to produce… Continue reading Academic Set Theory
Tiny Baby Pictures
SteelyKid is running a bit big for her age– she’ll be six months next weekend, but she’s outgrown all her six-month size clothes– but she’s still tiny. At least, I think so, and Kate has the pictures to show why.