Today is a not a sad day, but an unfortunate day. Randy Pausch died today at 47 of pancreatic cancer. I never met him in person or even talked to him, but his 'Last Lecture' was truly inspiring. He knew we was dying, but that didn't stop him from living. Amazing, just amazing. He taught more in his dying than most will ever do living. His 3 children may never know the extent of their father's reach...but the rest of the world will.
Link
Video
Friday, July 25, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
What is new in my life
So many things have changed in the past two weeks.
I told my mentor that I will not be returning in the fall. So I will be working with her until the end of the summer and then I will be on my own. This is completely uncharted territory for me; I have never been in a position where I did not know what was coming next. So I have started to look for jobs, my family has been sending me postings for job nearly constantly (which is good). Although I have found out that for most of the jobs that they send me, I am not qualified for....unfortunate. So my plan is to apply for substitute teaching and the Peace Corps. I figure that if I am going to take a break from school, I might as well do something worth while.
I told my mentor that I will not be returning in the fall. So I will be working with her until the end of the summer and then I will be on my own. This is completely uncharted territory for me; I have never been in a position where I did not know what was coming next. So I have started to look for jobs, my family has been sending me postings for job nearly constantly (which is good). Although I have found out that for most of the jobs that they send me, I am not qualified for....unfortunate. So my plan is to apply for substitute teaching and the Peace Corps. I figure that if I am going to take a break from school, I might as well do something worth while.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
It has been a while since I last posted. Much has happened in my life in that time. But today, I am not going to talk about me...I just have to get something off my chest: Conservapedia.
I saw a mention of it, and I thought that I would see just how accurate it was, especially since in its own icon it says, "The Trustworthy Encyclopedia." To compare it, I needed another online encyclopedia; for this I used Wikipedia, although not the best....it is a benchmark. So being a scientist, I started with something controversial...something that I would expect to see the most differences; for this I chose 'Evolution.' My assumption was correct, the differences were vast.
First, lets see an excerpt from Wikipedia: "In biology, evolution is the process of change in the inherited traits of a population of organisms from one generation to the next."
From Conservapedia: "Merriam-Webster's dictionary gives the following definition of evolution: 'a theory that the various types of animals and plants have their origin in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successive generations.'"
Wait, so an an encyclopedia you have to cite the dictionary? WTF? The beginning of the Conservapedia article sounds like the beginning of a high school graduation speach. Well, maybe there is something that is better down the page...
Conservapedia: "The fossil record is often used as evidence in the creation versus evolution controversy. The fossil record does not support the theory of evolution and is one of the many flaws in the theory of evolution.[10]" That little link at the end of the line is not linking to a scientific journal or any sort of publication, instead it is a link to the homepage of a man's personal page. He has a degree in Biology, although he does not say which one...and only passed with a C average. Does he have any publications? No, but he does have a blog on Creationism. Hardly a qualified poster in the evolution page.
The whole Conservapedia seems to be royally fucked on the information side as it is covered in asides and unnecessary political view points.
Sad. Just sad that this is what we have come to; mis-information to settle the masses.
I saw a mention of it, and I thought that I would see just how accurate it was, especially since in its own icon it says, "The Trustworthy Encyclopedia." To compare it, I needed another online encyclopedia; for this I used Wikipedia, although not the best....it is a benchmark. So being a scientist, I started with something controversial...something that I would expect to see the most differences; for this I chose 'Evolution.' My assumption was correct, the differences were vast.
First, lets see an excerpt from Wikipedia: "In biology, evolution is the process of change in the inherited traits of a population of organisms from one generation to the next."
From Conservapedia: "Merriam-Webster's dictionary gives the following definition of evolution: 'a theory that the various types of animals and plants have their origin in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successive generations.'"
Wait, so an an encyclopedia you have to cite the dictionary? WTF? The beginning of the Conservapedia article sounds like the beginning of a high school graduation speach. Well, maybe there is something that is better down the page...
Conservapedia: "The fossil record is often used as evidence in the creation versus evolution controversy. The fossil record does not support the theory of evolution and is one of the many flaws in the theory of evolution.[10]" That little link at the end of the line is not linking to a scientific journal or any sort of publication, instead it is a link to the homepage of a man's personal page. He has a degree in Biology, although he does not say which one...and only passed with a C average. Does he have any publications? No, but he does have a blog on Creationism. Hardly a qualified poster in the evolution page.
The whole Conservapedia seems to be royally fucked on the information side as it is covered in asides and unnecessary political view points.
Sad. Just sad that this is what we have come to; mis-information to settle the masses.
Monday, June 23, 2008
George Carlin 1937-2008
Today is a sad day for the world. George Carlin died. He was a comedian, analyzer of world problems and a cultural icon. He stood for more than just a laugh, he stood for freedom of speech and the end of stupidity (although the latter would leave him without material).
He wrote 3 books, has 22 comedy albums, 4 Grammy awards, and countless comedy events. He even had the distinction of hosting the very first episode of SNL.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Sleepless
So, it is past 2 am....and I am still awake. It is so hard to fall asleep with so much on my mind.
It seems like I am having some sort of uneasiness about my future. I love science, I love studying science, but I hate the lifestyle of a scientist. I just don't understand the long hours, the low pay, and the huge amount of commitment of education and time. I am tired of having to decide between science and having a social life (with the social life always losing). Where is the balance? Why can't we have the best of both worlds? What happened to old-school science, the kind of science that you did in your free time for the fun of it? Maybe the problem is making a career out of something that I love, taking all of the fun out of it.
Also in my life, my grandfather died on Thursday. The funeral is this Thursday. The family is pretty broken up about it, and I have been the stable 'rock' member of the family. It is unfortunate, he was an awesome man and the stories have gone with him.
It looks like I am not going to sleep tonight, I will be on the road driving my sister to LA in less than 6 hours.
It seems like I am having some sort of uneasiness about my future. I love science, I love studying science, but I hate the lifestyle of a scientist. I just don't understand the long hours, the low pay, and the huge amount of commitment of education and time. I am tired of having to decide between science and having a social life (with the social life always losing). Where is the balance? Why can't we have the best of both worlds? What happened to old-school science, the kind of science that you did in your free time for the fun of it? Maybe the problem is making a career out of something that I love, taking all of the fun out of it.
Also in my life, my grandfather died on Thursday. The funeral is this Thursday. The family is pretty broken up about it, and I have been the stable 'rock' member of the family. It is unfortunate, he was an awesome man and the stories have gone with him.
It looks like I am not going to sleep tonight, I will be on the road driving my sister to LA in less than 6 hours.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
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