Math vs. Applied Math

If math is mental masturbation, then what is applied math?
-apk

...

My cat was grooming my bathrobe. Odd.

'Oars!

"Most people travel east to west via water taxi. That is, the london oarsmens and their barges.  If we walk down to the river we hear their cries of, 'Oars oars!'  If we're young ladies up from the country we may think that we've just been insulted."

-Robert Bucholz in History of England From the Tutors to the Stuarts (lecture 26)

Hotels in the US are shoeless

I'm in Salisbury, Maryland right now in the Hampton. Caltech (SFP (Student Faculty Programs,) specifically) sent me here because I talk real good about my research, and there's a conference called 'NCUR' happening here. I don't know what 'NCUR' stands for, nor exactly when I'm presenting, but I have to admit that I'm disappointed so far. There are no slippers in the hotel -- one major difference and something I really miss from Chinese hotels! The conference should really get its act together and make sure the nearby hotels give out slippers. To quote Vera, grrr.....

Good kitty...

I got a small avian present from my kitty today... good kitty... I swept my room, though, so it's absurdly clean in my room.

I have to sadly admit that I threw her gift away...

=p

Term project suggestion for Planetary Formation class

Life at High Pressure: The conventional wisdom is that life (as we know it) cannot
survive at very high pressure because the proteins can’t fold the same way, etc, etc.
Assess the fundamental limits on life inside planets. Check out Hazen RM, Boctor N,
Brandes JA, et al. High pressure and the origin of life
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS-CONDENSED MATTER 14 (44): 11489-11494 NOV 11
2002. Also check out Jules Verne.

Cool Time Wasting Non-Interactive Sites

http://badgerbadgerbadger.com/
http://www.stanford.edu/~scodary/tkam.htm
http://www.ultimateshowdown.org/