Following Obama's Inauguration

As much as I'd like to be there, it looks like I'm not going to make Obama's inauguration. D.C. is just too much of a drive. If you're in the same boat, you might want to check out linklive.org. It's a site with video, blog, etc. coverage of the inauguration, plus a social networking component. (Thanks for the link, Rich!)

Here's a blurb from their About page:

The LINK-live Presidential Inaugural Event ... will connect hundreds of thousands of Americans on the eve of a new era in American politics. Over 4 million Americans will converge on Washington, D.C. to participate in the Inauguration - LINK-live will make it possible for many others in local communities and around the world to also participate in the historic celebration through online technologies.

For obvious reasons, the site is targeting a mostly-left-leaning audience, but other than the focus on the Obama administration, I don't see much of an editorial slant. My deeply Republican friends may be turned off by the calls for mobilization/activism that hover around the page, but on the whole it looks like a good substitute for the long drive to the capitol.

Wiki-6-D Challenge: "John Wilkes Booth" to "Zordon"

I'm going to relay a challenge issued to me by my brother this morning. Can you start wikipedia's article on John Wilkes Booth and get to the article on Zordon (the disembodied floating mentor of the power rangers) in less than six clicks?

Post your answers. Your linked path must stay within wikipedia without taking shortcuts through index pages. The first person to post the shortest path wins five points, redeemable for swag and glory at the company store. Discretionary bonus points may be awarded for style.

PS. Here's a five-step route to make the return trip from Zordon to Booth. Note that since many wikipedia links are one-way streets, so this path isn't much help going the other direction.

Starting at: Zordon

1. Robert L. Manahan
2. United States
3. American Civil War
4. Abraham Lincoln
5. John Wilkes Booth.
   

PPS: This post relates to network theory, which relates to complexity theory ... to social science ... to political science, and is therefore germane to this blog. Starting at complexity theory, the same holds for my previous post about Sync.

Sync

Inspired by Team Hedengren, I've decided to post more often on this blog.  It makes for a great New Years Resolution, *plus* an excellent way to procrastinate on already overdue term papers.  (Don't worry, they're overdue for legitimate reasons.)

Today I want to plug an excellent book I reread over the break: Sync : The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order.  The book starts off with an improbable chapter about fireflies.  Evidently, there are places in the world where fireflies spontaneously start to blink in unison every evening.  (See blurry youtube video here.)  The puzzle: how do all these bugs achieve perfect unison?  They don't start of in sync, they're not particularly smart, and they don't share a metronome or a conductor.

Strogatz (the author) goes on to relate how scientists (including himself) have started to crack this problem.  He describes the strong similarities among fireflies, human sleep cycles, pacemaker cells in hearts,  superconductors, power grids, collapsing bridges, and so on.  It turns out that all of these systems are governed by the same kind of spontaneous order.  The book is part mystery novel, part math book, all very readable.  Definitely worth a visit to the library or bookstore.

(And now I'll head back to my term paper on "Issue-specific part unity.")