I’ve finished a first pass through the second draft of Bunnies Made of Cheese: The Book, doing revisions on all of the chapters to make it a little more comprehensible. I’m still waiting for beta-reader comments on the re-written Chapter 8 (hint, hint), but other than that, I’m going through doing consistency checks (“Didn’t I… Continue reading Book Report: Second Draft, First Pass
links for 2008-07-21
Measurement of the Casimir Force between a Gold Sphere and a Silicon Surface with Nanoscale Trench Arrays “We report measurements of the Casimir force between a gold sphere and a silicon surface with an array of nanoscale, rectangular corrugations using a micromechanical torsional oscillator.” (tags: physics quantum science experiment precision-measurement articles) Feedback Cooling of the… Continue reading links for 2008-07-21
The Dark Knight
We’ll keep this short and spoiler-free: Kate and I went to see The Dark Knight yesterday afternoon. The verdict: It was an excellent entry in the “gritty comic-book adaptation” genre, and a very solid follow-up to Batman Begins. Heath Ledger as the Joker was excellent. I see here in my blogger guidelines that I’m supposed… Continue reading The Dark Knight
It’s the Stupid Economy
Kevin Drum is pondering the economy: A few days ago, in passing, I remarked that I was impressed (surprised?) by the ability of our economy to absorb so much catastrophe in such a short time without things being even worse than they are. What accounts for this? He goes on to quote part of a… Continue reading It’s the Stupid Economy
Pop Culture Interlude
1) I see that as a SF fan with a blog, I am contractually obligated to say something about Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Enh. It’s well-done, but I’m not that much of a Whedon fanboy, and the hapless villain conceit isn’t enough to get past the fact that I don’t really like musicals. 2) The… Continue reading Pop Culture Interlude
links for 2008-07-19
Purdue Panel Finds Misconduct by Fusion Scientist – NYTimes.com Expect a lawsuit in 3… 2… (tags: physics science fraud ethics energy experiment academia stupid) slacktivist: L.B.: Pistol-packing pacifist “As Alice discovered in Wonderland, this kind of confident, reassured madness can be difficult to engage.” (tags: religion review books stupid politics US)
Physics Magazine
On a happier note than the previous post, the American Physical Society has launched a new publication, called simply “Physics.” The goal is “to highlight exceptional papers within the body of excellent research that the American Physical Society publishes each year in all of the Physical Review journals.” The first issue features a really good… Continue reading Physics Magazine
Joe Bageant, Deer Hunting With Jesus [Library of Babel]
Yesterday, I had an appointment at the local orthopedic associates to get my dislocated thumb looked at. The receptionist escorted me to a curtained-off corner of a big room, where I got to spend ten or fifteen minutes listening to the physician’s assistant on call dealing with other patients. One of them, a women distressingly… Continue reading Joe Bageant, Deer Hunting With Jesus [Library of Babel]
links for 2008-07-18
Kieran Healy’s Weblog – Elementary Particles “Particle physics has been in the doldrums a bit lately, so they could do with some interdisciplinary reinvigoration. Also, their research budgets remain quite large.” (tags: social-science silly physics blogs) Crooked Timber » » Necrotrends: The GOP Was The Party of Civil Rights “So long as political considerations are… Continue reading links for 2008-07-18
links for 2008-07-17
Bush Lifts Offshore Drilling Ban | The Onion – America’s Finest News Source “Is there a ban on printing more money? If so he should lift that too and fix the economy while he’s at it.” (tags: silly environment energy politics)