A Paper Called "Lunch Menu" on Google Scholar

I love it!

"Lunch Menu" by T. B. Dishes and P. Kids also exists, cited 14 times https://t.co/8RR1rvYfKs

— Hiroki Sayama (@HirokiSayama) April 21, 2020

Best Journal Spam E-Mail Ever?

Best predatory journal spam invite ever 🤣 pic.twitter.com/0hU7N9kauN

— Richard Sever Ⓤ (@cshperspectives) December 14, 2019

(Tip of the cap to Laura Kubatko.)

A Spectacular List of Errata

This is epic.

pic.twitter.com/71VmZY4I0w

— Math Facts (@FactsOfMath) October 8, 2019

(Tip of the cap to math prof.)

The Cult of Pure Mathematics

Well, there you have it: pure mathematics is kind of like a cult, so let's stop pretending and go all the way. :P

"Our CVs won’t list the prestigious journals in which we have published, but rather our reputations will be the rumors of our arcane wisdom."

It's the cult I've always wanted!https://t.co/vkZelVoWqM

— Anna Haensch (@extremefriday) January 15, 2019

One choice excerpt (of many) from the article:

Within the sphere of pure mathematics — the oldest and most successful of humanity’s intellectual endeavors — I believe our best chance at preserving the integrity and dignity of our tradition is to return to our Pythagorean roots. We should become a cult.

Let us do away with the job market and mathjobs.com and reference letters. Let us stop pretending we understand each other’s respective sub-fields. Let us abandon those fuck-ugly Brutalist travesties we call our department buildings and leave them to those shills in applied math.

(Tip of the cap to Adriana Salerno.)

A Paper that Rejects Itself

What a conundrum! :P

Amazing. Train a network to classify papers (accept/reject). Then run the network on the paper describing the network, and it classifies the paper as a strong reject. This is why we can't have nice paper classifiers. (h/t @hardmaru) https://t.co/OC2baCI1Za pic.twitter.com/3N9wsKQ374

— Chethan Pandarinath (@chethan) December 21, 2018

(Tip of the cap to Karen Daniels.)

XKCD on Curve Fitting

Yes, yes, and yes!

Here is today's new XKCD.

A Cartoon Depiction of Deep Learning Versus Traditional Machine Learning

So true. :)

great meme pic.twitter.com/d5AW6WliTy

— Lex Flagel (@flagelbagel) July 29, 2018

(Tip of the cap to Michael Stumpf.)

Compilation of "Awesome" #BadStockPhotosOfMyJob

These stock photos of jobs (with much focus on scientific ones) are indeed hilariously bad.

Mathematics and physics get the familiar, cheesy writing-in-the-mirror treatment in some of these.

(Tip of the cap to Justin Howell.)

New XKCD: Mathematicians Would Never Behave this Way

I swear.

Cover Letters When Responding Reviewers

This "sample cover letter" is hilarious!

I read this before at some point, and it's still really funny now. (And also way too close to the truth.)

Definitely adding a Review of Irrelevant Literature to my next paper | https://t.co/MlOLNd3O6E pic.twitter.com/khcbyHydBj

— Academia ɐɹnɔsqO (@AcademiaObscura) March 28, 2018

It's Still Billy Joel to Me: H. P. Lovecraft Edition

I am highly amused by this connection between Billy Joel's "Piano Man" and H. P. Lovecraft's "Nemesis". Seriously, this is worth a listen. The top one is great!

Though it's still Billy Joel to me!

(Tip of the cap to Todd Wilkinson.)

Headline of the Day: Well Played

Look closely at the various ways that one can parse this headline. ;)

This headline writer deserves a Pulitzer.#Trump #FakeNewsAwards @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/XYX2ayi4PO

— Danielle Muscato (@DanielleMuscato) January 18, 2018

(Tip of the cap to David Kung.)

Bookstore Snark: I Approve!

Here's some really nice snark from the people who run a Cleveland bookstore.

Right here in #Cleveland @MacsBacks #ShitHoleCountries (my personal fave Junot Diaz) pic.twitter.com/zZ6z07PFDa

— Alok Khorana (@aakonc) January 14, 2018

XKCD: Memorable Quotes

I approve of the new xkcd!

The Physics of a "Proclaimer" Walking 500 Miles, and then Attempting to Walk 500 More

I suppose this was inevitable, but there is now a paper on the physics of a "Proclaimer" walking 500 miles and then attempting to walk 500 more.

The physics of a standard "Proclaimer" walking 500 miles, and then attempting to walk 500 more.https://t.co/9HVckICEKi pic.twitter.com/9AzNP0T9EY

— Robert McNees (@mcnees) December 15, 2017

Quoting from the abstract: In this paper we examine the feasibility for a Proclaimer, modelled on the average Scottish male human, to walk such distances without food. It was found that a Proclaimer, would lose 1.3% of its body mass after 500 miles and 2.8% after 500 more.

That seems like a rather significant underestimate of how much body mass the Proclaimer would lose.

(Tip of the cap to Sabine Hossenfelder.)

Be Careful with the 'Track Changes' Option

D'oh!

Protip: When doing a big treason, don't track changes in Microsoft Word. https://t.co/DMgE6cdAWM

— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) December 8, 2017

Here is a screen capture so that you can see this in full glory.

(Tip of the cap to Francis Su.)

What Programmers Say When Their Software Doesn't Work: Top 20 Responses

I have witnessed several of these and used some others.

The Top 20 replies by programmers when their programs do not work https://t.co/kfjyE9CClp #coding #datascience pic.twitter.com/5TBdyRPgrh

— Jason H. Moore, PhD (@moorejh) September 22, 2017

(Tip of the cap to Michael Stumpf.)

28th Anniversary of Ejection from a Game of Expos' Mascot

28 years ago today, The Expos' mascot (Youppi!) got ejected from a game against the Dodgers, partly at the urging of Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda.

The antics that the Phillie Phanatic would pull with Tommy Lasorda were even funnier.

What is the Weirdest Historical/Superstitious Practice in Academia?

This is definitely it.

I saw this yesterday, but I didn't post it because the embedded tweet wasn't showing the original question. I should have taken a screenshot and posted it. :)

Publish in journals. https://t.co/U2Oiin9Hu3

— Michael Hendricks (@MHendr1cks) August 2, 2017

Highlighting Responses to Reviewers

D'oh!

I think the "Highlights" and the "Response to Reviewers" got mixed up here https://t.co/Tx7kb7uSbc @fMRI_today pic.twitter.com/pZqiIexOXI

— Neuroskeptic (@Neuro_Skeptic) July 23, 2017