Here are some things I need to share regarding this meeting. Overall, it was great to see everyone. As usual, the conversations were the best. I regret that there were some people I did not get to meet or talk to—maybe next time we will meet up.

Blog vs. WIRED

One question that came up multiple times was about this blog vs. my posts at WIRED. How do I decide where a post goes? OK, here is my explanation.

In the beginning, there was a blog. A blog was super informal and free form and alive with comments. It was like the 60s and I was a hippie. A physics hippie. I don’t know if this early blogging era was like the 60’s or maybe the wild-wild west. Well, the comments eventually turned into the wild west with a shoot out at the O.K. Corral.

When I moved to WIRED, everything was the same except it was at a different site. But I’ve been there for a LONG time (9 years?) and things evolve. My posts at WIRED are more edited and geared for a specific audience. That’s not bad, it’s just different. I don’t think I can just write whatever I want like I did in the old days. No more random posts that just talk about my cat (I don’t even have a cat).

So, that’s where this blog comes in. It’s a place where I can post whatever I want and no one can stop me. These are the kinds of things you will find here.

• Random posts (like this one) that are just an outlet for me to write stuff and tell stories.
• Explicit educational material. If a post needs too many equations, I would rather put it here. Many WIRED readers (while very education) don’t really get into all the equations. Also, since WIRED is paywalled it makes it more difficult for educators to access the stuff (in the off chance that they might find it useful).
• MacGyver science notes. Oh sure, I post some MacGyver stuff on WIRED—but I really don’t think they want to see 50 posts on different episodes. So, those are here.
• I think that pretty much covers it, so I don’t even need this last point.

In the end, I apologize for the confusion with the two blogs. Oh, actually there are three. I recently wrote a post on OneZero Medium (analysis of a car crash from Stranger Things) also. Not sure how much I will write there—but it’s still me.

What’s up with all the drone videos?

Yes, I have a drone. I love my drone. I can only hope my drone loves me as much as I love it. Honestly, I am honored that you even noticed my drone videos.

Oh, wait. You haven’t seen them? I can fix that.

In case you are curious. This is a DJI Spark. Great drone.

More Comments

Here are some more short comments.

• Meeting with Bruce Sherwood and Ruth Chabay was great. I wish I had a picture with both of them (I did get one with Bruce though).
• Bruce made this epic comment in regards to numerical vs. analytical calculations. People claim that analytical solutions are better because you can solve a problem in terms of known functions like sine and cosine. But how do you find the value of the cosine function? YUP – numerically or in a table or in an infinite series. So, in a way all solutions are numerical. Win for numerical.
• The other deep thought by Bruce was a discussion on his AJP on energy. Read that paper. This sums it up. You can not find the work done by friction. Friction is crazy hard. I think I might write a WIRED post on this.
• Eric Ayars had an excellent presentation on chaotic systems. One system was a bouncing ball on a moving floor. I wonder if there is a case where the ball just stops—this could happen if the relative collision speed of the ball and floor is zero.
• The 30 demos in 60 minutes was pretty good. I love these things. Even though I’ve seen many of these demos before, I always find something new. Here is their site http://30demosin60minutes.com/
• I went hiking. It was super hot, but I had a great time.