Brownian Notions

Quote

2012-01-05T17:33:00.000-06:00

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts. -- Bertrand Russell, (1872 - 1970) posted by Y.H.N.

Global Sedition

2011-12-29T22:53:00.001-06:00

In these days of Tea Party Rallies and Occupy Wall Street demonstrations at home, of the Arab Spring, and various flavor of Jihadism around the world, it is amazing to realize that Francis Fukuyama's "The End of History and the Last Man" (1992) could ever have been taken seriously. It is important though to recall that that Fukuyama's thesis which was that all of the political and

The Breakthrough Paradigm

2011-08-15T22:31:00.000-05:00

Clive Thompson Articel on breakthrough and how to regognizre them. If you want to spot the next thing, Buxton argues, you just need to go “prospecting and mining”—looking for concepts that are already successful in one field so you can bring them to another. Buxton particularly recommends prospecting the musical world, Look at a field (democracy movements) look to see where they have gotten

The Four Hour Work Week

2011-05-24T22:16:00.001-05:00

If you read it to the end then you are already a fan of Tim Ferris' the 4HWW. The author's enthusiasm is contagious, but I am left to wonder if the system outlined in the book will in fact work. So here I post one of several videos on the subject of 4HWW success stories. Have fun! posted by Y.H.N.

One Professor’s Attempt to Explain Every Joke Ever | Magazine

2011-05-10T17:13:00.000-05:00

You know the fundamental theorem of humor? If you have to explain the joke then it is not funny and that explaining a joke ruins it forever? Well apparently Rod Martin is going to ruin all jokes for all time. . One Professor’s Attempt to Explain Every Joke Everposted by Y.H.N.

CSS

2011-05-03T10:24:00.000-05:00

Just finished a great little Intro to CSS course. Great for getting that first hit with a clue bat.! :) posted by Y.H.N.

Open Science

2011-04-23T13:05:00.000-05:00

Doug Natelson over at Nanoscale Views has joined the open science debate. He raises some good questions about how open the access to the results of publicly supported research should be. This is followed by the great observation on the obligations of scientists beyond simply providing data. As a practical matter, scientists are not obligated to make any interested citizen into an expert on

The 5 Sentence Rule

2011-03-26T14:13:00.000-05:00

I broke the 5 sentence rule today just as I do most days. The idea is that if you (meaning me) have something to say that takes more than 5 sentences you should post it to the web and then send the link. My brilliant insights are not lost to /dev/null/ @IDontHaveTimeToReplyToYourRamblings.org The subject was family and family connections. I will post that later but I think you can see that

Misuse of the Language

2011-03-21T09:47:00.000-05:00

Forget ending a sentence in a preposition, my pet peeve is with the mal-appropriation of words from my own field for the purpose of bilking folks out of their hard earned cash. How can I explain this? Imagine that some one is making money by providing a poor quality service. Further imagine that this person is claiming to have the endorsement of your profession. XKCD does a better job of

Quote

2011-03-16T21:55:00.001-05:00

“Scientists tell us that the fastest animal on earth, with a top speed of 120 feet per second, is a cow that has been dropped out of a helicopter.” -- Dave Barry posted by Y.H.N.

Addiction

2011-03-15T07:31:00.000-05:00

Karen has commented on feeling nauseous after eating nearly anything, but especially after eating things which are "not good" for either of us. I have started to pay attention (yes, I have a weight problem) to my own feelings. Here I am talking about internal physical sensations as opposed to internal emotional sensation. The situation was that I had eaten too many cookies. The feeling was

The End of Civilization As We Know it.

2011-03-14T23:29:00.000-05:00

The S.M. Sterling novel, "Dies the fire", starts with the simple premise. All technology based on the flow of electrons and pressurized gases stops working. How this comes about is sort of passed over. With thousands of jet aircraft in the story plunging to the ground during the first few minutes of the change, as the disaster is called in the novels, the point is not a glaring omission. I

Millionaire - Racism and Sexism

2011-01-07T21:44:00.000-06:00

I have made this post separate from the rest of the series I am posting on the book , "The Millionaire Next Door." To wit, where are the women and the minorities? The first is that the masculine pronoun is used universally throughout the first two chapters. Back in 1996, when the book was published I would not have batted an eye at this usage. From the perspective of 2011 the usage is more

Who are the Millionaires?

2011-01-06T22:39:00.001-06:00

This is the next post in the series on the book "The Millionaire Next Door." In the second chapter the authors try to give us a profile of who the wealthy actually are as oppose to what we might expect them to be. First comes the issue of definition of what exactly they meant by wealthy. Ethnicity, profession and even children are also considered. First the definition of wealthy. Net worth,

The Millionaire Next Door - Introduction

2011-01-05T16:58:00.000-06:00

Like me, you are reading, "The Millionaire Next Door" because you want to be wealthy or at least wealthier than you are now. The insight of the authors, T. Stanley and W. Danko was that the wealthy are not always to be found in the upscale neighborhoods. They are just as likely to live in a neighborhood of average or even modest means and to be nearly indistinguishable from the other residents.

Live Blogging (The Millionaire Next Door)

2011-01-05T13:41:00.000-06:00

Live Blogging a book or rather posting about the contents of the book AS YOU READ IT, seems one of the better ways of catapulting oneself into interacting with the material at the higher levels of learning. This is more than just taking notes. I am after all taking to you. What do I want to learn? Physics, foreign policy, history, sustainable living all have their atractions for me. That said,

The Difference

2010-12-23T08:21:00.002-06:00

“The difference between men and women is that, if given the choice between saving the life of an infant or catching a fly ball, a woman will automatically choose to save the infant, without even considering if there's a man on base.” -- Dave Barry posted by Y.H.N.

The Better Hour

2010-12-16T09:35:00.001-06:00

While if is fashionable to decry ideology, ideology is in fact the evidence of well thought out positions on the questions of the day. At its best these positions are firmly rooted in political philosophy. Absent this intellectual foundation the actors on our national political stage are left with no vision of the drama they should craft, but let there be no doubt that drama will ensue. We

Listening to Language Podcasts

2010-12-15T22:51:00.002-06:00

The State Department encourages foreign service officer applicants to learn a foreign language, surprise, surprise! This is done in part by adding up to 0.5 points to your registry ranking. In case you are not familiar with the foreign service hiring process, after a year of tests, essays and oral exams the applicant is ranked and placed on a list of people the state department is not going to

The Snowflakes Are Up

2010-11-30T21:52:00.000-06:00

When Tim was small we told him that we needed to make paper snowflakes and paste them in the windows of our small apartment to call the snow. He was very impressed when he woke to find 3 foot of snow on the ground. We have been pasting paper snowflakes in the windows right after Thanksgiving ever since. Well we had our first snow fall of the year and so we spend some quality time to night

So you want to get a PhD in Physics?

2010-11-27T23:44:00.000-06:00

OK so this is very similar to this one that I found on joining the FS. I especially loved the part where he asks if the person has ever actually read any papers on the subject at hand. Eventually I would like to create one of my own about being poly. posted by Y.H.N.

Shame and Social Connection.

2010-11-25T23:47:00.000-06:00

Brené Brown is a researcher working with shame and social connection. This is her talk at TEDx in Houston, Texas this year. posted by Y.H.N.

Hats Off

2010-11-23T21:29:00.000-06:00

Blue water sailors (Navy especially) have a tendency to look down a bit on inland water sailors. Not any more. Hats off to you guys! posted by Y.H.N.

Thai Style Chicken Soup

2010-11-17T12:55:00.000-06:00

Saving this recipe for later ... No leeks though Ingredients 1 tablespoon oil 1 leeks, sliced 1 garlic cloves, crushed 1 teaspoon curry powder 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander 500 g chicken thigh fillets, thinly sliced 1 liter water 3 chicken stock cubes, crumbled 1 stalk lemongrass, halved 400 ml coconut milk 2 teaspoons sambal oeoelek 1

The Robot Apocalypse

2010-11-12T23:23:00.002-06:00

The Robot Apocalypse is now inevitable. posted by Y.H.N.

My Physics Students

2010-11-12T10:19:00.000-06:00

My Aurora University physics students sent this to me. They are an outstanding bunch of kids! posted by Y.H.N.

Personal Narratives (with a little help from my friends)

2010-10-29T23:25:00.000-05:00