a subset of stuff George Will does not understand about science

• An average alone is not sufficient to quantify a statistical distribution.
• Two points are not, in general, sufficient to characterize a trend.
• Fluctuation and variation in a dataset is normal and should be expected.
• Experimentally, a single counterexample is not sufficient to invalidate a hypothesis.
• Repeatable counterexamples, however, are.
• Data showing temporal variation on two dramatically different timescales indicate that two different processes influence the data.

luckiest flight itinerary ever

1. US Airways flight # 2640 from Austin, TX to Charlotte, NC.  Flight departs on time at 11:30 and arrives five minutes early at ~2:50.
2. Grab a coffee and cinammon scone at a Starbucks on the way to the next gate.
3. Sit down at the gate for US Airways flight # 1490, an Airbus A320 to LaGuardia which has been delayed half an hour to a 4:40 departure from Charlotte.  Hook up to the Internet to check e-mail.
4. Hear fellow traveller across the aisle get a phone call and exclaim, among other things, “I don’t drink, but I need one now.”  Check the news online to see that a plane of the same model as flight # 1490, leaving from 1490’s destination and going to 1490’s origin, has executed a controlled crash landing into the Hudson River, potentially with no serious injuries.
5. Hear that US Airways # 1490 has been delayed to a 5:30 departure for LaGuardia.  With a projected arrival of 6:53, this leaves 15 minutes to get to the next gate.
6. US Airways # 1490 takes off precisely at 5:30 (instead of hours later, thanks to the flight crew), and arrives at LaGuardia at 6:35.
7. Book it to the gate for US Airways # 4687 to Ithaca, boarding at 7:10 and departing at 7:40.  Arrive at the gate at 6:45.
8. Buy a sandwich.
9. US Airways # 4687 leaves on time at 7:40, despite the fact that there was just a frakking plane crash at the same airport only hours earlier.
10. US Airways # 4687 arrives in Ithaca fifteen minutes early from its scheduled arrival.

ways I have seen vectors denoted in papers and books since coming to grad school

• italic
• bold italic
• italic with over-arrow
• italic with under-arrow
• italic with over-harpoon
• italic with overbar
• italic with underbar
• italic with under-tilde