Gravity's Rainbow

botany, shoes, books, and justice

January 20, 2012
by sarcozona
2 Comments

Smackdown

The following section

Sandel et al.‘s endemism maps are quite different from previous maps of endemism (1–33 [sic]). Their analysis would benefit from the study of regional variation and spatial patterns, particularly for mountain and glacial ranges such as the Asian Himalayas.

when translated from science-speak, reads “Do yr homework, bitchez.”

January 19, 2012
by sarcozona
4 Comments

Arguing with the mathematical ‘we’

I can tell I’ve been working on something too long when I start arguing with the mathematical we. You may be wondering, “What (or who) exactly is the mathematical we?” Consider the following for illustrative examples:

Hence, from Equation (4.4) we see that P ~ 1/?n

Or

It is quite intuitive that the limiting probabilities for this Markov chain should just be p,q, and r. To verify this we must show that they satisfy Equation (4.7)

(Another sign I’ve been working too long – writing things like “Consider the following for illustrative examples” with a straight face.)

These mathematicians are clearly trying to make me feel more included. And in the beginning, perhaps I do join them in the slog from equation 4.4 to 4.7. But after awhile, every time I see a we, I begin an imaginary argument, like

Mathematician: We see that…
Me: No, we don’t. You’re not making any sense. Don’t try to sneak that combinatorial identity by me like it’s nothing.

Or

Mathematician: Let’s assume there are n blue balls…
Me: Do you even hear yourself? I’m not assuming anything about blue balls. Can we use some other color that leads to less snickering?  Honestly, I’m pretty sick of talking about balls in general. Can we switch to marbles or skittles or kittens?

Or

Mathematician: So let us consider state 0 and attempt to determine if P is finite or infinite
Me: What? All we ever talk about is state 0. Can’t we branch out a little and start at 1?

January 10, 2012
by sarcozona
0 comments

Flattr helps little blogs, too

Have you ever noticed the Flattr buttons on this blog? Clicking on one of those is like tossing your change in the tip jar. You might think that it’s silly to use Flattr on a blog like mine (my readers are loyal, but few), but the small tips really add up. Despite the fact that I average less than a hundred page views a day, I still received enough in donations via Flattr to pay for 4 months of hosting costs last year.

So I want to say thank you to all the people who’ve Flattred my blog or individual posts in the last year.

If you don’t use Flattr, I think you should start. If you blog or write software or make music or take pictures or even if you just tweet a lot, you can probably make enough with Flattr to at least get another cup of coffee. And if you want to support writers and artists and programmers who do things you love, you can almost certainly flattr them, even if they haven’t signed up yet. I just flattred Hadley Wickham because he writes fucking awesome R packages like reshape and ggplot2 with outstanding documentation.

January 1, 2012
by sarcozona
0 comments

New Year’s Resolutions: rinse and repeat

New Year’s resolutions, heck, any change in (good) habits is hard, even when I’m doing something I really enjoy.

Last year I resolved to keep studying Russian – to make it a part of my life in a way that would result in me speaking Russian with a “reasonable level of competency.” I didn’t do that well. Instead of making learning Russian part of my daily routine, it ended up being more of a bimonthly routine. And despite the optimistic tone here,

I’ll start watching movies and TV shows in Russian right away to get a better feel for the language.  In a few months, I’ll start reading a book I’ve read in English in Russian.  I’m thinking Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone- I’d learn lots of fun vocabulary like ‘cauldron’ and ‘wizard.’  And I’ll try to find someone to practice with.

I didn’t do any of those things. But I’m not going to call last year’s resolution a failure and give up!

While I didn’t study as often as I’d hoped, I did study regularly. I didn’t make as much progress as I wanted to, but I am substantially better than I was a year ago.

I still want to speak and read Russian well, but making it part of my daily routine is pretty hard. Based on my experience last year and the looming specter of my thesis proposal, I’m going to increase my studying from twice a month to twice a week. Instead of doing everything I listed last year (movies, TV, reading, etc), I’m going to focus on watching movies I’ve seen in English in Russian. Since this is fun, easy, and relaxing, I think it will help keep me motivated. Plus, I watch movies to give my brain a little rest already, so it won’t feel like something extra.

When you’ve made lasting changes in your life or committed to some sort of long term activity, how long did it take you before it felt effortless – like a habit?

 

 

December 31, 2011
by sarcozona
0 comments

A most Impudent School-Mistress of Alexandria

You know you’ve lived life well when the Christians start calling you names. See The History of Hypatia, a most Impudent School-Mistress of Alexandria: Murder’d and torn to Pieces by the Populace, in Defence of Saint Cyril and the Alexandrian Clergy from the Aspersions of Mr. Toland.