xanmas

- friends
98 link karma
2,461 comment karma
send messageredditor for
what's this?

TROPHY CASE

reddit is a source for what's new and popular online. vote on links that you like or dislike and help decide what's popular, or submit your own!

ELI5 - Why is it bad if Greece ditches the Euro and brings back the drachma? by djcackin explainlikeimfive

[–]xanmas 0 points1 point ago

Fair enough. I would argue that greece was in effect doing both.

ELI5 - Why is it bad if Greece ditches the Euro and brings back the drachma? by djcackin explainlikeimfive

[–]xanmas 10 points11 points ago

You could include that in the metaphor by having the poor cousin (greece) lie about knowing how to drive for the past few years.

New Grad Student looking for moving advice by xanmasin Harvard

[–]xanmas[S] 0 points1 point ago

Thanks so much for your advice! It appears that there isn't some hidden secret to moving and like my dad and I will both fly up there with frequent flyer miles and use his elite status to bring bags with us. This means that we'll buy furniture on the other end but that's not a big deal. I'm thinking of just picking up some stuff from Target/Ikea and having that delivered to my apt. Oh, and using USPS media mail to send my books through the post super cheaply. What do you think?

Boston Skyline Last Night by misterceejayin boston

[–]xanmas 0 points1 point ago

Could you upload a high resolution copy for use as a background?

Wanted to make Houstonians aware. by cooljj_20in houston

[–]xanmas 0 points1 point ago

I removed the post when I made my comment so if you want people to see it/vote on it you should repost it. I removed it because it violated the "Be descriptive in your titles!" part of the posting guidelines. With a better title, it'll get more attention and possibly spark an interesting discussion about the topic while also bringing attention to the issue at hand.

As it stands, I thought you were going to tell me about the best place to get a taco or something because I wanted tacos and you wanted to make me aware of something. I was hoping tacos. =/

Wanted to make Houstonians aware. by cooljj_20in houston

[–]xanmas 0 points1 point ago

You should create a new post with a better, less ambiguous, title and TL;DR.

Wanted to make Houstonians aware. by cooljj_20in houston

[–]xanmas 0 points1 point ago

Please repost with a less ambiguous title and more information in the text. While a full copy and paste may not be appropriate, at least a TL:DR with a link for interested people to continue would be appropriate.

Bulova or similar by Unexpectedzin Watches

[–]xanmas 0 points1 point ago

What would you recommend for lesser known swiss brands?

New Grad Student looking for moving advice by xanmasin Harvard

[–]xanmas[S] 2 points3 points ago

Whoa there! Someone is making some assumptions! I'm actually a Canadian transplant that is pro-gay rights, pro-universal healthcare, pro-abortion, pro-secularism, and anti-short arms.

Side-bar question by blacksunsevenin houston

[–]xanmas 1 point2 points ago

I don't think anyone knows. It was probably changed when we had one of our sidebar deletions.

Not sure if this is a 'taboo' question, but...how much funding did/do you get? by DarwinDangerin GradSchool

[–]xanmas 1 point2 points ago

~34k/yr + tuition + healthcare for chemical physics in an expensive northeastern city.

New Grad Student looking for moving advice by xanmasin Harvard

[–]xanmas[S] 0 points1 point ago

How often do you use zipcars? And how expensive are they? I know here in Houston, Rice has a deal worked out so that the cars are discounted, os that the same everywhere?

I just got accepted to UH's physics graduate program, and I need advice. by Fmesonin UniversityOfHouston

[–]xanmas 0 points1 point ago

Hey, did you contact the department about the CGS resolution issue? What did they say?

I need to get my taxes done. Do you know anyone good? by lead_footin houston

[–]xanmas -1 points0 points ago

swhitt, would you be available to give lead_foot a tour of the internet? He should have someone experienced show him everything from the valley of youtubes and the forest of lolcats and unfortunately, I'm all booked up for tours this week.

I just got accepted to UH's physics graduate program, and I need advice. by Fmesonin UniversityOfHouston

[–]xanmas 1 point2 points ago*

Are you sure it's April 2nd? I thought that the UH was a member of the Council of Graduate Schools and as such, is bound by the CGS resolution.

If the department told you April 2nd, I would ask them about how this jives with the CGS resolution.

I just got accepted to UH's physics graduate program, and I need advice. by Fmesonin UniversityOfHouston

[–]xanmas 2 points3 points ago

If you have a garage pass, you can always find parking. If you don't, you have to get to campus before ~830 to find a spot.

I just got accepted to UH's physics graduate program, and I need advice. by Fmesonin UniversityOfHouston

[–]xanmas 2 points3 points ago*

I'm a physicist at UH and I work with Dr. Kouri (one of the guys under Signal & Image processing) and he's there because while trying to find better ways to solve the time dependent schrodinger equation, he found these wavelets called the mu-wavelets and a class of filters given by the Distributed Approximating Functionals. Because he recognized the applications of the functions that he drived to signal and image processing, he decided to pursue them as a side project.

As for contacting people, don't be afraid of just emailing professors. Most of them are very quick to respond, especially if you title it something appropriate.

As for statistical physics, check out:

  • Dr. Bassler - Does a lot now with network theory which is pretty interesting. Well respected and just had a undergraduate go to Cornell and a grad student take a position at the Max Plank Institute
  • Dr. Gunaratne - Deals largely with statistical physics in aggregate
  • Dr. Hu - Deals with quantum phase transition work and his course on quantum criticality/renormalization group stuff is absolutely fascinating
  • Dr. Su - High temperature superconductor theorist, brilliant man
  • Dr. Ting - HTSC theorist, taught me graduate statistical physics and he definitely know what he's doing.

As for particle theory, there really isn't too much going on except for the work that Dr. Ordonez does with blackhole physics. Honestly though, I'd be a bit wary of working in his group though because he's not terribly productive.

If you want to do high energy experiment, we have a strong present in multiple neutrino experiments as well as the ALICE collaboration. Drs. Lau, Hungerford, and Whitehead all work in neutrinos while Pinsky and Bellweid both work at ALICE.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Edit: Best and worst parts? The best part would have to be the amount of independent attention that you can get if you ask for it. It's not uncommon for me to talk to professors for 2-3 hours in a day without any concern. This amount of attention comes from the fact that our department is a little small which means that the research that we do can be somewhat limited. Honestly, our department is nano and superconductivity heavy and that is reflected in the seminars and what not. Also, the area around the campus is a bit sketchy. The campus is perfectly safe but between campus and 288 can be a bit hairy at times.

Finally, I'm an NSM ambassador so if you want to come and visit, I can take you around on tours and stuff, introduce you to faculty, and buy you lunch, dinner, and possibly beers.

Wedding planning help for an out of town couple by aeroevanin houston

[–]xanmas 0 points1 point ago

You should check out Corey Wilson and his "Cortet" for a jazz group. They're technically a quartet and not a trio but they're really great musicians. Also, they should have an excellent pianist that can take care of whatever piano needs you have.

What are some of the best jobs in Houston? by drew1111in houston

[–]xanmas 1 point2 points ago

Quant, starts at $210k + bonus.

Anybody else find it odd that to celebrate Independence Day Harris County decides to suspend the 5th Amendment? by roryd883in houston

[–]xanmas 19 points20 points ago*

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

If I recall correctly, and this is based on some old case law that I learned in high school, so bare with me a bit:

A suspicionless search is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment when it meets a balancing test as outlined in the Brow V Texas decision (1979). This balancing test is at its heart, three pronged and must balance the individuals right to personal security against these three prongs, namely: the state interest involved, the level of intrusion, and the effectiveness of the procedure. Or something like that. Well, in the case of Texas v Sanchez, the supreme court ruled that this balancing test was not violated, but this was only for road blocks in general. When the subject of road blocks for sobriety check points, in the decision of Michigan Police v Sitz (uh, 1990? I think), they ruled that sobriety check points satisfied all three prongs. So that's sorta the constitutional motivation for the 4th amendment violation. One might ask, how is a balancing test reasonable?! Well, the constitution protects the rights of our citizens as consistent with those of a Liberal Democracy. Well, the most general way to phrase the rights possessed is as follows: you have all the rights that you desire to accrue so long as the collection of such does not, in any way, hamper the self actualization of another. Said in a more concrete way, the rights of my person stop at your nose.

So, the 5th amendment? In Schmerber v. California the courts ruled that the privilege to prevent self incrimination extended only to oral and written communication and not to physical evidence. Furthermore, this wasn't a violation of the due process amendment (14) because it was done by a doctor in a humane fashion. IIRC, all these blood draws have to be done by a qualified medical technician blah blah. Some argue that this case isn't applicable to field sobriety exams as the draw occurred at a hospital but in the decision, the justices made it very clear that the 5th only applies to your written and oral communications. The 4th protects you from unreasonable search but we've already seen that.

Also of note: Blanton v. North Las Vegas says you're not required to get a jury trial with a DUI case California v. Trombetta Says you don't have to save the breathalyzer data, effectively violating the due process clause

Hope that helps. There's more case law out there but I don't remember it all -- American History was like 4 years ago man.

edit: oh and the other case I was thinking about for the fifth was South Dakota v. Neville, which held that it was not a violation to force someone to submit to breathalyzer or blood tests.

view more: next