life in n-space

Posted on Tuesday, 2003 July 08 by Anton

Ever since reading Greg Egan’s novel Diaspora (1998), part of which takes place in a five-dimensional universe, I’ve occasionally tried to imagine aspects of life in higher spaces (which is tricky, as I lack the knack of visualizing in such spaces).
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Posted in mathematics | 2 Comments

colors through time

Posted on Tuesday, 2003 July 08 by Anton

Crayola® Crayon Chronology

Since 1903, when Binney & Smith introduced the first Crayola crayon, people have been fascinated with the heritage of our color names. You’ll find a summary of Crayola crayon history for now but come back soon and explore a detailed description of how each individual crayon was introduced, how the name was chosen, read interesting stories about each crayon, and more!

Link from Aly Colón by way of the muted horn.

We could refer to the mocha-colored man, or the café au lait-colored woman, or a child with the skin tone of a Starbucks caramel frappucino.
For [my daughter], a Starbucks fan, caramel frappacino is a color she’d be proud to call her own.

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chat with a drunk at the Kwik-E-Mart

Posted on Monday, 2003 July 07 by Anton

“I wouldn’t like to see you in a dark alley at midnight.”
“I wouldn’t like to be in a dark alley at midnight, so we’re even.”

Posted in me!me!me! | Leave a comment

German-style adjectival phrases using Latin and English elements

Posted on Monday, 2003 July 07 by Anton

I wonder why on-the-job training, at-will employment, ex-parte application, in-vitro fertilization are more usual than the better English training on the job, employment at will, application ex parte, fertilization in vitro.

I also wonder why children say me and him in the subject, leading to the odious hypercorrection he and I in the object.

Posted in language, spambait | 1 Comment

those wacky economists

Posted on Monday, 2003 July 07 by Anton

A couple of weeks ago I happened to meet Jeff Hummel on Market Street. My eye was caught not by his face but by his t-shirt, which bore several crossed-out misspellings of Laissez Faire.

Posted in California, economics | Leave a comment

celebrate diversity, except in opinion

Posted on Monday, 2003 July 07 by Anton

Multiculturalism at Cal Poly

On Jan. 29, Cal Poly [California Polytechnic State University] charged Hinkle with “disruption” of a “campus event.” The students who objected to the posting of the flier claimed they were holding a Bible study dinner and meeting at the time of the incident. The university’s “finding of facts” notes that the Bible study group is not officially recognized, that the bulletin board is in a public “student lounge area,” and that no notice of any kind indicated that a meeting was underway at the time.

. . .

On March 12, Vice Provost W. David Conn found Hinkle guilty. Conn ordered Hinkle to write letters of apology to the offended students. The sentencing letter from Conn stated that the text of the apology would be subject to the approval of the Office of Judicial Affairs. The letter, Halvorssen notes, also warned that “this decision is final.” Conn informed Hinkle that if he did not accept this punishment, he would face much stiffer penalties, including expulsion.

Column by Vin Suprynowicz; link from Rational Review News Digest

Posted in race | 1 Comment

basta!

Posted on Friday, 2003 July 04 by Anton

Declaration of Individual Independence (link from Rational Review News Digest)

Posted in politics | Leave a comment