List of 100 global public intellectuals (2005)

In 2005, Prospect and Foreign Policy asked 20,000 people to vote for their top names of global public intellectuals from a longlist of 100. The criteria were simple. Candidates have to be living, and still active in public life. They have to have shown distinction in their particular field as well as an ability to influence debate across borders. The first ten names are:

1 Noam Chomsky
2 Umberto Eco
3 Richard Dawkins
4 Václav Havel
5 Christopher Hitchens
6 Paul Krugman
7 Jürgen Habermas
8 Amartya Sen
9 Jared Diamond
10 Salman Rushdie

Source: Prospect Magazine

Top Ten Things That Math and Sex Have in Common

1. Explicit discussions of either topic is a faux pas at most cocktail parties.
2. Historically, men have been in control, but there are now efforts to get women more involved.
3. There are many joint results.
4. Both are prominent on college campuses, and are usually practiced indoors.
5. Most people wish they knew more about both subjects.
6. Both involve long and hard problems, and can produce interesting topology and geometry.
7. Both merit undivided attention, but mathematicians are prone to think about one while doing the other.
8. Saint Augustine was hostile to both, and Alan Turing took an unusual approach to both.
9. Both typically begin with a lot of hard work and end with a great but brief reward.
10. Professionals are generally viewed with suspicion, and most do not earn high pay.

Source: Math Humor

Some useful Latin phrases

Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
If Caesar were alive, you'd be chained to an oar.

(At a barbeque)
Animadvertistine, ubicumque stes, fumum recta in faciem ferri?
Ever noticed how wherever you stand, the smoke goes right into your face?

Sona si Latine loqueris.
Honk if you speak Latin.

Si Hoc Legere Scis Nimium Eruditionis Habes
If you can read this you're over-educated

Vidi Vici Veni
I saw, I conquered, I came

Vacca foeda
Stupid cow

Raptus regaliter
Royally screwed

Si hoc signum legere potes, operis boni in rebus Latinus alacribus et fructuosis potiri potes!
If you can read this sign, you can get a good job in the fast-paced, high-paying world of Latin!

Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione.
I'm not interested in your dopey religious cult.

Noli me vocare, ego te vocabo.
Don't call me, I'll call you.

Utinam barbari spatium proprium tuum invadant!
May barbarians invade your personal space!

Utinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant!
May faulty logic undermine your entire philosophy!

Radix lecti
Couch potato

O! Plus! Perge! Aio! Hui! Hem!
Oh! More! Go on! Yes! Ooh! Ummm!

Tam exanimis quam tunica nehru fio.
I am as dead as the nehru jacket.

Ventis secundis, tene cursum.
Go with the flow.

Estne volumen in toga, an solum tibi libet me videre?
Is that a scroll in your toga, or are you just happy to see me?

Nihil est--in vita priore ego imperator Romanus fui.
That's nothing--in a previous life I was a Roman Emperor.

Recedite, plebes! Gero rem imperialem!
Stand aside plebians! I am on imperial business.

Fac ut vivas.
Get a life.