XKCD FTW: Greek Letters

Today's xkcd is fantastic! This is a big win. The mouseover is also great (and I am guilty as charged).

Wait until Randall Munroe finds out about mathfrak…

XKCD and Flawed Data

XKCD nailed it yet again, especially with the mouseover text.

XKCD: Linguists (and Probably How My Coauthors Feel)

I deeply understand today's XKCD about linguists. Also, given my linguistic tendencies, I think the person in the hole probably has feelings that are similar to those of my coauthors. ;)

And don't forget to read the mouseover text.

"{Location, Location, Location}"

I am amused by today's xkcd.

I am going to steal the mouseover text for other nefarious purposes: "The most important attributes of a vector in 3-space are {Location, Location, Location}"

New XKCD: "Mathematical Symbol Fight"

XKCD understands me.

By the way, I don't agree with this ordering.

Be Both the Doctor and the Kid

Yes!!!

The Doctor.
The Kid.
Be both.
🦋A new post about creativity👇:https://t.co/E7vaCJbOT2 pic.twitter.com/uKAcHMzUzX

— Jordi Lafebre (@jordilafebre) August 4, 2020

(Tip of the cap to Sydney Padua.)

(Alignment Chart)^2

Today's XKCD has an (Alignment Chart)^2! I approve!

It's Applied-Mathematician Season

Or possibly duck season?

https://t.co/c0u86Szfc9 pic.twitter.com/6I1rK9viu6

— Conor Finn (@Conor_Finn) November 20, 2019

XKCD: Math Work

Today's xkcd is highly amusing.

Fact check: True √

New XKCD: How Many Coins for a Cinnamon Roll?

The latest xkcd is great!

Jenny's Constant

How did I not know this? There is a Jenny's constant (for real!)!

As quoted in the above entry in the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences:

First few digits reproduce the digits of the phone number in the song "867-5309/Jenny" performed by Tommy Tutone.

The next digit is a 0, and the following 4 digits (1, 9, 8, 1) are the year the song was recorded (1981). (Noticed by Rob Johnson of the explainxkcd.com forums)

(Tip of the cap to Nalini Joshi. Nalini's tweet included a link to this old xkcd (which I had forgotten about, and I don't think I had ever followed the rabbit hole about Jenny's constant.)

Terry Tao's Guest-Starring Role in "Math With Bad Drawings"

pic.twitter.com/JChbKy1voN

— Ben Orlin (@benorlin) June 6, 2019

P.S. Terry's reaction was amusing when I showed this to him. :)

An XKCD Comic about Adjustments for High Altitude

On the heels of my return from the 2019 Snowbird conference late last night (and the fact that, at least for one year, we're finally changing the venue), I am highly amused by the xkcd comic about high altitude.

I especially like the Nena one ("Nuclear war can be triggered with only 94 red balloons") and the Scrabble one ("Scrabble letters are worth 16% more").

New XKCD: Probability that You'll be Killed by the Thing You Study

I think that the new xkcd underestimates the danger of death from mathematics.

Update: Naturally, there is a line from Firefly to back me up. :)

New XKCD: "Differentiation and Integration"

Today's XKCD, about the algorithmic difference between symbolic differentiation and integration, is superb!

My favorite step of integration is "burn the evidence". ;)

The Final Polishing Step Before Submitting a Manuscript or a Grant Proposal

Naturally. ;)

In the new year, don't forget about this final, very important step when doing the final polishing of your manuscripts and grant proposals just before you submit them. :P

[Note: I clipped this comic years ago from LA Weekly. It fits academia like a clever but frustrating glove.] pic.twitter.com/K2ncYEatya

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) December 27, 2018

XKCD on Curve Fitting

Yes, yes, and yes!

Here is today's new XKCD.

Scientific Nomenclature: The "Thagomizer"

This is so awesome!

I love this.

When the Far Side came out in 1982, paleontologists realised they'd never actually named that part of a stegosaurus and began using the term informally. And now, 36 years later, if you type "Thagomizer" into a search engine... pic.twitter.com/pMDYoOrT8d

— Jim Bliss (@JimBliss23) July 21, 2018

(Tip of the cap to C E Watkins.)

XKCD: "Negative Results"

I am amused.

Meaningless Connections and Empty Entities

And I spend lots and lots of time studying these things, including in the context of applications like social media. ;)

pic.twitter.com/fPtP3XTUUG

— Ben Orlin (@benorlin) May 10, 2018

(Tip of the cap to Jane Shevtsov.)