Thankfully, Coffee is an Essential Service.

Even with the 'stay at home' executive order, Peet's is still open for takeout. Thankfully, coffee is considered an essential service.

Karate Clubbuccino (Take 2)

Here is take 2 of the Karate Clubbuccino, which is otherwise known as using a cappuccino embedding to depict the Zachary Karate Club network. (Thanks to Sofia Piltz for making this happen.)

Karate Clubbuccino, take 2.

(Thanks to Sofia Piltz for making this happen.) pic.twitter.com/Gi0vMbfNQs

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) December 7, 2019

Below is take 1.

In case you ever wanted to see the Karate Club network visualized using a capuccino embedding.

(Thanks to University of Michigan postdoc Sofia Piltz for trying this out for me at BeanBerry Cafe in Ann Arbor. She'll try it with a higher-contrast and more circular picture later.) pic.twitter.com/nqLpcJrfmY

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) November 10, 2019

Visualization of the Zachary Karate Club Network Using a Cappuccino Embedding

In case you ever wanted to see the Karate Club network visualized using a capuccino embedding.

(Thanks to University of Michigan postdoc Sofia Piltz for trying this out for me at BeanBerry Cafe in Ann Arbor. She'll try it with a higher-contrast and more circular picture later.) pic.twitter.com/nqLpcJrfmY

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) November 10, 2019

Sofia found this picture in one of Petter Holme's presentations, although it reminds me of one of them from old papers and t-shirt designs.

Heart and Caffeine Plushies

I bought Heart a couple of months ago, and Caffeine just arrived today.

Here are my two latest @GIANTmicrobes plushies: Heart and Caffeine

The heart is particularly adorable. pic.twitter.com/LV1IuVCWf5

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) July 17, 2018

What Happens in Provo Stays in Provo

I am at the airport — with a 165-minute delay (sigh...) in my flight — to visit the mathematics department at BYU. I am being hosted by Emily Evans, who is on their faculty and is also a friend of mine from college.

I will somehow deal with the fact that I am not allowed to have coffee on campus. :)

Uncountably Many Espresso Combinations

The new SMBC is about both mathematics and coffee, so it's right up my alley.

I'm pretty sure that one can also use a modification of the "diagonal argument" to prove that the set is uncountable. :)

New SMBC: "Coffee and Theorems"

Check out this new SMBC about coffee and theorems. ;)

A Monstrous, Hungry Coffee Machine

The coffee machine in the UCLA statistics department looks like a monster! And it is hungry.

(In fact, as Piotr Szymański points out, it looks somewhat like the main character of this game. Also, humans are great at seeing faces everywhere ("pareidolia"; that is why googly eyes are wonderful.)

My Coffee (and Chicory) Essence

It's my essence! Mine! Mine!

Naturally, it expels the old method as if it were a delinquent student.

(Tip of the cap to David Fallon.)

Website: "Sweatpants and Coffee"

I just encountered the website Sweatpants and Coffee from a link in Jennifer Nicoll Victor's Facebook post.

The only reason I am blogging about this is because the site's title is particularly apt for me.

Tetris and the Reduction of Cravings

Video games compelling me to skip meals... NEVER! :P

Ice Screamers!

Yes, really, I have Ice Screamers in my latte!

Hyperbolic Coffee Drinking

I used this really awesome online tool to generate a hyperbolic image of me drinking coffee.

(Tip of the cap to MoMath: The National Museum of Mathematics.)

Turning Coffee Into Art

Yes, really. So awesome!

(Tip of the cap to Yves van Gennip.)

Decaf Coffee Only: Fresh Out of One of My Nightmares

This is like something out of one of my nightmares*: I went to our Senior Common Room, and every single one of the espresso pods was decaf (including all of the ones in the stash in the drawer).

* Naturally, only I would have nightmares like this. [#firstworldproblems]

Tales from the ArXiv: A Poetic Opening

This paper's topic isn't my cup of tea (or, rather, coffee), so to speak, but its abstract has among the best opening sentences that I have ever seen in a scientific paper: When drinking a cup of coffee under the morning sunshine, you may notice white membranes of steam floating on the surface of the hot water.

I approve!

Update: I do actually find fluid mechanics fascinating --- and this was true even before I joined the applied math group at Oxford --- even though it is not a topic on which I have (yet) published. However, the 'cup of tea' pun still applies and absolutely had to be part of this blog entry. (Also, in general, I am fond of papers that just start with some everyday phenomenon and try to figure out what's up.)

Doug Fister Wins Points for Awesomeness

Yup, this gesture by Doug Fister was awesome (even though it was Starbucks). Way to go!

Quantum Espresso

I am on the mailing list for The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, and I recently received an e-mail from that advertises an upcoming conference with a very compelling acronym (ESPRESSO).

Here is an excerpt from the e-mail: In collaboration with the Quantum ESPRESSO Foundation and CECAM, the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy, is organizing an Advanced Quantum-ESPRESSO Developers' Training Workshop to be held in Trieste from 19 to 30 January 2015.

What, so classical espresso is no longer good enough?

Avoiding a Death Sentence with Coffee

Wow, this story is the first time that I have ever heard of the choice between drinking coffee regularly versus an immediate death sentence. (Eat your heart out, IRB?)

It's My Zero-Gravity Espresso Machine, and I Can't Leave Home Without It!

If I ever go into space, I am going to insist on taking a zero-gravity espresso machine along with me.

(Tip of the cap to whoever posts for Physics Today on Facebook.)