Once again, Kate is running an auction to benefit the Con or Bust project providing financial support for fans of color(*) to attend science fiction/ fantasy conventions. The auction is run via LiveJournal, with a variety of cool items on offer in individual posts to that community, with an overall index here. Among the items […]
Month: February 2012
On Cox vs. Swans
The other controversial thing this week that I shouldn’t get involved in is the debate over whether Brian Cox is talking nonsense in a recent discussion of the Pauli Exclusion Principle. Tom at Swans on Tea kicked this off with an inflammatory title, and Cox turned up in the comments to take umbrage at that. […]
On Neutrinos and Cables
It’s not a good week for me to be writing about anything remotely controversial, but if I want to keep my physics blogging license, I need to say something about the latest fast neutrino news. This has followed the usual trajectory of such stories, with the bonus farcical element of people who blasted the media […]
Links for 2012-02-23
Experimental Theology: The Bureaucrat The second most common question I get is this, “Do you like being a Department Chair?” My answer is complicated, a yes and a no. On the one hand I don’t like managing the administrivia of a bureaucracy. I struggle with this part of the job. Plus, I keep waking up […]
Looking for the Bacon Boson
I’m grading exam papers at the dining room table when Emmy trots in. “Hey, dude,” she says. “Where do we keep the superconducting wire?” I’m not really paying attention, so I start to answer before I understand the question. “Hmm? Wire is in the basement, next to the–wait, what?” “The superconducting wire. Where do we […]
Links for 2012-02-23
On How Not to be Foxhog College | Easily Distracted Excessive hedgehoggery makes it impossible to talk of change except as loss and violation, makes all planning into trauma. But a blithe fox, in love with his or her own humbuggery, tramples on the passions that sustain scholarly research and focused teaching, and doesn’t seem […]
Dog Physics: More Popular Than London Call Girls
A correspondent from the UK sends along this picture from the Waterstones outlet in Heathrow airport: As you can see, How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog is #55 on their bestseller rack, just ahead of Confessions of a London Call Girl. I’m not sure what this says about London call girls, but I’m […]
Links for 2012-02-22
Astro-Physical Calculator A JavaScript calculator with all manner of physical constants already programmed in, in different systems of units. College Misery: I’m Baffled At My Students And Their Inability to Conquer “Some” Technology. My students are whiz bang on all their electronic gear, flashing their digits and emails wirelessly from phone to phone, downloading first […]
Links for 2012-02-21
The Bouletcorp » Darkness I think my roommate is DARK… Ingenious Infographic: U.S. Highways, Mapped Like A Subway System | Co.Design: business + innovation + design Chucking geographic accuracy for a Tube-style schematic makes much more sense for plotting routes on the U.S. interstate system. Like the London Underground, the interstate highways are all about […]
How to Wreck Your Career With Social Media
This was the title of the group discussion I led at Boskone on Saturday, and since it’s probably relevant to the interests of people reading this blog, I figure it’s worth posting a quick recap. Of course, between the unfamiliar format and Friday’s travel with the Incredible Screaming Pip, I didn’t actually make any notes […]