Evaluating Fake Lecturers

Clearly, we need to repeat a recently-published set of experiments by inserting fake lecturers into the evaluation forms that we give to students.

Here is a quote from the paper's results blurb: "Without a portrait, 66% (183 of 277) of students evaluated the fictitious lecturer, but fewer students (49%, 140 of 285) did so with a portrait (chi-squared test, p < 0.0001)."

(Tip of the cap to the Improbable Research blog.)

Tenure, She Wrote

Tenure, She Wrote looks like a really useful blog by and about women in academia.

Here is the description on their website: Tenure, She Wrote is a collaborative blog devoted to chronicling the (mis)adventures of women in academia, from undergraduate to Full Professor. We’re a diverse group representing many walks of life, career stages, institutional affiliations, disciplines, and opinions.

(Tip of the cap to Rachel Levy.)

Quantum Political Science

I love this new article in The Onion.

The headline is "Quantum Political Scientists Hypothesize Country Headed In Both Right And Wrong Directions Simultaneously", and there are also other highly amusing comments in the article.

Self-Citations of Men Versus Women

According to a new study, male scientists self-cite more than female scientists. One of the authors of the study is Carl Bergstrom, so naturally I am wondering if the paper includes a citation of a Rosvall–Bergstrom paper on community detection.

(Tip of the cap to Oxford Mathematics Good Practice.)

A Sociological "Study" of Comfort Zones

Here is an article published three years ago in The Onion about a "study" of social comfort zones. I approve!

Choice quote: "Your comfort zone is there for a reason," Gamble said. "It's so you can stay comfortable. If someone breaches that by saying hello to you, that person is the asshole, not you. Remember that."

Bumps in a Carpet

Here is my latest post for the Improbable Research blog. You'll notice that I was discussing work by a few of my Oxford colleagues.

Oldest Known Message-in-a-Bottle

Recently, the oldest-known message-in-a-bottle resurfaced. It's a really cool story---including the reasons for releasing a bunch of bottles a century ago.

This story necessitates an obvious joke that refers to The Police, and indeed the author of the article to which I linked dutifully included it.

Dice for Visually-Impaired RPGers

Take a look at this 20-sided die for visually-impaired gamers. This is awesome.

Dice: Choose Your Weapon

Yes, my main dice bag was originally purposed to contain bags of coffee beans — what could possibly be more appropriate for me?

I have lost and gained a few dice over the years, but here is the current collection. The boring lavender set is the first set I bought specifically for RPGs.

The d20s that are meant especially for fire and poison are obvious. There are one or two I can argue for acid. I ought to get one for lightning (and for ice, for that matter).

Some Curse Words: Old-School and New-School

Some of our body-oriented curse words have been around for a very long time.

Seeing these charts makes me think of George Carlin's skit Incomplete List of Impolite Words.

I think I may never think about the word "ultimatum" in the same way again. I don't remember ever seeing that usage of that word before.

(Tip of the cap to George Takei.)

Pac-Man in the 1850s

Oh, Hell, yes!

"Shovel more coal, Boy! I am pursued by spectres!"

Official Congratulations to Drs. Sofia Piltz and Marta Sarzynska!

My doctoral students Sofia Piltz (co-supervised with Philip Maini), who started a postdoc in ecology at DTU in June 2014, and Marta Sarzynska, who will be working at Bain & Company starting next month, both have gotten the revised versions of their doctoral theses approved in final form. Thus, they are now both officially done! Sofia's thesis is called "Models for Adaptive Feeding and Population Dynamics in Plankton", and some of her thesis work (with a couple more papers on the way) was published in SIADS. Marta's thesis is about "Spatial Community Structure and Epidemics", and you can read about some of it in this paper (whose sequel is on the way).

"I Could Go Without Smugness if I Chose To."

I choose not to.

John, Paul, George, and Yoda

Hell yes!

This shirt is awesome!

Are Mathematicians "Invading" Physics?

Are mathematicians "invading" physics?

I link (and comment). You decide.

Pictures from Dresden: 2015 Edition

Here are some pictures from my trip to Dresden last month for the multilayer-networks workshop that Alex Arenas and I organized.

"Brimstone Angels" Series of Forgotten Realms Novels

This evening I just finished the 4th book in the Brimstone Angels series of Forgotten Realms novels.

I read the 3rd book on the series last fall as part of my read of The Sundering series (which is the main track covering the transition from 4th edition Forgotten Realms to 5th edition), and I bought the first two books to introduce myself to the characters in that book. However, I decided to read the book, The Adversary, to go through the whole Sundering series (though with occasional break to read other books, such as following Drizzt Do'Urden and one or two things from other genres, as some of the books in The Sundering series weren't all that great) before getting back to the first two books.

I found that I enjoyed "The Adversary" a great deal. It was one of the best D & D novels I had read in a long time. It is well-written, and the characters are interesting --- and I also do enjoy Planar beings and politics in my novels. (I really dug the Planescape setting back in the day.) The occasional draconic swearing mixed in with the English also reminds me of Firefly, so that is a nice touch too. To keep this track going, I decided to read the 4th book first and will treat books 1 and 2 as preludes. (Book 4, called Fire in the Blood is also very good.) I'm not sure if I will get through them both before the 5th book comes out in December (and I would like to jump to that to keep the story going), especially as I want to read the next Do'Urden book that comes out next month.

Every time I go on sabbatical and have some more time or it's the summer and I have more time, if I find a good fantasy novel, I am reminded how much I enjoy them --- even though during the school year, it's hard to spend much time at all reading novels. Around the last month or so, I have tried to make it a point to at least read a little bit of a novel on most days. (It would be really nice to keep that up; it makes me happy.) I also really miss playing in a D & D campaign, so between wanting to find a way to play RPGs regularly again and enjoying a really good D & D novel, I have been thinking about D & D a lot lately (including reminiscing about adventures from days gone by, browsing a bit through some 1st edition books, etc.). I used to have so much more time for reading novels and playing D & D, and it would be really nice to recover that. I have become so busy in the last few years.

So, this is my book recommendation for the day. I think it's been quite a while since I blogged about a novel!

Anachronisms, Anatopisms, and "Anamegethisms" (or possibly "Anadiastasisms")

We all know about anachronisms (things that misplaced in time), and I looked up that an analogous word for space (anatopism) indeed exists. However, the word I really want for things like Dungeons and Dragons --- and maybe even for a convenient or possibly snarky use in mathematics --- is to be misplaced in dimension. In the context of Dungeons and Dragons, this would be something that is the wrong plane of existence.

Apparently, there isn't a literal Greek translation of the word "dimension" in the way that we would say that time and space are examples of dimensions. Of the two choices, διάσταση (pronounced "diástasi̱") and μέγεθος (pronounced "mégethos"), the latter has an analogous form as the Greek words for time (χρόνος; khronos) and space (τόπος; place), so I have chosen to use the latter. This leaves me with the word "anamegethism". (However, from my Googling, it seems like "mégethos" would translate more to "greatness", so using a term like "anadiastasism" would probably be a more appropriate way of saying that something is displaced in dimensions, even though the form of the original Greek word is different from those for time and space.)

Context (using an example that really annoyed me from a novel that I read about 25 years ago): "The kender in the Dragonlance novel whispered that their captor obviously had some orc blood, but that is a anamegethism, because orcs do not occur naturally on the world of Krynn. So even if an orc somehow got there at some point --- perhaps via spelljamming --- it still wouldn't have been something that would be construed as obvious (especially from a low-level character).

If anybody who actually knows Greek --- Hell, I'm in Oxford, so I certainly have access to experts --- will let me know if I did this right, that would be great. In fact, I am going to e-mail one now.

Update: I also very much like the notion of "displaced in greatness", even though I wasn't thinking of that when I started down this rabbit hole.

Tetris and the Reduction of Cravings

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

Old-School Technical Support

Yup, I imagine that old-school technical support worked somewhat like this.

The Gaming Graveyard

Yup.

Posted by Guinevere on Sunday, July 13, 2014

(Tip of the cap to some musician who goes by the stage name of Guinevere and to somebody --- I didn't catch whom --- shared Guinevere's post to one of the Dragon*Con groups (I forgot which one) on Facebook. I tried to find a Wikipedia link for the musician Guinevere, and I am amused that Wikipedia's disambiguation page for Guinevere also includes a certain panther from Forgotten Realms.)

Pixels (Long) and Pixels (Short)

I just saw the big-screen movie Pixels (which I previously blogged about). It was fun and nostalgic, though of course very cheesy (no surprise), and it was not the disaster I was worried that it might be. I also just re-watched the short 2010 "film" Pixels (which clocks in at 2 minutes and 34 seconds), which is just as awesome now as it was five years ago. (I also previously blogged about this short film.)

The big-screen Pixels had some very nice bits of nostalgia (and good homages), though its use of a time-capsule of 1982 arcade action has an anachronism with Tetris. It also has some picky points that it got wrong --- for example, a power pellet in Pac-Man lasting way too long for how high a level was being shown. (It is also very conveniently ignored the fact that Donkey Kong has patterns by simply pretending that it doesn't.) The character Q*Bert amused me on a couple of points, such as being there to dodge barrels amidst a level of Donkey Kong. And also the litter at the end.

For some movies that are both awesome and bring out major nostalgia for 1980s video games, I highly recommend The King of Kong and (obviously) Wreck-It Ralph. I previously blogged about The King of Kong, but I couldn't find a blog entry about Wreck-It Ralph, so I assume I didn't do it. (I blog much less often about movies than I used to --- even when they're awesome. Wreck-It Ralph even included a theme song written by Buckner & Garcia! Now that made me feel really nostalgic!)

Ludicrous Spelljamming

This infographic about the estimated speeds of ships from science fiction makes me want to Spelljam.

#realfaceofmath

Kit Yates has come up with an excellent suggestion: To help combat stereotypes, mathematical scientists should tweet a picture of themselves with the #realfaceofmath hashtag. I approve! (Not that my picture will end up helping to combat the stereotype...)

(Tip of the cap to Oxford Mathematics Good Practice.)

Update: OK, here is my #realfaceofmath tweet.

Ice Screamers!

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

Data and PhD Comics

Yup, sometimes PhD Comics speaks the truth.

Water Phase Diagram: Stop, Collaborate, and Listen

Clearly, I need to use XKCD's water phase diagram the next time I am teaching statistical physics.

When my students are too loud, I'll tell them to stop, collaborate, and listen.

Also notice the really great pun at the bottom. I really love that!

Beware: Protein Shakes are Dangerous

This trending Facebook headline is absurd, and it thus amuses me.

Early-Career Research Positions Available at the New Alan Turing Institute for Data Science

The UK has a new "Alan Turing Institute" for data science, and there is a call for expressions of interest from early-career researchers.

One should click on "Research Positions" in the yellow panel on the right for the instructions regarding expressions of interest.

Quoting the website (see the site for more info): Prospective applicants are invited to submit a curriculum vitae and a one-page covering note explaining how their expertise is relevant to data science and the mission of the Institute via email to info@turing.ac.uk. Full details of the application procedure will be sent in the autumn to those who register their interest.

New Dungeons & Dragons Film

I have my fingers crossed that the newly announced big-budget D & D movie will work out a bit better than the previous attempts I witnessed. (At some point, I should actually watch the animated film that was based on the first book in the Dragonlance Chronicles. I do own a copy of it, after all.) Supposedly this new film will be based in Forgotten Realms, which is a good sign. Dragonlance would have been even better.

I am cautiously optimistic. I did find some entertainment in the 2000 film, but clearly there needs to be a D & D film that is much better than that. It did have a few good moments, but it had a lot more not-so-good (or even worse) moments.

But past experience compels me to remain cautiously optimistic until further notice.

I never saw the tv show, but I have heard good things about it. Also, I have heard excellent things about The Gamers, which I really need to watch one of these years. I should also watch its sequel.

Awesome Ballpark Promotion: Free Jayson Werth Chia Pets

The Washington Nationals are giving away Jayson Werth Chia Pets at their baseball game tonight. I approve! Note: I don't know how well Chia Pets are known these days, but I remember seeing tons of commercials for them when I was a kid.

Trending Hashtag: #fieldworkfail

The hashtag #fieldworkfail has been trending lately. (However, the ones in the IFLS article aren't particularly funny.)

Because I am a theorist, it is a bit difficult for me to figure out how to contribute to it. I could perhaps discussing my escapades in my lab classes during my Caltech undergraduacy, though I would rather find something interesting from my scientific career. I'm sure I have done something as a theorist that merits this hashtag. I'll let you know if I think of something.

(Tip of the cap to Katie Mack and Jaideep Singh for their recent Facebook discussion, which alerted me to this hashtag before the new IFLS article.)

The Entropy Zoo

I am going through the draft of a chapter that includes a survey of similarity measures (and I'll need to see if an appropriate survey exists, as we should use this material to help write one if it doesn't), and the appearance of information-theoretic measures naturally made me think of the Entropy Zoo, which I saw yesterday on the Quantum Frontiers blog.

(Who's down with en-tro-py?!?)

Scholarly Journals: Screwing Over Authors for 150 Years and Counting

Hey, look: Scholarly journals were screwing authors over 150 years ago, and scholars were expressing their indignation about it.

Some traditions are alive and well...

(Tip of the cap to Ursula Martin​.)

"Structure of Triadic Relations in Multiplex Networks"

One of my papers, which my collaborators and I first posted on the arXiv and submitted to a journal two years ago, has finally been published in final form. Here are the details.

Title: Structure of Triadic Relations in Multiplex Networks

Authors: Emanuele Cozzo, Mikko Kivelä, Manlio De Domenico, Albert Solé-Ribalta, Alex Arenas, Sergio Gómez, Mason A Porter, and Yamir Moreno

Abstract: Recent advances in the study of networked systems have highlighted that our interconnected world is composed of networks that are coupled to each other through different 'layers' that each represent one of many possible subsystems or types of interactions. Nevertheless, it is traditional to aggregate multilayer networks into a single weighted network in order to take advantage of existing tools. This is admittedly convenient, but it is also extremely problematic, as important information can be lost as a result. It is therefore important to develop multilayer generalizations of network concepts. In this paper, we analyze triadic relations and generalize the idea of transitivity to multiplex networks. By focusing on triadic relations, which yield the simplest type of transitivity, we generalize the concept and computation of clustering coefficients to multiplex networks. We show how the layered structure of such networks introduces a new degree of freedom that has a fundamental effect on transitivity. We compute multiplex clustering coefficients for several real multiplex networks and illustrate why one must take great care when generalizing standard network concepts to multiplex networks. We also derive analytical expressions for our clustering coefficients for ensemble averages of networks in a family of random multiplex networks. Our analysis illustrates that social networks have a strong tendency to promote redundancy by closing triads at every layer and that they thereby have a different type of multiplex transitivity from transportation networks, which do not exhibit such a tendency. These insights are invisible if one only studies aggregated networks.

The Internet of Stuff

In honor of George Carlin, the Internet of Things really ought be called the "Internet of Shit" (or possibly the "Internet of Stuff").

The Silent Majority Will Rise Up on Election Day

Yes, yes it will. :)

And from looking at the Online Etymology Dictionary, the origin mentioned by SMBC does indeed appear to be accurate.

Redshirts

Wow, this press release from Cornell University has made me realize that there is another meaning of the term "redshirt" besides the one that comes from Star Trek.

Given the meaning that originated in Star Trek, the press release's title amused me considerably.

Testing the Green-Cheese Origin Theory of the Moon

As I write in my latest post for the Improbable Research blog, the green-cheese origin theory of the Moon has been tested before. Well, sort of: a 1970 paper in Science includes sound-speed measurements of lunar rooks, terrestrial rocks, and terrestrial cheeses.

2015 Baseball Hall of Fame Speeches

Yesterday, the new Baseball Hall of Famers (Craig Biggio, John Smoltz, Randy Johnson, and Pedro Martínez) gave their acceptance speeches. Pedro Martínez stole the show and(unsurprisingly) was particularly charismatic, although he did take a brief shot against the Dodgers.

You can watch all of the induction speeches on this website.

I love the pictures of the four new Hall of Famers side-by-side, because Randy Johnson is just about a head or more taller than the other three guys.

The MLB.com Facebook page posted a picture from this weekend with Pedro Martínez and Tommy Lasorda together. Martínez is smiling broadly, and Lasorda has a look on his face that seems to say, "I can't believe we traded Martínez for Delino DeShields!" (I tried to find that picture on a public page, but I wasn't able to find it with a search on Google Images.)

Is Sarcasm the Highest Form of Intelligence?

According to a new study in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, it may well be.

The study, called "The highest form of intelligence: Sarcasm increases creativity for both expressers and recipients", was published by Li Huang, Francesca Gino, and Adam Galinksy.

As with all other recent papers in journals by world-renowned publisher Elsevier, the study has five self-reported highlights:

(1) Sarcasm is an instigator of conflict but also a catalyst for creativity.

(2) General forms of sarcasm promote creativity through abstract thinking for both expressers and recipients.

(3) Expressing sarcasm to or receiving sarcasm from trusted others increases creativity without elevating conflict.

(4) We manipulated sarcasm via a simulated conversation task and a recall task.

(5) We employed three different creativity measures and a well-established measure of abstract thinking.


I feel like this study has justified the last 39 years of my existence.

Note: Absolutely no sarcasm was employed in the writing of this blog entry.

(Tip of the cap to Taha Yasseri.)

Update: A modified version of this post is now on the Improbable Research blog.

Update: Hmmm... I have pondered a bit, and I am now wondering if there are Elsevier journals --- such as ones that publish review articles? --- in which the five self-reported highlights are not required? It is possible that it should technically be "most other" or "almost all other" rather than "all other". I will leave an exhaustive check, or a search for a counterexample, as an exercise for the diligent reader. (My best guess is that it is policy for all research article, but I am not sure if it is also true for review articles, so "all research articles" is another potentially viable tweak to the phrasing.)

Update: Here is a blurb about the research in The Harvard Gazette. (I found this link via Francesca Gino's Twitter account.)

Iceland Repeals Anti-Blasphemy Laws

Fuck yeah!

Also: Yarrrrrrrrr!

(Tip of the cap to George Takei.)

Headline: Michigan School District's Air Conditioning Controlled by Amiga Computer for 28 Years

Yup, that's right: a Commodore Amiga has controlled the air conditioning in a Michigan school district since it was installed in the 1980s. That's pretty spectacular (and also "awesome").

(Tip of the cap to Myah Evers.)

Pixar: Another Big Win

On extremely rare occasions, I see a movie (or read a book or play a game...) that shows me a new perspective on things and fuels my imagination (and my Abstract Thought). Pixar's Inside Out is one of those movies. Wow, just wow.

I had heard excellent things about Inside Out and was really looking forward to it after watching a trailer after seeing a colleague gush about the movie on Facebook, and I have to say that I am amazed. I wouldn't say that movies amaze me very often, but this one did. I'll have to think about whether it has surpassed The Incredibles as my favorite Pixar movie of all time --- I haven't decided yet, but it's possible --- and "best Pixar film ever" is very high praise indeed. (The short film before the main feature could have been much better, however.)

Anyway, if you haven't seen Inside Out yet, I suggest that you go see it. Perhaps even stop what you're doing and go see it? It's that good.

And now, as usual, it's time for me to spend some more time in Abstract Thought and Imagination Land (two of my favorite places). :)

Exoplanet Names

XKCD has revisited their suggestions for Exoplanet names.

For the newly discovered planet, I am in favor of "Emergency Backup Earth". Or possibly "Pluto". :P

A Model of Motion Sickness

In my latest blog entry for the Improbable Research blog, I report on a model for motion sickness. (This, of course, is an example of a Rotating Hell.)

Layout Fail on CNN.com

That's quite a layout fail, CNN.com.

One of the things we learn about in journalism concerns the relative placement of different articles---including if one headline might be confused as the tagline for the other.

CNN.com, I think that one of your employees probably needs to brush up on this lesson.

Bring Your Pet to School Day: Caltech Edition

I don't remember ever hearing about the young lioness that got to hear a freshman physics lecture at Caltech, although it's possible that I simply forgot about this story (with picture proof from a very familiar lecture hall). Wow!

Fake Customer Service Trolling on Facebook

Some of the fake customer service trolling on Facebook is really funny. I especially like the answer in the Starbucks complaint.

(Tip of the cap to Iain Macmillan.)

"Topological Data Analysis of Contagion Maps for Examining Spreading Processes on Networks"

Our Nature Communications paper just came out today! Here are the details.

Title: Topological Data Analysis of Contagion Maps for Examining Spreading Processes on Networks

Authors: Dane Taylor, Florian Klimm, Heather A. Harrington, Miroslav Kramár, Konstantin Mischaikow, Mason A. Porter, and Peter J. Mucha

Abstract: Social and biological contagions are influenced by the spatial embeddedness of networks. Historically, many epidemics spread as a wave across part of the Earth’s surface; however, in modern contagions long-range edges––for example, due to airline transportation or communication media––allow clusters of a contagion to appear in distant locations. Here we study the spread of contagions on networks through a methodology grounded in topological data analysis and nonlinear dimension reduction. We construct 'contagion maps' that use multiple contagions on a network to map the nodes as a point cloud. By analysing the topology, geometry and dimensionality of manifold structure in such point clouds, we reveal insights to aid in the modelling, forecast and control of spreading processes. Our approach highlights contagion maps also as a viable tool for inferring low-dimensional structure in networks.


Instead of trying to explain our work in layperson's terms here, I'll point you to the press release from University of Oxford.

You can also download our data and our code.

What is the Most Exciting New Research in Mathematics?

About three weeks ago, I wrote an answer to the question "What is the Most Exciting New Research in Mathematics?" on Quora.

Take a look at what I wrote, and pipe in with your own thoughts.

Humans as Random-Number Generators

I could really use a good random-number generator. :)

Custom Baseball Gloves

I need to find a way to play some softball so that I have an excuse to buy myself a custom glove!

One can put some really garish colors on the gloves. :)

(Tip of the cap to Rob Neyer.)

Grammar and Spelling are Awesome

Yes, yes they are.

(Tip of the cap to George Takei.)

Finance Fairy Tails

Pretty much.

The Reaction of Different Fields of Scholarship to Babies

The latest "issue" of SMBC comics is priceless, and the punchline is absolutely fantastic! (This time, the philosophers are the brunt of the joke.)

Pun-Tourette's Disorder

I have a variant of Pun-Tourette's Disorder.

Overly Honest Slogans For University Majors

These overly honest slogans for university majors are bloody awesome!

It's tough to pick a favorite, but right now I think the one for communications is perhaps the funniest. We'll have to make our own for mathematics, which didn't make the cut for this article.

I know I've seen a bunch of these before, so I also wonder if I have seen (or even posted on my blog?) this exact list before?

(Tip of the cap to George Takei.)

What Happens in Dresden Stays in Dresden (2015 Edition)

Today I am flying to Dresden, Germany for the MAPCOM15 workshop (on the Mathematics and Physics of Multilayer Complex Networks) that I am co-organizing with Alex Arenas.

A certain highly coveted Karate Trophy will also be there, so let's see if it will be passed along to the next recipient.

"What is the Most Exciting New Research in Mathematics?"

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an answer on Quora to the question "What is the Most Exciting New Research in Mathematics?"

Take a look at what I wrote, and please add your thoughts on what areas you think are exciting!

The Fastest Tongue in the West

Yup, the tongue of a chameleon is pretty damn fast. Just ask Rango.

"SMUG": Generating Music and Lyrics from Academic Papers

Yes, that's right. Using a new tool called "SMUG: Scientific Music Generator", one can now generate music and lyrics from academic papers. I love the acronym. :)

I also decided to try SMUG. I generated this work of art from my review article on multilayer networks.

Update: The paper's bibliography includes a citation of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I am amused. :)

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.)

A Huge Victory for Equality

In a landmark Supreme Court decision, gay marriage is now legal throughout the United States. This is a huge victory for equality. Also: it's about time.

Also read the awesome closing paragraph of the decision.

This New York Times article recounts highlights of the recent progress.

(Tip of the cap to Rachel Levy for the link to the closing paragraph and to too many people to mention for the news.)

Taylor Swift Will No Longer Review Articles for Nature

Apparently, musician Taylor Swift will no longer review papers for the journal Nature because they are not paying her for her services.

She should probably consider reviewing for Scientific Reports instead, as then she can get paid for her referee reports.

(Tip of the cap to Sang Hoon Lee.)

"Every State Flag is Wrong"

I love the snarky explanations about why every state flag is wrong (though different ones are wrong for different reasons). I am amused. (Tip of the cap to somebody, who I have forgotten.)

Tales from the ArXiv: Analysis of Data from School Shootings

Kudos to Peter Dodds and his collaborators for analyzing data from school shootings using a systemic approach.

I haven't looked in detail at the article (i.e., I am not vetting specific scientific choices and calculations), but I am glad that Peter Dodds and his coauthors are making efforts to look at this data and hopefully come up with something useful.

Sadly, such studies continue to be "timely".

Nonprofit Foundation to Preserve the Word "Schmuck"

Well, not really. But it would be pretty cool, wouldn't it? And naturally, Mel Brooks would have to play a major role in it.

What Happens in Brighton Stays in Brighton

Tomorrow afternoon, I'll be heading on the train to "Bright"on to attend the "Sun"belt conference on social network analysis! As you can see from the program, I helped organize a three-part session on multilayer networks.

Time to hang out with some of my sociologist peeps!

Here is an appropriate theme song for my trip.

Groups of Fire

Johnny Cash sang about a "Ring of Fire".

Big Country sang about "Fields of Fire".

Clearly, somebody has to record a song about Groups of Fire. It would provide a sense of completion.

This is what I think about when I am dazed, and I am seeing rings and other algebraic structures show up in a talk. It also reminds me of comments I made as an undergrad about Killing fields.

Update: Also, "ring of functions" naturally makes my mind blurt "ring of fire".

PhDTree: Visualizing Academic Genealogies

PhDTree is now visualizing academic family trees like the Mathematical Genealogy Project (MGP) used to. (You can still find textual listings there but it seems like one now has to pay money to order a visual tree.) Also, PhDTree isn't focusing on mathematicians. On the negative side, I have heard people discussing errors that they found in it. So we seem to have the common tradeoff of more comprehensiveness because the information comes from an algorithm rather than manual entry at the cost of more errors as a byproduct. (That said, one can also do subsequent manual edits in PhDTree to fix one's genealogy.)

Here are my PhDTree and MGP listings.

Mike Sweeney Memorial All Stars

Right now, 8 (count 'em!) Royals are scheduled to start the All Star Game for the American League.

Well, this is a far cry from the days (years) of the Royals having a single token representative that I eventually started to call the "Mike Sweeney Memorial All Star".

Update (6/16/15): Here is Rob Neyer's take on the situation. (I certainly agree that the current situation will lead to some changes in the All-Star selection system.)

Update (7/06/15): At the end of the day, "only" 4 Royals were voted in as starters.

Coke Poured into Molten Lead

This video of Coke poured into molten lead is very cool!

Photos from Singapore

Here are my photographs from Singapore.

OCD + Art + Everyday Objects = Win!

Wow, some of Emily Blincoe's artistic OCD arrangements of everyday objects are stunningly gorgeous! I approve!

You can see more of them on Emily's page.

(Tip of the cap to Maria Satterwhite.)

Research Word Cloud

Tagxedo has the largest variety of options among the word-cloud generator that I have ever used. Here is a word cloud that I created from my Research Synopsis web page.

New Meme: #distractinglysexy

The new meme #distractinglysexy is a fantastic response to Tim Hunt's stupid comments.

"All Possible Humanities Dissertations Considered as Single Tweets"

The New Yorker has very kindly presented all possible humanities dissertations considered as single tweets. I am highly amused. :)

(Tip of the cap to Bruno Gonçalves.)

"Biology, With a Beat"

The option of submitting a biological music video instead of taking a final for Caltech's Biology 1 class this year is very clever. I would love to try something like this in a class that I teach. I approve!

Topps Baseball Cards of Will Ferrell

In commemoration of Will Ferrell's Spring Training stunt, Topps now has issued Will Farrell baseball cards using designs from years gone by (and one from 2015 for Ferrell's last hurrah with the Dodgers).

"College is Not a Commodity. Stop Treating it Like One."

Former Cornell University president Hunter Rawlings has written a brilliant essay called "College is not a commodity. Stop treating it like one." about what the role of universities (and professors) and, especially, students play in getting the most out of the experience of going to university --- about what it really means to get an education. I can't make the points any better then he did, so I'll simply express my heartfelt agreement and encourage you to read the short essay.

As an additional brief note, it is my role as a professor (and College tutor) to try to put my students in what I think is the best position for them to succeed. This need not be --- and reasonably often is not --- the same as what they think is the best position for them to succeed.

(Tip of the cap to Aaron Clauset.)

RIP Hermann Zapf (1918–2015)

Hermann Zapf, who designed several well-known fonts (e.g., Zaph Dingbats, Palatino) died on 4 June. I don't think I had ever seen his font Zapfino before; it's really nice! I have used Palatino on many occasions.

(Tip of the cap to Jimmy Lin.)

"MuxViz: A Tool for Multilayer Analysis and Visualization of Networks"

One of my papers, which was published as an "advance access" paper last October, finally has its assigned page numbers, so I'm blogging about it. It is software to visualize and do computations for multilayer networks. You can download the software, which was created using R, from this website.

Title: MuxViz: A Tool for Multilayer Analysis and Visualization of Networks

Authors: Manlio De Domenico, Mason A. Porter, and Alex Arenas

Abstract: Multilayer relationships among entities and information about entities must be accompanied by the means to analyse, visualize and obtain insights from such data. We present open-source software (muxViz) that contains a collection of algorithms for the analysis of multilayer networks, which are an important way to represent a large variety of complex systems throughout science and engineering. We demonstrate the ability of muxViz to analyse and interactively visualize multilayer data using empirical genetic, neuronal and transportation networks. Our software is available at https://github.com/manlius/muxViz.

High School Chalkboard Writing from 1917 Unearthed

Some chalkboards with writing from 1917 were recently unearthed (figuratively) during a high school's renovation. They're pretty cool.

"Inelegant Mathematics and Worse Social Science?"

A 1974 article by Hayward R. Alker called "Computer Simulations: Inelegant Mathematics and Worse Social Science?" seems very apt in these days of complex systems, agent-based models, and so on.

It seems that, back in the day, some people that computer simulations would soon reproduce the nuanced behavior of social systems, and Alker pointed out that it wasn't so easy. Quoting Alker: Moral, political, philosophical and pedagogical issues derive from the empirically provisional nature of all simulation versions of frequently controversial social theories, the frequent mystification of mathematical/computerized 'results', and the uneven practical utility and accessibility of social simulations.

At least people don't still make those kinds of mistakes. Oh wait...

What Happens in Singapore Stays in Singapore

This evening, I'll be taking my first trip to Singapore. I'm going to give a talk in a workshop on protein interaction networks, and I also made arrangements to get together with a fellow Lloydie who I have only seen once (in 2007) since 2000. It should be fun!

Major League Baseball's First (Full-Time) Switch-Pitcher of the Modern Era!

Now here is some awesome news: Pat Venditte, the first (full-time) switch-pitcher of the modern era, was called up to the Majors today by the Oakland Athletics. Sweet!

Now you might be wondering what would happen if Venditte goes up against a switch-hitting batter? Well, there is a rule as to how much each of them is allowed to switch during a given at-bat (possibly because of this hilarious incident, which you definitely want to watch). Back when I was growing up, Greg Harris once pitched using both arms in one game, but for Venditte this is a regular thing. So awesome!

(And tip of the cap to Pravesh Patel for the link to the video on YouTube.)

Update (6/09/15): And for his next trick, perhaps Venditte will also try pitching underwater. (Tip of the cap to Jonathan Adams for this link.)

Update (3/19/18): Tony Mullane was a pre-20th century switch pitcher. (Thanks to Tom Maccarone for that information.)

Inaugural Inductees into the World Video Game Hall of Fame

The inaugural inductees into the new World Video Game Hall of Fame are Pong, Pac-Man, Tetris, Super Mario Brothers, DOOM, and World of Warcraft.

The other games that were part of the final field of 15 considered for the inaugural induction were Minecraft, Sonic the Hedgehog, Pokémon, The Sims, FIFA, Angry Birds, The Legend of Zelda, Space Invaders, and Oregon Trail.

As a brief note, there are some major factual inaccuracies in the article to which I linked (e.g., the debut of Tetris occurred before the Gameboy version).

"Caltech: Where America Goes to Hide."

Yes, really.

See item #11 on this list of 15 survival tips that we learned from The Rock in the movie San Andreas.

Sadly, the article spelled "Caltech" incorrectly.

Also, "Caltech: Where America Goes to Hide." should be the university's new slogan. That is such an awesome slogan!

(Tip of the cap to whoever posts to Facebook for California Institute of Technology.)

Rewrite the Future: Marlins Versus Cubs Edition

The Marlins' Rewrite the Future marketing campaign this year, which pays homage to Back to the Future, Part II is awesome! I approve!

In Back to the Future, Part II (which came out in 1989), a fictional American League team based in Miami loses the 2015 World Series to the Chicago Cubs.

What Happens in Pittsburgh Stays in Pittsburgh (2015 Edition)

I am slightly late with this post, given that I just returned to Oxford this morning on a red-eye flight. But I was just at Carnegie Mellon University for a workshop on groups and interactions in data, networks, and biology. This workshop was on the mathematical side of things.

Brief Explanation of Nonlinear and Complex Systems for Non-Scientists

I was asked on Quora to give a brief explanation of "nonlinear systems" and "complex systems" to non-scientists. Here is my answer.

Using Statistical Mechanics to Capture a Skittish Lamb

I wrote a blurb on the Improbable Research blog on a recent paper on the arXiv for how to use ideas from statistical mechanics to capture a skittish lamb.

Awesome Symmetric Plants

These symmetric plants are awesome!

Notes: The web page advertises 25 plants, but they appear to only include 24 of them. Also, the symmetries aren't literally "perfect", though many of them are really damn good. However, while the hyperbole of the title is a bit grating, the plants themselves really are awesome. Naturally, many of the different plants are also have different symmetries. (Tip of the cap to Vinko Zlatic.)

RIP John Nash (1928–2015)

Mathematician John Nash and his wife were killed yesterday in a taxi accident.

Nash won the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics for the work in his 27-page PhD thesis that invented the theory of non-cooperative games. Not bad. (As Joe Jewell pointed out, Nash's thesis also only has 2 references.)

Nash had recently accepted his Abel Prize (the mathematics equivalent of a Nobel Prize) for entirely different work.

Sylvia Nasar's 1994 article about John Nash, which is based on her book, is a fascinating read. Nasar's book formed the basis for the movie A Beautiful Mind.

Nash is also one of the people who invented the game Hex.

If you want to read more about Nash, go to FAQ maintained by Princeton University.

(Tip of the cap to numerous people, and thanks to Carlos Castillo Chávez for posting the article by Sylvia Nasar.)

Update (5/26/15): As I suspected, this was the final leg of their journey home after Nash was in Norway to receive his Abel Prize.

Update (5/29/15): Here is an article in the popular press about Nash's work on isometric embeddings.

Awesome Story: 102-Year-Old Women Sets Record for Oldest Ever Doctoral Recipient

This story is a great one: 102-year-old Ingeborg Rapoport has become the oldest ever recipient of a PhD after an old Nazi injustice is righted.

Of course, the reason behind the story is very unfortunate to say the least, but I love the story's ending. This is really awesome.

(Technically, she will be given the doctorate in a ceremony on 9 June. She has already successfully defended it.)

(Tip of the cap to A Mighty Girl.)

Update (6/10/15): Ingeborg Rapoport now officially has her doctorate.

Plot of Ego Versus Number of Academics to Determine What to Call Yourself

Notice where MIT shows up on this plot in the new panel from PhD Comics. ;) I approve!

23 Unusual Ways to Die (Organized by US State)

This IFLS article shows a lovely plot that indicates 23 unusual ways to die, as organized by state in the US. Each state is colored by the most frequent of these unusual ways to die that occurs in that state. Several of the ones at the bottom of the list are particularly fantastic.

An Artist's Recreation of Childhood Drawings

This is really cool: an artist recreated his own childhood drawings in a very realistic way. So cool!

(Tip of the cap to Oleg Kogan.)

What Happens in Snowbird Stays in Snowbird (2015 Edition)

I am at Gatwick Airport amidst my journey to the Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah for the 2015 SIAM "Snowbird Meeting" on applied dynamical systems. I'll be giving a minitutorial talk on network dynamics.

SIAM's third annual workshop on network science is co-located with the dynamical systems meeting, although I am not bothering to go to it. (Among other things, I'll be working on my talk.)