caek you are a v good sport for answering all these physics questions. my roommate of the past year was always such a dick when people asked him anything but the most elementary question, would just answer "you can't understand it and will never understand properly" ... really pissed me off... think it had more to do with his own embittered relationship with physics than snobbery but still
― flopson, Sunday, 30 June 2013 16:55 (ten years ago) link
caek, I am in munich on weds for a week
where shd we eat? we eat fish, not meat
― kenjataimu (cozen), Sunday, 30 June 2013 17:29 (ten years ago) link
mookie: yes! let's drink again.
parrot: i'm not sure exactly how powerful voyager's communication systems are, but the heliosphere does not fatally hinder radiation. you can see this simply by noting that we can see stars, which proves that electromagnetic radiation from outside the solar system can get past the heliopause. of course it's going to get harder to communicate, and there must be some point where the strength of the signal from something that far away is going to fall below the noise level of detectors on earth. afaict tho the voyager team are in for the long haul.
would just answer "you can't understand it and will never understand properly" ... really pissed me off... think it had more to do with his own embittered relationship with physics than snobbery but still
the bitter lols of recognition.
― caek, Sunday, 30 June 2013 17:34 (ten years ago) link
coz: i eat fish not meat too.
the fish situation in munich is generally pretty dreadful. one notable exception is paros, a greek restaurant nr. max weber platz. they have a fish special on wednesday, or all the wine you can drink for €5 on mondays. they do the best tuna steak i've ever had. afaict they do that every day, not just wednesdays. i suggest the mixed veggie and fix starter plates for all + tuna steaks to follow + retsina. if the weather is good and you want to sit outside then you'll want a reservation. they will make you do ouzo shots if you stay till later on. the waiters tend to be obviously drunk. it's great.
there is apparently an excellent sushi place at munchner freiheit but i've never been and i know it is €€€. let me know if you want me to track down the name.
for veggie stuff, there's a surprisingly good ethiopian place called blue nile on belgradstr. there are indian restaurants too, but none of them are worth the trip for someone based in the UK imo.
it's crazy i never made it to this place, because it's supposed to be excellent too: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187309-d718281-r134252669-Prinz_Myshkin-Munich_Bavaria.html.
just to say you've had it, if you find yourself in a beer hall or bavarian place, you should order käsespätzle, which is kind of like german macarroni cheese. you'll think the portion is too small, and then you'll have your first mouthful. if you finish it then watch out for the symptoms of heart failure.
― caek, Sunday, 30 June 2013 17:42 (ten years ago) link
woof, thanks caek
― kenjataimu (cozen), Sunday, 30 June 2013 17:59 (ten years ago) link
I am now half man, half beer
― auscozeichnet (cozen), Wednesday, 10 July 2013 21:17 (ten years ago) link
achievement unlocked
― caek, Wednesday, 10 July 2013 21:19 (ten years ago) link
caek do u know this guy https://twitter.com/chrislintott
― Just Elevate... And Decide In The Air -- Above the Rim (dan m), Wednesday, 10 July 2013 21:29 (ten years ago) link
yes
― caek, Wednesday, 10 July 2013 21:29 (ten years ago) link
Nice guy, met him at a soccer game in Chicago and then published some of his work in the PASP!
― Just Elevate... And Decide In The Air -- Above the Rim (dan m), Wednesday, 10 July 2013 21:42 (ten years ago) link
my favourite munich beers were the hacker-pschorr helles & the paulaner nockherberger brau, just fyi
can see how munich wd be a nice place to live but not sure I'd recommend it for tourism
― auscozeichnet (cozen), Wednesday, 10 July 2013 21:45 (ten years ago) link
yeah he's a good guy xp
"nice" is a good word to describe munich. very comfortable, clean, etc. bit boring. opposite of new york.
not very old as a town, so not much history other than, well, the obvious.
did you manage to get out into the mountains? that's the USP really.
― caek, Wednesday, 10 July 2013 21:52 (ten years ago) link
nah, we have family there so maybe next time if we go back for oktober-/stark-fests
yeah, low crime, cleanliness, good public transport, nice climate, dece cycling infrastructure, close proximity to countryside etc. very livable
― auscozeichnet (cozen), Wednesday, 10 July 2013 21:56 (ten years ago) link
#based at Oxford
― max, Wednesday, 10 July 2013 23:13 (ten years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/yQu1Hob.jpg
― 乒乓, Thursday, 11 July 2013 00:50 (ten years ago) link
happy birthday caek
― mookieproof, Thursday, 1 August 2013 15:13 (ten years ago) link
yeah! for my birthday i got a hangover!
― caek, Thursday, 1 August 2013 15:34 (ten years ago) link
my friend who is a film director was arrested and spent the night in the cells at sevenoaks police station for shushing two teenagers rather vehemently (no joke).
― caek, Saturday, 27 December 2008 16:49 (4 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― The concept of making the Zuiderzee docile (Nilmar Honorato da Silva), Friday, 9 August 2013 02:29 (ten years ago) link
not a proper caek's corner subject but anyway, i am wondering how and why that happened
― The concept of making the Zuiderzee docile (Nilmar Honorato da Silva), Friday, 9 August 2013 02:31 (ten years ago) link
*so* improper
― mookieproof, Friday, 9 August 2013 02:46 (ten years ago) link
ha! he actually told this story again the other day when we were talking about visas so it is reasonably fresh in my mind. it was something like:
they were maybe 14. two of them. he asked them to stop talking, which made them get louder, and then start directing comments at him and his gf rather than the movie/their phones. there was a physical confrontation (no punches or anything) and the kids left. at the end of the film, the police were waiting with the kids, who had called one of their dads, and were now claiming assault. the dad apparently looked like a cagefighter with neck tattoos, etc. some of the police were privately like "this is ridiculous", but he ended up spending the night in the cells waiting for a lawyer (i think?). in the end they persuaded him to take a caution, which he later came to regret because he applied for a green card before it was expunged from his record, as he had to declare it/explain it several times to consular officials.
so "shushing rather vehemently" was what he actually did, but presumably not the wording on the caution.
― caek, Friday, 9 August 2013 02:53 (ten years ago) link
here, read about what it's like to nearly drown in zero-gravity
http://blogs.esa.int/luca-parmitano/2013/08/20/eva-23-exploring-the-frontier/
messed up!
― caek, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 16:45 (ten years ago) link
like srsly...
The water has also almost completely covered the front of my visor, sticking to it and obscuring my vision. I realise that to get over one of the antennae on my route I will have to move my body into a vertical position, also in order for my safety cable to rewind normally. At that moment, as I turn ‘upside-down’, two things happen: the Sun sets, and my ability to see – already compromised by the water – completely vanishes, making my eyes useless; but worse than that, the water covers my nose – a really awful sensation that I make worse by my vain attempts to move the water by shaking my head. By now, the upper part of the helmet is full of water and I can’t even be sure that the next time I breathe I will fill my lungs with air and not liquid.
― caek, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 16:51 (ten years ago) link
Jesus.
― Fetchboy, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 18:11 (ten years ago) link
Have they determined what caused it yet?
― nickn, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 19:00 (ten years ago) link
not afaik
― caek, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 19:20 (ten years ago) link
watch the first (i think?) nasa launch from virginia, which will be visible from most of the north east!
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/scitech/display.cfm?ST_ID=2591
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/images/Empire_State_Building_720.jpg
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/images/LADEE_Elevation_720.jpg
― caek, Saturday, 24 August 2013 14:41 (ten years ago) link
Launch Window: 6 September 2013 from 11:27 - 11:31 PM EDT.
― caek, Saturday, 24 August 2013 14:42 (ten years ago) link
the first pic vaguely resembles one of those 9/11 trufax diagrams
― There are a lot of subjective opinions (Nilmar Honorato da Silva), Saturday, 24 August 2013 14:46 (ten years ago) link
don't forget the rocket tomorrow, noreasteners
― caek, Thursday, 5 September 2013 16:50 (ten years ago) link
Yes!
― She makes flapjack (doo dah), Thursday, 5 September 2013 20:48 (ten years ago) link
did you see this?
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/interactive/2013/oct/11/dominic-cummings-michael-gove-thoughts-education-pdf
quotes displaying the usual right-wing educationalist tropes reported elsewhere
he likes science and technocracy
the introduction sets out his ever so slightly ambitious idea for the uk's post-imperial usp to be the #1 scientific country in the world, quoting all sorts of estimable people in support of his idea for a 'crude' generalist education with an emphasis on complex systems
then he starts ragging on the poor standard of maths and scientific education here
i) is he more than a crank and ii) do we need to have more people in public/corporate life with a higher mathematical education
― fake irish times letters mac d (nakhchivan), Saturday, 12 October 2013 01:53 (ten years ago) link
i only read the summary, but
i) he seems like more than a crank, although this also seems like an unusually febrile and utopian document, even for a spad.
ii) "need" is perhaps a strong word, but it certainly wouldn't hurt in public/corporate life. clearly, trivially, an MP or a civil servant should understand statistics better than it seems most currently do. that is the reason that institutions like my current one, which aspire to produce leaders and empire builders absolutely should be trying to offer an education in, most epsecially, statistsics/probability/quantitative reasoning, etc. designing the course(s) is hard, but actually implementing them in a liberal arts system like the US is relatively straightforward. with the hyperspecialization in the UK, where the high flyers essentially declare their major at 15/16, and drop all other courses, it's less clear. i can't imagine the politics that would be involved in trying to make "physics for future presidents" a compulsory course somewhere like oxford. (he actually mentions that course in the summary, by the way, which is kind of impressive. based solely on watching a few lectures on youtube, it's a good course.)
there is a tendency though to take this further and to say things like "the entire population should know what a normal distribution is, and if you don't then you're not equipped to vote", etc., which i reject. there's not much you can say to people who say "i never used algebra since i left school". they're right. and clearly a lot of people find maths and science hard/incomprehensible. not clear to me that we're doing them a service by obligating its study at an advanced level. and even assuming his ideas could be implemented, a country where everything is "evidence-based" sounds terribly bloodless and dull.
also this is an absolutely booming article:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/education/the-stem-crisis-is-a-myth
there is absolutely no shortage in technically qualified graduates in any developed country. not even close. on the whole, business leaders are acting out of self-interest and a desire to depress wages when they call for government to encourage/oblige people to do maths or science at university.
― caek, Sunday, 13 October 2013 16:37 (ten years ago) link
yeah i'd agree with most of that
as well as this quixotic idea for a crude synoptic education he seems to want to cull the top 2% by iq at a fairly young age and give them an intensive education with a heavy scientific emphasis because we need to solve global warming and nuclear fusion etc
i think there is something like this in israel already
― Nilmar Honorato da Silva, Tuesday, 15 October 2013 13:38 (ten years ago) link
lol good plan
― max, Tuesday, 15 October 2013 13:50 (ten years ago) link
max you should read the report
there is some content to be mined about how genetic testing will allow us to create specialist computerized education for the slow kids, also a lot of quotes by john von neumann, a hat tip to sokal
maybe a bit niche i suppose
― Nilmar Honorato da Silva, Tuesday, 15 October 2013 13:52 (ten years ago) link
i agree with caek
― max, Tuesday, 15 October 2013 13:55 (ten years ago) link
I most definitely agree with caek
and yeah, the idea that we need to aggressively recruit scientists from abroad in the US is definitely linked to depressed wages
I know that a friend who is a lab scientist has had issues with assistants who are from abroad and have science degrees (typically not graduate degrees, though) but have no lab experience and are actually not so great at lab work. They are decent candidates for the job on paper, but really, someone with an associate degree or even vocational training geared toward lab experimentation would probably be better.
Then again, she might just have bad luck and keep getting the assistants who just don't understand that you have to balance the damn centrifuge before turning it on.
― beautifully, unapologetically plastic (mh), Tuesday, 15 October 2013 14:11 (ten years ago) link
nah i'm not talking about international recruitment
get rid of all borders
― caek, Tuesday, 15 October 2013 15:17 (ten years ago) link
lol
― beautifully, unapologetically plastic (mh), Tuesday, 15 October 2013 15:20 (ten years ago) link
you would say that, you scab
― beautifully, unapologetically plastic (mh), Tuesday, 15 October 2013 15:21 (ten years ago) link
How is your teaching going, caek? Do you generally like your students or wish them to hell? What about your fellow faculty? Administrators?
― quincie, Sunday, 20 October 2013 14:45 (ten years ago) link
i'm missing research more than i expected, and i am continually staggered by the amount of paperwork, government involvement, financial complexity and bureaucracy at private universities in the US compared to public universities in europe. (seriously, lol at any american, politician or otherwise, who cites european governance as some kind of sclerotic basket case.)
but basically on the day to day, i love it!
any more and we'd have to move this thread to 77.
― caek, Sunday, 20 October 2013 17:02 (ten years ago) link
http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/original-size/images/print-edition/20131019_FBC916.png
http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21588057-scientists-think-science-self-correcting-alarming-degree-it-not-trouble
v good article
― caek, Wednesday, 23 October 2013 17:43 (ten years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0qjK3TWZE8
i love this video!
― caek, Wednesday, 6 November 2013 20:27 (ten years ago) link
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/mar/14/gravitational-waves-big-bang-universe-bicep
In about 50 minutes?
― StanM, Monday, 17 March 2014 15:12 (ten years ago) link
i know right?
― caek, Monday, 17 March 2014 17:57 (ten years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlfIVEy_YOA
― caek, Monday, 17 March 2014 17:58 (ten years ago) link
i am in a weird-ass software dev workshop and it is passing me by
― caek, Monday, 17 March 2014 18:00 (ten years ago) link