A couple of years ago, I decided to lose some weight. Because I’m a big ol’ nerd, this involved keeping a more-or-less daily record of my weight, and inevitably, I made a graph of it. Here’s the latest version– the blue points are from 2006, the green from 2007: (It’s not science without graphs.)
Month: January 2008
Nerd Joke of the Week
Tommaso Dorigo, in reviewing an assessment scheme for science projects: Ironically, in the same table Knuteson includes the SBFB [“Scientific Bang for the Buck” factor] of the experiment of flipping a coin: the SBFB of the experiment is zero, not that different from the global search for new physics at the LHC!, although, to be… Continue reading Nerd Joke of the Week
links for 2008-01-05
Report on Evaluating Scholarship for Tenure and Promotion “In the aggregate, PhDs in the fields represented by the MLA appear to have about a 35% chance of getting tenure.” (tags: academia education humanities jobs) Crooked Timber » » Closing the books A list of the arguments Daniel Davies is no longer having. (tags: politics religion… Continue reading links for 2008-01-05
Dorky Poll: Dorky Nomenclature
Wow, am I cranky today, or what? To make up for the previous three tediously political posts, here’s a more light-hearted physics poll question: What’s the dorkiest term in physics? Physicists have no real flair for naming things– either you get dull and prosaic names (“up” and “down” quarks), or strained attempts to be cute… Continue reading Dorky Poll: Dorky Nomenclature
Social Class Tourism
Over at the Whatever, Scalzi has some acid comments for Prof. Will Barrat’s Social Class on Campus diagnostic tools, particularly the step forward exercise (I’ve linked the Web version– John refers to the Word file): [F]or the purposes of this exercise — showing indicators of privilege and class — this list is not actually useful,… Continue reading Social Class Tourism
Iowa and Kenya
One of the many annoying things about the Iowa caucus coverage is that what’s really a faintly absurd and kind of trivial process gets magnified into this huge and all-consuming Event that bumps other, much more important, stories down the queue. Kevin Drum highlights what might be the perfect illustration: On CNN, Bill Bennett just… Continue reading Iowa and Kenya
Congratulations to _________
The Iowa caucuses are finally over, and Daily Kos has the scoop: Finally, primary season is over, and it couldn’t come soon enough. After a week of conflicting polls and a flurry of last minute campaigning by all parties, ______ has (narrowly / decisively) won the Iowa caucuses. Numerous factors contributed to this very predictable… Continue reading Congratulations to _________
links for 2008-01-04
The Invisible Ingredient in Every Kitchen – New York Times Harold McGee on heat. (tags: food science) Inside college parties: surprising findings about drinking behavior “A uniquely designed study instead had researchers visit college parties, gathering data on the spot. Findings revealed that drinking games and themed parties are associated with higher levels of drinking.”… Continue reading links for 2008-01-04
An Overabundance of Answers
As nearly everybody with a blog has already noted, the annual “World Question Center” question has been posted, with answers from the usual huge range of thinkers. This year’s question: When thinking changes your mind, that’s philosophy. When God changes your mind, that’s faith.
Hey to Mike Kozlowski
1) Kate and I went to a New Year’s party at the home of a colleague in Math, whose kids got a Wii for Christmas. We spent a while playing with it, and it’s way more interesting than any other gaming system I’ve seen in years. 2) Windows Vista sucks ass. Evidence: It is incapable… Continue reading Hey to Mike Kozlowski