“So now you all know the value of gah.” -Avanti Shrikumar
No, no, “I don’t blame you” is just a phrase!
— Emmy
How to find the area under a curve without calculus
- Ryan: guess how were taking the integral of these analog functions that come out of the gas chromatograph?
- Ryan: its one of those machines that scribbles a graph on a moving peice of paper, forget what that's called
- Ryan: but its how we measure the area under the graph that makes it seem really low tech for gas chromatography
- davidad: do you literally measure the area on the paper somehow?
- davidad: like by counting squares in the graph paper?
- Ryan: indirectly
- Ryan: but not literally
- Ryan: more precise than squares
- davidad: ah
- davidad: that's good at least
- Ryan: it's quite a clever idea for its simplicity
- Ryan: we carefully cut the graph out of the paper with scissors
- Ryan: and weigh it on an analytical balance
Metafora was so popular, I decided to write a second page. I don’t know if it’s as good as the first. If you want a third page, leave a comment. :-)
Something’s odd about the menu at this trendy new restaurant… (click through for full PDF — and yes, click the image again if you came from Twitter or Facebook.)
Er…and in case you didn’t bother to read the copyright line, this is my original work.
Explanations of selected Java exceptions
IllegalThreadStateException: One of the screws in your computer is threaded the wrong way.
CloneNotSupportedException: You are a clone. Find the original you, tell him what you want to do and then kill yourself.
ArrayStoreException: You have used up all your arrays and need to buy more from the array store.
EmptyStackException: In order for Java to work, you must have a stack of Java books on your desk. Actually, one is enough if it is really thick.
MimeTypeParseException: You are a bad mime. No one can understand what you’re supposed to be. Try something easier, like walking-against-the-wind or trapped-in-an-invisible-box.
NotActiveException: This can mean two things. Either something is inactive and needs to be active, or something is active and needs to be inactive. Activate and inactivate things randomly until things work.
Advanced NLP techniques meet the Bulwer-Lytton contest. Click through to see the full parse result. (Yes, click through again if you got here via Facebook, Twitter, or wherever. Sorry.)
Boy, those biologists are a rough bunch!
- Emily: The smartest creatures alive...Terence Tao, Stephen Hawking, and my cat.
- davidad: Your cat?
- Emily: My cat is a super-genius. She's just hampered because she doesn't have a larynx to make human sounds, or opposable thumbs.
- davidad: Ah. Well, Stephen Hawking doesn't have those things either.
If you like Sweeney Todd, then you’ll lov— well, you’ll find this vaguely amusing.
For those who are rusty on their Sondheim, the original song can be found here.
*This* should be on the top of Obama’s “plate.”
If you torture the data enough, it will confess to anything.
— John Tukey (via Julia Galef)
- Karan: I have an exam tonight, lame.
- davidad: in what?
- Karan: Fluid Dynamics
- davidad: ah
- davidad: should be a breeze
- S: Guess who they got to headline the origami convention this year!
- P: Ben Folds?
