The Lord’s our Shepherd, part (N+1)…

This hasn’t hit the English-language press yet anywhere that I can see, but for those interested here’s a link to an article in Ha’aretz: Mohammed el-Baradei, the head of the Int’l Atomic Energy Agency, now says that Pakistan has transferred detailed nuclear knowledge to at least 20 “countries and corporations”.

I’m assuming this count includes North Korea, Iran and Libya; he says that he knows of no other country in the Middle East to which he gave this information, so the locations of the other 17 or so targets are left as exercises for the rather alarmed reader.

Of course, given that A. Q. Khan (the head of Pak’s nuclear program) was printing out four-color glossy brochures with his picture on them advertising nuclear capability, I suppose this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise…

(Correction: Here’s a story in English)

Published in: on July 7, 2004 at 22:20  Comments (3)  
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Miscellanea

“Intelligence is useful only to the intelligent.”

— R. A. Heinlein, in re Neville Chamberlain

Also: There is a peculiar amusement to standing in an airport security line in the United States while reading a book on Farsi grammar. And no, I was not dragged away by Men in Black.

The weekend was excellent; got a chance to see a bunch of much-missed people, and watch fireworks, eat damned good sushi, play games, and sit around in a hot tub. I need more weekends like that.

Today, on the other hand, is the run-up to more work… so time to get back to prepping this talk.

Published in: on July 6, 2004 at 22:21  Comments (2)  
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Ah hell, everyone else is doing it…

Hence:

You are an SECL–Sober Emotional Constructive Leader. This makes you a politician. You cut deals, you change minds, you make things happen. You would prefer to be liked than respected, but generally people react to you with both. You are very sensitive to criticism, since your entire business is making people happy.

At times your commitment to the happiness of other people can cut into the happiness of you and your loved ones. This is very demanding on those close to you, who may feel neglected. Slowly, you will learn to set your own agenda–including time to yourself.

You are gregarious, friendly, charming and charismatic. You like animals, sports, and beautiful cars. You wear understated gold jewelry and have secret bad habits, like chewing your fingers and fidgeting.

You are very difficult to dislike.

So, um, gee, Pinky, what do you want to do today?

Published in: on July 1, 2004 at 13:34  Comments (5)  

For the record:

Spider-Man 2 is excellent. Go see it.

Published in: on July 1, 2004 at 00:12  Comments Off on For the record:  
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Quick news updates:

We just transferred sovereignty to Iraq two days early. Bremer left the country shortly afterwards. Surprise! (Ulp)

In three decisions, the Supreme Court ruled that detainees of various sorts have the right to judicial review by the courts. (Important!)

The Supreme Court also agreed to hear a medical marijuana case.

And “Fahrenheit 9/11” has set various box office records, including top grossing documentary, and interestingly enough has been selling out theatres in Republican strongholds. The overall meaning of this is still a bit unclear, but people certainly seem interested in seeing it.

Published in: on June 28, 2004 at 10:04  Comments (1)  
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THEY DID IT!

SpaceShipOne completed the first private manned spaceflight this morning.

Published in: on June 21, 2004 at 08:59  Comments (6)  
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Protected: On the other hand…

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Published in: on June 16, 2004 at 13:38  Enter your password to view comments.  

Protected: Thinking in English

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Published in: on June 16, 2004 at 12:23  Comments Off on Protected: Thinking in English  
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Things worth reading

Three important things from the news:

  1. The Washington Post has posted the full text of the DoJ memo suggesting how torture of detainees abroad “may be justified,” along with some related memoranda and transcripts of recent press conferences and senate hearings of interest. All very interesting reads.
  2. Next Monday, at 0630 PDT, the SpaceShipOne will attempt to become the first private manned spacecraft. It looks like it will probably work. (Knock on wood!) This is very possibly the coolest single thing on the planet at this time.
  3. And on a related note, on July 1st, the Cassini-Huygens probe is scheduled for orbit insertion around Saturn. Its route will take it straight through the rings, going through the F-G gap, then up close by the planet (snapping pictures all the time) and into an elliptical orbit. This is going to be extremely neat.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Published in: on June 14, 2004 at 19:57  Comments (1)  
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Teaching math

A question for y’all:

Elementary mathematics (say, anything below calc) is a hard subject to teach because there are very few applications. It’s like several years of grammar without reading a single good book. I’m trying to find some good topics that can get a student interested in the subject, without requiring extensive background knowledge. So far, I’ve thought of:

  • Classifying strangely shaped polyhedra, and thence into problems in geometry,
  • Computability theory – recursion, Godel’s theorems, and so on, maybe using Godel, Escher Bach as a text
  • Something involving fractals – but what?
  • Probability, and teaching them why not to draw to an inside straight.

Each of these seems like they would only work for a fraction of students, and all seem a bit half-baked. Those of you with math backgrounds, or those of you who have recently been taking classes at this level, or for that matter everyone: What are the topics in math that interested you the most that don’t require full command of differential equations?

Published in: on June 14, 2004 at 19:50  Comments (4)  
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