New High Score!

Some demotivational posters really make me laugh. I approve!

Can my Student Break a World Record?

My PhD student Anna Lewis is trying to break a world record. She sets off tomorrow and notes the following:

After various delays, I'm setting off in a rowing boat across the Atlantic tomorrow morning in a crew with 13 other people. We aim to break the world record for fastest row boat across an ocean. You can track how we're getting on, and leave any messages, on www.woodvale-works.com.

Our row in facts and figures:
Approx number of strokes we will each take: 450,000
Amount of Haribo on board: 50kg
Max amount of consecutive sleep possible: 3.5 hours
Hygiene rations: 10 wetwipes and 2.5 tissues per person per day
Number of plastic cutlasses I am smuggling on board: 2
Number of holes we accidentally made beneath the water line: 1
Number of potential pairwise personality clashes: 91
Number completed ocean rows: 287
Number incompleted ocean rows: 168
Captain's description of starting weather conditions: ideal
Captain's definition of "ideal" weather conditions: 30 knot winds and >5m waves
What I am most worried about: using the loo bucket


One of my friends was recently diagnosed with MS, and she is part of my inspiration for signing on to this challenge. I have set up a just giving page for the MS Society: http://www.justgiving.com/Anna-Lewis0. Thanks so
much to all of you who have made donations, it means a lot to me, and it is a great cause.

Thanks so much for all the well wishes and support, I very much looking
forward to seeing everyone back on dry land!


Good luck, Anna!

The Simpsons on Grad Students and PhDs

As is often the case, The Simpsons absolutely nails it. For example, here is a snippet about grad students and PhDs.

(Tip of the cap to Jimmy Lin and Frank Ling.)

Read the quote in yellow. Seriously.

The quote in this Demotivational Poster is my quote of the day. Just click on the link, and you won't be disappointed.

My New Toy: 50'' Plasma TV

As a birthday present for myself, I bought a 50'' plasma tv. It just arrived today. Now I just need some help setting it up, as it's way too heavy for me to set up on my own. There will be movie nights! :)

Also, I think I might have convinced Somerville's new Principal and her husband to come over and watch Army of Darkness. :)

Journal of Universal Rejection

I love the Journal of Universal Rejection. Hilarious!

(Tip of the cap to James Fowler.)

Microbiological Laboratory Hazard of Bearded Men

Sometimes, I just love biology. An Ig Nobel prize was awarded for the paper Microbiological Laboratory Hazard of Bearded Men. I'm amused by a couple of the pictures in the article.

(Tip of the cap to mimi-AIR.)

"Bad Project" from the Zheng Lab

Making the rounds at Facebook has been the video Bad Project from the Zheng Lab. It's a parody of a Lady Gaga song that I have never heard, but the video is pretty damned funny.

Decomposing Song "Lyrics"

I love this xkcd.

And, in other news, I just bought myself a birthday gift.

Just... One... More... Turn...

I started playing Civ V last night.

How did this toy get to market?

Shouldn't somebody have noticed something odd before this toy was made available to the public? I'm just saying.

Flamestrike in the Office?

Earlier this evening, I received a spam e-mail that included the following statement:

Please join me in congratulating [name]. Based on [his/her] high level of professionalism and performance, [his/her] job level has been increased from a level 8 to a level 9.

Here is what I wrote to one of my collaborators who is very familiar with the organization in question:

So is it supposed to be universal knowledge what level 8 and level 9 actually mean? Can [name] cast 5th level spells now?

And here is his response to my message:

Wow, that's just cryptic. I'm so glad I'm not on that mailing list! Maybe [he/she] gets a new cape?

And my response to that comment:

I would like to think that I now have to be careful about Flamestrike being cast in the office. I hear that self-immolation is pretty popular these days.

Professorial E-Mail Signatures

The new PHD Comics strip concerns the semiotics of professorial e-mail signatures.

In general, I do sometimes wonder if particular signatures from friends or colleagues signify anything relative to other things I have seen them use. Obviously, one must consider the habits of the individual in each case.

I don't follow the pattern described in the comic strip at all. I either use my first name or I use nothing at all (I never use initials), and then of course there is a .signature file (which includes my first name) if I am sending something from my regular e-mail account. I never use something formal like "Regards," or "Sincerely," unless I am ballistically pissed off or upset at the recipient(s) of my message. If I use my last name or my formal title outside of what's already in the .signature file, then there is Hell to pay. I will sometimes write "Thanks," if my .signature file that has "Mason" in it is too far down from where I am typing (and hence I will actually be typing my name instead of using what is in the .sig file), and I only use that as a surrogate for writing "Thanks." or "Thanks!" when my name in the .sig file is immediately below. Hence, my putting "Thanks," in my signature usually doesn't indicate anything (though it admittedly can on occasion mean that I am mildly upset).

For my friends, I also mostly use my first name or nothing at all, though for specific extremely close friends I'll use "Love," as a sign of affection. (Sometimes I'll use "Take care," in specific circumstances as well, especially if it's a friend from whom I haven't heard in a while.)

(Tip of the cap to Mariano Beguerisse Díaz.)

Vi Hart

"Mathemusician" Vi Hart has some very cool stuff on her web page. You can read about her in the New York Times. Very cool!

(Tip of the cap to SIAM.)

Thriller!

This demotivational poster is pretty damn funny. Thriller, indeed!

New to the Blogroll: "LegendsofCaltechProject"

OK, I admit that I added the capitalization and describe in my blogroll what the blog legendsofcaltechproject actually is (a blog about a project about making a movie version of Legends of Caltech) instead of using the technically correct title.

This blog has its first entry: an article in The California Tech about the project. (This issue of The Tech includes an article about the proposed new core curriculum, which continues recent trends to reduce the amount of mathematics and physics that's required. I know there are a large variety of things out there, but I think that's a shame.)

I approve!

I approve of this billboard. (The fact that it's a Demotivational Poster doesn't actually add to the big win that's already there.)

In sum, I approve!

Mad Covers

Here is a medley of almost 30 different versions of the song Mad World, which was originally by Tears For Fears.

(Tip of the cap to GFreak.)

I Have Civ V

My copy of Civilization V, which I ordered through Amazon last Saturday, was waiting for me in my Somerville mailbox when I checked it today (I just got back just over 3 hours ago). Now the question is how long I will be able to resist playing it. This might have a substantial influence on my productivity this term. :)

Just... one... more... turn.

4th Annual Oxford SIAM Student Conference

On February 9th (though not in early celebration of my birthday, as has perhaps been rumored in some circles) will occur Oxford's 4th annual SIAM Student Conference. Oxford's student chapter has been a resounding success, and student chapters are starting to spread elsewhere in the UK. (We had the first one in the UK and one of the first few in Europe.)