Outsourcing Run Amok

Sigh.

Now we can't even tutor our kids domestically?

TutorVista

Can anyone tell me what we DO do in this country anymore, other than worry about who fathered Anna Nicole's baby, who got booted on "Dancing With the Stars", or sitting around stuffing our faces with fast food?

Sheesh.

When India and China are producing scientists and engineers at a rate five times greater than you are, it's time to ask why our kids don't like science and math enough to choose it as a career. I can speak from first hand experience, as the graduate students I see come through here are incredibly weak in math skills if they are domestic. The foriegn students are simply kicking our asses.

I wish I knew what to do to make it better, but by the time they get to college, and have chosen engineering, there isn't much more I can say.

OK. End of rant.

I am a big dork

Find more here

Everything Had Changed

Everything Had Changed
Barenaked Ladies; "Barenaked Ladies Are Me"


On the path of life I wish you well
Divergent journeys, but we will meet again in Hell
I kept my head down and moved on
'Till every friend I'd known was gone

Then, one day I was not alone
Everything had changed
Everything was strange

When in rags and when in wealth
A solemn promise never to give too much of myself
Despite the hopeful things I've said
I lived my life inside my head

Then, one day I was not alone
Everything had changed
Everything was strange

I hold my breath
And count to ten
I hate it now; Hated it then
I've seen it all before
A failure and a bore
But that's what friends are for

So it seems I must have won
As I survey the ashes of the damage that I've done
Everyone I've ever known
Is just as closed off and alone

Then, one day I was not alone
Everything had changed
Everything was strange

Everything had changed
Everything was strange

Everything had changed
Everything was strange

Everything had changed
Everything

I love it all. Lyrics, accordian, cello, banjo, and fingers snapping.

iTunes link

Sigh.

Sometimes, it's hard to have faith that people are basically good.

Rolling Stone Article

Like the bumper sticker says "If you aren't outraged, you haven't been paying attention."

Take it Back

Take it Back
Barenaked Ladies

It's hard enough to notice
Harder still to react
Just a stone's throw from the center of attention
We all fade to black

Save me from a villainous imagination
Deliver me from my friends
If I said something to make you mad
I will take it back

It's hard enough to stomach
But try to look away
Is this a news report or a trailer from a motion picture?
It all fades to gray

Save me from a villainous imagination
Deliver me from my friends
If I said something to make you mad
I will take it back

Long lines and warning signs
Think of all the lives saved by plastic knives
It's naïve, but make believe
We will never lose if we remove our shoes

It's hard to keep your mouth shut
Harder still to make noise
But we can't have the perfect 20/20 hindsight
That our fate enjoys

Save me from a villainous imagination
Deliver me from my friends
If I said something to make you mad
I will take it back
I will take it back...

Absolutely love the piano...

iTunes link

Vacation, Conferences, Work

I haven't been to work in almost three weeks. And I really don't miss it. The first two weeks were vacation, and somehow, I managed to pack a lot in. I spent some time at home, a day in Philadelphia, a weekend in New Jersey for a friend's bachelor party, a day in New York, and a few days in Martha's Vineyard. I then proceeded to fly to the west coast for a conference in Santa Barbara, where I am now. So, this is week three, and conference week, but in Santa Barbara, it's pretty hard for anything to really feel like work. The conference is at UCSB, which is on the freaking beach. I really don't know how anyone gets any work done here - it's gorgeous. I know if I was a student here or a faculty member, I would definitely have more of a tan.

The conference is interesting, as I am only peripherally involved in the main field that is the focus of the meeting. I submitted an abstract on a whim because it seemed like an interesting conference in an interesting place, and I was a little surprised when my paper was accepted. I have found a lot of the talks extremely interesting, as they are not really in my direct field of knowledge or expertise. I listened to one talk yesterday where a researcher was discussing the difficulty that the human brain has in healing after trauma - human axons typically do not re-grow through scar tissue, so traumatic brain injury often leads to significant impairment. He and his group developed a technique by which they could induce the brain to heal in such a way as to prevent scarring, and allow axonal re-growth through the area of injury. They demonstrated this by damaging the part of the brain responsible for vision in hamsters, rendering the hamsters blind. The hamsters didn't respond to any visual stimuli after the injury. The control group was allowed to heal without intervention, and they showed no improvement in vision with time. The experimental group received the treatment and over a period of several weeks regained vision up to about 70% of their original acuity as the brain essentially re-grew their optic nerve. To someone without a bioscience background, this borders on "Star Trek-ian" to me.

After the evening reception, I was invited out to dinner with some other young faculty. What followed was a fun evening of discussion and talk about work and research, but I have to admit I felt somewhat out of my element as all of these folks were from significantly higher-tier institutions than me. Like, the top universities in the world.

All in all it has been a really good conference so far - I have done the most networking and talking that I have done at a conference, and while my level of discomfort is fairly high, I am also learning a lot, and hopefully will come home with some new ideas and new potential collaborators.

Some photos:

The National Constitution Museum, Philadelphia, PA:

Looking up through the Glass Apple Cube, 5th Avenue, New York:

Aquinnah Lighthouse, Martha's Vineyard, MA:

East Beach, Santa Barbara, CA