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What does Boffo Socko mean anyway?
“Boffo” and “socko” are neologisms in the family of Variety-speak after the well known business trade journal covering Tinseltown (often better known as Hollywood aka the Coast aka H’w’d.)
Their definitions from Variety’s “slanguage” dictionary follow:
boffo (also boff, boffola) — outstanding (usually refers to box office performance); “‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ has been boffo at the B.O.” (See also, socko, whammo)
socko (also sock) — very good (usually refers to box office performance); “‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ has done socko B.O.” (See also, boff, whammo)
Brief Philosophy
I use this website as my primary hub for online presence and communication and to some extent as my online commonplace book. I try to follow the tenets of the IndieWeb movement by publishing on my own site and owning all of my own data. When I participate in social silos (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.), I post here first and syndicate duplicates out to them (POSSE). These posts either originate from here or my social stream. You’re welcome to subscribe to or consume them in any manner or on any platform you prefer.
Recent Posts in Information Theory, Complexity, and Molecular Biology
How Life Turns Asymmetric | Quanta Magazine by By Tim Vernimmen (quantamagazine.org) Scientists are uncovering how our bodies — and everything within them — tell right from left. In 2009, after she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, Ann Ramsdell began to search the scientific literature to see if someone with her diagnosis could … Continue reading "How Life Turns Asymmetric | Quanta Magazine"
H-theorem in quantum physics by G. B. Lesovik, A. V. Lebedev, I. A. Sadovskyy, M. V. Suslov & V. M. Vinokur (Nature.com) Abstract Remarkable progress of quantum information theory (QIT) allowed to formulate mathematical theorems for conditions that data-transmitting or data-processing occurs with a non-negative entropy gain. However, relation of these results formulated in terms … Continue reading "🔖 H-theorem in quantum physics by G. B. Lesovik, et al."
Information Processing and Biology by John Carlos Baez (Azimuth) The Santa Fe Institute, in New Mexico, is a place for studying complex systems. I’ve never been there! Next week I’ll go there to give a colloquium on network theory, and also to participate in this workshop. I just found out about this from John Carlos … Continue reading "Statistical Physics, Information Processing, and Biology Workshop at Santa Fe Institute"
Someone has built a Warren Weaver Bot! by Weaverbot (Twitter) This is the signal for the second. How can you not follow this twitter account?! Now I’m waiting for a Shannon bot and a Weiner bot. Maybe a John McCarthy bot would be apropos too?!
A new paper (arXiv) and some videos on entropy and algorithmic complexity
Transplantation of spinal cord–derived neural stem cells for ALS (neurology.org) Analysis of phase 1 and 2 trials testing the safety of spinal cord transplantation of human stem cells in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) with escalating doses and expansion of the trial to multiple clinical centers. I built the microinjectors used in these experiments … Continue reading "Transplantation of spinal cord–derived neural stem cells for ALS"
Network Science by Albert-László Barabási (Cambridge University Press) I ran across a link to this textbook by way of a standing Google alert, and was excited to check it out. I was immediately disappointed to think that I would have to wait another month and change for the physical textbook to be released, but made … Continue reading "Network Science by Albert-László Barabási"
Estimating technological breaks in the size and composition of human collective memory from biographical data by C. Jara-Figueroa, Amy Z. Yu, Cesar A. Hidalgo (arxiv.org) The ability of humans to accumulate knowledge and information across generations is a defining feature of our species. This ability depends on factors that range from the psychological biases that … Continue reading "Human Collective Memory from Biographical Data"
Recent Posts in Mathematics
Someone is watching you Instagram filter used: Clarendon Photo taken at: UCLA Math Sciences Building
Basic Category Theory by Tom Leinster (arxiv.org) This short introduction to category theory is for readers with relatively little mathematical background. At its heart is the concept of a universal property, important throughout mathematics. After a chapter introducing the basic definitions, separate chapters present three ways of expressing universal properties: via adjoint functors, representable functors, … Continue reading "Basic Category Theory by Tom Leinster | Free Ebook Download"
Emily Riehl's new category theory book has some good company. Instagram filter used: Clarendon Photo taken at: UCLA Bookstore I just saw Emily Riehl‘s new book Category Theory in Context on the shelves for the first time. It’s a lovely little volume beautifully made and wonderfully typeset. While she does host a free downloadable copy … Continue reading "Emily Riehl’s new category theory book has some good company"
The first quarter of Complex Analysis is slowly drawing to a close. Instagram filter used: Normal Photo taken at: UCLA Math Sciences Building There’s still plenty of time to join us for the second installment in January!
Fundamental Theorem of Algebra Instagram filter used: Clarendon Photo taken at: UCLA Math Sciences Building
Someone has built a Warren Weaver Bot! by Weaverbot (Twitter) This is the signal for the second. How can you not follow this twitter account?! Now I’m waiting for a Shannon bot and a Weiner bot. Maybe a John McCarthy bot would be apropos too?!
Social Stream
Checkin Capital One Café05/04/2017
Checkin In-N-Out05/04/2017
Checkin Americana Parking Structure05/04/2017
Checkin Donut Star05/03/2017
Checkin Vons05/01/2017
Checkin Trader Joe’s05/01/2017
Checkin Gerrish Swim and Tennis Club04/30/2017
Checkin Glendale Central Library04/28/2017
Checkin Smart & Final04/26/2017
For more quick-hit (and primarily social related posts and replies) please see my other social stream.
What I’ve Been Reading Lately
It's been windy like this for most of the last day or so... Instagram filter used: Clarendon Photo taken at: Glendale, California
I declare summer to have officially begun! #lambruscobythepool Instagram filter used: Clarendon Photo taken at: Gerrish Swim & Tennis Club Gerrish Swim & Tennis Club
A pretty tree just before the rain... Instagram filter used: Clarendon Photo taken at: La Crescenta, California La Crescenta, California
Flowers on Easter Day Instagram filter used: Clarendon Photo taken at: Glendale, California
My first try at home made matzo ball soup! Next time I'll use schmaltz. Instagram filter used: Clarendon Photo taken at: Glendale, California
Happy Spring! Instagram filter used: Normal Photo taken at: San Marino, California
First time At Clifton's Cafeteria Instagram filter used: Normal Photo taken at: Clifton’s Republic
Punch buggy! Instagram filter used: Normal Photo taken at: San Marino, California
@eatthispodcast and www.fornacalia.com have inspired me to go back to experimenting with bread baking again Instagram filter used: Normal
My view up Instagram filter used: Hudson Photo taken at: Dunsmore Park
Boffo Socko Books | Boffo Socko Publishing
Chris Aldrich mentioned this note on boffosocko.com.