Having some internet issues at home, so here’s some bookshelf porn
Category Archives: Misc
Obscure Trivia Question
How do I impress a physicist on a date?
The main answer is good, and related to What (not) to Say When You Meet a Physicist (especially the persistent idea that all we want to do is teach people physics), but there’s also this
Don’t – tell that great science joke you heard two years ago. We’ve heard it all. even the one about the neutron that walks into a bar.
Take Out the Trash Friday
Clearing the tabs. A couple of links I didn’t get around to posting earlier.
Record-Breaking Meteorite Crash on Moon Sparks Brightest Lunar Explosion Ever
For the Record: It was Noticed
Back in what if? number 49 (Sunless Earth), if you look at the hover tag for fig. 1, you see this.
The assumption has proven to be faulty.
Rube-y Goldberg Tuesday: History Lesson Edition
The History of the Rube Goldberg Machine
Goldberg’s carefully designed machines employed birds, monkeys, springs, pulleys, feathers, fingers, rockets, and other animate or inanimate tools to create intricate chain reactions that completed basic tasks like hiding a gravy stain, lighting a cigar while driving fifty miles an hour, or fishing an olive out of a long-necked bottle. As Goldberg himself put it, his cartoon inventions were a “symbol of man’s capacity for exerting maximum effort to accomplish minimal results.”
Shuttle Xing
Endeavour’s ‘Shuttle Xing’ Signs on Sale as ‘Mission 26’ Memento
Many also took notice — and snapshots — of the 4 by 4 foot (1.2 by 1.2 meters) custom aluminum road signs that were placed along the space shuttle’s route. The reflective orange markers featured a black silhouette of the orbiter in profile and the words “Shuttle Xing,” or “Shuttle Crossing.”
“We love this road signage!” the California Science Center (CSC) wrote on Twitter, in response to a photo of one of the signs that was taken by collectSPACE.com outside of the airport.
Take One Down and Pass it Around …
16 or 17 Tips To Make Your Life Easier
17 Tips To Make Your Life Easier
This one probably won’t make my life easier, but YMMV.
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It’s a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It’s also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn’t like when you tried it in your hair…
Networking
Ok, then! I am told to go up to the people I am interested in meeting, and INTRODUCE MYSELF! We all have name tags! I’m sure it’ll be fine! And I’ll just go up and say who I work for and drop some pithy comment that they will think is totally cool and in line with current perspectives on the field. Then I will smoothly invite them to my poster.
Except it doesn’t go like that at all. You go up to the person you want to meet at a conference or seminar? They WILL be talking to someone else. You can hover and looking annoying or weird, or try to butt in without interrupting and look annoying and weird. They will give you a sideways look to inquire WHY you are interrupting, and inform you with that look that you are annoying and weird.
I have no answers for this. When I was in grad school, I went to a conference or two with my prof, and he was really bad at introducing me/us to people he knew. He was just starting out, so I couldn’t drop his name when I was at a conference alone — few people knew him. So I really developed no contacts in grad school. I, too, felt the awkwardness of trying to introduce myself (and try not to forget that now that I’m in a more senior situation). My best progress was made at conferences where I gave a talk, because there were a few people who would come up to me afterwards to discuss details, and you have an excuse to talk to others who spoke in the same session, because they are now quite likely to know who you are and should be working in similar fields if you are speaking in the same session.
In my current job, there was a deliberate attempt to have me give talks at conferences when I first started, to give me exposure, and so that people would identify me as being with our group. That’s part of a much better atmosphere of having colleagues who introduce me to people they know.
There’s also part of networking where the people come to you — lab visits and seminars/colloquia, where you can have your professor make the introductions. Once you’ve done that, the second meeting (perhaps at a conference) is easier, since you can mention that you’ve already met and remind them of the circumstances. Even if they don’t remember, you’ve still gotten yourself into a conversation.