Stacks On!

moar funny pictures

Such is life in prison – someone is gonna make you their bitch.

Star Tortoises at Melbourne Zoo – caption and photo by zayzayem.

Winners all round

Cheers to iinet who decided to give me a trip for two to Sydney to catch the Australian vs New Zealand rugby union match. Another flimsy excuse for a lack of recent postings.

In other news Kathy Belov did the Australian Museum People’s Choice Eureka Prize. I’m gonna try and count this as a poll crash win! Woo!

And finally. Me On 3 submissions with Aunty III have now closed. Below is the channels tribute to over 5,000 entries. Remember there can only be one!*

*Actually, I think there will likely be more than one

That’s no energy drink

Please tell me this was made up for the Russian Tabloid.

A 14-year-old Chinese boy in Szechuan Province thought that the best way to be like his idolized transformer heroes was to start drinking petrol every day for five years.

A 14-year-old boy, from the town of Yibin in Sichuan, first saw the animated saga about robots from outer space – able to transform into vehicles, electronic items or weapons – when he was nine years old.

The youngster was so impressed that he began drinking fuel on a daily basis to “obtain energy” and become a mighty warrior like the Transformers.

He started out with lighter fuel, then upgraded to siphoning gas from his parent’s motorcycle. When his parents locked that up, he started stealing from neighbours.

Sadly (but not unsurprising), the young boy did not develop the superpowers he was looking for, and instead appears to have damaged his brain.

Honestly, does this make any sense? I don’t remember transformers actually requiring fuel? I thought they  ran on sunlight, or nuclear, or the energy released during the reduction of children into mindless consumers.

GraphJam: Child’s Estimate of Parents’ IQ

see more Funny Graphs

Critters and chainsaws

Ah… the internet:

• Top 10 species discoveries 2009
• Creatures that can kill you without you seeing them first
• Bizarre writing prompts
• Food for thought if you hand chainsaws for arms

Image credit: Snazzy llama pic by complicated combination of Laurie Pink, Lispencie and others… [Creative Commons]

What does a (good) maths teacher teach?

Think about that question… do you know the answer?

Along with English (or as it is known: “multiliteracies“) unit this semester, I’m also doing a math subject (or as it is known: “mathematics”).

While mathematics still mathematics, there’s still been several shake ups in pedagogy and terminology since I went to school: For example “times tables” are now “number facts”.

The weird thing in doing research for last weeks assignment (which is my excuse of the month for lack of updates), is finding out a lot of these “new fangled” concepts are not that new at all. I found “number facts” in some books almost as old as me (late 80′s).

Another concept I think is quite relevant is the “Three Facets of Mathematics” from Payne and Rathmell, which appears to date back to 1975 (some NCTM publication).

The basic idea is that what people do with math needs to make sense. Being able to punch in symbols and get an answer might get you an A+ on the test – but real world situations are not frequently symbolic (symbols are possibly more prevalent in a digital society) – understanding concepts is much more important than interpreting symbols.

Payne and Rathmell add two other ways of illustrating concepts that students need to be familiar with – a physical or visual representation (e.g. two circles joining three circles), a verbal representation (e.g. two more than three, add two and three), in addition to the symbolic (2 + 3 = ?). The symbolic needs to be recognised as the most abstract and complex of these illustrations, so should really be introduced after students understand the concept (or at least near the end of reaching that understanding). The other point of using three facets of math is that the language used in each illustration needs to match up.

This “math has to make sense in three ways” really came clearer when we were dealing with dividing by a fraction. When dividing we often think of it as partitioning or sharing into equal groups. [20 ÷ 4] becomes “I have twenty apples, and four people: how many apples can I give each person?” This will not work with fractions. [20 ÷ ¾] will not become “I have twenty apples, and three quarters of a person, how many apples can I give this twisted remnant of a human?” It’s either nonsensical (you don’t get three-quarters of a person) or not the question you are trying to solve (the midget gets all the apples [or maybe ¾], he’s one, right?).

In dividing by fractions we need to use another interpretation of dividing – quotitive, or rather than asking “how many do each get”, ask “how many can I give out”. [20 ÷ 4] becomes “I have twenty apples, and I am giving out baskets of four: how many baskets can I give out?”. This will work with fractions. [20 ÷ ¾] becomes “Each student needs three quarter pieces of fruit, how many can I feed with 20 apples?” This can then be transformed visually as shown below.

And this language can be used for situations beyond slicing (fruit and pizza connect well with schoolkids). You could also use volumes. Below is “I have a 20L of wine in a barrel. How many bottles can I fill (each bottle contains 750mL, or ¾L)? Although, I’m not sure if wine is a responsible illustration to use for 8th graders.

I still like the slicing representation better. To me it will explain the algorithm step-by-step. First, multiply by the denominator 4 (to get the number of slices), and then divide by the numerator 3 (to get how many groups of three quarters there are all together) to reach your final answer. You can then move the students onto to pizzas (eighths) to check that the algorithm holds for different denominators. Then perhaps move them to non-slicing situations and see that the algorithm still holds (or does it?)

Really lame pictures by zayzayem.

Answer: “STUDENTS”. (Smart ass, yes. But it should be true for all teachers of all subjects.)

Give me back my test!!

Hey dude, why did you paint a vagina on your face?

Congratulations! Wikipedia has managed to piss of another segment of society. Psychologists can now be added to a growing list that includes Encyclopedia Britannica, Scientologists, high school teachers, and UK censors.

via i09: Wikipedia now includes not only the questions, but potential answers and marking criteria, for the traditional Rorschach blot test (spoilers there). So you can study up to prove your sanity (or insanity if you’re after a section 8)

I did not realise that their was such a stock set of 10 images. I knew their had to be a stock (in order to have some level of objectivity in analysis), but did not realise that all subjects would get the same 10 images everytime. Isn’t this sort of exposé sort of inevitable. Surely someone sweating an upcoming test can find, at the very least, a psychology textbook that would have the exact same information that Wikipedia now contains. Or do they do a full background check on people purchasing such texts to ensure they are part of the inner circle of psychology?

Now why don’t we have some fun.

Have your own go looking at each of the images uploaded to Wikimedia: Image 1. Image 2. Image 3. Image 4. Image 5. Image 6. Image 7. Image 8. Image 9. Image 10.

(If you want to test yourself, write down your initial responses now, otherwise I might ‘prime’ you. Be as detailed or succinct as you like.)

Have a look at my jumbled responses below the fold. See if you can match them with right image (and your own responses). You can then go back to the Wikipedia page and look at the ‘official responses’ and feel free to play psychologist.

What does the internet think of you?

via Christie @ OOAN

The internet gives you a right to narcissism. And now you can enjoy that narcissism in a new colourful way with Personas.

This MIT gadget scours the internet for your digital imprint and classifies your record into a bunch of coloured bars corresponding to different categories (e.g. politics, arts, sports – even stuff like aggression and illegal).

Definitely worth checking out. And as Christie notes, it will change each time you run the program.

I ran the simulation three times. I did not use my real name, the program cannot distinguish people with the same name – and there are much more prominent internet Michael Zimmers.

Most of the presence for zayzayem comes from Wikipedia (particularly spats and screeds). Not sure where all the sports is coming from (perhaps early days on SparkNotes).  I think the third one represents me best.

Your online identity is important. Potential employers (and dates) screen you through Google and Facebook – so there are definitely certain things you don’t want to inadvertantly place up there. This can be a useful tool in seeing what is out there on you. But it is also only a matter of time that they will be using it to check up on you.

Dapper dolphins dealing crack to children

And they think it’s just one big joke.

60 Second Science: Kids competition

Through the ABC Teaching Science mailer.

Children in Australian schools can win cash prizes by creating a 60 second science video. The video can be filmed or animation, and must “demonstrate and explain a scientific experiment, principle or concept.” (Full rules here)

Registration closes at the end of September. The prize has been set up thanks to funding from the Victorian Department of Education – but there is a $1000 of prize money available in each state ($400 and $100 for first and second in primary and secondary divisions).

Entry forms available here.

Abortion in Queensland – is it what you think?

If you criminalise abortion, what do you expect will happen?

(The Australian) TEGAN Simone Leach was 19, pregnant and “scared” when her boyfriend’s sister arrived in Cairns last Christmas Day with a consignment of contraband tablets and doctor’s instructions written in Ukrainian.

What transpired after Ms Leach allegedly terminated her pregnancy with the abortion pill RU486 and the Queensland police got involved, has unleashed a legal and political storm of the like not seen before in this country.

Ms Leach will face court next month charged with the crime of procuring her own miscarriage, in what is believed to be the first case of its kind to be brought under Queensland’s century-old abortion laws.

If convicted, she faces up to seven years’ jail.

The young man in her life, Sergie Brennan, 21, faces up to 14 years’ imprisonment for attempting to procure an abortion and three years’ jail on a further charge of supplying the means to procure an abortion. [more]

As expected there is quite a lot of anger coming from liberal left sector – with the launch of the Pro-choice Action Collective in Queensland. They have a facebook group and a website. But is this the right case to be defending?

No, really? Teachers use sarcasm in staff meetings

via the AiR some time ago

This is an interesting academic paper (draft?) investigating the use of sarcasm, relying on conversations taped at school leadership team meetings. It is not a surprise that teachers (or anyone, really) use sarcasm (I was actually watching UK series Teachers, when I was reading throgh this) – this was just the setting that served a more sociological investigation into what sarcasm is and how do people use it. Something the authors say isn’t studied enough.

The author defines sarcasm as “ a witty or ironic remark used to evoke laughter, tease, challenge, or criticize.” He then subdivides each episode of sarcasm into these different categories. The number in brackets is the number of times such a usage was identified during the taped meetings.

Joke (20) Sarcasm in which one or more individuals make others laugh without targeting another individual.

Tease (11) Sarcasm in which one or more individuals playfully mock another individual.

Criticize (21)Sarcasm in which one or more individuals criticize another individual (either present or absent), program, or event.

Challenge (5) Sarcasm in which one or more individuals challenge another individual’s statement.

Other (4) Episodes identified as sarcasm that fit neither the above categories nor a single new category.

Going by modes you could say that the main uses of sarcasm amongst school staff are to make jokes and criticise. Joking is all well and good, but criticism sounds a little negative. You could further merge the tease, criticize and challenge categories into a “hostile” category, in which sarcasm is used to confront another individual, or bring down a program or event. That makes “negative” use of sarcasm far more prevalent than joking.

I’m putting negative in inverted commas, because the authors make some attempt to suggest that sarcasm is a tool used to make the confrontation less hostile. The point against the other party is still made, but it avoids a big kerfuffle. Such as an example when a remark is made about a teacher arriving late for the meeting and grabbing a muffin. The sarcastic comment lets everyone know that lateness is being watched for, but keeps the mood light.

The researchers only investigated dialogue that occurred between staff at the school. Do people vary in their use of sarcasm when with friends rather than co-workers? Or, more importantly in the educational setting, how about when dealing with students? Not only can poor use of sarcasm damage rapport building, but bad habits of teachers would surely rub off on students.

Choose your own science

In the lead up to Australia’s National Science Week this month (don’t forget to sign up for that), the Australia Museum is holding People’s Choice Awards for their Eureka Science Prizes.

GO VOTE. (There are prizes for Australian residents)

I actually have connections with one of these scientists! Squeee! I am like legitimate (or not…). Kathy Belov, nominated for her work regarding the genetics of the Tadmanian Devil facial tumour (DFTD). Marsupial immunology is a small field, so Kathy was one of the collaborators with my ex-supervisor on the launchblock for my research (one of my former lab-mates now has Kathy as a PhD co-supervisor) – near the end of my research our lab received some very useful American marsupial DNA libraries from her.Good luck Kathy.

And if transmissible facial cancer in devils is not cool enough for you there is also:

• a gamer-chick making diamond-based nanodrugs,
• a link between climate change and increasing danger of allergies,
• the discovery of five new species of glow-worms (and a parasitic wasp),
• not to be outdone, the discovery of almost 50 new sharks and rays (or over 100), and
• using radiocarbon dating to investigate what exactly caused cimate and atmospheric changes in the past to better udnerstand what is going on today

There are 6.8 billion reasons why holistic organic tofu farming won’t take off

You may remember I offhandedly posted a link to a new hard-hitting piece of environmnetal investigative journalism “Food Inc” back ago. You can read a bit more about it at ERV (Her non-judgemental words: “a new movie bitching about GMOs and food production in the US”).

Unsurprisingly the US meat/livestock/poultry industries have put together a debunking website: safefoodinc.org which includes an enlightening myths & facts section.

The curious case of the unqualified qualication

According to 6minutes.com.au the Chiropractor’s Association of Australia has asked people to stop practicing chiropract. Well, particular people. Doctors in particular. Because they are not qualified enough.

Oh, wait we are only at the entrance to this rabbit hold.

According to the CAA it takes a minimum of 5-years to become a chiropractor, while a doctor can just upskill with a correspondence course from the RACPG.

The article also suggests that tha CAA candidly admits that there are risks associated with spinal manipulation. I wonder if the wider chiropractic community will accept these risks are potential (and any risk will not be wholly mitigated by the presence of trained ‘professional’).

Now while the CAA almost seems laughable here, they are actually attempting to enforce exactly what the evidence-based medicine community has asked of them: clean up their own house. They are accepting responsiblity for the safe practice of chiropract by all practicioiners, by attempting to get some training standards in place.

Rather then laughing this off perhaps the EBM community should be asking – why are all these actual GPs and MDs engaging in an unproven non-reality based mode of practice with established associated risks, and why is the RACPG encouraging it?

I can think of a couple of weak reasons, can you?