RIP Arianna Rosenbluth, the programmer of the first implementation of the Metropolis algorithm, the forerunner to and basis of now-ubquitous Monte-Carlo simulation algorithms (a history the details of which I didn’t know). H/T Andrew Gelman @statmodeling.
Category: Uncategorised
Hey, parents: I was surprised that “er”, “ar”, “or”, &c are so-called digraphs here in the UK. With my American accent, those seem like they ought to be two separate sounds. Here, there isn’t an explicit “r” sound at the end. Or have I been speaking wrong forever?
Snow in London
Ahhhh. From carnage to unity and soul.
Of course we’ll accept McConnell’s support, but let’s not mistake political expediency for even an iota of principle.
Maybe John King on CNN calling them
“knuckleheads” is all the respect they deserve.
Shame on Trump and his enablers. Shame on Cruz and Hawley. Shame on the house Republicans. Shame on the mob at the capitol. I feel little but shame, myself, that we’ve let this happen, despite our history, and our victories in November and today.
Closing all London primarily schools is absolutely the right thing to do (& an expected u-turn from this omnishambolic gov’t) but my own work/research/teaching effectiveness is going to plummet. Apologies to my colleagues/students/collaborators.
Gove: reopening England’s schools will involve ‘trade-offs’.
As a country we have decided… that we prioritise children returning to school. But… we have also had…Christmas mixing.
So we haven’t really prioritised schools, have we?
Latkes, cooked in Vegetable oil, not schmaltz, but served with applesauce (pink, of course, in honour of my grandmother)
We organised our wedding in two hours to beat tier 4
Call me a curmudgeon, but this shouldn’t be presented as a couple heroically working to save their wedding at the last minute, but rather as selfishly endangering people when they already have the information to know better.
I’ve eaten pork and shellfish my whole life without any guilt, but this feels really transgressive.
RIP Arecibo Telescope, Puerto Rico, USA. The passing of a literal giant of astronomy.
Peace & love, everyone. We’re crying with relief and joy.
I assume the CNN US Election Coverage/Octonauts demographic overlap is pretty small, but in our house, when we hear “Key Race Alert” we think “Creature Report” (and hope for a dance break).
“Breaking News: No winner has been called in Presidential election” -CNN
Trying not to cry, scream, or drink at 7:30am in front if the kids.
More bourbon, or a few hours of sleep?
—well-known humorist and actor Wallace Shawn.
Warning: not funny.
R.I.P. James “The Amazing” Randi, a hero from my youth as a magician and my adulthood as a scientist. (h/t @telescoper)
I voted. In San Francisco, from London, via fax (because that’s somehow more secure?) Well, via a web-to-fax service. Surely there’s a better way?
Whatever it takes.
(Surprisingly?) nervous about running my first online @ImperialPhysics undergraduate tutorial in 8 minutes…
New book (first in ~15 years) from statistics/design master Edward Tufte — Seeing With Fresh Eyes: Meaning, Space, Data, Truth! (Astronomers: includes an example from Kepler exoplanet/exomoon analyses.)
The 2020 Physics Nobel goes to Roger Penrose “for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of… relativity”, and Reinhard Genzel & Andrea Ghez “for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy.”
Tech friends: I’m getting very slow Time Machine backups (can be several days) from my MacBookPro (10.15.7) to Synology NAS (SMB, 1000M wired) w/Netgear Orbi router. Seems due to many small files. Problem occurs w/Mac either WiFi or wired (‘tho somewhat better wired). Any ideas?
McConnell, Graham, & the Republicans are all rank hypocrites, and I’m deathly afraid of a conservative court too, but I’m a little disappointed that the rest of us are now on board with their 2016 ‘no confirmation near an election’ nonsense, now that it suits us.
Received my absentee ballot for Nov 3… I am not the most strategically useful voter — I still vote in San Francisco. But can any of my SF friends recommend a good source of information and endorsements?
Earth-shaking news if this really is a signature of life…
I said when it drops
Oh you gonna feel it
Oh that you were doin’ it wrong, wrong, wrong
Now when it drops
Oh you gonna feel it
That you were doin’ it wrong and how
R.I.P. Toots Hibbert