Lists of Things

a subset of stuff George Will does not understand about science

Tuesday, 27 January 2009

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.

Thursday, 15 January 2009

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.
Grab a coffee and cinammon scone at a Starbucks on the way to the next gate.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Buy a sandwich.
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.
US Airways # 4687 arrives in Ithaca fifteen minutes early from its scheduled arrival.

Wednesday, 7 January 2009

Wednesday, 31 December 2008

Nobody sells “medium-tall” shirts for us tall, skinny guys.
Every single electronic device has to have its own non-standardized charger.
Web sites that are designed assuming I view them on widescreen monitors. Some people don’t like having all their browser windows maximized, and some people like to use computing devices that are getting smaller. I’m looking at you, Facebook.
The horrible integration of Word 2007’s awesome equation editor with other Office 2007 programs.

Tuesday, 30 December 2008

Adlai Niska, uber-sadist, as a possible Jewish moneylender.
The Reavers as the “wild Indians” of this “western in space.”
There are no Asian people on the show, despite all the Chinese and Japanese cultural influences. Well, maybe one or two extras.