February 2012
1 post
2 tags
Dave King Drum Solos
I am in awe.
Toy Megaphone Intro Solo 1 Solo 2 Solo 3 Solo 4 Solo 5
January 2012
1 post
1 tag
The Principle of Least Action →
October 2011
2 posts
September 2011
1 post
Color in scientific visualization (on davidad.net) →
Here I document the results of some surprisingly nontrivial web research required to write a good colorizer for the data I’m working with right now. Hopefully it’ll be useful to someone else in the same position I was in: trying to add a qualitative parameter to a grayscale visualization of a single quantitative parameter as it varies over an image.
August 2011
1 post
July 2011
1 post
“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins...”
– Sherlock Holmes
June 2011
7 posts
“We believe convenient technology will overcome a feeling of fear.”
– Emi Tamaki, inventor of a device that can control a human hand with surface electrodes
Why is Yellow Bright?
I was recently asked, upon informing someone that I’m about to start a Ph.D. program in biophysics, why humans perceive yellow as “brighter” than white - specifically, why it’s harder to read yellow text than equally bright magenta text (on a white background).
I said that’s an excellent question but I needed a couple minutes to think about it. Conversation moved on;...
“Everything is possible—and expensive.”
– Joe Johnston
The Magic School Bus Is Back →
Orders of magnitude
On a server I bought in 2004 and have been maintaining by buying new components:
/dev/sda 1907729 MiB (1863 GiB)
/dev/sdb 117000 MiB (115 GiB)
/dev/sdg 35304 MiB (34 GiB)
Lime-Chipotle Aioli
The more specific a food manufacturer or a chef is about their product, the better it sounds. I don’t care if it’s expeller pressed or impeller pressed or cold pressed or first pressed, if you think it’s important enough to tell me right on the packaging, it must be good, right? Come to think of it, this applies to other things too. Cold-forged carbon steel is obviously better...
May 2011
8 posts
On Chomsky and the Two Cultures of Statistical... →
“If you’re not paying for it, you’re not the...”
– @andlewis
Complex Numbers
Pedestrian A: I've never heard of that.
Pedestrian B: Complex fractions! It's a thing! One numerator, two denominators.
What the Universe looks like from here →
Simply breathtaking.
April 2011
5 posts
Chattanooga, TN: Geek City of the Future
Let’s be honest: if I listed Chattanooga among Boston, San Francisco, New York, Austin, and Raleigh-Durham as one of the most interesting places in the country for people who want to build awesome new stuff, you’d probably think I was joking. And if I told you that a few weeks ago, I would have been.
Through a fortuitous connection, I was recently introduced to a group of forward-thinking...
C is the only sane choice. →
March 2011
4 posts
“The unification of all different fields, being powered by information...”
– Ray Kurzweil, asked what idea excites him the most
“Consider the probability of the assertion, made by Sir John Maundeville in his...”
– Algebra of Probable Inference, by Richard T. Cox
2 tags
I'm Sorry Sir, The Ocean is Full
Beachgoer: What?
Lifeguard: Yes, it's full up. I'm afraid I can't let you in until someone else comes out.
Beachgoer: What are you on about? There's plenty of room!
Lifeguard: Well, you'll have to take that up with the Fire Marshal.
Beachgoer: The Fire Marshal?!
Lifeguard: Yes, you see, if there were to be a fire in the ocean--
Beachgoer: A fire? In the OCEAN?!
Lifeguard: Please, sir, calm down. I realize it may be counterintuitive, but if, say, an oil slick were to pass by, and happen to be ignited, everyone would need a safe escape route.
Beachgoer: Oh, yes, can't have a panicked crowd rushing the doors, can we?
Lifeguard: Indeed, sir. Ah, that young lady with the inflatable horsey has just come out. Sorry for the inconvenience, sir.
“The result of this experiment was inconclusive, so we had to use statistics.”
– (Supposedly overheard at an international physics conference)
February 2011
5 posts
1 tag
The Google Art Project →
Paintings are incredibly high-resolution.
“A witty saying proves nothing.”
– Voltaire
January 2011
3 posts
Bookland (imaginary place)
Apparently, when the international barcode system for all products (EAN) was being developed, they wanted to make it backwards compatible with the old book barcodes (ISBN). So they created an imaginary country called Bookland, so that books could be identified by ISBN without regard to their country of origin.
As if that weren’t enough, sheet music publishers had their own old barcode...
1 tag
Information Flow →
December 2010
4 posts
“There is always a way to do it better—find it.”
– Thomas Edison
“The rare individual who unselfishly tries to serve others has an enormous...”
– Dale Carnegie
“Innovation isn’t making something new.
It’s making something new,...”
– advertisement in an engineering trade magazine
2 tags
November 2010
4 posts
2 tags
“Empty arguments with words cannot compare with a test which will show practical...”
– Ma Jun (3rd century Chinese inventor)
2 tags
PARIS: A tourist's guide
[It’s been too long since I’ve made an entry in this category of my blog. -Ed.]
Welcome to Paris! The capital of Europe since the French Revolution of 1940, Paris is a city steeped in history and culture, with more fascinating landmarks than you will likely be able to visit on your trip. Here is a short list of the sights you definitely won’t want to miss!
The Eiffel Tower is...
October 2010
7 posts
Postdoc 1: What was that T-shirt you got for your defense?
Postdoc 2: "I already did that experiment"
2 tags
