Mar 1, 2017
Adam Gopnik Needs to Get Real
Adam Gopnik has a strange essay in The New Yorker , suggesting that the confluence of unusual events confirms the simulation hypothesis. Specifically, the results from the Oscars, the Super Bowl, and…
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Archive page 31 of 73
Feb 18, 2017
Textbook Pricing is Out of Control
It's an older story, but here's one on textbook prices and what we can do about it. The short version is that even your professor thinks the $300 price tag on a…
Feb 15, 2017
Say "Yes" to the Dress
One thing I am sure my students hate is that I don't give extra credit. I've talked about this before, and there is no reason to rehash them. But I do like…
Feb 4, 2017
Syllabus for Finite Mathematics
I don't usually post my math syllabi, but I have realized this is probably a bad habit. Or a good habit I don't have. Or something. Anyway, I've posted my syllabus for…
Feb 3, 2017
Regulatory Reduction and Benefit-Cost Analysis
In between terrorizing our allies at home and abroad, the new president has signed an executive order aiming for regulatory reform. Here's the important part: Sec. 2. Regulatory Cap for Fiscal Year…
Jan 18, 2017
The Land of Milk and Honey
Last night, and tonight, Howard County Council is debating CB-9, a bill to prohibit discrimination based on citizenship status in County affairs. Here's my testimony: Good evening, Chairman Weinstein and members of…
Jan 7, 2017
A Mathematician, a Different Kind of Mathematician, and a Statistician
So I am in a meeting recently, and someone says he needs a mathematician. A second person points at me and says, "He's not just a mathematician. He's a mathematician, a different…
Jan 5, 2017
And Behind Door #3...
I am in Atlanta right now and tomorrow morning I am giving a talk on the SMBC cartoon, "An Ethical Trilemma": ::embed{href="http://smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=4132"} Despite the punchline, "So far, no ethicists are impressed with…
Jan 4, 2017
Journal Standards and Accreditation
The New York Times has an exposé of the predatory academic conferences market and swings through the predatory academic journals market. You can read the full article here, and it is well…
Dec 15, 2016
Blockchains Explained
I found a really neat demonstration of how blockchain) works. The video, created by Anders Brownworth, is on YouTube: ::youtube{video=" 160oMzblY8"} It provides a walkthrough that takes us from cryptographic hashing, to…
Dec 14, 2016
The Willingness to Pay for Pretrial Diversion
The New York Times has a magnificent story on the inequities of the pretrial diversion systems in use around the country. Can we use this to estimate a defendant's willingness to pay…