tingilinde

if penn state is not banned from football for at least 50 years...

... the NCAA is hypocritical.

Consider what they did to Caltech.  (tip of the hat to Alan)

To suggest any student at Caltech is not academically strong enough to play college sport is beyond the imagination....

But I'm predicting Penn State will receive a slap on the wrist and perhaps a one year suspension at most.

a beautiful tribute

Find out why here...

bandwidth discussion

There is a lot of confusion about the notion of bandwidth and what caps are ... here is a basic level discussion with Dan Jasper, Christopher Mitchell, Reid Fishler and Benoit Felten.  (disclaimer is I know Benoit) recently appeared on TWiT.

take a look

republicans and immigration

A few believe in liberal immigration rights - notably some Utah Mormons.  NPR reports on All Things Considered (audio and transcript).

Very unusual as usually Mormons are in solid lock-step with hyper-convervative Republicans.  Of course the growth of their church is now largely outside the first world at this point with Mexico and Central and South America being hotbeds of activity.

the patterns of nature

We've come a long way

“For most of the history of our species we were helpless to understand how nature works. We took every storm, drought, illness and comet personally. We created myths and spirits in an attempt to explain the patterns of nature.” -Ann Druyan

But sadly many if ys including mist if the ruling class haven't moved beyond those myths towards a richer understanding

they did evil

The New York Times in the Penn Stare scandal.

Shocking would be an understatement. There should be a punishment like no football program for a year for each abuse. That might even send a meaningful message to others.

why freshmen and sophomore physics majors have fun

Where one of the standard problems can lead.  

 

I was pleasantly surprized to see this in xkcd.

intellectual deadends in late 19th century physics

Science eventually gets it right, but the process is often locally similar to sausage making - if you are up close, it can be ugly.  Here is an interesting historical look at a particularly interesting transition period in physics.

 

A Sense of Crisis: Physics in the fin-de-siecle Era

Helge Kragh

(Submitted on 9 Jul 2012)

Whereas physics in the period from about 1880 to 1910 experienced a steady growth, it was also a revolutionary period in which the foundations of the physical world picture were criticized and reconsidered. Generally speaking, from about 1890 mechanics and materialism came under increasing attack and sought replaced by new formulations based on either energy, the ether, or the electromagnetic field. Fin-de-siecle physics was in many ways a chapter of turmoil in the history of science. I review the main developments and alternatives to the established physics, in particular energetics, ether physics, the electromagnetic world view, and also the role played by radioactivity and other new rays discovered in the years around 1900. In the end the anticipated revolution based on the "matter is dead" catchword did not succeed. A revolution did take place in the period, but it was a different one that did not derive from the Zeitgeist of fin de siecle.

 

the best i've had...

There are people who will chase after foods in search of "the best" - at least to them - and I can understand that.  I'm interested in "the best" chocolate, ice cream, milk shake and gelato.  There are a few other things, but these are items I'll mentally catalog and celebrate when I find a new level.

Late yesterday afternoon I had the best gelato of my life.

L'Arte del Gelato in Manhattan's West Village at 75^th and 7^th.   I tried five flavors (two of their way too small "medium" cups) and Sukie tried two along with one of their drinks.  I'm clearly going back, but can recommend:

Vaniglia del Madagascar

Stracciatella

Mokaccino

Cioccolato

Biscotti

The Madagascar Vanilla was particularly wonderful as was the Chocolate mocha.  It isn't often that I can praise a vanilla, but this one is worthy.   I'm told their olive oil is excellent, but I didn't try. Sukie loved their Affogato all'Arancia, which is fresh squeezed orange juice with lemon sorbetto and a bit of Campari.

Very spendy and worth it.  The next time I'm tempted to skip lunch and just order a pint, which is a comparative bargain at $10.  

Now Grom has to be sampled to see which is really the best, but so far I'm loving this one.

Strongly recommended!!

Some things you have to take into your own hands...  for milkshakes the bsst I've had are those I make.  I'm not particularly gifted and I suspect most simple don't pay enough attention to detail.

 

insulated milk cup with a thermal flywheel for kids

myColdCup -- lots of people have had the idea, but this looks like a clean execution for $24

Just chill an element in the freezer overnight and put it in a vacuum thermos. Only 250 mL ..  ok for kids, bu a larger version would be nice.