Look, I’m on physicsworld.com! Sometimes I have a vision that references on the world wide web which form a cycle lead to a runaway internet. You know…looping self-referentially forever and ever and resulting, of course, in a break in the space time continuum. I’m guessing the above link won’t do that. But if it did, I guess this would be the last sentence I’ve ev
Happy New Year! Welcome 2008!
Happy New Year! Seattle’s fireworks at the space needle had some technical difficulties (and the pyrotechnicians had to light them by hand…yeah I wrote that just to use the word “pyrotechnician”), but were still beautiful as ever:
Welcome 2008! 2008 is the international year of the potato, the international year of planet earth, and the international year of sanitation. Oh, and it is a leap year! And of further note, according to Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle in “The Mote in God’s Eye” 2008 is the year that faster than light travel was invented. Now that should be exciting.
Ski Day: Mt Shasta Ski Park
Well I finally made it to the ski slopes. Hopefully my late start to this year’s ski season will just mean that I push harder to get up to the slopes. Here is a picture taken from the base of the Mt. Shasta Ski area:
The two lifts servicing advanced terrain were shut down in the morning due to the wind, the wind chill factor was brutal, and the snow looked liked it had been shipped out directly from the East Coast: all ice and crud. But hey, it was the first day skiing!
Bacon Zen
Ernesto points me to Bacon Zen, a collection of savory bacon links. But really? Bacon chocolate chip cookies?
Bacon Flowchart
The title says enough already: Bacon Flowchart.
Qubit, qbit, q-bit, or Q*Bert?
My grandfather liked to write letters to the editor. I think I inherited this disease from him. Here are the contents of a recent letter I wrote to the editor of Physics Today which I hope some of you may find amusing.
Continue reading “Qubit, qbit, q-bit, or Q*Bert?”
What a Canadian STOC Deadline Looks Like
Here is a picture I call “STOC 2008 deadline”:
STOC 2008 will be in Victoria, British Columbia. I was just across the border in Surey, BC, and shot this picture which I call “Crazy Canadian Fireplace Channel”:
Chemical Pontiff
Will the real quantum pontiff please stand up? From the Taiwan Journal:
Lee Yuan-tseh, a Taiwanese-born scholar and the 1986 Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry, was named Oct. 9 as a new member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences by Pope Benedict XVI. He is the fourth ethnic Chinese scientist to receive this honor.
The Quantum Pontiff Has Landed
Look, up in the air, is it a bird? No. Is it a plane? No. Is it the quantum pontiff? Yes! Yes! The Quantum Pontiff! Um, okay….but what exactly is the quantum pontiff? Besides, of course, the juxtaposition of two words which don’t often find themselves seated together at the dinner table…
Continue reading “The Quantum Pontiff Has Landed”
Fourth Time a Charm?
Three strikes…
Dear Dr. Bacon,
We regret the delay in obtaining a review on your manuscript.
The paper has been sent to three referees who have not provided
reports. We are now sending to a fourth referee asking that he/she
expedite review. As soon as we have additional information, we
will advise and thank you for your patience.
But, wait, who is out?