And The Winner Is . . . .

Amber!!!! That was pretty impressive text, didn't you think? I was intimidated when I read it. Amber was the first to get it right - it was nothing but nonsense. But, that is not the silliest part of the story. The editors of a major scientific journal, Social Text, took the paper seriously and published it. At once, the author, a reputable physicist from New York University, revealed it for the hoax that it is. So, remember the old saying - don't believe everything that you read. And congratulations to Amber - it is sad to say but we certainly get well acquainted with obscure unadulterated gobbledy-gook when going to school; and sometimes we are the ones spewing it out.

My Nemesis

I deal with this every day! For example, try the little entry below and tell me what it means. I would love your responses and will give the answer next week. Don't for a moment think I figured this one out by myself. I had to read someone else's more user-friendly interpretation. (I can't even figure out how to work this blogspot!)

"The Einsteinian constant is not a constant, is not a center. It is the very concept of variability - it is, finally, the concept of the game. In other words, it is not the concept of something - of a center starting from which an observer could master the field - but the very concept of the game" (Derrida).
In mathematical terms, Derrida's observation related to the invariance of the Einstein field equation under nonlinear space-time diffeomorphisms (self-mappings of the space-time manifold which are infinitely differentiable but not necessarily analytic). The key point is that this invariance group "acts transitvely": this means that any space-time point, if it exists at all, can be transformed into any other. In this way the infinite-dimensional invariance group erodes the distinction between observer and observed; and the putative observer becomes fatally de-centered, disconnected from any epistemic link to a space-time point that can no longer be defined by geometry alone" (Sokal 1996, 221-222; quoting Derrida, above, 1970,266)

P.S. The answer is VERY simple.

Fantastic Florida!

I am not even going to try and do fancy stuff with this blog because I think it hates me. My pictures don't even show up as pictures - just a bunch of symbols - until I post. So...Here are the pictures (or if they happen to load on top) there were the pictures; hope they are in order; we loved our trip; miss Cami, Aric, and Marley; can't wait to go again; Florida is the BOMB! (you know, I still have no idea what that means. Hope it is acceptable)