The Chicago Typewriter was a model of 
When Obama wins…
By Mark | May 9, 2008
This website will be seen as prescient. Now, if only I could convince Barack Obama to add Ben Affleck as his running mate…
Topics: Politics | No Comments »
I’m Addicted to Twitter
By Mark | May 6, 2008
Lately I’ve been doing a lot of posting on Twitter, which is the microblogging service that lets you send updates to your friends, and receive updates. It was recently featured on CNN as being the method a blogger in Egypt used to alert people that he had been arrested. I use it to change my status on Facebook and to keep in touch with my more nerdy friends. I put a feed to my Twitter updates (a/k/a “tweets”) in the About page, as well.
Topics: Tech | No Comments »
Evolution Links
By Mark | May 3, 2008
I’ve started a Darwin fan page on Facebook. This happened mostly because I’m bored, but also because I’m pretty distressed at the level of biological education possessed by a lot of Americans in power right now (cough cough George W. Bush cough cough). I’m also bothered by Ben Stein’s new hit job on what he calls “Big Science.” You can read about the errors in the movie here. Anyway, I’m kinda miffed at how politicized biology is in general, and evolutionary biology in particular. I have no power, authority, and I’m a legal aid attorney, so I really only had one option: start a Facebook group.
Here are some other blogs, websites, and assorted detritus that I like regarding evolutionary biology:
National Center for Science Education: A great resource for students and teachers who want to learn about the teaching of evolution and the problems with trying to wedge intelligent design into the rubric of science.
American Association for the Advancement of Science Evolution Press Room: This is the clearing house for evolution news by the AAAS. I check it every couple of weeks, as it is not updated that often.
Red Queen’s Hypothesis: One of my favorite evolutionary theories which paraphrased states that continuing development is needed to “stand still” in the evolutionary arms race.
Pharyngula: My favorite snarky biologist’s blog, this is a great vanguard in the science vs. intelligent design tussle. P.Z. Myers doesn’t hold back in his criticism of religion in general, which is great, even for a clean and wholesome Catholic like myself. [Ed. note: Mark is neither clean nor wholesome]
Thoughts from Kansas: This blog is written by a graduate student at the University of Kansas and former classmate of mine, and is exactly the right level of thoughtfulness to be accessible to non-scientists.
The Panda’s Thumb: This is the USS Enterprise of science vs. creationist blogs. It’s updated daily, and good learnin’, too.
University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology and the University of Chicago: Ok, these links are just because I went to school at this places.
If you get a chance to check out any of those links, drop me a line. I miss talking science.
Topics: Science / Evolution, Education | No Comments »
Schlitz is returning to Chicago
By Mark | April 5, 2008
Oh thank heaven. Schlitz beer, the greatest gift for which a man on limited budget could ever ask, is returning to Chicago.
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Gabriel’s Horn
By Mark | March 27, 2008
Or: How to fit an infinite surface area into a finite space, and how that relates to my student debt
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There is a three-dimensional mathematical figure known as Gabriel’s Horn which has an infinite surface area and a finite volume. You create it by graphing y=x^(-1) where x >or = to one, then spinning that 2-D graph around the x-axis. Put into layman’s terms, that is like a banana with an infinitely large peel but that doesn’t contain any more “banana-stuff” inside. Imagine that: an infinity contained within a finite volume, an unlimited amount held by a limited object.
This the perfect analogy for my student loans.
Here I am, a finite individual in a finite space with a finite income and a finite attention span, and somehow I am expected to pay off a debt that growing, presumably exponentially, every day. I say “presumably exponentially” because I didn’t look at the terms of my promissory note that closely. The interest rate may be geometric, for all I know. The main point is that a whelk has a better chance in a supernova than I have against the financial volcano that is Sallie Mae.
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I have so much debt that I cannot realistically picture the day that it will be paid off; I can imagine that day, but not in any way that resembles the real world. When I imagine having zero debt, I also imagine other fantastical things that I’d like but will probably never have, like a unicorn. Or a teleportation pad in my house. Or an angst-free childhood. I’ve often heard that “you can’t put a value on an education.” This is true: a precise value is impossible to pin down because interest accrues. To put a value on an education, you have to add the e^(rt) term.
The reason I’m writing about this is that, for the first time in my life, I no longer see the “paying back the debt” phase of my life as occurring some time in the future, but as happening right now. I wouldn’t trade the college or graduate experiences that I have been lucky enough to get for the world, but, dang, it turned out to be a lot of money. How I feel about my education right now is broadly equivalent to how I feel after a night of hard, hard drinking. It feels awful, and yet I oddly don’t regret the decisions that have gotten me to this point. Also, I’m probably going to throw up.
Topics: Science / Evolution, Humor, Education | No Comments »
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