Some time back, I was offered a review copy of Why the Sky Is Blue by Götz Hoeppe by Princeton University Press. Looking at their web site, I noticed a forthcoming book by an emeritus professor at my alma mater, so I asked if they’d send me a copy of that, too. I’m all about […]
Month: July 2007
A Moment of Silence, Please
The Weekly World News is shutting down its print operation at the end of August, though the web site will continue to be active. Long lines in the supermarket will be that much duller. Actually, a moment of silence is probably the wrong tribute. Maybe a moment of screeching like a bat child found in […]
Crucial Harry Potter Links
If you’d like to know what hapens in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows without having to read two hundred pages worth of camping-related program activities, there’s a slightly snarky scene-by-scene summary at Gibberish in Neutral: Yaxley: HAI I IZ DEATHEATER NOT APPEARING IN PREVIOUS BOOKS. YOU HAS NEWS? Snape: Of course I have news. […]
Why Do Polarized Sunglasses Work?
In the previous post about light polarization, I promised to post an explanation of why it is that “Polarized” is a selling point for sunglasses. Given that sunlight is unpolarized, the only obvious benefit would be that polarized sunglasses will automatically block half of the light hitting them, but it’s actually much better than that. […]
What’s the Next “Harry Potter”?
No, I’m not talking about Harry Potter books– there won’t be any more of those for a while, at least until J. K. Rowling decides she really needs to buy Bolivia. I’m talking about “Harry Potter” the cultural phenomenon– the inescapable, endlessly hyped mass-culture Event that everybody talks about and obsesses over. The question is […]
Some Book That Came Out Recently [Library of Babel]
Kate was out of the house around nine on Saturday morning, which usually only happens if we have a plane to catch, which should tell you the importance Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows had for her. She tore through it by dinnertime. I’m not that big a fan, but I hate missing out on […]
Basic Concepts: Polarization of Light
One of my tasks this week, before heading off to the Caribbean for a relaxing vacation, is going to be to find a new pair of polarized sunglasses that aren’t ridiculously ugly. This seems like a decent hook of a physics post, explaining why “polarized” is a selling point for sunglasses, but first, I probably […]
Rejecting US News
There’s a quick mention in Inside Higher Ed today of the latest news on the college presidents opposed to the US News rankings. They’re up to 61 signatures on their letter committing college presidents to 1) refusing to provide information for the rankings, and 2) refusing to use the rankings in their publicity. 61 signatories […]
Journamalism Question
Why is it that when non-famous people are quoted in the news media, their ages are always given? Just about every story in the paper features a sentence like: “Of course, I’m aware of the wave nature of matter,” said Tallulah Johnstone Black, 47, a homemaker from Waterloo who witnessed the incident while walking to […]
IN UR INTERNETZ, ENABLIN UR ACTIVISTS
There’s been some discussion recently in places I can’t link to about the Purpose of Blogging, and whether it’s really appropriate to be using the medium to exchange silly pictures of cats. Ethan Zuckerman made an important point about the utility of banality (that link 404’s at the moment, but I assume Ethan will eventually […]