Who is the most thanked person in computer science? According to an analysis of the CiteSeer database performed by Giles and Councill, the most thanked person in computer science is Olivier Danvy. I was also interested to see that the institutions I’ve been a member of, Caltech, Berkeley, and the Santa Fe Institute, are all in the top ten of most thanked educational institutions (third, seventh, and fourth respetively.) I can understand why the Santa Fe Institute is high on the most thanked list, their extensive visitor and workshop programs are a great way to generate acknowledgements, but I was a bit shocked by how high Caltech was on this list.
Physics 12
On the plane I got quized by a neighboring passenger about tsunami dynamics (“oh, you’re a physicist?”) Here is what I recall from Physics 12:
The waves created by tsunamis are very long wavelength. While typical ocean waves are around a hundreds of meters long, tsunamis produce wavelengths of up to a hunderds of kilometers. Since the wavelength of the tsunami is on the order of the depth of the ocean, tsunami waves are shallow water waves (most ocean waves have wavelength of hundreds of meters and are so are different beasts called deep water waves.) The speed of this type of wave (if you want to be fancy you say “celerity” here) is around the square root of the accleration due to gravity times the water depth (typically a few kilometers). This is why tsunami waves move at speeds of a few hundred meters per second and is also why tsunamis which hit the land aren’t moving at this speed (because the ocean depth gets shallower as you approach land and so the tsunami slows down.)
Merry Christmas
Quoteth Saint Lennon:
And so this is Christmas, and what have you done?
Another year over, and a new one just begun.
And so this is Christmas, I hope you have fun,
The near and the dear ones, the old and the young.
A very Merry Christmas,
And a Happy New Year.
Let’s hope it’s a good one,
Without any fear.
And so this is Christmas, for weak and for strong,
For rich and for poor ones, the war is so wrong.
And so happy Christmas, for black and for white,
For yellow and red ones, let’s stop all the fight.
A very Merry Christmas,
And a Happy New Year.
Let’s hope it’s a good one,
Without any fear.
So this is Christmas, and what have you done?
Another year over, and a new one just begun.
And so happy Christmas, I hope you have fun,
The near and the dear ones, the old and the young.
A very Merry Christmas,
And a Happy New Year.
Let’s hope it’s a good one,
Without any fear.
Turn Your Back
I am a sucker for all creative protest tactics.
A Holiday Present
From a New York Times article:
After a bitter and protracted recount fight in the Washington state governor’s race, elections officials announced today that the Democratic candidate, Christine O. Gregoire, was now leading her Republican opponent by a miniscule margin of only 10 votes, a stunning reversal of the Nov. 2 election results.
Physicists Are Crazy
Best title of the year on quant-ph? Or Worst title of the year on quant-ph?
Is Quantum Suicide Painless? On an Apparent Violation of The Principal Principle
Chances of Being Saved
According to the Book of Revelations, 144,000 is the total number choosen by the Lord for the Tribulation. The current world population is 6.4 billion people. Hence the chance I will be saved is around 0.002 percent. Better than winning the lottery, but about the same odds as dying by exposure to a sharp inanimate mechanical object.
The Sixth Seal
Arrived in Seattle yesterday afternoon, just in front of Seattle’s notorious traffic.
As many of you may know, Washington is in the middle of a huge fight over recounting ballots for their governers race. Currently the Republican, Dino Rossi, is in the lead by 42 votes.
Anyway, I’m fairly convinced that the governor of Washington being a Republican is the sixth seal. Or is the 14th?
Pink Shasta
Yesterday: Santa Fe->Las Vegas->Sacramento->Yreka. Winter sunsets in the state of Jefferson make Mt. Shasta look incredible.
Today: Yreka->Portland.
Perspective
If you were a quantum computer, would the mystery you be working on not be the mystery of quantum theory but the mystery of the classical world?