While it’s not aprt of the official LaserFest package of stuff, Physics World is marking the 50th anniversary of the laser with a couple of really nice pieces on lasers in science and popular culture: Where next for the laser interviews six laser experts– Claire Max of UCSC, Bill Phillips of NIST, Steven Block of… Continue reading The Past and Future of the Laser
Category: Music
Silly Unconventional Love Songs
Via Kate, a call for love songs. I like most of the songs on Kate’s list, but as I tried to think of songs to add, I realized a couple of things: 1) I own more really good kiss-off songs than I do traditional love songs, and 2) even the songs that I like about… Continue reading Silly Unconventional Love Songs
How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ‘n’ Roll by Elijah Wald [Library of Babel]
Lest you think that the previous couple of posts indicate that I’m just a cranky curmudgeon who doesn’t like anything he reads, let me put in a plug for Elijah Wald’s How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ‘n’ Roll. I read about half of this piecemeal over a couple of months, then finished it on the… Continue reading How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ‘n’ Roll by Elijah Wald [Library of Babel]
Amazing Laser Application 5: Optical Data Storage!
What’s the application? CD and DVD players use lasers to read (and in some cases write) digital information from convenient plastic disks. What problem(s) is it the solution to? 1) “How do we store a large amount of digital information in a convenient and stable fashion?” 2) “How do we make everybody buy the White… Continue reading Amazing Laser Application 5: Optical Data Storage!
Amazing Laser Application 1: Light Show!
What’s the application? The use of lasers to provide an entertaining light show for humans, dogs, or cats. What problem(s) is it the solution to? 1) “How will I entertain my dog or cat?” 2) “How can we distract people from the fact that Roger Daltrey has no voice left?”
Musical Poll: The Scenic Route
I’m safely back, well ahead of the Snowpocalypse!!! I’m kind of out of it, though– yesterday was a very long day, and I find air travel draining at the best of times– so in lieu of substantive blogging, I offer you this thematically appropriate poll: Which of these travel-related songs is the best?(survey software) (Strictly… Continue reading Musical Poll: The Scenic Route
What a Drag It Is Getting Old
There’s an expert-level debate going on in the comments of Wednesday’s quantum essentials post, and I do have some thoughts on the matter that I will eventually type up (in a top-level post rather than a comment, at this point). It’s Friday, though, and I’m kind of fried. So here’s some wibbling about pop music… Continue reading What a Drag It Is Getting Old
Musical Poll: Ten Years, Ten Songs
Everybody with an opinion seems to be doing a decadal wrap-up of one sort or another, but I’m too tired to do anything serious. So, I’ll let you do it for me: here’s a list of ten songs that are, in my mind, inextricably bound up with the events of the decade. Which of them… Continue reading Musical Poll: Ten Years, Ten Songs
Musical Poll: Improbable Dylan
I continue to be boggled by the Bob Dylan Christmas album. Thus, a deeply silly poll: Having recorded a Christmas album, what should Bob Dylan’s next project be?(polls) Happy Holidays!
Poll: Sounds of the– What?
It’s officially December, so there are no longer really solid reasons for objecting to the playing of Christmas music. With the exception of the sort of stuff that shows up in Mellowmas, that is. And speaking of Mellowmas, there is this. About which, a poll: A Bob Dylan Christmas album:(survey software) Please choose only one,… Continue reading Poll: Sounds of the– What?