Link of the day: shirt.woot

I like the t-shirt site Threadless but most of their designs are too hippy for my taste. Recently, I discovered a new site called shirt.woot which is similar in principle (people submit designs and the most popular ones are printed). The site is a little different than Threadless in that t-shirts are continually printed as long as they are in the top 20 most popular designs. Each week, there is a "day of reckoning" when the shirts that fall off the top 20 list stop being made. Also, rather than having random designs, a weekly design contest with theme ("the derby") is held. Some recent themes were "the sea," "exercise," and "individualism." I think the creative restriction results in better designs. I find that I like shirt.woot designs much better than the Threadless designs. Some designs I like are "Sun Wukong" and "Some motivation required."

The coolest bandana

Actually, it's not a bandana at all. It's called "Buff" headwear. I originally found it on sale at REI.com. I never thought I'd get excited about headwear (not to be confused with the dental appliance headgear). To see why it's so cool, check out the demo video at the company's US website. You can wear it as a scarf, a ski mask, a bandana, etc. The material is silky smooth and seamless. It supposedly wicks, too. The best part are all the awesome designs (US site, European site). Apparently, Buff has been quite popular in Europe (particularly as a fashion statement for athletes and bikers). Yet it is still a relatively unknown treasure here in America. No, I was not paid by the company to write this testimonial. If you're curious, here's the one I got.

What do woman scientists wear?

Seriously... this is an interesting question. For starters, see the recent discussion on Sean Carroll's blog and the links therein.

But come on, how about some pictures? You can check out what the president of MIT (Susan Hockfield) is wearing. That's the example of the formal, middle-aged respectable scientist. Then there's the baseball cap wearing physicist (also at MIT): Nergis Mavalvala. (I've seen her in real life and that's really how she dresses at work.) For the hip go-getter, Middlebury chemistry professor Sunhee Choi is supposedly very well-dressed.

Unfortunately, I don't have many role models since there aren't many woman physicists around. Tenatively, I think that if I become a professor, I will wear a oxford-type shirt (sometimes called a blouse) over slacks or jeans (but no belt). This is the female equivalent of the shirt and slacks dress that is standard about male physicists. Of course, alternative suggestions are welcome. It's easier for men because everything is so standard. I also feel that it's much worse for a woman scientist to dress inappropriately than for a man. I pretty much ignore the dressing habits of male scientists (though Bob Jaffe always looks really good). However, if a woman wears something slightly unusual or looks sloppy, I always notice.