Somewhere between yesterday’s posts about uselesss junk and useful antiques, there’s this. The picture to the right is a tragedy in progress, though is might not look that way: It’s an FTIR spectrometer left behind by the previous occupant of my lab. It’s a top-of-the-line instrument, a Bomem DA-8 spectrophotometer, and a new one will… Continue reading Good Stuff Going to Waste
Dorky Poll: Useful Antiques
As sort of a counterpoint to the previous entry, here’s a more positive poll question: What’s the most useful antiquated tool you keep around? That is, what dusty old relic do you keep around because there’s no modern alternative that works as well for what it does?
Dorky Poll: Lab Relics
Welcome to the laboratory graveyard: This picture shows the back room in one of the labs, and most of the gear in it is broken or useless. There’s a computer that’s so old it has a 5 1/4″ floppy drive, the skeleton of a vacuum evaporator, a crappy student STM system, and an electrometer that’s… Continue reading Dorky Poll: Lab Relics
The Problem of Rankings
Matthew Yglesias has a couple of posts on opposition to the US News college rankings, the first noting the phenomenon, and the second pointing to Kevin Carey’s work on better ranking methods. The problem with this is, I think he sort of misses the point of the objections. Matt writes: All that said, the very… Continue reading The Problem of Rankings
Physics News Backlog
Every day, a handful of physics news items pass through my RSS feeds, and every few days, one of them looks interesting enough that I check the little box to keep it unread, so I can comment on it later (I don’t blog from work if I can avoid it). Of course, most of the… Continue reading Physics News Backlog
Robert Charles Wilson, Axis [Library of Babel]
I’m taking the unusual step of tarting up a booklog entry with a cover image, just for the “Advance Reading Copy– Not For Sale” box on the cover. A few weeks back, when Kate and I were in New York, we dropped by the Tor offices to meet Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden, and I… Continue reading Robert Charles Wilson, Axis [Library of Babel]
Waiting for Steak to Fall
One of these days, this will be the universe where steak falls on the floor.
Query: After-Market iPod Connection?
So, back in November, I bought a new car, which came with a six-month free trial of Sirius Satellite Radio. That’s about to run out, and while it does have its good points, I’m not really interested in paying money to listen to the radio. What I would prefer is to be able to play… Continue reading Query: After-Market iPod Connection?
Farewell to the Hellmouth
So, over the course of Saturday and Sunday, I watched the first eight episodes of Season Five of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, through a combination of general boredom and wanting to give the show a fair shot. So, does this mean I’m now hooked? Well, when Kate got home, I was just starting episode 12… Continue reading Farewell to the Hellmouth
Songs of the Moment
Top choices from the recent acquisitions playlist: “Sly,” Cat Empire. I bought this because of the 75 or Less review, which asks the important questions: When did G Love become the bandleader for the Blues Brothers? And when did they add reggae and Latin influences? And why are my feet doing this stupid dance under… Continue reading Songs of the Moment