Unqualified Offerings

By Thoreau
Reading about the earthquakes in Iran, I see extensive damage from earthquakes below magnitude 6, and the article notes 5 digit casualties from a magnitude 6.6 in 2003.  Living in California, with very different building codes, I’ve experienced a magnitude 5.5 earthquake pretty close to the epicenter and I was never in any danger.  [...]

By Thoreau
As some context, while most raises at my school are either cost of living increases (given to all faculty across the board) or promotion increases (given when promoted to Associate Professor or full Professor) there are small merit increases given to full Professors.  They aren’t very big, and I don’t know if they’re still [...]

By Thoreau
I haven’t been paying as much attention to the news lately.  I didn’t realize that Iran’s merchants were on strike for a few weeks to protest a tax increase.  For the sake of all of Iran’s dissident’s, please promise that you’ll keep this news away from Sarah Palin.  If she finds out, she might [...]

By Thoreau
I just went through one of the new x-ray scanners.  The issues of privacy and revealing images have been taken up elsewhere.  I want to complain about two other issues:
1)  It takes more time than a metal detector, and when you stand in it you have to spread your legs and put your hands [...]

By Thoreau
I haven’t read this book.  Certainly there’s a lot to be critical of in US higher education, and I’ve never claimed that college is the best choice for everyone, even for some talented students–their time might be better spent on other things.  However, I have to respond to two things in the article:
1)  The [...]

By Thoreau
I’m at a small conference on biomedical optics.  The code at these conferences is to not reveal specific conversations or presentations, so I won’t do that.  What I will say is that when people can write down arcane symbols and get a machine whirring and make a flash of light and then see through [...]

By Thoreau
The only reason that so many Americans are unemployed is that 9.5% of Americans can’t explain where they see themselves in 5 years.

By Thoreau
The people who organized the brilliant Comic Con counter protest against Fred Phelps should go to NYC and organize a counter-protest against the idiots protesting the Ground Zero Mosque.  It would be a sight to behold, I’m sure.

By Thoreau
A proclamation from Dr. Thoreau:
As a duly-appointed blogger at UO, and as a professor of evil fiziks, I hereby declare that
Whereas dhex is awesome, and,
Whereas dhex is the only URKOBOLD blogger to not threaten to wither my taint, and,
Whereas dhex coined the term “Generation Veal”, which continues to yield parmesan-covered goodness in my blogging, [...]

By Thoreau
Discussion from the left and the right [link added] of how conservatives need to start acting like grown-ups.  I especially like this from the Salon article, regarding the downside of having to run against (and crush) Palin in 2012:
But if you think it’s bad now, wait until you see what happens if the [...]