• [0911.2334v1] Feedback-dependent control of stochastic synchronization in coupled neural systems
  (tags: physics, neuroscience)
• The Sartorialist
  Check out the interview with the Sartorialist on the latest episode of the Sound of Young America
  (tags: fashion, culture, design)

• WNYC – Lopate – Please Explain
  Please Explain is a weekly feature of the Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC where Lopate invites an expert in some subject (this week it's alcohol) to field questions from the host and listeners. The show is particularly good on inviting experts from scientific fields without overdosing on the cutesiness of RadioLab (which is a good program but sometimes is a bit too much).
  (tags: radio, science)
• Grist | Environmental News, Commentary, Advice
  Environmental news and green living tips from Grist, the most recognizable voice in environmental journalism.
  (tags: environment)
• Fractal weather – Boing Boing
  (tags: fractals,physics)
• Toward a Slow-News Movement « Mediactive
  Not sure how we could ever step back as a society from the brink of 24-hour cable news madness, but at the very least I hope that policymakers (especially Democrats) try harder to not get panicked by minor stories blown out of proportion by a news media with an increasingly diminishing share of viewers.
  (tags: news)

You may have noticed a lack of posts. That is because it is unwise to start a blog a-new a week before a major move to another country.

Not to worry, I have drafted a number of posts which will be put up later this week, so continue to tune in. I will be talking about:

• space and time (and how anyone can have a cocktail party knowledge of general relativity in 5 minutes)
• the verdict on Evernote, Mind Node, and a few other productivity apps
• a further description of my Google Docs organization system (have you checked out the Daily Log Template?)
• Pictures and stories of my travel and tips on visiting Ireland
• And how even a basic organization system, and 15 minutes a day, can turn any average achiever into someone extraordinary

I’ll keep the blog updated on my experiences and let you know what works and what does not.

See you in Ireland!

• Freedom – OS X Networking Freedom Software
  This software will disable networking access on a Mac for up to 8 hours. Perfect for unchaining yourself from the morass of the internet and its infinite distractions.
• 20 Fascinating Ancient Maps
  I wouldn't call any of them ancient, but they are all really cool.
  (tags: blog, maps, geography)
• Best of Wikipedia
  No better cure for boredom than Wikipedia!
  (tags: blog, information, Culture)

• Abhay Ashtekar
  I had a chance to attend his colloquium presentation and ask a question. His work is quite interesting and admirable as him and his collaborators attempt to unify aspects of general relativity and quantum mechanics in a background independent way through "Loop Quantum Gravity". He is currently working on using cosmology as a means of testing LQG.
  (tags: science, Physics)

• jrc Software: Genius
  Another excellent bit of software for the Mac for learning foreign language vocabulary.
  (tags: blog, Language)
• Flash cards, vocabulary memorization, and studying games | Quizlet
  Helpful online app for studying foreign language vocabulary words, among other subjects.
  (tags: blog, Language)
• Study Hacks » Blog Archive » The Einstein Principle: Accomplish More By Doing Less
  Have you put together a list of projects yet? If it's longer than three items, trim it down now to three projects you are actively working on. I did that today and have greatly improved my direction and focus
  (tags: blog, productivity)
• Beijing loves IKEA — but not for shopping — latimes.com
  Not just in Beijing. I will admit to going to IKEA not to buy or even browse the furniture. It is a swedish theme park, complete with mini-apartments, a designated path full of attractions, and Swedish meatballs and Daim chocolate cake.
  (tags: blog,sweden)
• Micronations of the World | People & Places | Smithsonian Magazine
  These micronations are fascinating. I personally find the saga of Sealand fascinating. I would also check out the micro-principalities and other small states with formal legal recognition, such as Liechtenstein the last remaning vestige of the Holy Roman Empire, or Saint-Pierre and Miquelon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Pierre_and_Miquelon, the remains of the French colonial empire in North America. See also British overseas territories http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_dependencies and the crown dependencies.
  (tags: blog, geography)

I am the very model of a modern Major-General,

I’ve information vegetable, animal, and mineral,

I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical

From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical;

I’m very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical,

I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical,

About binomial theorem I’m teeming with a lot o’ news,

With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse.

I’m very good at integral and differential calculus;

I know the scientific names of beings animalculous:

In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,

I am the very model of a modern Major-General.

I am the very model of a modern Major-General.

I know our mythic history, King Arthur‘s and Sir Caradoc‘s;

I answer hard acrostics, I’ve a pretty taste for paradox,

I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus,

In conics I can floor peculiarities parabolous;

I can tell undoubted Raphaels from Gerard Dows and Zoffanies,

I know the croaking chorus from The Frogs of Aristophanes!

Then I can hum a fugue of which I’ve heard the music’s din afore,

And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore.

Then I can write a washing bill in Babylonic cuneiform,

And tell you ev’ry detail of Caractacus‘s uniform:

In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,

I am the very model of a modern Major-General.

But still, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,

In fact, when I know what is meant by “mamelon” and “ravelin“,

When I can tell at sight a Mauser rifle from a javelin,

When such affairs as sorties and surprises I’m more wary at,

And when I know precisely what is meant by “commissariat“,

When I have learnt what progress has been made in modern gunnery,

When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery—

In short, when I’ve a smattering of elemental strategy—

You’ll say a better Major-General has never sat a-gee.

For my military knowledge, though I’m plucky and adventury,

Has only been brought down to the beginning of the century;

But still, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,

I am the very model of a modern Major-General.

The above song is from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. Here’s a free recording of the song, via Wikipedia.

While a humorous critique of the late Victorian admiralty class in the British Navy (see also HMS Pinafore), I do appreciate that the major general is versed in both the maths and classics, although it would be fair to say his knowledge is only cursory.

See if you can master this patter-song, the most famous of them all. I am working on it myself just so that I can put it to good use as a party trick (especially among light opera fans).

• 4FM is Ireland's new multi-city easy listening radio station serving Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Clare
  Easy listening straight from Ireland. Interesting programs.
  (tags: radio, ireland)
• RTÉ Radio
  RTÉ Radio has a fantastic selection of radio stations. I particularly enjoy Lyric, RTE 1 Extra, Choice and Gold. I even like to listen to the Gaeltachta channel even though I can't understand a thing. Just avoid RTE 1 during drive times and rush hours.
  (tags: radio, ireland)
• BBC – Radio 4 – Home
  One of the best public radio station, with intelligent talk shows, news, comedy sketch shows and game shows, plays, book readings, short stories, The Archers, and best of all, the Shipping Forecast
  (tags: radio)

When I don’t have enough to collect into a proper blog post, I will be collecting various bits and pieces in an update post such as this.

• On the productivity front, I’ve found it easier to use Anxiety for short term next day tasks and Google Tasks for longer term tasks. Also, I’ve combined the Grand Project idea (long term projects such as writing a book) with Tim Ferris‘s idea of setting short term goals over a 2-3 month period. My project ideas list now breaks up projects into short term goals. I’ve added a reference to the list on my daily routines list too so that I look at it every day. I am essentially attempting to establish a workflow of documents which I go through on a daily basis by having documents reference each other. You can do this easily in Google Docs! Just highlight some text, click link, and choose the document from a drop down box instead of entering an url.
• Fellas, layering for casual, business casual, and formal is key to looking good without much effort. Let’s end the terrible reign of constantly casual in America!
• I’ll be putting up culinary tips I’ve collected from various places (and personal experience) either tonight or tomorrow morning. I’ve had some basic experience cooking for myself, but I intend to learn more and cook more in the near future.

And now, a request for some suggestions and thoughts:

• It’s tough to schedule a problem set homework assignment primarily because technical problems may not necessarily benefit from a continuous application of effort for hours on end. I’ve heard some tips on dealing with this, such as dividing and conquering the problems by level of difficulty and giving oneself an excess of time in the case that a problem is extraordinarily difficult to solve in relation to the others. How do you guys handle problem set homework assignments? Is there any particular secret or should we just expect to put in an unknown amount of time? Update: This article should help with this question.
• Science was borne out of philosophy, and philosophy for Socrates (by way of Plato) is a response to pure sophistry and rhetoric. That is to say, philosophy differs from sophistry as it tries to ascertain some truth beyond just the interplay of words and convincing enough arguments. Science in this respect is much like philosophy in that its proponents argue that it is concerned above all with some truth independent of rhetoric. Feyerabend, and perhaps a postmodernist or two, would argue otherwise, saying that science is a community activity whereby a scientist (with some sort of accreditation) tries to convince other scientists of some competing explanation of phenomena. I tend to side with Feyerabend and his ilk, but what does this mean for the veracity of scientific claims and why shouldn’t the general public just dismiss science as an endeavor as just a series of clever verbal jousts?

This post is way too long, in the future I will have tighten these up significantly.

• Tooting – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  I think I quite agree with Bill Bryson that British toponymy is absolutely delightful in both pronunciation and provenance. Also, anglophilia sounds far too much like an affliction. Perhaps it is.
  (tags: anglophilia)
• Study Hacks
  A great site for tips on how to study and work better in school
  (tags: productivity)
• From Del.icio.us to WordPress: How to automatically post daily links at theory.isthereason
  How I made this blog post happen
  (tags: blog, wordpress, del.icio.us)