Lee.org

Another Plea for Legible Flight Reservations
Grrrr!
We’ve been at this whole commercial flight thing for about a hundred years. You would think that the airlines would be able to create a simple, clear flight plan for me. EVERY trip I have made for the last 20 years I have had to translate their gobbly-gook flight reservation into something legible. The relevant data is always the same. Could someone in the airline industry please recognize this? Give me a calendar item that I can copy and paste into my life!

Here is what I put in my calendar. Short. Readable. Useful.

Flight Ref: XXXX

Monday November 21st
depart SFO at 10:35am on AA flight 556
  arrive Chicago ORD at 4:55pm
depart Chicago ORD 8:30pm on AA flight 4308
  arrive Nashville 10:00pm

Friday November 25th
depart Nashville 4:30pm on AA flight 661
  arrive Dallas DFW at 6:40pm
depart Dallas DFW at 9:20pm on AA flight 1575
  arrive SFO at 11:05pm

and here is what American Airlines sent me. It is freaking impossible to read. Sure it contains all the relevant data but I challenge you to understand my flight info in less than 5 minutes!

It doesn’t need to be like this. Make it simple. Make it say what it needs to say. Then put the nitty gritty details at the bottom or something. Bonus points awarded if they put a “Add to Google Calendar” icon next to the reservation so I don’t even have to copy-paste. But hey…

I originally mentioned this in 2011 and it burns my buns every time I fly that flight reservations are still universally impossible to read. I use parts of this blog post as a template before I fly.

Huge science news today!
Gravitational Waves Discovered from Colliding Black Holes
The LIGO experiment has confirmed Albert Einstein’s prediction of ripples in spacetime and promises to open a new era of astrophysics.

How big is this news?
We all know about sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. Well, humanity literally just got a new sense!

OK Go continue to be musical and performance heroes of mine. They just put out a new video that has me soaring. Watch it and share the joy!

I hear it’s only on Facebook so here’s the link:
https://www.facebook.com/okgo/videos/10153210535420683/

I am pleased to say that Mark Rosin is a friend of mine. He’s recently been honored…

Mark Rosin Receives 2015 AAAS Early Career Award for Public Engagement With Science

Mark Rosin Receives 2015 AAAS Early Career Award for Public Engagement With Science
8 February 2016
Andrea Korte
AAAS | AWARDS | PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
Mark Rosin, a physicist who has directly reached more than 15,000 members of the public through his playful and inventive public engagement events, has been chosen by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to receive the 2015 Early Career Award for Public Engagement with Science.

Rosin is assistant professor in the Department of Math and Sciences at Pratt Institute in New York as well as director and co-founder of Guerilla Science, an international science engagement organization that creates dialogues between members of the scientific community and the public. He was honored by AAAS for “his broad range of creative and sustainable public engagement strategies that target audiences who may not be actively seeking science information.”

Rosin is an “extraordinarily talented and passionate” practitioner of public engagement in science, wrote nominator Russel Caflisch, professor of mathematics at UCLA and director of the National Science Foundation’s Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics. “He organizes and participates in a huge range of interactive live activities and events for members of the public. These diverse activities are effective, wide-reaching, and truly engaging,” said Caflisch, who supervised Rosin’s postdoctoral work.

MARK ROSIN, WINNER OF THE 2015 AAAS EARLY CAREER AWARD FOR PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT WITH SCIENCE | PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK ROSIN

As part of his work with Guerilla Science, which he cofounded as a graduate student, Rosin has mixed science with art, music, and play to reach members of the public in places that science might be unexpected, such as on the street, in museums, and at art and music festivals.

Rosin reached 4,000 visitors with the Intergalactic Travel Bureau, which explores the possibilities of space tourism by allowing members of the public to meet with an astronomer to plan a space vacation. Rosin also brought more than 2,000 people into touch with math at the inaugural National Math Festival in Washington, D.C., using math-based game shows and obstacle courses.

He also led the creation of the world’s first multi-tube fire organ to demonstrate the relationship between math and music: when music is played, the changing acoustic waves cause flames to change size and shapes. Rosin has brought the instrument to festivals like Burning Man Precompression and Maker Faire to help audiences truly visualize sound.

A frequent public speaker committed to engaging listeners through audience participation and dialogue, Rosin has also worked with more than 100 scientists to engage public audiences.

Rosin was recognized in 2013 for his contributions to public engagement with his election to the American Physical Society’s Committee on Informing the Public. He also sits on the advisory board of a proposed National Science Foundation Advance Informal STEM Learning project.

Rosin’s scientific work in the field of applied mathematics and plasma physics has included most recently the development of an advanced multi-scale algorithm for computational physics problems, which has the potential to revolutionize the simulation of plasma collisions. He earned a Master of Science degree in physics from the University of Bristol and earned a doctorate in plasma physics from Cambridge University’s Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics in 2010. After receiving his Ph.D., he completed a postdoctoral appointment with UCLA’s Department of Mathematics. His research has been recognized with awards from the Cambridge Philosophical Society and Bristol University.

The AAAS Early Career Award for Public Engagement with Science was established in 2010 to recognize “early-career scientists and engineers who demonstrate excellence in their contribution to public engagement with science activities.” A monetary prize of $5,000, a commemorative plaque, complimentary registration to the AAAS Annual Meeting, and reimbursement for reasonable travel and hotel expenses to attend the AAAS Annual Meeting to receive the prize are given to the recipient.

The AAAS Early Career Award for Public Engagement with Science will be bestowed upon Rosin during the 182nd AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., 11-15 February 2016. The AAAS Awards Ceremony and Reception will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, February 12, in Palladian Ballroom of the Omni Shoreham Hotel.

He wrote with humility on Facebook

I was lucky enough to win an award from AAAS for Public Engagement with Science. It’s a real honor. Thank you!
However, the article implies it was more of a solo effort than it in fact was. The real credit belongs to the amazing people at Guerilla Science (Jenny Wong, Jenny Jopson, Louis Buckley, Olivia Koski), the amazing scientists/artists/musicians/actors who were also part (Jana Grcevich, Zach Walker, Zach Kopciak, Zarinah Agnew, Karola Kreitmair, Steve Mould, Tim Chartier, Lee Sonko, Michael Kearney, and many more), and many other excellent folk (Kate Marvel, Zoe Cormier, Richard Henry Bowdler, Becky Lawson). I would love to buy you all a drink.

Bees? Bees!

I found this on “the internets”. Wish I knew the author.

This probably wouldn’t make a very good sci-fi-action-thriller movie but sure would be a kinder  Judgement Day / Singularity  in the real world…

(via)

short form: My wife and I are very happy with the custom made ring made by Edward’s Jewelry and Imports in San Francisco. I spoke with Jean Paul Tchamourlian there. I showed them some photos and talked about what I wanted and they made it for me! We got exactly the ring we wanted for about the same price as a ring made on spec! I got the sapphire from Andrew at Gemfix.com, a cutter in San Diego. The stone is magically beautiful. Seriously.

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Long form (it’s pretty long, all my wedding ring research!)

Jean Paul Tchamourlian
Edward’s Jewelry and Imports
Gift Center and Jewelry Mart
888 Brannan St
Showroom 160
San Francisco, CA 94103
jean-paul@edwardsjewelry888.com
415-626-9333

Jean Paul was really super great. If you go, definitely say “hello” from me, I’m sure he’ll remember me. He gave me exactly what I wanted at the best price I found. At other stores, I found many not-custom rings that were similarly priced to my custom ring.

The San Francisco Gift Center and Jewelry Mart  is definitely worth browsing. There are about 5 big jewelers and 10 small jewelers in this underground mall. You need to be on the guest list to get into the place (security is tighter since it’s all jewelry stores). Just call Edwards Jewelry (or any of the others) and they’ll have a pass waiting for you at the security desk. The Gift Mart website doesn’t look like much but it’s definitely worth visiting.

I also got a  Sara and Jane Wishbone Necklace in Sterling Silver for Megan so she could take her ring off and safely keep it on her neck. It totally works but it turns out that Megan doesn’t use it. There are similar ring holders online, this is is a very good one. You can search online for “wedding ring holder pendant” “charm holder pendant”

I got the sapphire wedding stone for her wedding ring from Gemfix.com. I ordered 3 stones and returned 2. As the website says, all of the gems look different from the photos. That’s the thing about gems, you can’t capture their glistening in a photo or in all the types of light. I thought I wanted one stone from the photos but when they arrived, I ended up completely falling in love with another stone. So when you look at your stones, try them in sunlight, incandescent, overcast daylight… etc… Again, see it with your own eyes before committing to it. I spent about $100 mailing gems around with insurance and it was worth it.

Inspiration for our  Ring
* Show me some Van Craeynest
* Van Craeynest Facebook
* http://www.minerals.net/gemstone/sapphire_gemstone.aspx
* http://www.gia.edu/
* discussion of putting a sapphire in a VC 1020 http://www.pricescope.com/forum/colored-stones/blue-sapphire-for-engagement-ring-sos-t190755.html

Lots of articles http://www.jewelrynotes.com/, http://www.jewelry-secrets.com/

The first CAD design for our ring:

There are no official names for sapphire colors. Here is one website’s attempt at naming the colors. When asking around with these names, I got a lot of blank stares. Gemfix tries to put Pantone color names on their stones and that works better than saying “it’s more of a Camelot Blue than a Prince of Wales Blue…” heh.  

Here’s some good sapphire guides. But screw all the guides! Hold the stone in your hand and see if you love it.
* http://www.wikihow.com/Buy-Sapphire
* stones by location http://www.collectorfinejewelry.com/buyers_guide_sapphire.htm

Places to buy sapphires
* http://www.realgems.org/links.html
* http://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/sapphires/c-5-blue-sapphires/ (many stones have videos which is nice)
* http://www.riogrande.com/Home
* http://www.gemfix.com/sapphire_blue.html
* http://www.ebay.com/sch/Sapphire-/10259/i.html
* http://www.africagems.com/bluesapphire.html
* https://www.hooverandstrong.com
* http://www.mastercutgems.com/
* http://www.palagems.com/home.htm (only open to the trade)
* http://www.gemrite.com/collections/gems/sapphire
* http://www.mlowejewelry.com

Gem sizing comparing millimeters to carats in round stones. (Via. This site has comparisons of lots of different shaped stones)
5mm = .46 carat
6mm = .84 carat
7mm = 1.28 carat
8mm = 2.04 carat

Styles of rings often have names, and often they don’t. I found abunch of buzzwords that helped in my search somewhat.
Antique / Vintage, filigree, Edwardian which is a subset of Victorian. Maybe Art Nouveau, Art Deco
Not: Georgian (kinda bubbly), Victorian (crowns and royalty, Edwardian, Art Nouveau and the Art Deco
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estate_jewellery#Periods_of_estate_jewellery

If you’re getting a diamond, I hear that you want to buy:
Color: I or better (D, E, F, G, H, I)
Clarity: SI2 or better

Dumb tip I learned:
White gold is usually electroplated with rhodium to make it more white. This coating wears off, which is stupid. Jewelers recommend replating it every 1-2 years. Some people get it replated on special anniversaries…

White gold can be made from nickel alloys. Caution, they might cause allergic reactions.

More Sites to shop for rings:
* http://antiqueengagementrings.com
* http://www.etsy.com
* http://www.ebay.com
* http://www.rubylane.com
* http://diamondbistro.com/
* http://loupetroop.com/
* http://www.vancraeynest.com/
* http://www.pricescope.com/

Suggestions for Bay Area local dealers and ring makers

• “ If you are still wanting to have a custom piece made or if you guys want to make them I can help you out with either of those requests.” www.dac-metals.com David Casella dac-metals@sbcglobal.net
• Make your own ring in SF http://www.sanfranciscoweddingring.com/ from aerin
• low cost diamond wholesaler http://bluenile.com from Michael Kearney
• You could make them in silver in a Crucible intro jewelry class at Crucible from Denise Taylor
• Bay area jeweler http://www.ckjewelrydesigns.com from Hilary Engelman
• Bay area jeweler http://www.watsonandson.com/ from Mark A. Watson
• “If you are looking for specific ring design or have your own design in mind I can definitely assist you with that project.” http://bondejewelry.com/ from Bonnie Heras bheras@sbcglobal.net
• “The 14 Karats on College ave. John and Lilly have been a pillar of the community for a long time” from Grant
• “If you are interested in creating your own wedding bands together, I have had a number of students do that in my Wax to Silver Casting class at The Crucible. People have had a lot of fun designing their rings together, regardless of whether one person takes the class and makes them both or the couple takes it together. If you’re curious about going the make the bands yourself route, just let me know and I would be more than happy to chat with you at The Cru and show you both examples and options!!” from Kim Mirus kmirus@thecrucible.org
• If they want something real clean and modern with a big stone they should meet with David.” David Cole http://www.svartvik.com/ from Chrissy  K
• Carmen Q – http://CarmenQ.com from Yelp
• http://macreativedesign.com/ from a couple emails
• http://katerichbourg.blogspot.com/ Lorah Gross’ friend Kate who teaches jewelry craftsmanship and design for a living. She might be interested or know someone who is.
• use precious metal clay to make your jewelry from Carol Dacanay
• I’ve spoken a bit with Wilfy McManus, Celtic Inheritance, 1778 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley 510-841-8702. He can make or pour or help with us making a ring. He gave me the ring tools.
• Go to Otto Frei in Oakland for DIY ring making supplies.
• for inexpensive options (and comparison shopping) http://www.e-weddingbands.com/index.html

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Phew. That’s enough talk about rings!

For the wedding plans, I’d be happy to talk to you about what we did. I’ve got spreadsheets and all kinds of things!

I made a couple posts on my blog about the wedding. Take a look. I’m happy to chat about any aspects.
http://www.lee.org/blog/?s=wedding

Another great hint: http://www.honeyfund.com/ It worked perfectly! See our honeyfund here: (http://www.lee.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/7b-Registry-Honeyfund.png)

My classmate Sarah is seriously considering running off with the circus for her Occupational Therapy international fieldwork experience! She’ll be joining a group called CircusAID. The program is being developed as a branch of Holistic Circus Therapy that worked with Syrian, Afghani, and Iraqi refugees in Lesvos, Greece, where thousands of refugees were arriving by boat almost daily, experiencing occupational deprivation.

Read more about what CircusAID will be doing:
http://wanderlust.com/journal/a-circus-act-that-serves-a-smile-to-refugees/

(This was supposed to be posted in the summer of 2013 but it got stuck in my Drafts folder. Actually, I want to write many many more good things about Minnesota and tighten up the writing here but I figure it’s time to just let this post fly)

How I Spent My Summer or Life on a Northern Minnesota Island  

Megan and I spent the last 2 weeks on a privately owned island with friends that may have well been family.

Located roughly between the triangle between Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, and Duluth in more ways than one, we had a tremendous vacation.

The island was formed by glaciers some twenty thousand years ago, stretching long and lean eleven hundred feet north-south and mostly 100 feet wide, but bulging out to almost 500 feet east-west at the northern proboscis.

Megan and I got in a lot of living on our trip!

• The surprisingly glorious Mall of America
• Sailing near Canadian waters with Don & Craig
• Swimming in Rainy Lake
• Kettle Falls boat trip & lunch (fried walleye and a Reuben!) & touring with Robin, Becky and Lucas
• Working on the Review Islands with Robin & Bob, getting a tour of historic Mallard Island and Ernest Oberholtzer’s legacy
• Playing dominoes & Set & Settlers of Catan
• Shooting Star gazing on the dock with family
• Being the last car in the Ranier Days parade!!
• Getting a tour of the house & garden of Sarah & Don’s place in International Falls
• Seeing Don Johnson’s Memoir Books of life on Rainy Lake at Coffee Landing… and then seeing the originals in the house on the island
• Megan saw Planes with Sarah, Don & Billy
• Great food: spaghetti with homemade sauce, tamari chicken, cold quinoa salad, pancakes, frittata….
• Sunsets seen from the Happy Shack
• Getting a tour of the (1,000′ x 200′) island
• Looking for blueberries on the island and only finding sour mini cherries
• Billy saying “there’s water on the floor in the bathroom” (uh oh!), “I’m not talking at you!”, “That’s my moon… you can look at it…”
• Living in the “1st cabin”
• A giant spider with egg sack living in our outhouse
• Dockboy Lee! – cuz he’s often the first one to the dock when a boat arrives, to help bring stuff up the hill
• Stomping trees with Chris
• Getting 10-12 hours sleep per night!
• Chickens doing their job with their vuvuzelas for our breakfast

Short form: 2/3 of wisdom teeth removals are unnecessary and dentists don’t really want you to know.

In about 1999 I had a wisdom tooth removed because the gum had gotten infected, inflamed, and painful. The dentist suggested I get all of my wisdom teeth out “because it would be better in the long run.” I declined, just getting the one tooth removed.

In about 2003 I had a new dentist after moving. I remember the intake form had this on it:

Do you still have your wisdom teeth?
Yes | No
If so, why?

The answer I wrote was “because I use my teeth to chew my food“. Of course, the intake form question lead to a discussion with the dentist. I had this crazy belief that nature wouldn’t create a system where every human was better off if they had four serious dental surgeries as a matter of course.

I was incensed. This question, delivered by a board certified professional dentist practically stated that it was wrong of me to have wisdom teeth. The follow-up is of course, “…and you know, we can fix that problem for you.” It’s like bringing your car in for an oil change and having the mechanic tell you that your confabulator needs realigning, and if you don’t get it done soon, well, who knows what will happen! I’m allergic to professionals using Fear, uncertainty, and doubt on me. I didn’t go back. I thought about blogging about it back then but who has time for that junk?

Well, I just came across this article more-or-less confirming my suspicions. It says about 2/3 of wisdom teeth shouldn’t be removed.  But don’t believe the article, believe the links the author shows us…

• The Prophylactic Extraction of Third Molars: A Public Health Hazard, in the American Journal of Public Health. 2007 September; 97(9): 1554—1559.  doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2006.100271
• The British National Health Service saying, “Your wisdom teeth don’t usually need to be removed if they’re impacted but aren’t causing any problems. This is because there’s no proven benefit of doing this and it carries the risk of complications.”

And here is a VERY curious article I found in the Cochrane database (Cochrane is awesome, it’s like the Consumer Reports of research, they look for and help create systematic review research because it is so much better than individual studies).

• Surgical removal versus retention for the management of asymptomatic impacted wisdom teeth. – In brief, they couldn’t find any good research on whether it was better to leave wisdom teeth in or take them out preemptively. Something is very fishy there!

PS, Great thanks to the folks at The Daily Digg for putting the original article in my inbox, with the title of Wisdom Tooth Removal Is A Racket. The Daily Digg is one of my major sources of curated news right now. They practically hide the link to join their mailing list so… sign up here.