Perspective

Perspective: "

For the full article, see Prose Before Hos: Perspective On 9/11 And The Invasions Of Iraq & Afghanistan.

"

The Illustrated Guide to a Ph.D.

This is so true.

The Illustrated Guide to a Ph.D.: "

Matthew Might, a computer science professor at the University of Utah, writes: “Every fall, I explain to a fresh batch of Ph.D. students what a Ph.D. is. It’s hard to describe it in words. So, I use pictures.” Here it goes. Matt’s Illustrated Guide:

Imagine a circle that contains all of human knowledge:

By the time you finish elementary school, you know a little:

By the time you finish high school, you know a bit more:

With a bachelor’s degree, you gain a specialty:

A master’s degree deepens that specialty:

Reading research papers takes you to the edge of human knowledge:

Once you’re at the boundary, you focus:

You push at the boundary for a few years:

Until one day, the boundary gives way:

And, that dent you’ve made is called a Ph.D.:

Of course, the world looks different to you now:

So, don’t forget the bigger picture:

Keep pushing.

You can find Matt’s Illustrated Guide hosted on his web site. This guide/reality check is published under a Creative Commons License. You can also buy a print version for $6.50. (The money goes to charity.) Matt offers more insights for Ph.D. students here.

The Illustrated Guide to a Ph.D. is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

"

A Hoodie With a Hidden Vulcan Salute

Saw this on Google Reader. I'd love to get one of these!

A Hoodie With a Hidden Vulcan Salute: "

From Fashionably Geek: Holy crap that is brilliant. When zipped, it’s just a hand on a hoodie. Unzip and it’s the Vulcan salute. Lie down on your side and it’s the Vulcan shocker.

Product Page ($40)

"

Once Again, D.C. Boasts the Country's Worst Drivers

Once Again, D.C. Boasts the Country's Worst Drivers: "

Photo by Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie.

Most of the drivers around this region -- whether they're from Maryland, Virginia or the District -- just plain suck. This is not new.

But a new report released by Allstate Insurance Corporation indicates that Washington, D.C. is, in fact, the hellish nexus of American traffic. Washington -- probably because the city, aside from its own crazy drivers, attracts a nightmarish mish-mash of drivers from two other jurisdictions who also have terrible drivers -- finished dead last in the report's rankings. Some other fun facts from the report: D.C. boasts a 95.5 percent 'relative accident likelihood' against the national average and an average of 5.1 years between accidents. (In comparison, the top city on the list, Fort Collins, Colorado, has a negative-31.2 percent accident likelihood and averages 14.5 years between accidents.) Looking for sympathy? Don't look too far: Baltimore finished but one slot ahead of D.C. in 192nd place. Arlington (174th) and Alexandria (177th) didn't fare spectacularly either. Here's a PDF with the complete results.

Of course, like I said, this is just the same old, same old for those of us who live here -- after all, D.C. finished dead last in this exact same report last year. No one can ever accuse us of being inconsistently bad drivers, I guess.

"