All the laboratories complaining that they don't have enough money for a scanning electron microscope should watch this.
I salute you, Mr Krasnow.
From here.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Let's hear it for equal pay!
Once upon a time in Asia, girl children get only marginal education; priority was given to boys. Today, go to any university in Malaysia (and many parts of the world) and you can see how this is now laughable. More young women are qualified to enter universities than young men. This includes areas like engineering and mathematics, once upon a time the unencroachable domain of males.
Women are now breaching the glass ceiling; just look at personalities like the Governor of Malaysia's Central Bank, Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz. However, women still receive less pay than men worldwide; statistics in the USA show that women earn 77 cents to every dollar that a man earns.
If you want to show your support for equal pay for women, wear red on March 25th, will ya?
P/S Click on video at discretion (not entirely work safe). And you'll never look at your grandma quite the same way.
Women are now breaching the glass ceiling; just look at personalities like the Governor of Malaysia's Central Bank, Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz. However, women still receive less pay than men worldwide; statistics in the USA show that women earn 77 cents to every dollar that a man earns.
If you want to show your support for equal pay for women, wear red on March 25th, will ya?
P/S Click on video at discretion (not entirely work safe). And you'll never look at your grandma quite the same way.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
If you ever had a thing for the original Karate Kid ...
... don't watch this.
Love that he looked younger than he did in My Cousin Vinny (aka the last time Marisa Tomei looked like she is of a healthy weight).
*pats Ralph Macchio fondly*
Love that he looked younger than he did in My Cousin Vinny (aka the last time Marisa Tomei looked like she is of a healthy weight).
*pats Ralph Macchio fondly*
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Who is afraid of the Internet?
Beautiful, beautiful animated video that makes you smile, and then think. It may be a little long, but definitely worth clicking.
A lot of people are saying that the uprising in Tunisia and Egypt was largely successful because of the Internet. Connectivity helps to fan the fervour amongst those protesting and garner support to their cause. An Egyptian man even named his daughter Facebook as a tribute to the social networking site.
But are we naive in thinking that the Internet is so powerful?
The Internet is value neutral; but like a sword, the wielder can both cut and also BE cut. It can be used as a tool by the activists; but by the same coin, the authorities working to stamp out dissidence can also use it to track, identify and contravene the efforts of the activists.
But as Evgeny Morozov pointed out, when the Internet is primarily used to download bootleg entertainment material (all right, porn, dammit) and to tell/troll your friends of your "noteworthy" activities, the likelihood of the "democratic change" extolled by the cyber-utopians are about as real as the Farmville corn you harvest.
A lot of people are saying that the uprising in Tunisia and Egypt was largely successful because of the Internet. Connectivity helps to fan the fervour amongst those protesting and garner support to their cause. An Egyptian man even named his daughter Facebook as a tribute to the social networking site.
But are we naive in thinking that the Internet is so powerful?
The Internet is value neutral; but like a sword, the wielder can both cut and also BE cut. It can be used as a tool by the activists; but by the same coin, the authorities working to stamp out dissidence can also use it to track, identify and contravene the efforts of the activists.
But as Evgeny Morozov pointed out, when the Internet is primarily used to download bootleg entertainment material (all right, porn, dammit) and to tell/troll your friends of your "noteworthy" activities, the likelihood of the "democratic change" extolled by the cyber-utopians are about as real as the Farmville corn you harvest.
Euphemisms You Should Know
Euphemism: a word or phrase used to avoid saying an unpleasant or offensive word.
This one is a winner: Got caught cheating by your wife = Crashing the Escalade.
That's what happens when you get caught with your pants down. Sometimes even literally.
'Senior citizen' is a euphemism for 'old person'.
The article made so much use of euphemism that often its meaning was unclear.
(Thank you Cambridge Dictionaries Online!)
This one is a winner: Got caught cheating by your wife = Crashing the Escalade.
That's what happens when you get caught with your pants down. Sometimes even literally.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Gotta love a nerd
Anyone who ever watched footie at a stadium (live or as a telecast) and/or is a hardcore rock music fan would know this iconic STOMP-STOMP-CLAP. I even had Generation Z students who used this song as template for a performance to explain mitosis.
This masterpiece is the brain child of one Dr Brian May, lead guitarist of the quintessential arena rock band, Queen. Dr May is more than a wild-haired electric guitar virtuoso, he is also an astrophysicist who wrote a book on the cosmology (aptly named Bang! A History of the Universe) based on his work on interstellar dust.
Yup, wild-haired brainy dude.(Thanks Wikimedia Commons!)
Initially, the sound effect was not to be included in the final cut of the song; but he was intrigued by the feedback from the audience during a concert that he thought deeply of how he could incorporate the audience participation in their live act - "a means of uniting the audience".
"I was thinking, 'What can you give an audience that they could do while they're standing there? They can stamp and they can clap and they can sing some kind of chant,' " he says. "To me, it was a uniting thing. It was an expression of strength." - excerpted from NPR interview.
He drew from his physics and mathematics background to create a distinctive sound of thousands of feet stomping and clapping in unison, building sound using old boards and prime numbers. Bet when you were swotting through mathematics, calculus, algebra and geometry, you never thought that you can use it to create a song that nets you millions in royalties, no?
Dr Brian May is the reason why girls love wild haired musicians: the guitar will loosen the knickers, but that brain? Totally meltworthy.
Copy and paste for uncomedic error
Plagiarism in academic circles are considered as one of the highest blasphemy (just below falsifying data). Used to be this is about not acknowledging information sources but the "Ctrl+C" and "Ctrl+V" function in most writing softwares has extended the odd quotes to large swathes of work lifted ad verbatim from the original source (with/without attribution).
Anyone teaching at an institution of higher learning will tell you that "copy-paste" term papers are pretty par for the course. The students claim that they are overworked, don't quite understand what is the objective of the paper (and hence stuffed everything possible in it in hopes to garner some mercy points) and all kinds of excuses ("I didn't have time to do the paper properly since my cat died and I'm in mourning." is my personal favourite) to justify their action.
Identifying plagiarised paper of most student is actually pretty easy; just look for islands of flawless sentences in a sea of awkwardly written prose or perfect English sentences from students who could barely identify themselves in said language. Softwares like turnitin makes proving academic dishonesty that much easier.
What are the consequences of citation amnesia? It ranges from suspension, paper retraction or to even stepping down from being the defense minister. Karl-Theodore zu Guttenberg, a charismatic and youthful politician from aristocratic lineage (with the courtesy title of Baron), was alleged to have plagiarised significant portions of with Doctorate of Law thesis. Four years after granting him the degree, the University of Bayreuth withdrew his PhD.
The moral of the story is: If you lie, don't get caught.
It is not acceptable behaviour.
Anyone teaching at an institution of higher learning will tell you that "copy-paste" term papers are pretty par for the course. The students claim that they are overworked, don't quite understand what is the objective of the paper (and hence stuffed everything possible in it in hopes to garner some mercy points) and all kinds of excuses ("I didn't have time to do the paper properly since my cat died and I'm in mourning." is my personal favourite) to justify their action.
Identifying plagiarised paper of most student is actually pretty easy; just look for islands of flawless sentences in a sea of awkwardly written prose or perfect English sentences from students who could barely identify themselves in said language. Softwares like turnitin makes proving academic dishonesty that much easier.
What are the consequences of citation amnesia? It ranges from suspension, paper retraction or to even stepping down from being the defense minister. Karl-Theodore zu Guttenberg, a charismatic and youthful politician from aristocratic lineage (with the courtesy title of Baron), was alleged to have plagiarised significant portions of with Doctorate of Law thesis. Four years after granting him the degree, the University of Bayreuth withdrew his PhD.
The moral of the story is: If you lie, don't get caught.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Go ahead and drop out of school ...
... but only if you are an amazing warlord with charisma to inspire the golden horde.
Otherwise, hit the books.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Happy International Women's Day!
Eye candy and an emphatic message for women = FTW!
For those who are wondering, the answer is "Yes. I have a thing for Daniel Craig." Silent or otherwise.
For those who are wondering, the answer is "Yes. I have a thing for Daniel Craig." Silent or otherwise.
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