Links Dump
drorzel | November 16, 2010
An Open Letter to MFA Writing Programs (and Their Students) « Whatever
"So, MFA writing programs, allow me to make a suggestion. Sometime before you hand over that sheepskin with the words "Master of Fine Arts" on it, for which your students may have just paid tens of thousands of dollars (or more), offer them a class on the business of the publishing industry, including an intensive look at contracts. Why? Because, Holy God, they will need it."
(tags: writing publishing business ethics law whatever books academia education)
For Frequent Fliers, a Radiation Risk in the Skies - NYTimes.…
drorzel | November 15, 2010
The Shadow Scholar - The Chronicle Review - The Chronicle of Higher Education
"I've written toward a master's degree in cognitive psychology, a Ph.D. in sociology, and a handful of postgraduate credits in international diplomacy. I've worked on bachelor's degrees in hospitality, business administration, and accounting. I've written for courses in history, cinema, labor relations, pharmacology, theology, sports management, maritime security, airline services, sustainability, municipal budgeting, marketing, philosophy, ethics, Eastern religion, postmodern architecture, anthropology,…
drorzel | November 14, 2010
Baubles vs. Hard Truths | Mother Jones
"Here's the problem: most plans to reduce the long-term deficit consist of three things: shiny baubles, smoke and mirrors, and actual deficit reduction measures. You want to minimize the former and emphasize the latter, and on that score I don't think Simpson-Bowles does very well."
(tags: economics politics blogs us kevin-drum society health-care)
Data or Dust Speck? : Built on Facts
"Once lasers were invented however, high intensities became available. One of the more important discoveries was second harmonic generation, which happens when light of…
drorzel | November 13, 2010
slacktivist: Fix the deficit: Cure diabetes
"My grand scheme for long-term debt-reduction would improve the lives of tens of millions of people while saving everyone else a ton of money. It's an attempt to solve problems, rather than to luxuriate in enduring them and savoring the suffering they produce. And that goes against everything the serious people stand for.
And but so anyway, here is my plan, my GS for LTDR -- are you ready? -- it's short:
Cure diabetes.
That's it. That's my plan. Cure diabetes. Eradicate it. Create a post-diabetes world in which people say, "Hey, remember when…
drorzel | November 12, 2010
Why Making Dinner Is A Good Idea | Wired Science | Wired.com
"Why does the microwave and frozen dinner inexorably lead to obesity? According to the economists, the cheapness of calories (both in terms of price and time) has led us to dramatically boost consumption. Food stops being something we make and create -- it doesn't require very many lever presses, so to speak -- and becomes something we simply ingest. Eating just gets easier. And then we get fatter.
But maybe we're not just consuming more calories because they're available at such a low cost. Maybe we're also consuming more…
drorzel | November 11, 2010
slacktivist: TF: Chairface Carpathia
"The villain Nicolae Carpathia probably reminds of more than any other is Chairface Chippendale, from one of my favorite episodes of The Tick -- a warped parody of superhero comics. Chairface, a supervillain, constructs a giant heat ray he plans to use to carve his name on the moon. Our heroes, of course, rush to stop him, but the Tick struggles to make sense of this grandly strange act of supervillainy, asking his sidekick, Arthur, if carving your name on the moon is even illegal.
"It's just wrong," Arthur says, and he's surely right about that.…
drorzel | November 10, 2010
Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds - CNN.com
"Twinkies. Nutty bars. Powdered donuts.
For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too.
His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most -- not the nutritional value of the food.
The premise held up: On his "convenience store diet," he shed 27 pounds in two months…
drorzel | November 9, 2010
Moving Toward Quantum Computing - Science in 2011 - NYTimes.com
"In 1981 the physicist Richard Feynman speculated about the possibility of "tiny computers obeying quantum mechanical laws." He suggested that such a quantum computer might be the best way to simulate real-world quantum systems, a challenge that today is largely beyond the calculating power of even the fastest supercomputers.
Since then there has been sporadic progress in building this kind of computer. The experiments to date, however, have largely yielded only systems that seek to demonstrate that the principle is sound. They…
drorzel | November 8, 2010
Sunday Function : Built on Facts
"[T]he idea of function as a machine is such a powerful and intuitive one that it tends to be used pretty universally until you have a good reason to abandon it. Non-mathematicians rarely encounter such reasons, even in the more mathematically demanding disciplines like physics, computer science, and engineering. In fact, most of the time we tend to double down and promiscuously apply the "function as machine" picture to operators. If a function is a machine that turns numbers into other numbers, and operator is a machine that turns functions into other…
drorzel | November 7, 2010
Democrats didn't lose the battle of 2010. They won it. - By William Saletan - Slate Magazine
"Politicians have tried and failed for decades to enact universal health care. This time, they succeeded. In 2008, Democrats won the presidency and both houses of Congress, and by the thinnest of margins, they rammed a bill through. They weren't going to get another opportunity for a very long time. It cost them their majority, and it was worth it.
And that's not counting financial regulation, economic stimulus, college lending reform, and all the other bills that became law under Pelosi. So spare…
drorzel | November 6, 2010
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Schrodinger's job interview.
(tags: silly physics history comics smbc)
NASA Space Games | Wired Science | Wired.com
"The future is now. NASA wants to start playing space games. Check out this NASA Spaced Out Sports Design Challenge. Unfortunately, the challenge is geared towards grades 5-8, but I can't help thinking about this. The deal is that students submit some game that they design for astronauts to to play in the International Space Station.
Maybe I am ruining this whole competition, but I want to share some ideas (kids, feel free to expand on these…
drorzel | November 5, 2010
Five close-approach images of Hartley 2 by Deep Impact, with commentary - The Planetary Society Blog | The Planetary Society
"Here's the five close-approach images of Hartley 2 captured today, November 4, 2010, by the Deep Impact spacecraft, collected into one file. Boy, do these images reward close examination!"
(tags: science astronomy pictures space blogs planetary-society)
What real political engagement looks like
"The urgency is always there, and the fact that it gets masked sometimes by the "right" candidate getting elected is what puts so much of our society to sleep. Bitching on…
drorzel | November 4, 2010
Blog U.: 7 Ways College Has Improved Since 91 - Technology and Learning - Inside Higher Ed
"We spend so much time worrying about what is wrong with our U.S. higher ed system that it is easy to lose sight of how much the system has improved over the past 20 years. This is a mistake, as if we fail to honor our successes we will forget that change can and does happen, and that our colleagues are working incredibly hard each and every day to improve our institutions.
My point of reference is admittedly limited and biased -- as I graduated from one elite, private institution in 1991 (Washington…
drorzel | November 3, 2010
Motorcycle tablecloth trick: could it be done? | Wired Science | Wired.com
"After watching this episode, a colleague had a great question:
"How fast would the MythBusters have to go to make this trick work?"
Interesting. In their last attempt, they had the motorcycle going around 100 mph. It did't work, but some of the stuff did stay on the table. What if they went faster? Could it work?"
(tags: science physics video blogs dot-physics education outreach culture television)
Confessions of a Community College Dean: Culture of Poverty
My disregard for the Charles Murray line of argument is…
drorzel | November 1, 2010
Buddy Comedy Idea § Unqualified Offerings
"So, because the FBI has a habit of finding losers, coaxing them off the couch, holding their hands through the process of planning a terrorist attack, and then arresting them, let me propose this concept for a screenplay:"
(tags: movies politics writing war world us blogs unqualified-offerings culture comedy)
drorzel | October 31, 2010
Views: No Excuses, Mr. President - Inside Higher Ed
"Most parents and taxpayers consistently share the beliefs of most teachers about what needs to be done to improve our schools. An August Gallup/Phi Delta Kappa survey showed respondents agreeing with teachers that the largest problem with schools is a shortfall in funding, that the major issue with teacher competence is support for retraining and keeping up to date, that the biggest problem with recruitment and retention is abysmal teacher pay. A McKinsey & Co. report released this month noted that many nations with excellent schools…
drorzel | October 30, 2010
The Forever Blog « Easily Distracted
"There's been talk that blogs are over and Twitter and Facebook are king. I meant to say something about this issue when the end of Bitch Ph.D was announced, since that was an important blog for me and many other people. I think it's only half-right to say that the day of the blog is done.
No matter what alternative venues might come into existence, many blogs were going to have finite lifespans. Even group blogs are not really publications with an identity that stands apart from their authors, into which new authors can come and old ones depart while…
drorzel | October 29, 2010
Polson High School students use primitive bows to study physics
"It's one thing to put Montana's Indian Education for All Act to work in a social studies classroom.
Physics? That would seem to be a whole 'nother matter.
And it is. But certainly not, as Polson High School teacher Jon Petersen is proving, impossible.
Petersen's physics students spent their class time Tuesday measuring elastic potential energy.
But they did so using two primitive bows, one made of hickory and the other of vine maple, built by Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal member Francis Cahoon."
(tags: education…
drorzel | October 28, 2010
Take better photos of friends and family: Turn off your flash. - By Steven I. Weiss - Slate Magazine
"The flash didn't go off" has been shorthand for photographic failure for more than 100 years, but the conventional wisdom on lighting is now being challenged by advances in camera technology. The quickest, simplest, cheapest way to take more professional-looking pictures of your friends and family is to stop using your digital camera's built-in flash.
(tags: pictures technology gadgets slate education optics)
The hard edge of empire - Charlie's Diary
"We know about the real world of the…
drorzel | October 27, 2010
Video: Fingerless Robotic Hand Can Pick Anything | Wired Science | Wired.com
"The simple gripper is made of a bag of coffee grounds and a vacuum, though other grains such as couscous and sand also work, says study coauthor Eric Brown of the University of Chicago. To pick something up, the bag of loose grounds first melds around the object. Then, as a vacuum sucks air out of the spaces between grains, the gripper stiffens, packing itself into a hard vice molded to the outline of the object. Reducing the bag's starting volume by just a teeny amount -- less than 1 percent of the total -- was…