So there are a few things I’ve been meaning to post for a while, but haven’t gotten around to. I’m going to un-clog my mind and post a round-up of stuff here.
- Stephen Hawking will be retiring from the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Apparently it’s traditional for the person in the post to retire at 67, which he’ll be next year. I didn’t realize he was so old! But he’s certainly still active at the University… a friend of mine has seen him a couple of mornings as he heads to work. For the history buffs out there, this is the same professorship that Isaac Newton held from 1669, as he did most of his pioneering work.
- Speaking of Stephen Hawking, he dedicated a new clock at Corpus Christi College (the Chronophage, or the Corpus Clock) just a couple of days before I arrived at Cambridge. It’s really amazing; it’s a huge pendulum clock, has a big grasshopper at the top, and doesn’t have any hands. (It uses LED’s instead.)
- Here’s a video:
- http://www.youtube.com/v/cCqGtvTA36k&hl=en&fs=1
- What’s perhaps most amazing is that virtually every time I walk or bicycle past it between 2 and 10 times a day people are standing by it, watching it, and taking photos. No matter the time of day or night! I think there’s only been four times in five weeks that I’ve gone by it without someone there! It’s really that captivating.
- I recently saw an interesting article on Gordon Ramsey. Yes, he’s making tons of money from TV, books, restaurants, etc. But what’s most amazing to me is that he owns:
- 1 — Three-star Michelin restaurant
2 — Two-star Michelin restaurants
2 — One-star Michelin restaurants - For my birthday dinner a year ago, LondonAnnie and I went to Maze, his one-star restaurant on Grosvenor Square in London. It was absolutely amazing; the food was incredible, the service was brilliant and we had such a great time. The article mentioned this is his highest-earning restaurant, with revenue in excess of £10million a year!
- This is a great quote from Evan Williams:
- Starting a company is like landing on the shore of a deserted island
- You have a certain amount of provisions, which you have to make last until you find a way to make the island sustain life — or convince someone to send you more.
- You don’t know how big the island is at first or what predators lie in wait.
- There’s always a chance someone else will raid your island if it looks fruitful, so you need to shore up your defenses.
- Eventually, if you’re successful, you’ll be king of your own prosperous world. If not, you’ll die — or, at least, have to go home.
- Either way, it’s a fun adventure (until you get eaten by a tiger).
- I really feel for Barack Obama. Just as he’s about to achieve the triumph of a lifetime, his last family member is in her final days. I simply hope that his grandmother will live to see him elected.
- If you’re fascinated by the current US election, and haven’t gone to fivethirtyeight.com, GO THERE RIGHT NOW. It’s a site run by a legendary baseball statistician, Nate Silver, who has turned his attention this year to the election. In the primaries he made some calls that were well outside the conventional mainstream (in particular Hillary barely winning Indiana and Obama winning North Carolina huge) that were spot on. As of right now, it looks like McCain has about a 5% chance of winning the Presidential election.
Jed Christiansen 