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Google Battles Drunk Emails

A priceless new email feature for gmail: Mail Goggles:

Sometimes I send messages I shouldn’t send. Like the time I told that girl I had a crush on her over text message. Or the time I sent that late night email to my ex-girlfriend that we should get back together. Gmail can’t always prevent you from sending messages you might later regret, but today we’re launching a new Labs feature I wrote called Mail Goggles which may help.
When you enable Mail Goggles, it will check that you’re really sure you want to send that late night Friday email. And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you’re in the right state of mind?

Now if only Google would add a similar feature for those hitting the reply to all button (instead they apparently have a function to make it the default reply option. Doh!)

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Nobel Prize in Physics 2008

And the Nobel prize in Physics 2008 goes to…Yoichiro Nambu (1/2), Makoto Kobayashi (1/4), and Toshihide Maskawa (1/4) “for discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics” and “for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature.” I’m buried under work but if I can claw myself out of it I’ll write a post about their work. In the meantime, here is the Nobel’s scientific background.

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DonorChoose Challenge: Pseudo Physicists Unite!

DonorChoose, an organization which matches teachers requests for funds with donors, is running their annual blogger challenge. Already Cosmic Variance is trying to harness their vast resources of physicists, The Optimizer is appealing to the base nerd in everyone, He of Uncertain Principles is offering up his dog’s services for donations (does the dog know?), and the moral Mathematician is offering solutions to math homework problems (err I mean blog posts on a chosen topic.) But I think you shouldn’t fall in this trap and support those blogs….
Because, of course instead you should support my “Pseudo Physicists Unite!” DonorsChoose challenge!

Okay so why should you choose my projects to donate to over all the others out there in the great vacuum of the blogosphere? Reasons: my favorite things to give!
Continue reading “DonorChoose Challenge: Pseudo Physicists Unite!”

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Quantum Rugby

A quantum physics spotting in….rugby? An article about rugby player Jonny Wilkinson:

The experiment was conceived by the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödin-ger to demonstrate a conundrum at the heart of quantum physics: that a sub-atomic particle exists in two states. However, the act of measuring it effectively forces it into one particular state, rather as England’s discounted second-half try in the 2007 World Cup Final appeared to many fans to be both a try and not a try, until the referee called for a video replay.

Continue reading “Quantum Rugby”

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Quantum Postdocs

Two quantum postdoc advertisements crossed my desk this week, from two fine institutions. Good postdocs if you can land one! The first advertisement is a double wammy from Caltech

CENTER FOR THE PHYSICS OF INFORMATION
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Postdoctoral Research Positions
The Center for the Physics of Information at the California Institute of
Technology will have postdoctoral scholar positions available beginning
in September 2009. Researchers interested in all aspects of the
interface between information science and physical science are invited
to apply. The appointment is contingent upon completion of a Ph.D.
Please apply on-line at
http://www.ist.caltech.edu/joinus/positions.html#postdoc.
Electronic copies of your curriculum vitae, publication list, statement
of research interests, and three letters of recommendation are required.
The deadline for receipt of all application materials is December 15,
2008.
INSTITUTE FOR QUANTUM INFORMATION
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Postdoctoral Research Positions
The Institute for Quantum Information at the California Institute of
Technology will have postdoctoral scholar positions available beginning
in September 2009. Researchers interested in all aspects of quantum
information science are invited to apply. The appointment is contingent
upon completion of a Ph.D. Please apply on-line at
http://www.iqi.caltech.edu/postdoc_opening.html. Electronic copies of
your curriculum vitae, publication list, statement of research
interests, and three letters of recommendation are required. The
deadline for receipt of all application materials is December 15, 2008.

and the second is from the Perimeter Institute (application here)

Postdoctoral Researcher
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics invites applications for postdoctoral positions in the areas of quantum gravity, string theory, quantum information, cosmology, quantum foundations and particle physics. We will consider applications in all of these areas. Exceptional applicants in related areas, such as condensed matter physics, are encouraged to apply. The postdoctoral positions are normally for a period of three years. Outstanding candidates may also be considered for a senior postdoctoral position with a five-year term.
The deadline for applications is November 15, 2008. Qualified applicants will be invited to Perimeter Institute to attend the Young Researchers Conference, December 8 – 12, 2008.
Please email pdfrecruitment [at] perimeterinstitute.ca with any questions or concerns.
Perimeter Institute is located west of Toronto, in Waterloo, Canada and opened in September 2001 as an independent institute supporting research in foundational areas of theoretical physics. The Institute offers an exceptional research environment and is currently staffed with 20 full-time and part-time faculty members, 45 Postdoctoral Researchers, and 17 Graduate Students, and hosts hundreds of visitors and conference participants throughout the academic year.
Perimeter Institute is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however Canadian citizens and Permanent Residents will be given priority.

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DARPA Math Challenge

DARPA math challenges. My favorite is “Mathematical Challenge Nineteen: Settle the Riemann Hypothesis.” I’m guess that’s one where you can’t follow the age old strategy of writing a grant proposal for work you’ve already figured out 😉

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Analyzing Games

Yes, it’s all finance all the time, here at the Pontiff. Where else can you go to get your daily dose of extralusionary intelligence?
Once again it’s a New York Times article Maybe Short-Selling Isn’t So Bad, After All. Now I don’t know much about how the changes in shorting stock (the removal of the uptick rule, where one could only short the stock on an up move in the stock, and the banning of shorting of a large group of stocks) effect trading, but I think I’ve plaid enough games in my life to know that the following argument is a good way to spot a sucker:

Has the rule’s removal been an important contributor to the bear market of the last year? Professor Reed doubts it. Before scrapping the uptick rule, the S.E.C. ran a pilot program to test the possible consequences. In the test, the rule was lifted from hundreds of stocks that were part of the Russell 3000 index. The trading patterns of these stocks were exhaustively analyzed in a number of academic studies, all of which concluded that the rule had no significant impact on those stocks’ price movements, Professor Reed said.

Let me get this straight, you site as evidence that the removal of the uptake rule didn’t have any effect during a pilot program in which announced securities which were exempted from the uptick rule as evidence that the uptick rule once unleashed on the entire market doesn’t have an effect? Suppose that you are a player in such a game, and it is true that you could use the removal of the uptick rule to your advantage. What would you do during the pilot program? Nothing at all, of course! Why spoil the upcoming fun? Maybe I’m missing something, but pilot changes in rules of a game don’t necessarily reveal how the players will act when the pilot goes full scale, do they?
Continue reading “Analyzing Games”