e pur si muove

I was making sourdough bread today until my food processor started smoking and making crackling noises. Oh well, it had been a faithful kitchen applicance now. Rest in pieces.

Multi-million dollar company splurges on a new logo and ends up verging on trademark infringement. Pantone 368, a Symbol of Growth« Notional Slurry

Recent crash of a Mandala airlines flight in Medan, Indonesia, was allegedly due to having the plane overloaded with two tons of durians. Global Voices Onlines: From the Indonesian Blogosphere

Amateur archaeologist discovers Roman villa via Google Maps. news @ nature.com: Enthusiast uses Google to reveal Roman ruins. Finally, a Nature article worth sharing with the general public which won’t induce mind-numbing terror of arcana. « Notional Slurry

Find-a-Human database tells customers how to navigate through automated phone systems to speak directly to a human. I knew Amazon had to have a customer service phone number! « Cosmic Variance

The clues are all there: the dry erase board in the group conference room has been wiped clean, and damn wayang-looking equations and meaningless but pretty diagrams now decorate it like well-chosen graffiti. Dust bunnies and excess journal volumes have been unceremoniously banished from the rooms. Random photo shoots with photographers, the flowers on the study table, and the smug, munificent smile.

My advisor has Won an Award.

No, he’s not allowed to tell us anything. But consider the signs. Reporters from the Associated Press, the Chicago Tribune, and then the Champaign News-Gazette have been parading around our labs and offices like following a veritable paparazzi’s pilgrimage. What kind of scientific prize is would be so coveted as to warrant the attention of the mainstream media, let alone the international press?

I daresay I know the answer. I know of a prize with such status that journalists feel ok to sign a nondisclosure agreement to embargo the news until it is Time.

No, silly, it’s not The Stockholm Phone Call. That one’s announced as soon as the decision is made. But just as good, and almost as prestigious. And I really mean prestigious, not just I’m-just-saying-it-to-make-myself-feel-good prestigious.

I say, it sure feels good to know that my choice of advisor has been vindicated by opinions of a far more expert academic entity than yours truly.