Wikipedia vs Britannica

After all the hulabaloo about problems with Wikipedia, Nature conducts an investigation of science articles on Wikipedia and finds around 4 inaccuracies per article. However, Britannica has around 3!

OK, I know science articles may not be as controversial as other types, but this, I think, augurs well for Wikipedia in general.

I'm Yoda?!?

Ok, I can't resist these little quizzes, especially when they promise to reveal which SF or fantasy character you're most like. And I actually found the questions interesting. But Yoda?!?! Why can't I be Spock? Well, I guess I can at least take comfort in the fact that I'm not Wesley.

Alien Loves Predator

I was pointed to this series of, um, comics, by Gothamist, and I can't stop reading them! Very clever use of dolls (excuse me, action figures), sets and Photoshop - I love seeing alien and predator on the subway. Besides as the subtitle (In New York, no one can hear you scream) tells you, it's all about the two protagonists' life in New York: waiting for subway trains, living in a small apartment (Alien to his mom: "Ma, you're like 20 feet tall. It's not my fault you didn't fit through the door" Mom: "Are you saying I need to lose weight?"), dating and lusting, etc.

And, it's way more interesting than the one Aliens vs. Predator novel I read (I was desperate for English-language reading material in a foreign country)!

"Career-Killing Blogs" for Academics

An interesting article in Slate on what blogging means for academics, especially when tenure time comes around. The gist of it is that the academy doesn't know how to assess blogs when reviewing one's academic record (heck, they don't even know how to give marks for teaching online or using technology well in the classroom). However, the article suggests that blogs could perhaps become truly peer-reviewed publications, just as rigorous but more accessible than articles published in scholarly journals. The most intriguing idea is how to set up a peer-review system like that of slashdot or ebay. It might take time (think about how little some academics use technology in professional life as it is), but it could work! Seems like the Public Library of Science that the article mentions is a step in the right direction.

Freakonomics

Just finished reading Freakonomics; it's a really fast read, plus I've read so many excerpts from it in various sources that it felt more like re-reading! In its eminent readableness it reminded me of Blink, and whaddaya know, the author of Blink, Malcolm Gladwell, has a little blurb on Freakonomics' cover, "Prepare to be dazzled".

Anyway, well worth a read, shows how analyzing data can lead to some very surprising conclusions. The authors talk about how their results can overturn conventional wisdom (a phrase coined by John Kenneth Galbraith), which is "simple, convenient, comfortable, and comforting - though not necessarily true". Me, I find it more comforting to see the conclusions reached by data analysis, but I'm a geek.

However, I wonder about the use of regression analysis. I understand the basic concept, but it terms of how it really works, it might as well be magic to me. I remember reading Stephen Jay Gould's The Mismeasure of Man (what an exciting book, his humanist passion shone brightly through), in which, if I remember correctly, he talks about how measures of intelligence use flawed analyses (regression analysis? factor analysis? must reread!). Well, I followed along but ultimately I didn't have enough expertise to judge whether there were flaws in his argument. I had the same feeling of slight discomfort here - it sounded good, and made sense, but ultimately I took the authors'word for it.

A picture from Alaska

Just thought I'd try using Hello to send a photo to Blogger - seems to have worked! We're coming up on our last days in Alaska, on to Vancouver next for a few days before coming home. Alaska has been absolutely gorgeous - as beautiful as they all say it is. Staring at the screen is starting to make me feel a little nauseous, however, because I still feel as if I'm rocking back and forth on the ship!


In front of Exit Glacier 

QuizFarm.com

Two fun quizzes from QuizFarm!

1. Which Disney Princess Are You?

(Thank god I'm not Snow White!)

You scored as Belle. You are Belle! Belle 93% Mulan 73% Jasmine 47% Ariel 37% Pocahontas 37% Snow White 33% Sleeping Beauty 20% Cinderella 14%

2. Which Neighborhood in Manhattan is Best for You?

(Yikes, but I live in Inwood!)

You scored as China Town.-Susan China Town 72% Hell’s Kitchen/ Theatre District 61% Alphabet City 50% Stuyvesant Town 50% El Barrio 45% SoHo/ TriBeCa 45% Kips Bay 44% Financial District/Battery Park 44% Chelsea 39% Inwood 39% Harlem 39% Upper West Side/ Morningside Heights 39% Upper East Side 17% Washington Heights 6% Which neighborhood in Manhattan is best for you? created with QuizFarm.com

Catholics and Sci-fi

Looks like we're got a new pope, and a conversative one, too. Hmm, if I were an American Catholic, I'd be frustrated.

Anyway, all the talk about the conclave and secret voting brought back strong memories of the reborn Catholic church depicted in Dan Simmon's Endymion series - the depiction of rituals, power, secrecy, and all that was just perfect. What a great series that was too, even better than the Hyperion series, to which it was a sequel.

My sister tells me to try the Sparrow series by Mary Doria Russell, which is about Jesuits and aliens - sounds good! I've put it on reserve at the NYPL.

Robot Stories, by Greg Pak

This is a DVD, not a book, but it reminds me a lot of sci-fi stories that I've read and liked. The 4 separate stories are so refreshing, in that they have really no special effects at all - when was the last time we saw a science fiction movie like that? Even The Lathe of Heaven (new version) had a substantial budget for scenery, costumes and props, to make you feel like you were living in the future.

In contrast, Robot Stories have a speculative premise - what if... - and then uses it to explore themes of love, help, spirit, life, etc. It was by no means perfect, but it reminds me of the science fiction that I like best.

The short film format was also refreshing - kind of like having tapas instead of a big meal - , and lastly, I can't help but like the opportunity it gave to talented but under-used Asian-American actors.

What I'm reading now: Quicksilver, in e-book edition, yay! I started this in hardback but there was no way I was dragging that huge tome on the subway and in my backpack everyday, so I had to sneak in pages here and there before going to bed. I only got 1/3 of the way through it before my 21 days at the libary were up. So I grumbled to myself, why don't they have this as an e-book, and lo and behold, they did, at the NYPL! I can't rave enough about how much I love reading e-books on my new Palm (Sony TH55), and about how brilliant the NYPL is to offer e-books (though they need more)!

Tech Nightmares

OK, I've decided that I'm going about this blog thing the wrong way. I read somewhere recently that you've got to blog at the moment, not wait until later, and I think that's my problem. I find it hard to write quickly (I reread and revise constantly), so I always figure I'll write about something later, when I have the time... and I end up posting once every few months! So here goes...

I HATE TECHNOLOGY at the moment. First we come back from a nice weekend in Philadelphia to find no DSL connection. I spend hours on the phone with Verizon tech support, who finally decide that my modem is screwed, and out of warrantly. So instead of paying $80+ for a new modem, I thank god that I had already decided to switch to Earthlink. Unfortunately, it takes a while for their modem to reach us...

We use a neighbor's wireless for a week (thank you belkin54g!), hoping he/she doesn't mind too much. Feel guilty that I never leave my wireless open in return.

Earthlink comes, yay! Takes me 2 hours to set up modem and wireless. I'm not sure what I did in the end, but it worked. Hmm, doesn't say much for my techabilities.

Then last night, outgoing email is not being sent. I use both verizon and earthlink's smtp servers, and no luck with either. In fact, every time I try to connect to the smtp servers, I get booted off earthlink! I mean, what is up with that?! I try pinging the server's IP addresses but guess what, I can't ping any IP address I try (I know 2 of the ones at BMCC). What's up with that? I'm puzzled, frustrated, can't stop thinking about it as I go to bed.

I go to the office and try the smtp servers via Mozilla's Thunderbird on my office computer and it's smooth sailing. Hmmph. I don't want to go home and tackle the problem again.

And hence my complaint - I feel like I'm spending hours wrestling with technology every day when I get home. This is a quality of life issue for me! This is not the promised land! Take all the computers and gadgets back!

What I'm reading now: lots of books about Alaska, planning our family trip there in August. The Listeners, by James Gunn - slow and somewhat socially dated sci-fi about searching for ET life. Reading on ebook format. Also finished on ebook Bimbos of the Death Sun, by Sharyn McCrumb. Comic murder mystery at a sci-fi convention. Stereotyped fans too stereotypical to be funny.

Breaking the Maya Code, by Michael D. Coe

Well, I've just about finished this book, which I got off my sister, who had to read it for a college course. What a fun read! I remember looking at all the stelae and other carvings when we went to Tikal and Copan some years ago - now I finally have an idea how the written language worked.

I remember way back when I was younger that there was this general impression that the Maya were peaceful, especially in comparison to the bloody Aztecs, but it turns out that the Maya city-states were pretty often warring with each other, getting (and sacrificing) captives was a big thing, and leaders had lots of blood-letting ceremonies (tongues and penises). Mmm, not so peaceful after all. Besides which, the Mayan glyphs have really ferocious looking figures! I mean, look at these guys:

It took a while for people to figure out that the written language was what Coe terms "logographic", like Chinese, Ancient Egyptian and Sumerian. Logographic systems are a mixture of logograms (symbols that indicate meaning) and phonetic signs. Like in Chinese where the radical often gives a general category or meaning to the character, while the other parts indicate how it's pronounced. I never knew Maya was like Chinese!

Coe gives a general overview of writing systems, and then traces the entire history of Western attempts to decipher Maya writing to the present. The history is pretty riveting, but sometimes one white male explorer blended into the next - it was much easier to remember who the few women were! (And the few, but key Russians) The other interesting thing about this book is that he takes a personal tone sometimes, excoriating certain explorers or academics for behavior that he finds obstructionist or ignorant. Coe also knows a lot of the more recent figures, so he gives his personal perspective on them, not something we usually read in books written by academics. That threw me off a little, but in general his tone is such that he really keeps you excited and, believe it or not, on the edge of your seat, waiting to see what the next great discovery will be.

One of the best non-fiction reads I've had in a while!

OK, thanks to Joe, I have now found my place in the continuum of nerdiness:

I guess I'm in that middle ground where I'm not proud to be a nerd, but I've got enough nerdiness that I can't mock it! And why is it cool to be a geek, but not cool to be a nerd?