Physics
• Right now I have two roles at Nevis Labs.

  • I'm a "Network Engineer", which means I help maintain the computer systems network.
  • I'm working on physics simulation software for the NuSOnG experiment. Here's a talk I gave on NuSOnG to the Nevis REU students on 30-Jun-08.

    C++ and programming books

  • My Contributions

    I've been lucky enough to have made, and to continue to make, some small contributions to scientific research. They are listed below with my most recent work first.
    • Here's a talk I gave on NuSOnG to the Nevis REU students on 30-Jun-08.
    • I worked on software development for simulations that make use of the Reactor Analysis Tool.
    • I prepared a hands-on tutorial on ROOT for the REU students at Nevis during the summer of 2001. I've taught it annually since then.
    • My work at Nevis included working with the ATLAS collaboration to simulate the liquid-argon calorimeter using Geant4.
    • I helped to produce two parts of the Nevis publication Matter and Energy: Introduction and On Particle Physics. You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to see these documents.
    • The CCFR experiment collected the data I used in research, and I'm developed their web site. If it were ever finished (unlikely as of Sep-1999), I would have explained my analysis in terms that (I hope) most people would understand. Unfortunately, I never had the time to finish this site.
    • NuTeV is the current incarnation of the physics experiment in which I collected my data. The experiment probes the detailed structure of matter using a neutrino beam on an iron target. You can see pictures of some of the collaborators.
    • The 6-page technical article I wrote on my analysis results was published in the 18-Aug-97 issue of Physical Review Letters 79: 1213-1216 (1997)
    • The thesis errata were last updated on 18-Oct-1999.
    • You can see the numerical results of my analysis, including my 475-page thesis "A Next-to-Leading-Order QCD Analysis of Neutrino-Iron Structure Functions at the Tevatron."
    • I received my Ph.D. in high-energy physics from Columbia University on 24-Nov-96.

    Statistics books

    
    

  • Particle Physics in General

    • Want to learn the basics of high-energy physics? The Particle Data Group maintains the Particle Adventure site.
    • Nevis Labs is the high-energy physics research facility operated by the Columbia University Physics Department. It's where I work.
    • Fermilab has the highest-energy particle accelerator in the United States. It's where I collected the data for my doctoral thesis.
    • Spires is a search engine for locating research papers related to high-energy physics.
    • The Los Alamos e-print archive contains TeX and postscript files of many high-energy physics research papers.
    • CERN is the major European particle accelerator. When they complete the LHC, they'll have the highest-energy accelerator in the world. They maintain the world's standard physics-analysis software.
    • If you want to see some programs that demonstrate some fundamental principles of physics, check out Yves Pelletier's site.
    • Of course, let us not forget the foundations of high-energy physics.

    Particle-physics books

  
  Daily

• These are the sites I check every day.
  • MacInTouch contains lots of useful information on the care and feeding of Macs.
  • MacFixIt has hints and tips for keeping the Mac in shape. Right now I'm at Mac OS X 10.4.
  • To stay informed, I try to read the New York Times daily. It's even better than the print edition, because you get cartoons. You have to register, but otherwise it's free (in the US).
  • And speaking of all the 'toons that are fit (or unfit) to read:

    Doonesbury	Dilbert	Brewster Rockit	User-Friendly
    Rudy Park	Gasoline Alley	Alley Oop	Little Dee
    Diesel Sweeties	Real Life Comics	Sore Thumbs	Joy of Tech
    xkcd	Dork Tower	Penny Arcade	PvP
    Backwards Compatible		Ding!
    Foxtrot	Nodwick	Full Frontal Nerdity	Partially Clips

  
  
  UNIX

• My formal title at Nevis Labs is "Network Engineer." Basically, I'm a UNIX systems administrator (though my Mac has proved itself to be enormously useful on the job).
  • If you're a UNIX beginner, check out UNIXhelp or UNIX is a Four-Letter Word.
  • SlashDot is a popular site for circulating information about UNIX.
  • Perl is a language you must learn if you expect to become a UNIX guru.
  • Sys Admin is a magazine for UNIX systems administrators.
  • freshmeat keeps track of the latest UNIX software released.
  • Acronyms: FOLDOC and The Acronym Server.

  Books on systems administration

  
  Macintosh

• I'm a Macintosh fan... or haven't you figured that out yet?

  • Resources

    I used to keep lots of resource links on this page, but why bother? These people do it better, and they keep their stuff up to date.
    • Tucows is a major shareware repository.
    
    

  • Information

    • MacSurfer's Headline News is an effective summary of many Mac news sites.
    • But it's a long time since I looked at MacSurfer. This approach looks interesting, I may visit it more often: Alltop.
    • I've learned quite a few tricks from Mac OS X Hints.
    • MacLife magazine is for the true Mac believer.
    • MacWorld is a monthly magazine. Mac fan that I am, I admit that let my subscription lapse because I found that it was a waste of time to subscribe to both MacLife and MacWorld. Note: When I last visited the MacWorld web site (02-Feb-07), half the page was missing: my ad-blocker (Privoxy) blocked much of the content.
    • TidBITS is a weekly free on-line Mac magazine with lots of tips.
    
    

  • Software support

    • To make the plots for my physics analysis and my thesis, I use IGOR. Aside from its excellent plotting and macro capabilities, it's also a good quick-and-dirty mathematical programming language.
    • Everyone should have one general-purpose graphics program. Mine used to be Canvas 3.5.4 -- but I haven't needed to use it in over six years, so I haven't upgraded to Canvas for OS X.
    • BBEdit is a nice text editor and a fine way to prepare Web pages.
    • Scripting is a way to create automated procedures for Mac programs. Applescript is the primary scripting tool for the Mac.
    • My financial software package is Quicken 2005 -- which I only got to keep up the downloading of some investment data before Intuit shut it off. No version of Quicken released since 1996 has had any new features I wanted.
    
    
  
  
  Astronomy
  • Table of Full and New Moons. I created this table using public-domain astronomy algorithms.
  • Sky and Telescope is an excellent astronomy magazine, with lots of useful web links on their home page. However, the magazine I subscribe to is ASTRONOMY Magazine.
  • SEDS is a great encyclopedia of space information. I really like their Solar System Tour.
  • I don't actually check the Astronomy Picture of the Day every day, but it's fun to look at now and then.
  • Here's a link to an aurora forecast.
  
  
  Pagan

• I came out of the broom closet the modern way... by including the following links in this web site.
  • The Witches' Voice is a good all-around information site.
  • If you're looking for lots of pagan-related links, or some basic information on paganism, check out Isaac Bonewits' Web Pages and the links therein.
  • There are a lot of pagan resources on the 'net now. I've found many interesting things in the Pagan Library.
  • Four Quarters Farm is an amazing place in the Alleghenies. They're building a megalithic circle there, one giant stone each year. It will take twenty years to complete. Come to Stones Rising in September to help raise the next stone.
  • Moving a little to the east, in Maryland we have Free Spirit Alliance, which puts on the excellent Free Spirit Gathering and the Free Spirit Healing Retreat every year.
  • Heading north, EarthSpirit is a pagan community and resource in the New England area.
  • Burning Man, in Nevada, isn't specifically a "pagan" festival, but it does have a pagan energy to it. I like their list of novelties; I'm a sucker for glow-in-the-dark stuff.
  • They're making a movie entitled Drawing Down the Moon.

    Pagan-related books

  
  
  The Written Word

• I've had a life-long fascination with books and references. Here are a few good references I've picked up while browsing through the Internet.
  • Here's an on-line reference desk.
  • For the writer, there's Wordsmyth English Dictionary and Roget's Thesaurus.
  • Miriam-Webster offers a dictionary and a thesaurus.
  • All the works of Shakespeare are on the Web.
  • On the different end of poetic spectrum the lyrics to all the Beatles' songs are also available.
  • Who's on first?
  • Myth and Legend
    • Windows on the Universe has an overview on world mythologies.
    • Before you believe what you see on the 'net, check out Snopes -- before you hurl a chair through a mirror!
  • Do we really need to continue feeding lawyers and sustaining a bloated legal system? Nolo Press doesn't think so. They're a major source of legal self-help.
  • I usually start with Mapquest for on-line maps and directions.
  • For information on the places on the map, you can start with the World Factbook.
  
  
  SF

• I've been a science fiction fan since about 1966, when my third-grade teacher gave me a copy of Eleanor Cameron's The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet.
  • I hate the name of the Sci-Fi Weekly, but it's a useful source of SF news and reviews.
  • Sci-Fi focuses more on media-related SF, especially the Sci-Fi channel (of course). Sci-fi Wire has daily updates of SF-related news.
  • The Sci-Fi site also hosts SciFiction, which presents interesting written works from noted names in the fields. I like Michael Swanick's on-going Periodic Table of Science Fiction.
  • The SF Site has some interesting reviews and links, including articles from Asimov's, F&SF, and Analog.
  • FANAC is a good place look for material on SF fandom.
  • I'm a card-carrying member of the Klingon Language Institute.

  SF books

  
  Personalities

• People I know, people I've met, people I've seen... and people with cool web sites.
  • I knew The Mook Brothers when they worked at the NY Ren Faire. Their style of comedy harks back (why doesn't anything hark forward?) to the days of The Marx Brothers and The Three Stooges. TriBeCa Radio has podcasts available for their radio show; see these instructions for how to access them.
  • Dan Holzman was the first of my circle of friends to have his own home page.
  • Beaded Phoenix is the web site of my friend Rosanne Andreas. If you make jewelry, check out her remarkably useful bead poster.
  • Wil Wheaton has one of the best weblogs on the net.
  
  
  Shopping on the Web

• On the rare occasions I can afford to buy something, here's where I look.
  • The main places to buy books on the Internet are Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
  • O'Reilly publishes the best series of books on UNIX and related software I've seen.
  • When it comes to computer supplies, I trust MacMall so much, I actually bought my Power Mac by mail from them.
  • MacResq has used hardware and software for older Macs.
  • I buy my RAM from Small Dog Electronics.
  • The deal-Mac web site is good for finding out about special prices.
  • Before I buy any goodies, I check out the information in Accelerate Your Macintosh to learn if they'll do me any good.
  • If you're looking for some real deals on computers or supplies, you can try:
    • CNET has two services I use: reviews and price comparisons.
    • PriceWatch has prices of all types of items.
    • Yahoo has a shopping area.
  • I rent a lot of DVDs though NetFlix. After a rocky start (a lot of DVDs got lost in the mail) I find it to be an inexpensive and convenient way to become acquainted with old and rare films.
  
  
  Fun and games

• All work and no play... raises my productivity.
  
  

  • Medieval Recreation

    • I enjoy Live-Action Role-Playing (in fact, I was director of LAIRE for two years). From 1997 to 2003 I played in Mystic Realms.
    • During the summers, I usually work at the Ren Faire in Tuxedo, NY. I can occasionally be seen at other fairs as well.
    • I'm often asked where I get the costumes I wear to the Ren Faires. Moresca sells Middle-Age, Renaissance, and fantasy costumes, as does Gypsy Moon, Knightly Endeavors, Authentic Wardrobe, and Renstore.
    • If you play in LARPs, you'll need masking tape and duct tape in exotic colors.

  • Television

    • For a general guide to SF on TV (including the schedule of new episodes), look in The Magrathea/SFTV Home Page.
    • The currently-running SF TV series I like best is Battlestar Galactica (though I acknowledge some truth when my friend calls it a "man-soap"). I also enjoyed Farscape and Firefly.
    • I still retain a fondness for Doctor Who. The Prydonians of Prynceton are a premier Doctor Who fan club.
    • My own personal favorite was the original Star Trek. The newer stuff ain't bad, but the shows take fewer risks and lack the flair of the original.
    
    

  • Movies

    • For movie reviews, I check out James Berardinelli's and Roger Ebert's sites. By the way, the job of a critic is not to tell you whether the movie is good or bad. The job of the critic is to give you just enough information to judge whether you'd enjoy the film.
    • The Internet Movie Database is the standard reference for information about movies on the net.
    • I once said, "Until someone comes up with a Casablanca home page, the only movie-related Web Page I've seen and liked is Star Wars." Did you notice that the word "Casablanca" is now highlighted in that sentence? Did you notice that "Star Wars" no longer is? Things change...
    • 2001: A Space Odyssey remains the greatest SF film ever made.
    • Which film is the box-office champ? No, it's not the one you think -- because you have to take inflation into account. According to BoxOfficeMojo, the number one in ticket sales is actually Gone with the Wind.
    
    

Note: At this point the Argothald section of this site is completely dormant. The last time I ran an Argothald expedition was in 1989. I must acknowledge that my life is not heading in a direction that includes playing table-top fantasy role-playing games. I regret this, since I enjoy playing them and I still have interesting ideas and stories about Argothald. One day, perhaps...