seasons greetings
18-12-11 09:22 Filed in: undergrad
Winter break starts on 2011-12-23 and ends on 2012-01-04. Regarding my classes, the last class day before winter break is 2011-12-22, and the first class day after winter break is 2012-01-05.
Have a great, safe, winter vacation!
Have a great, safe, winter vacation!
scientific proof that santa claus does not exist
13-12-11 17:31 Filed in: technology
As a result of an overwhelming lack of requests, and with research help from that renowned scientific journal SPY magazine (January, 1990) --here is the annual scientific inquiry into Santa Claus.
1) No known species of reindeer can fly. BUT there are 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are insects and germs, this does not COMPLETELY rule out flying reindeer which only Santa has ever seen.
2) There are 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world. BUT since Santa doesn't (appear) to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total - 378 million according to the Population Reference Reference Bureau. At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes. One presumes there's at least one good child in each.
3) Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with good children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and move on to the next house. Assuming that each of these 91.8 millions stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false but for the purposes of our calculations we will accept), we are now talking about .78 miles per household, a total trip of 75-1/2 million miles, not counting stops to do what most of us must do at least once every 31 hours, plus feeding and etc.
This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle on earth, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second - a conventional reindeer can run, tops, 15 miles per hour.
4) The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized lego set (2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably described as overweight. On land, conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that "flying reindeer" (see point #1) could pull TEN TIMES the normal amount, we cannot do the job with eight, or even nine. We need 214,200 reindeer. This increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh - to 353,430 tons. Again, for comparison - this is four times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth.
5) 353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - this will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy. Per second. Each. In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them, and create deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity. A 250-pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force.
In conclusion - If Santa ever DID deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he's dead now. Merry Christmas.
1) No known species of reindeer can fly. BUT there are 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are insects and germs, this does not COMPLETELY rule out flying reindeer which only Santa has ever seen.
2) There are 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world. BUT since Santa doesn't (appear) to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total - 378 million according to the Population Reference Reference Bureau. At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes. One presumes there's at least one good child in each.
3) Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with good children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and move on to the next house. Assuming that each of these 91.8 millions stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false but for the purposes of our calculations we will accept), we are now talking about .78 miles per household, a total trip of 75-1/2 million miles, not counting stops to do what most of us must do at least once every 31 hours, plus feeding and etc.
This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle on earth, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second - a conventional reindeer can run, tops, 15 miles per hour.
4) The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized lego set (2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably described as overweight. On land, conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that "flying reindeer" (see point #1) could pull TEN TIMES the normal amount, we cannot do the job with eight, or even nine. We need 214,200 reindeer. This increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh - to 353,430 tons. Again, for comparison - this is four times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth.
5) 353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - this will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy. Per second. Each. In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them, and create deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity. A 250-pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force.
In conclusion - If Santa ever DID deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he's dead now. Merry Christmas.
american wagyu
10-12-11 16:57 Filed in: travel
Many Americans enjoy sushi. Kurobuta pork is becoming popular too. The ad below is for Kobe-style beef. (View the original ad.)
no class
14-11-11 19:40 Filed in: undergrad
No class between 2011-11-19 and 2011-12-05 because I have business trips to Tokyo, Japan and Portland, Oregon. Read your class slides for details.
the first 24 hours at fukushima
06-11-11 11:28 Filed in: technology
Read IEEE’s coverage on the first 24 hours at Fukushima. There’s more to the story than what the Japanese government, power companies, and media are telling us.
my favorite manga
01-11-11 16:10 Filed in: manga
I’m a big fan of “美鳥の日々” by Kazurou Inouye, and ”3x3 eyes” (サザンアイズ, no official website) by Yuzo Takada. I bought the whole sets at a used manga store plus a new volume including episodes after “3x3 eyes” ended (講談社漫画文庫 た 15-24). These two artists are my top favorites at the moment. “Captain Alice” is an ongoing story that’s on my must-read list.
goh's talk at the otaru university of commerce
26-10-11 07:22 Filed in: events
On 2011-10-24 I gave a talk at the Otaru University of Commerce. Professor Shawn Clankie invited me to Shodai, introduced me to the audience, and videotaped my talk. Watch my talk on YouTube.
イカ娘を見なイカ？
23-10-11 14:45 Filed in: undergrad
I’m a big fan of 侵略!?イカ娘 (watch the season promo) and the upbeat opening theme song for season 2 makes me want to take over the world!
If there’s time in class, we’ll watch During week5 of class, we watched an episode that aired last the previous week titled “English じゃなイカ?” See you in class!
free cloud storage
16-10-11 11:42 Filed in: events
For a limited time, box.net is offering 50 gigabytes of cloud storage for free. Sign up now to take advantage of this promotion. Maximum filesize is 100 megabytes per file. (You can store larger files if you pay.) I am not affiliated with box.net.
study abroad program
13-10-11 06:47 Filed in: events
Several partner universities of Hokudai will give talks on study abroad programs for sustainable development on 2011-10-27 from 13:00 to 15:30, at Hokudai’s International Student Center (留学生センター).
Announcement
The International Student Center (留学生センター) advises and accepts applications for Hokudai’s Study Abroad Programs (exchange student programs). Deadline for programs next year is 2011-10-31. Programs vary in destination and duration. For details, visit:
http://www.isc.hokudai.ac.jp/
→ Japanese
→ 北大生の留学情報
→ 平成２４年度交換留学生の募集について
Announcement
The International Student Center (留学生センター) advises and accepts applications for Hokudai’s Study Abroad Programs (exchange student programs). Deadline for programs next year is 2011-10-31. Programs vary in destination and duration. For details, visit:
http://www.isc.hokudai.ac.jp/
→ Japanese
→ 北大生の留学情報
→ 平成２４年度交換留学生の募集について
Hokkaido International School fall festival
13-10-11 06:35 Filed in: events
The Hokkaido International School (HIS) is holding its annual Fall Festival on 2011-10-29 from 10:00 to 14:00. There will be trick-or-treating at the school for kids, and food stalls for everybody. HIS is located about 5 minutes east of the Sumikawa subway station.
Announcement
Map
By the way, HIS is opening a new school in Niseko, probably reflecting the growing international community there.
Announcement
Map
By the way, HIS is opening a new school in Niseko, probably reflecting the growing international community there.
my talk at Sapporo Gakuin University
13-10-11 06:27 Filed in: events
On 2011-10-15 at Sapporo Gakuin University, I am giving a talk titled “Designing online learning experiences for audio-visual language learning”. Many thanks to our students who participated in English Online during 2011 spring semester, and who granted me permission to analyze their learning outcomes as part of my talk.
Talk details
Talk details
dropping wed1? or taking thu1?
08-10-11 12:19 Filed in: undergrad
If you decided not to take my wed1 class (English Repeat 4 英語再履修4), then contact me by using the “contact” link above, because I must remove you from my course roster (履修者名簿) so that you can register for other courses.
If you are taking my thu1 class (English Seminar Introductory 6 英語演習初級6) but were absent during week1, then you must see your TAs to learn about our class, and do assignments for week1 and week2. I extended the deadline by one week for week1’s assignment so that new students can catch up. If you were absent for both week1 and week2, then you are in trouble. Talk to your TAs in depth during week3 or you risk being left behind.
If you are taking my thu1 class (English Seminar Introductory 6 英語演習初級6) but were absent during week1, then you must see your TAs to learn about our class, and do assignments for week1 and week2. I extended the deadline by one week for week1’s assignment so that new students can catch up. If you were absent for both week1 and week2, then you are in trouble. Talk to your TAs in depth during week3 or you risk being left behind.
a moving story
08-10-11 12:19 Filed in: manga
I recommend you read this young man’s story. I cried. (It’s written in Japanese.)
俺が小児ガンで入院してた1年4ヶ月間
俺が小児ガンで入院してた1年4ヶ月間
class registration closed
08-10-11 12:18 Filed in: undergrad
Registration from my courses during 2011 fall semester has closed. I will accept no more students.
registering for my repeat class
31-07-11 18:19 Filed in: undergrad
Do you wish to take my class that appears in the course catalog as 英語再履修ー4 (English Repeat, class 4), and is offered in Wed1 (Wednesday 1st period) during 2011 fall semester? You must come to our first class on 2011-09-28 Wednesday at 08:45. This is a rule for all repeat classes (as well as being common sense). You cannot register if you miss the first class. I do not know where our classroom is yet.
Registration is limited to 35 students. To register, you need my signature of approval. I approve registration on a first-come, first-served basis. Come early to guarantee registration.
Registration is limited to 35 students. To register, you need my signature of approval. I approve registration on a first-come, first-served basis. Come early to guarantee registration.
have a great summer
31-07-11 17:27 Filed in: undergrad
Thanks to all of you -- students, teaching assistants, technical staff, and instructors -- for making spring semester of 2011 a success. We earned the highest mean scores in TOEFL-ITP in the past 6 years. Test scores are not the reason why we learn, but they do indirectly indicate how we are progressing towards our objective. I’m glad that the quality and quantity of our learning experiences is improving.
lose those training wheels
04-07-11 14:27 Filed in: undergrad
| A student wrote on an anonymous survey for our online English language course: “I want translations (from English to Japanese)”. My response: "Could you state the reasons why you desire a translation?" Obviously, in the real world, translations are rarely available. But even when they can be obtained, for instance in language classes, I am unaware of convincing arguments for translations. If there is an argument for supplementing our courseware with translations, I would like to hear it. In case the argument is based on sense of insecurity or ambiguity associated with communicating in an unfamiliar language, let me counter that argument by an analogy to math. Say you wish to solve a math problem. For simplicity we'll assume we wish to prove the Pythagorean theorem. As you plan your solution (I heard there are 370 known proofs; maybe you can discover the 371st), do you translate that, say, to art or music? Probably not ... What is true and clear in your mind does not need to be transposed to another medium. One goal in language learning is to achieve the same sensation of sureness that you have in math. How would you judge a person who solves math problems by translating them to music? (By the way, Pythagoras did precisely that on occasion.) If you value certainty in math, I am sure you would appreciate confidence in language. A corollary is that the longer you rely on translations, the longer it will take to build that confidence. |
TAs wanted
08-06-11 12:32 Filed in: undergrad
Are you helpful, personable, social, outgoing, boisterous? Will you be on Hokudai campus during 2011 fall semester? Do you enjoy coaching Hokudai freshmen on their English language skills? Then consider applying for the position of teaching assistant (TA). Successful candidates will work with me and other conversation partners during class. Interested? Click on the “contact” button on the menu bar above.
massive solar flare!!
08-06-11 12:28 Filed in: technology
Check out Popular Science’s article on a massive solar flare that happened yesterday!
Just watching the video is fascinating enough.
Of course this means my amateur radio friends are having a headache but that’s another story.
Just watching the video is fascinating enough.
Of course this means my amateur radio friends are having a headache but that’s another story.
online magazines
07-06-11 04:03 Filed in: technology
Here are a couple of online magazines that I enjoy:
Popular Science (I’m a geek, and proud of it)
Scientific American (I’m a scientist, and proud of it)
These websites keep me informed about the (sometimes dark) world of ours:
Frontline (investigative journalism at its best -- Japan’s journalists should cry in shame)
Newshour (formerly the “MacNeil Lehrer Newshour”)
An article about my former colleagues:
SRI shows the benefits of shrinking tech by CNET
Popular Science (I’m a geek, and proud of it)
Scientific American (I’m a scientist, and proud of it)
These websites keep me informed about the (sometimes dark) world of ours:
Frontline (investigative journalism at its best -- Japan’s journalists should cry in shame)
Newshour (formerly the “MacNeil Lehrer Newshour”)
An article about my former colleagues:
SRI shows the benefits of shrinking tech by CNET
campus fair
06-06-11 17:27 Filed in: undergrad
In between work, Noriko and I walked up and down the campus main street and enjoyed the fair. My favorites include the railroad society, and the astronomy society. I wish our ultimate team (frisbee team) put on a demonstration. Maybe next year.
fantastic weather
04-06-11 07:29 Filed in: travel
After several months of rotten health, I’m coming back to running. My favorite running paths include:
(a) The campus circuit. Once around the campus = 6 km.
(b) Oodoori Park. The park is short but pretty and lots of restrooms! Including the run from campus to the park = 6 km.
(c) Sasson Expressway. From campus, run along the Shinkawa River to the expressway and back. Including the campus circuit = 11 km.
I really want to run the banks of the Toyohira River but from where I live the path to the river is boring and rather dangerous because of vehicle traffic.
(a) The campus circuit. Once around the campus = 6 km.
(b) Oodoori Park. The park is short but pretty and lots of restrooms! Including the run from campus to the park = 6 km.
(c) Sasson Expressway. From campus, run along the Shinkawa River to the expressway and back. Including the campus circuit = 11 km.
I really want to run the banks of the Toyohira River but from where I live the path to the river is boring and rather dangerous because of vehicle traffic.
international friends through SACLA
26-04-11 08:03 Filed in: events
SACLA (Sharing All Cultures and Languages) is a Hokudai student organization that socializes internationally. SACLA’s international lunches won Hokudai’s 元気 energetic project award in 2010. Contact them for times and places of their international lunches. (Last year, they met on Wednesdays from 12:10 to 12:50 at the International Student Center (留学生センター) 1st floor lobby.) They also engage in sports, cookouts, and volunteering.
TED talks
25-04-11 12:25 Filed in: technology
Looking for intellectual stimulation? How about a TED talk video. They come in English (challenging -- the content can be complex, and the talkers assume a native-speaker audience) and other languages including Japanese.
prime numbers
25-04-11 12:25 Filed in: technology
I’m fascinated with prime numbers. Prime numbers, or primes for short, are natural numbers that can be divided only by 1 or by itself. By definition, 1 is not prime. 2 is the only even prime. 17 is prime, and so is 617 (my birthday is 17 June). But my month of birth (6), year of birth (1961), and date of birth (19610617) are not.
This year, 2011, is prime. The next prime year is 2017.
So what are dates this year are prime? According to prime-numbers.org, they are:
2011-01-09 (that’s 20110109 written in yyyy-mm-dd format)
2011-02-17
2011-03-01
2011-04-11
2011-04-29 (it’s a holiday, too!)
2011-05-11
2011-05-13 (wow, 2 prime dates 2 days apart! -- these are known as twin primes)
2011-05-23
2011-06-03
2011-06-13
2011-06-19 (aw shucks, my birthday isn’t prime! in fact I need to wait until 2027-06-17 for my prime birthday! and the one after that is 2036-06-17! neither of these are twin primes *sob*)
2011-08-01
2011-08-07
2011-08-19
2011-08-23 (4 primes in the month of august!)
2011-09-27
2011-10-11
2011-10-23 (my mom’s birthday is prime!)
2011-10-27
2011-12-13
My birthday (17) is a member of the only sexy prime quintuplet (5, 11, 17, 23, 29). Sexy prime quintuplets are a set of 5 primes satisfying the condition (p, p+6, p+12, p+18, p+24).
This year, 2011, is prime. The next prime year is 2017.
So what are dates this year are prime? According to prime-numbers.org, they are:
2011-01-09 (that’s 20110109 written in yyyy-mm-dd format)
2011-02-17
2011-03-01
2011-04-11
2011-04-29 (it’s a holiday, too!)
2011-05-11
2011-05-13 (wow, 2 prime dates 2 days apart! -- these are known as twin primes)
2011-05-23
2011-06-03
2011-06-13
2011-06-19 (aw shucks, my birthday isn’t prime! in fact I need to wait until 2027-06-17 for my prime birthday! and the one after that is 2036-06-17! neither of these are twin primes *sob*)
2011-08-01
2011-08-07
2011-08-19
2011-08-23 (4 primes in the month of august!)
2011-09-27
2011-10-11
2011-10-23 (my mom’s birthday is prime!)
2011-10-27
2011-12-13
My birthday (17) is a member of the only sexy prime quintuplet (5, 11, 17, 23, 29). Sexy prime quintuplets are a set of 5 primes satisfying the condition (p, p+6, p+12, p+18, p+24).
mon4, mon5, tue3, fri3 survey results
25-01-11 18:00 Filed in: undergrad
Anonymous survey responses for my undergraduate classes are posted on their respective class web pages (
mon4, mon5, tue3, fri2). Combined preliminary results are posted below.Thanks to everybody for making this an exciting semester for your conversation partners.
回答の平均値の順、回答者数119人
- 1.00
- 1.55
fri2 survey results
25-01-11 07:07 Filed in: undergrad
Survey results have been updated with the addition of write-in comments.
Our fri2 class (undergraduate class on Fridays 2nd period) ended today. Anonymous survey responses are posted on the class web page. Thanks to everybody for making this an exciting semester for your conversation partners.
Our fri2 class (undergraduate class on Fridays 2nd period) ended today. Anonymous survey responses are posted on the class web page. Thanks to everybody for making this an exciting semester for your conversation partners.
final exam
14-01-11 21:15 Filed in: undergrad
Attention all undergrad students
You must take the final exam. If you missed the final, you must see me for a personal interview no later than 2011-01-25. I am out of town starting 2011-01-26, and when I return to Hokudai, it will be too late to have an interview. You must see me before I leave. If you miss both the final and the interview, you fail my course.
You must take the final exam. If you missed the final, you must see me for a personal interview no later than 2011-01-25. I am out of town starting 2011-01-26, and when I return to Hokudai, it will be too late to have an interview. You must see me before I leave. If you miss both the final and the interview, you fail my course.
sushi
11-01-11 07:31 Filed in: undergrad
Sushi is popular. (Which causes problems that I won’t go into today. Suffice it to say that if you like sushi, enjoy it now, while there’s still fish left in the oceans.) Anyway, here are some sushi-related links.
http://www.sushifaq.com/
http://www.eatsushi.com/
http://www.sushilinks.com/
http://www.kikkomanusa.com/
But don’t believe all websites! How many mistakes can you find at the following website?
http://quizlet.com/732015/sushi-fish-types-flash-cards/
I found:
wrong: “malay”, correct: “japanese”
wrong: “ohyo” is pronounced “oh-yoh”, correct: “o-hyo”
http://www.sushifaq.com/
http://www.eatsushi.com/
http://www.sushilinks.com/
http://www.kikkomanusa.com/
But don’t believe all websites! How many mistakes can you find at the following website?
http://quizlet.com/732015/sushi-fish-types-flash-cards/
I found:
wrong: “malay”, correct: “japanese”
wrong: “ohyo” is pronounced “oh-yoh”, correct: “o-hyo”