December 30, 2010
slacktivist: Excruciating
"The work of a senator doesn't have to be so painful. If you find yourself complaining because you're being forced to defend indefensible positions by voting on them, it might be that the problem doesn't lie with those forcing you to cast a vote and take a stand. It…
December 29, 2010
Most of what would ordinarily be blogging time this morning got used up writing a response to a question at the
Physics Stack Exchange. But having put all that effort in over there, I might as well put it to use here, too...
The question comes from a person who did a poster on terminology at the…
December 28, 2010
I'm slowly sifting through the Christmas pictures, many of which were rendered blurry by SteelyKid's constant motion, but there are some good shots in there:
This one shows her playing with the wooden train set she got from Grandma and Grandpa (the same gauge as the Thomas branded ones they have…
December 28, 2010
It's the last week of the (calendar) year, which means it's a good time to recap the previous twelve months worth of scientific news. Typically, publications like Physics World will publish a list of top ten physics stories of 2010, but we're all Web 2.0 these days, so it seems more appropriate to…
December 28, 2010
Do dogs need sweaters when it's cold? Plus: Is road salt edible? - By Brian Palmer - Slate Magazine
"A major blizzard dropped 20 inches of snow on New York City on Sunday night as it made its way up the East Coast. Monday-morning dog-walkers had their animals decked out in sweaters and booties to…
December 27, 2010
We caught only a glancing blow from the latest Snowpocalypse event, with maybe six inches of light, powdery snow. It's difficult to estimate depth, because it's so light and powdery, and very, very windy.
To give you an idea of the local conditions, here's a picture of the thistle-seed feeder…
December 27, 2010
I spent a lot of time on my feet over the weekend, probably more than I should've given my ankle. Thus, I plan to spend most of today lying on the couch with my foot up and on ice. I've got a bunch of things to work on that I can do from this position, but extensive blogging is not one of them.…
December 26, 2010
My big Christmas present this year was an external flash unit for my camera. Which means that, among the 354 (!!) pictures I took while at my parents' were a bunch playing with different flash settings. Why? These two pictures should give you the idea:
The first is taken with the flash angled…
December 24, 2010
Our final science-themed Christmas ornament is this Santa and friend:
What does walking a dog have to do with science? If you have to ask that, you're reading the wrong blog. Dog-walking is essential to science-- that's where we get some of our best ideas!
In a broader sense, this one can be said…
December 23, 2010
I foolishly neglected to get an Appa picture this morning, but I wouldn't want to deprive you of your cute toddler fix for the week. And, of course, it's important to get at least one picture of SteelyKid playing with her spiffy new kitchen out:
We gave this to her last night, and it was a huge…
December 23, 2010
Next up in our series of science-themed Christmas ornaments are these two dinosaurs:
Why? Because dinosaurs are awesome. Seriously, do you really need to ask?
December 23, 2010
The Greatest Letter Ever Printed On NFL Team Letterhead
"In 1974, a Clevelander wrote the Browns complaining of the menace posed by the then-fad of throwing paper airplanes, and implicitly threatened litigation. The Browns' response is just about the most awesome thing ever committed to paper."
(…
December 22, 2010
Next up in our series of science-themed Christmas ornaments is this squirrel:
A reminder that you can't trust those furry little bastards...
What do squirrels have to do with science? As Emmy (and any other dog) will tell you, squirrels are representatives of all that is evil and twisted. And,…
December 22, 2010
As is often noted, most modern recordings of Christmas songs range from utterly bland to excruciatingly awful. There are some that sorta-kinda work, though, and a bare few that are brilliant:
In the interest of promoting, you know, music that doesn't suck, it's perhaps worth taking a look at what…
December 22, 2010
Hyperbole and a Half: The Year Kenny Loggins Ruined Christmas
"I walked through my front door with purpose and gathered my family members in the living room to tell them about my vision. I was going to rewrite the birth of Jesus Christ and I was going to make it POP.
My mom, always wanting to…
December 21, 2010
Continuing our series of science-themed Christmas tree ornaments, we have this cute pair of reading bears:
"But wait," you say, "reading isn't a science!" Ah, but while reading itself may not be a science, science is nothing without the scientific literature. The really essential step in the…
December 21, 2010
As mentioned previously, I sprained my ankle last Thursday. Just to be safe, I went to the doctor on Friday, to make sure it wasn't anything worse. He poked it a little, sent me to get an x-ray, and gave me a prescription for crutches. The x-ray took a while, and the crutch prescription could…
December 21, 2010
Tron | Film | Better Late Than Never? | The A.V. Club
"What's odd about all this is that the more I see these movies, the more I become convinced they could have been used in happy little object lessons about how God wants only to save us. That includes Tron, a mostly mediocre-to-awful film with…
December 20, 2010
We didn't do a Christmas tree last year, because we figured SteelyKid wasn't yet old enough to be safe around it. We put one up this year, though, and she's been very grown-up and careful around it, so all is well.
The return of the Chateau Steelypips Christmas tree means I can also revive a sort-…
December 20, 2010
Let It Dough! - NYTimes.com
A different take on Christmas cookies.
(tags: art pictures holiday nytimes)
Crash Test: 2009 Malibu vs. 1959 Bel Air | Wired Science | Wired.com
"Not sure why they (whoever they are) did this test, but it is pretty cool. This is a crash test between an old and new…
December 19, 2010
slacktivist: One win; one loss
"At the end of the day, what this means is that if you want to serve your country and put your life on the line to defend the freedoms enjoyed by Republican U.S. senators, those senators will begrudgingly and belatedly allow you to do so if you are gay or lesbian.…
December 18, 2010
As has been mentioned in countless places over the last few days, Yahoo plans to shut down Delicious, the social bookmark service that lots of people use for lots of things. My interest in it is pretty narrow, but important for this blog: I use Delicious to generate the quasi-automatic daily Links…
December 18, 2010
Eric Cornell: an experimental maestro - physicsworld.com
"Winning the Nobel prize aged just 39 could easily have gone to the head of Eric Cornell, the physicist who shared the 2001 prize for creating the world's first Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). But when Physics World reporter, James Dacey,…
December 17, 2010
I sprained my ankle yesterday. That's not an official medical diagnosis-- I have a doctor appointment later today to get that-- but I've done this before, and I know the feeling.
Sadly, I did not injure myself saving orphans from a burning building (as I usually do on Thursdays), or while dunking a…
December 17, 2010
Shtetl-Optimized » Blog Archive » QCut
"Let me end this post with a request: I want all of my readers to visit the YouCut page, and propose that quantum computing and theoretical computer science research be completely eliminated. Here's my own CAREER Award; go ahead and cite it by number as a…
December 16, 2010
SteelyKid has started to demonstrate a real flair for decoration, which she proudly shows off here:
That's Appa decked out with the three bead necklaces we have for SteelyKid to play with. She tends to take the longest one, the white beads, and wrap it behind her so she has one loop over each arm…
December 16, 2010
I'm very pleased to announce that the Uncertain Principles Person of the Year for 2010 is... SteelyKid:
Why do I say this? Well...
First, as lots of people will tell you, we're all citizen journalists now. Which means that I'm every bit as entitled to declare a person of the year as Time magazine…
December 16, 2010
The Top 14 Astronomy Pictures of 2010 | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine
Pretty pictures, plus science.
(tags: astronomy science pictures space planets blogs)
very small array » United States of America Map
A map filled in with the first result from Google's auto-complete. Don't read the…
December 15, 2010
I've mentioned before that I'm answering the occasional question over at the Physics Stack Exchange site, a crowd-sourced physics Q&A. When I'm particularly pleased with a question and answer, I'll be promoting them over here like, well, now. Yesterday, somebody posted this question:
Consider a…
December 15, 2010
As previously noted, the UK edition of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog is selling very well via the Guardian's online bookshop, among other UK venues. It's doing well enough that I might need to start referring to the original text as the American edition of How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your…
