tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195854032011-10-22T12:17:38.848-04:00A convenient place to put various rants and musings about science, music, technology and lifeMaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.comBlogger571100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-79903128855284511362007-06-12T12:30:00.001-04:002007-06-12T12:30:38.867-04:00

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-15893519991238501582007-05-22T10:40:00.001-04:002007-05-22T10:40:34.658-04:00

One thing I keep seeing pop up in internet debates that is incredibly stupid is the use of linguistics to make a larger point where it is totally irrelevant. For example at Pandagon there was a debate over abortion (who woulda thunk it). In any case in the course of the argument at one point went to if pregnancy was active or passive and someone named Dan wrote this gem:If pregnancy were an

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-35769181837187530622007-05-18T09:14:00.001-04:002007-05-18T09:14:56.492-04:00

so I was at Pandagon and saw this hilarious video:I'll have to eat Kitten Mcnuggets instead.

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-21449109538325964592007-05-16T14:30:00.001-04:002007-05-16T14:30:22.268-04:00

Google is patenting a method to target in-game ads based on your actions in the game. Excuse me while I go fetch my tinfoil hat.

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-29263215774862618542007-05-14T08:45:00.001-04:002007-05-14T08:45:24.712-04:00

So Daniel Davies at crooked timber is defending cheap American beer. Specifically Budweiser. It is not the worst beer available, it's drinkable and bland, and that's really the main problem: like other big name American beers it has no flavor. Bland is OK, the whole point of lagers is that they are a bit on the bland side, but there is a big difference between subtle flavor and no flavor, and

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-24551528869055691642007-05-01T18:07:00.001-04:002007-05-01T18:09:00.619-04:00

I am an atheist, but I don't want this to turn into an "atheist blog". I'd rather it be a science, music, or even technology blog because those are things that interest me, and so this is the only post I shall ever make regarding my views on religion (though I reserve the right to mock it at any point in time, for any reason).The whole problem of religion is that there are many things people mean

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-50808483428292898432007-04-30T15:03:00.001-04:002007-04-30T15:03:29.570-04:00

hilarious

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-12329189491493694492007-04-30T12:38:00.001-04:002007-04-30T12:41:24.910-04:00

So now I'm working on co-op, and as a large part of what I do is wait for long simulation runs to finish, I might as well start my blog back up...I'm working for the Upenn vet school as part of the MIDAS project, which basically is to model the spread of disease. The Upenn vet school is the only group modeling the spread of animal diseases, and that's the group I'm with. So I spend my days

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-16991053921908481442007-02-09T00:07:00.000-05:002007-02-09T00:07:27.132-05:00

So am I the only one who never got why the whole Marcotte/Mcewan thing got to be a big controversy? First it was the duke case thing. Oh she criticized the lacrosse players? Poor babies. Then she criticized the catholic church and made a joke about aborting jesus. Can't we all just get past obvious jokes and take them as they are meant. The usual criticism placed against the left by the right is

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-46587976224803284602007-01-31T22:51:00.000-05:002007-01-31T23:14:37.651-05:00

by that I mean he's hiring them. And it's a good thing. He seems to be courting the feminist vote, what with hiring Amanda Marcotte and Shake's Sis. I've always liked Edwards, and I think this speaks well for him. I have grave reservations about Hillary Clinton, mostly because I think she's just too much of a politician, too much about compromise, and making a deal, and not enough about standing

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-22995430849384796832007-01-31T22:41:00.000-05:002007-01-31T22:42:01.736-05:00

google owns the internet.That is all.

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-6039544935247231602007-01-31T22:35:00.000-05:002007-01-31T22:40:03.152-05:00

so my computer is making strange noises, and the power supply fan is not running. The power supply isn't hot, but as that is where the noises are coming from I am going to replace it (with a really beefy 550w one).In other news, I need a job, if anyone in the Philadelphia region is looking to hire an undergraduate physics student for six months drop me an email

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-31850231682024818502007-01-28T22:57:00.000-05:002007-01-28T23:44:14.121-05:00

I have found 4 relatively new music sites. All offer free music listening, 3 offer music downloads, 1 for free and 2 for money. The sites are:Magnatune, a music store that offers free streaming as well as cheap ($5) album downloads, with no DRM (you can get a plain mp3).Mindawn, a music store that offers free demos that self-destruct after 3 plays, and not quite as cheap downloads ($6.99 for a

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-34192262683488371352007-01-28T15:41:00.000-05:002007-01-28T16:25:32.755-05:00

So I'm taking a course in nonlinear dynamics this term, and its really cool. Nonlinear dynamics is the study of chaotic systems in physics. So what does that mean?Chaos is a technical term in physics meaning that something is deterministic (follows knowable laws), but unpredictable. Weather is chaotic, we understand a lot about how temperature and air pressure affect the weather in the short term

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1163044362666928792006-11-08T22:52:00.000-05:002006-11-09T08:51:42.630-05:00

So I'm probably just about the last person in the world to post about the election, but we did pretty well. Both Rick "Man on Dog" "santorum" Santorum and George "Mcaca" Allen lost (though the virginia race was damn close. South Dacota threw out its abortion ban, and I got to vote for Rush Holt again.These all make me happy.

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1158120079905358612006-09-12T23:27:00.000-04:002006-09-13T00:01:19.990-04:00

So I work for the army research lab (ARL) as a co-op. I have a female co-worker who I was reminded of reading this post by Molly of Molly saves the day regarding an event of misogyny in the sciences. This co-worker (who shall remain nameless) was transferred from one post to another (as the army likes to do) and she went to duty. She did a variety of things (as she still does) but no one ever

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1156994519871819242006-08-30T22:56:00.000-04:002006-08-30T23:21:59.883-04:00

Lots of people have heard of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, but most people who haven't studied physics have an incorrect idea of what it means. The way it is usually stated is that the better you know the position of something the less well you know its velocity. What the Heisenberg uncertainty principle means, fundamentally, is that things smaller than an atom are not particles like we

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1156820518368875232006-08-28T22:39:00.000-04:002006-08-28T23:01:58.383-04:00

So I stumbled upon this post at Punkassblog and seeing all the hating on the fake not-nice nice guy I thought I would add my two cents. Because, you see, I used to be one, though my shyness restrained any assholery latent in my psyche.What makes someone into a Nice Guy™? Sexual frustration combined with social inaptitude, and a lack of exposure to women. When you don't have any success with the

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1156819139813843192006-08-28T22:36:00.000-04:002006-08-28T22:38:59.826-04:00

So I wait over a week after I get back from the beach to post... Lazyness continues to dominate my life. Anyways I'll try to post more often.

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1155266570259176242006-08-10T23:21:00.000-04:002006-08-10T23:22:50.260-04:00

I'll be in north carolina next week, sitting on the beach, and enjoying the sun (and sleep). So no blogging for me.

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1155266485892096882006-08-10T23:11:00.000-04:002006-08-10T23:21:25.910-04:00

So there was a recent article by a woman who does not enjoy spending every waking moment with her children. Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon points out that parenting is hard work.The point of all this is not to bore anyone to death but to say that parenting is labor like any other--you do a job, no matter how much you like it, you have earned bitching rights. The bitching rights go up in inverse

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1155169461432345152006-08-09T20:22:00.000-04:002006-08-09T20:24:21.446-04:00

So apparently the new Will Farrell movie is pretty good. That's good.

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1155096573785766982006-08-08T23:28:00.000-04:002006-08-09T00:09:33.823-04:00

In this interesting and productive article at Pandagon a theist came in and basically stated accusing everyone of being prejudiced against theists, and racists.I am not prejudiced against theists, the whole idea is laughable. Literally almost everyone I know in real life is a theist. Theists please stop telling me I hate you, I don't (at least not because you have silly beliefs).

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1154916325443696272006-08-06T21:52:00.000-04:002006-08-06T22:05:45.546-04:00

So apparently the guy who makes girls gone wild is a rapist and a bully. Surprise, surprise. Now I don't have a problem with porn, I watch (probably too much of) it. My problem is with anyone who would force a woman to get naked against her will, or much, much worse to rape her. Now what I really don't understand is the mindset behind this quote:But the women are changing, Francis tells me, and

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1154830430593942702006-08-05T21:59:00.000-04:002006-08-05T22:13:50.606-04:00

I've come to the conclusion that I should post more and be more controversial in an effort to attract (any) readers.To that effect I'm going to say that anyone who can't deal with breastfeeding is mentally damaged. Feeding babies is the primary purpose of breasts, the fact that they are fun to look at (and play with) is probably related to that fact.Also Mel Gibson has not been keeping it a

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1154829567580241072006-08-05T21:26:00.000-04:002006-08-05T21:59:27.596-04:00

So I'm back from working at a mysterious government site, and its time for me to blog about energy. Energy is one of the central topics of physics, it comes up in classical mechanics, E&M, statistical mechanics, quantum mechanics, relativity, and any other topic I'm neglecting to mention, but what is it?Energy is the most misused term in physics, not by physists, but by pseudoscientists. Energy

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1153679388973101602006-07-23T14:24:00.000-04:002006-07-23T14:29:48.986-04:00

I'll be away from the internet all week so I thought I would add some links.Molly's back.Some stories are just plain fucked upyes there are some stupid physistsI'm out.

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1152504794478795882006-07-09T23:25:00.000-04:002006-07-10T00:13:14.516-04:00

I've decided that lots of people don't really understand some commonly used concepts in physics, and I should try to spread information about their true meanings. The two I'll do first are entropy and energy, because those are the two most misused.I'm somewhat sympathetic to those who don't understand entropy because it is a pretty strange concept. It's usually described as the disorder in a

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1151552205475992472006-06-28T23:07:00.000-04:002006-06-28T23:36:46.466-04:00

So I was over at Bitch Ph.D where she's having a big sex talk. I didn't have much to add, but to discuss the reasons why men are less likely to have serious sex talks with other men. My thought (among other things) is that men are usually homophobic (in that they never want to be thought of as gay), and that in general men are taught not to consider their bodies attractive. This kicked off a big

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1151117587481017402006-06-23T22:41:00.000-04:002006-06-23T22:53:07.496-04:00

So on Wednesday I went to a free concert at The Strathmore. There were two bands, one was a sort of art-rock band called Cascade in Blue, and another whose name I forget (a more sort of countryish band). Cascade was pretty good, so I got a CD for $5. I think this underplays the problems with popular music. Most people (in my experience at least) are happy buying CD's, the only problem is that

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1151116855235296912006-06-23T22:35:00.000-04:002006-06-23T22:40:55.253-04:00

ok, so I've been back, but I've also been busy, and lacking in computerness (I just built one).let's see, Belgium is cool, and I wish America was a lot more like Europe. I turned 21 on the 9th, but had been in europe for the month previous, and so was used to legally purchasing booze. umm... yeah that's about it.

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1146538639961368452006-05-01T22:43:00.000-04:002006-05-01T22:57:19.976-04:00

On Sunday I go to Belgium for a month (for business, not pleasure... well there may be some pleasure involved ;) so I have a good excuse not to post.So anyways... Apparently the pope is considering allowing married couples to use condoms to prevent the spread of HIV if one spouse is infect. A tiny, baby step out of the dark ages, that nonetheless is generating a huge controversy. I never got the

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1146020193359287722006-04-25T22:37:00.000-04:002006-04-25T22:56:33.376-04:00

So I went to the Pi Nu Convention over the weekend. It was held at Millersville, PA, which is a dying chapter, there is like one active member, so attendance was a bit slim. After the convention there was the banquet, complete with a DJ. DJs always make me nervous because I fear that they will only play music that I don't like, but this guy took requests, and one thing that happens when you fill

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1145163865676114942006-04-16T00:36:00.000-04:002006-04-16T01:05:06.936-04:00

Well tonight I went to a talk on chaos by James Yorke, one of the fathers of chaos theory. It was a fairly nontechnical talk, but was fairly interesting nonetheless. Dr. Yorke was a very engaging speaker, and had lots of examples of chaos.When a scientist talks about chaos, they mean something very specific: sensitivity to initial conditions. The basic idea is that in a chaotic system a small

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1145131733317927492006-04-15T16:05:00.000-04:002006-04-15T16:08:53.330-04:00

So I've been invited by one of the guys at work (Marc Litz) to go to a dinner/talk hosted by Sigma Xi (a researchers society). The talk is on "chaos". Sounds interesting, and my way may have been paid. Free dinner is always appreciated :) I'll be sure to summerise the talk here.

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1144886281625961632006-04-12T19:41:00.000-04:002006-04-12T19:58:01.636-04:00

So I found via Bitch, PhD. this article about pharmacists refusing to give antibiotics and vitamins to women because of "moral objections". This is bullshit. The whole moral objection to filling prescriptions idea is fundamentally flawed, because it allows pharmacists to force their moral/religious beliefs on others. Following the logic of these proposed laws doctors would not have to treat

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1144885187718547492006-04-12T19:35:00.000-04:002006-04-12T19:39:47.730-04:00

So what happens whenever I try to write something regularly happened. I got lazy (and busy) so I didn't post anything for a while. I've got ideas, but I had finals, and then I had no internet for a while. Anyways, I've moved down to Maryland and and working for the Army Research Lab again.

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1139524368758191222006-02-09T17:23:00.000-05:002006-02-09T17:32:48.773-05:00

So it's been about a week since my last post. I need to post more often, but this week has been insanely busy (and is not over yet).Anyway the colloquium this week was... Unique. It's title was "Physics songs for fun and teaching". It basically consisted of a professor from Haverford College singing and playing music. His website is PhysicsSongs.org. Some of them are pretty funny. There is a

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1138943396791700092006-02-02T23:58:00.000-05:002006-02-03T00:09:56.803-05:00

Sorry for the absence, classes tend to do that to me...Anyway I went to a colloquium today that was pretty interesting. It was on biophysics which is usually pretty boring, but this one was good. It was about determining the specificity of reactions between chemicals and proteins. Specificity is basically how much that particular reaction is preferred to other reactions. This is important when

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1137960211640174632006-01-22T14:24:00.000-05:002006-01-22T15:03:31.903-05:00

So my roommate has gotten me addicted to the show Stargate SG-1 (not Atlantis yet, but that will come, I'm sure). I have to admit that is why I haven't been blogging. Anyway, I also saw Richard Dawkin's documentary The Root of all Evil. It was very well done, showing how much of what people believe about religion (especially that it is a moral guide) is either downright false, or extremely

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1137184837240417582006-01-13T15:16:00.000-05:002006-01-13T15:40:37.313-05:00

So I've had a busy first week of classes. I've read about two interesting physics related things in Cosmic variance. Well, one is interesting and the other is sort of sad. The first one is about an interesting result of a survey of Gamma Ray Bursts. It suggests that the amount of Dark Energy (the stuff postulated to explain why the universe is expanding at an increasing rate) is increasing over

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1136660379346758902006-01-07T13:37:00.000-05:002006-01-07T13:59:39.416-05:00

Last night there were two shows on PBS that I watched that were quite thought provoking. Both were on the topic of America's future. The first one was on how America is losing it's technical superiority, the second was on Walmart, and specifically it's role in moving a lot of production to China.I think that the larger of the two problems (losing a technical lead and losing an industrial lead) is

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1136479535112353002006-01-05T11:41:00.000-05:002006-01-09T10:17:38.156-05:00

Hey, there's a new skeptic's circle at The Saga of Runolfr. Since I'm in it, I'm sure there's all sorts of new people coming by here. I don't have a whole lot of stuff written right now, but what I do have is mostly on science, since I'm a physics student. Anyways, welcome.

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1136254394189585342006-01-02T19:27:00.000-05:002006-01-03T00:46:32.573-05:00

I noticed an article in the Trenton Times on physics, it seemed interesting so I read on. Apparently in the next town over (My hometown is West Windsor, this town is East Windsor) is a company called Blacklight Power Inc. They claim to have discovered a new way to generate power using hydrogen. unfortunately their claims are in contrast with quantum mechanics. They claim to be able to put

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1136132211743195432006-01-01T11:12:00.000-05:002006-01-01T11:16:51.750-05:00

Happy new years everyone.by the way, I don't believe in new years resolutions, if something is worth doing it's worth doing anyways. Why should promising to do it for new years improve your motivation? I don't know. Anyways, enjoy the new year, and get over your inevitable hangovers.

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1135962089500960872005-12-30T11:31:00.000-05:002005-12-30T12:01:29.570-05:00

For the holidays I pitched in with my brother to buy my mom a mahjongg computer game (her old one has to run under the classic emulator on Mac OS X). This raised some interesting feelings about paying for software. Usually all the open source (or free software if you prefer that term) gurus say make a point that you can technically charge for open source software, but in actuality it's part of

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1135898382290312662005-12-29T17:55:00.000-05:002005-12-29T18:21:47.996-05:00

So I guess I'll do one of those blog meme thingamabobs. This one I saw at pharyngula...Where did you graduate from and what year?West Windsor - Plainsboro High School South, 2003Who was your significant other?umm... none.Was your Prom a night to remember?I went to post-prom, having no date, I didn't go to the dancing part. It was pretty good.What was your favorite song you danced to the night of

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1135834584928490372005-12-28T23:59:00.000-05:002005-12-29T17:36:30.350-05:00

So now I'm back from my visiting my cousins'. I spent the time being indoctrinated by my ultra-liberal uncle, so I'm not happy with the president right now. Of course had I been home I would have written something on the whole Bush-wiretapping thing. Now it seems so late to mention it, but nonetheless I'll say my piece.President Bush has apparently been performing illegal wiretaps on US citizens

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1135008857072908282005-12-19T11:04:00.000-05:002005-12-19T11:14:17.090-05:00

So I'm at my cousins' this week. My younger cousin just had his seventh birthday, and he got the kids version of cranium, which we were playing with him. My uncle was supposed to act out a fictional character he was thinking of (he chose King Kong) my little cousin guessed that "it's god!". I thought it was very amusing that my cousin thinks god is a fictional character (who can blame him). :)

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1134883165232108482005-12-18T00:01:00.000-05:002005-12-18T00:19:25.253-05:00

So I went to a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert tonight. I know what you're wondering: why is a Jewish atheist going to see Christmas music? The answer is that I got an offer to go, and since I don't go to nearly enough concerts, accepted. I've played most of the music they did (I've played the original, acoustic versions however) so the religious nature of it can't really bother me too much. And

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1134769050110426142005-12-16T16:12:00.000-05:002005-12-16T16:37:30.133-05:00

So to give people a taste of what I'm aiming for here, let's take a look at the weblogs that I read: Cosmic Variance: A group weblog about physics, whenever I want to really geek out, here is where I go Pharyngula: a nice blog full of all good stuff: biology, atheism, cephalapod sex...Unscrewing The Inscrutable: More good stuff with science, atheism, and suchOrac Knows: a medical blog, full of

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1134767555136171852005-12-16T15:56:00.000-05:002005-12-16T16:12:35.153-05:00

So I haven't posted much recently, mostly because I want to make sure that there is mostly good stuff on here, and haven't been inspired by anything recently. That and finals. I was wondering what sort of stuff I should put on here and I decided that it might be interesting to talk about why I'm so reluctant to add stuff of less than top quality. I mean, I have this little weblog so I get stuff

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1134707625976915062005-12-15T23:25:00.000-05:002005-12-15T23:33:45.986-05:00

I love 8-bit christmas tunes, though I prefered NEScover.There's just something about 8-bit sounds that I love. I think it might be nostalgia, but considering I never had an original nintendo this is doubtful. It might just be that I love all goofy old synths (especially the Hammond Organ though how that relates to 8-bit sounds is beyond me). It might also be that I love all video game music...

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1134538369246222422005-12-14T00:25:00.000-05:002005-12-14T00:32:49.256-05:00

Time for some more light-hearted fare.I've been there, with the lab that doesn't work. From what I've seen of "the real world" you deal with the same things, crappy equipment, ambiguous error-prone data, and unclear goals. The main difference that I see is that in real research you are supposed to talk to other people to figure out what's wrong, whereas in undergrad labs figuring things out on

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1134089132454635412005-12-08T19:02:00.000-05:002005-12-08T19:47:56.646-05:00

In today's environment it's a topic every science blog has to mention, Intelligent Design.Before we go to biology, where the battle is going on, lets look at my particular field, physics. I recently read an article at The Panda's Thumb called SETI vs ID which talks about the methods the people at SETI try to infer design. This brought up a memory of something one of my professors mentioned from

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1133813127308182302005-12-05T14:29:00.000-05:002005-12-05T15:40:01.190-05:00

Ok, so I'm 20, I still am a kid, I'm not even old enough to drink legally.so why am I complaining about kids these days? It's not the young kids (though they don't look to be any better), it's people my age. Specifically it's Americans my age. Specifically they don't seem to value education. I'm not talking about training, they value that, learning salable skills. However education is not about

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19585403.post-1133762626505489882005-12-05T00:27:00.000-05:002005-12-05T01:05:13.396-05:00

Hi, I'm Max and welcome to my blog.I know it says in its name that it isn't one, I'll get to that in a minute, but first I'd like to introduce myself.I'm a physics student at Drexel University, I've worked at the Army Research Lab (ARL) for co-op (think internship if you don't know what a co-op is). I listen to lots of different types of music, mostly of the odd variety, and play upright and

Maxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17947323832525307462noreply@blogger.com0