If I described some writing as ‘like a science paper,’ what would you assume about it? For most people, I’m fairly sure the assumption would be ‘its dense and mind-numbingly boring.’ The sad fact is that most technical writing does meet that description, but it doesn’t have to be that... [Read More]

Like stacks themselves, Ditch Day announcements can span a continuum from a senior reading from a piece of paper (bleechh, in my opinion) to a production with the components of a small play – acting, props, lighting, dramatic entrances and exits. If done right, each announcement builds on the energy... [Read More]

Three experiences today all drove home the point two people in different fields can both nominally ‘know’ about the same subject or technique, but when you line up the details of that knowledge, it’s actually amazingly different. This morning, my computer vision professor put a 3x3 grid of numbers on... [Read More]

Recently, NASA released the list of NIAC funded research proposals. The NIAC grant is meant to fund pretty-out-there space tech concepts, which I think is excellent…in principle. However, as I’ve mentioned before, some math and a little thinking exposes a nasty downside to grants like NIAC. First, the math: the stage... [Read More]

A recent article in the NYT gave a pretty well-thought-out perspective on the consequences of the ever expanding capabilities of computers and robots on the labor force. (That is, it wasn’t on the extreme of ‘robots will make everything awesome!’ or ‘robots will kill ALL THE JOBS’ that I find... [Read More]