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Mike Huben - Huben's Wiki

Mike Huben

From Huben's Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
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I thought a wiki would be the simplest way to organize much of my online activity: eventually, wikis will supplant my other sites.  This page is organized roughly by my interests, with the things that might be relevant to my students first.
 
I thought a wiki would be the simplest way to organize much of my online activity: eventually, wikis will supplant my other sites.  This page is organized roughly by my interests, with the things that might be relevant to my students first.
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== Get to know me and my thinking ==
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[[File:MikeInGreenhouse.jpg|thumb|In the greenhouse at IKIAM University]]
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A brief sampler from below and elsewhere:
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* [http://huben.us/public/MRH_CV2016.pdf My academic CV].
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* [https://www.replyall.me/peltacast/scourge-of-the-libertarians-interview-with-mike-huben/ Scourge of the Libertarians: Interview with Mike Huben].  My views on libertarianism.
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* What I think about [[Trump|Donald Trump]].
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* Here's my [http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/02/23/why-i-am-an-atheist-mike-huben/ Why I Am An Atheist] posting at Pharyngula.
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* [http://ecuadormetamorphosis.blogspot.com Metamorphosis], my blog about my rebirth as an Ecuadorean entomologist.
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* My daylily website, on this wiki: [[Diploids Resurgent]].
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* [http://critiques.us/index.php?title=A_Positive_Model_Of_Rights A Positive Model Of Rights]: how I think rights really work.
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* [http://critiques.us Critiques Of Libertarianism], my giant list of 2000+  links and writings that rebut libertarian claims.
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* [[Linear Programming]]: an innovative method of teaching a badly taught concept.
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* An idea for a [[Truth course]].
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* [https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/20086520/Entomology/Evaniidae.pdf Annotated Key to the Ensign Wasp genera.]  My primary scientific publication.
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* [[Things I love and admire about Ecuador.]]
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<br style="clear: both" />
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== Currently ==
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[[Image:Haemactis sanguinalis, female (Blood-Red Skipper).jpg|thumb|Haemactis sanguinalis, female (Blood-Red Skipper)]]
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Right now, I'm in transition from teaching in the US to becoming an entomologist in Ecuador.  You can read about it in my new blog [http://ecuadormetamorphosis.blogspot.com Metamorphosis].  I am engaged to [http://www.neotropicos.net/ Alina Freire Fierro], who is now a research professor at [http://www.ikiam.edu.ec/index.php/en/ IKIAM University] in Tena.
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I'm doing some [http://extension.referata.com/wiki/Página_principal evaluations for disease resistance in tomatoes], with 38 varieties growing so far at IKIAM.  I have seed for another 80 varieties, seed for 50 varieties of peppers, and much more seed besides.
 +
 +
Alina and I both have sizable libraries.  I love the folding bookshelves that I brought from the US, but we don't have nearly enough.  So we are having [[new custom folding bookshelves]] built by a local carpenter.
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<br style="clear: both" />
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== Gardening, Botany and Agriculture ==
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[[Image:Mucuna klitgaardiae.jpg|thumb|Mucuna klitgaardiae with my favorite botanist, Alina.]]
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[[Image:Garden.jpg|thumb|A corner of my US garden in peak season.]]
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My mom has a picture of me staring intently at Petunias on Jones Beach at age 2, so I guess I've been a plant guy for 60 years or so.  I grew my first seedlings in first grade, and have not stopped since then.  I worked in the botanical greenhouse of the Bailey Hortorium at Cornell University for a few years, caring for their live botanical collection of several thousand species in the greenhouse and their outdoor garden.  I wanted to be a farmer for a while, until I realized that I had dreadful allergies.  [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/garden.html My home garden near Boston had a bit over 300 varieties of perennials and shrubs], not counting daylilies (see below.)
 +
 +
Currently, I am working on a [http://extension.referata.com/wiki/Página_principal Tomato Project] with some students at IKIAM University, in Tena, Ecuador.  The goal is to find the most disease resistant varieties (and perhaps breed with them) to find tomatoes that do not need greenhouse protection from rain-spread diseases.
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 +
Now I am in Ecuador: here's my list of [[Ecuador Botanical and Gardening Resources]].
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<br style="clear: both" />
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<br style="clear: both" />
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== Entomology and Evaniidae ==
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[[Image:MouseMites.jpg|thumb|Mouse skin mites using Jamin-Lebedeff interference microscopy.]]
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One of my true loves has always been [[Entomology]]. I used to specialize in [[Acarology]] (the study of mites), and built a collection of a thousand slide-mounted specimens (and who knows how many more in alcohol that I've never mounted.) I've got a substantial number of colorful mite photographs that I've always wanted to publish, photographed by my friends in the New York Microscopical Society and me. After my last sabbatical collecting insects in Ecuador (1988), I finally settled on my current specialization, the [[Evaniidae]] (a family of wasps that parasitize cockroach egg cases.) I study these at the [http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/ Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology] on an unofficial basis. I'm also a member of the [http://entclub.org/ Cambridge Entomological Club].
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* [http://huben.us/public/MRH_CV2016.pdf My academic CV].
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* [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael_Huben My Researchgate page.]
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 +
One of the fun aspects of being a wide-ranging collector is that [[Species|my collections are used for describing species.]]
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[[Image:Neochlamisus gibbosus.jpg|thumb|A warty leaf beetle, Neochlamisus gibbosus (Fabricius, 1777).  Looks just like my car did!]]
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I have always named my cars: my previous Scion xB is named Neoclamisus because it looks like the beetle.
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<br style="clear: both" />
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== Biography ==
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[[Image:OldMikePic.jpg|thumb|Age 18, working in the genetics lab at Cornell.]]
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I grew up in Plainview, NY (on Long Island.)  I was thrilled to escape to Cornell University where I studied plant breeding, botany, entomology, and computer science.  I had many part-time jobs there, working in a genetics lab (photo), the botanical greenhouses, the insect collection and the computer labs.  I was a brother in Triangle Fraternity (see: Revenge Of the Nerds.)  I worked 3 years for Control Data in NY City, then Minneapolis, and then took a year-long road trip around the US collecting insects and mites in 1981.  I moved to Boston, worked six more years, then took a 7 month trip to Ecuador to collect more insects and mites in 1987.  I returned to Boston and immediately married, bought a house in Arlington, and worked in software until I changed to teaching high school in 2005.  Right now, I'm in transition from teaching in the US to becoming an entomologist in Ecuador.  You can read about it in my new blog [http://ecuadormetamorphosis.blogspot.com Metamorphosis].
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<br style="clear: both" />
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== Family ==
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[[Image:Huben Family.jpg|thumb|Mike, Carol, Robert and Peggy.]]
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When I married in '88, my ex-wife Peggy and I both changed our name to Huben (mine used to be Huybensz.) Our daughter Carol was born in '90, and our son Robert was born in '93.  As of 2015:
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* Peggy teaches Chemistry in Somerville. 
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* Carol is a graduate student at U. Mass. Amherst. 
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* Robert is a doctoral candidate in mathematics at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
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* I am engaged to [http://www.neotropicos.net/ Alina Freire Fierro].
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[[Image:Alina and Mike cropped.jpg|thumb|Alina and Mike.]]
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<br style="clear: both" />
  
 
== Teaching ==
 
== Teaching ==
[[Image:PokerHands.jpg|thumb|[http://critiquesoflibertarianism.blogspot.com/2009/01/venn-diagram-of-poker-hands-solution.html My Venn diagram of 5-card poker hands.] ]]Currently (2010 until now), I'm a math + CS teacher at [[Boston Latin School]].  This year I'm teaching[[Teacher|:]]  
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[[Image:PokerHands.jpg|thumb|[http://critiquesoflibertarianism.blogspot.com/2009/01/venn-diagram-of-poker-hands-solution.html My Euler (not Venn) diagram of 5-card poker hands.] ]]
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From 2010 until 2014, I was a math + CS teacher at [[Boston Latin School]].  I've taught[[Teacher|:]]  
 
* [[AP Computer Science]]
 
* [[AP Computer Science]]
 
* [[Precalculus]]
 
* [[Precalculus]]
 
* [[Geometry]]
 
* [[Geometry]]
* [[Algebra2]] (previous years)
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* [[Algebra2]]
I'm the faculty sponsor for the following student organizations:
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I was the faculty sponsor for the following student organizations:
* [http://bls-film-club.blogspot.com/ BLS Cinema Society] (film club)  [mailto:bls.cinema.society@gmail.com Email]  [[Lists of Films]]
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* [https://sites.google.com/site/mathblsteam/home/announcements BLS Math Team]
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** [http://www.mathmeets.com/gbml_2013_2014/page/index.php Greater Boston Mathematics League (GBML).]
 
* [https://sites.google.com/site/compscibls/ Computer Science Club] [mailto:compscibls@gmail.com Email]
 
* [https://sites.google.com/site/compscibls/ Computer Science Club] [mailto:compscibls@gmail.com Email]
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* [http://bls-film-club.blogspot.com/ BLS Cinema Society] (film club)  [mailto:bls.cinema.society@gmail.com Email]  [[Lists of Films]]
  
 
I gladly write [[recommendations]] for my students, present and past.  Just ask.
 
I gladly write [[recommendations]] for my students, present and past.  Just ask.
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[[Why Is Math Hard?]]
 
[[Why Is Math Hard?]]
  
Here's my [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/resume.html resume].
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[[Linear Programming]]: an innovative method of teaching a badly taught concept.
 +
 
 +
Here's my [[Resume]].
  
 
An idea for a [[Truth course]].
 
An idea for a [[Truth course]].
  
 
My theme song is "Weird Al" Yankovic's [http://vimeo.com/752979 White & Nerdy].
 
My theme song is "Weird Al" Yankovic's [http://vimeo.com/752979 White & Nerdy].
<br style="clear: both" />
 
  
== Biography ==
+
Some [[Recreational Math Problems]].
[[Image:OldMikePic.jpg|thumb|Age 18, working in the genetics lab at Cornell.]]
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I grew up in Plainview, NY (on Long Island.)  I was thrilled to escape to Cornell University where I studied plant breeding, botany, entomology, and computer science.  I had many part-time jobs there, working in a genetics lab (photo), the botanical greenhouses, the insect collection and the computer labs.  I was a brother in Triangle Fraternity (see: Revenge Of the Nerds.)  I worked 3 years for Control Data in NY City, then Minneapolis, and then took a year-long road trip around the US collecting insects and mites in 1981.  I moved to Boston, worked six more years, then took a 7 month trip to Ecuador to collect more insects and mites in 1987.  I returned to Boston and immediately married, bought a house in Arlington, and worked in software until I changed to teaching high school in 2005.
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<br style="clear: both" />
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== Family ==
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[[Image:Huben Family.jpg|thumb|Mike, Carol, Robert and Peggy.]]When I married in '88, my wife Peggy and I both changed our name to Huben (mine used to be Huybensz.) Our daughter Carol was born in '90, and our son Robert was born in '93.  Peggy teaches Chemistry in Somerville.  Carol is a senior at U. Mass. Amherst.  Robert is a freshman at Hamilton College.  All three are terrific, and between them, my work, my crumbling house, and all my other activities, I scarcely have time to breathe.
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<br style="clear: both" />
 
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== Entertainment ==
 
== Entertainment ==
 
[[Image:hogfather.jpg|thumb|Terry Pratchett's "Hogfather".]]
 
[[Image:hogfather.jpg|thumb|Terry Pratchett's "Hogfather".]]
I read omnivorously in science, politics, and philosophy, but I've always read a LOT of SF and Fantasy.  My favorite has long been comic fantasy, especially the [[Wikipedia:Discworld|Discworld]] and [[Wikipedia:Dresden Files|Dresden Files]] series.  My favorite SF is [[wikipedia:Babylon 5|Babylon 5]], the most enormous and brilliant space opera in print or film: 120 episodes of one complex story.  It makes Star Wars look like the overproduced pablum that it is. My taste in films is much more varied.  [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/tastes.html Here is a short list of my favorite books, films, etc.] I avoid almost all sports programs and events.  I don't have a working TV: I tend to watch the rare interesting TV show on the internet.  
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I read omnivorously in science, politics, and philosophy, but I've always read a LOT of SF and Fantasy.  My favorite has long been comic fantasy, especially the [[Wikipedia:Discworld|Discworld]] and [[Wikipedia:Dresden Files|Dresden Files]] series.  My favorite SF is [[wikipedia:Babylon 5|Babylon 5]], the most enormous and brilliant space opera in print or film: 120 episodes of one complex story.  It makes Star Wars look like the overproduced pablum that it is.  I avoid almost all sports programs and events.  I don't have a working TV: I tend to watch the rare interesting TV show on the internet. John Stewart and Stephen Colbert are like unto gods.
* [[Favorite Webcomics]]
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* [[Favorite Comics]]
<br style="clear: both" />
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* [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/tastes.html Here is a short list of my favorite books, films, etc.]
 
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* A recent copy of my [https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/20086520/Bookmarks.html Bookmarks].
== Gardening ==
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[[Image:Garden.jpg|thumb|A corner of my garden in peak season.]]
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I've always had a strong interest in botany and gardening. I used to work for Cornell's Bailey Hortorium, caring for their live botanical collection of several thousand species in the greenhouse and their outdoor garden. [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/garden.html My home garden has a bit over 300 varieties of perennials and shrubs.]
+
 
<br style="clear: both" />
 
<br style="clear: both" />
  
 
== Daylily Breeding ==
 
== Daylily Breeding ==
 
[[Image:Vanilla Stella.jpg|thumb|Vanilla Stella, one of my daylily introductions.]]
 
[[Image:Vanilla Stella.jpg|thumb|Vanilla Stella, one of my daylily introductions.]]
[http://hubendaylilies.blogspot.com Daylilies are my major garden interest.] While I refuse to be so smitten that I myopically class other perennials as "companion plants", I've built a medium size assortment (400) for garden pleasure and hybridizing. I've always wanted to hybridize again, and daylilies are such a no-care and simple group to work with that I could not resist. I currently have about 3000 seedlings, 1000 from each of the past 3 years.  I am a modestly successful hybridizer with about 20 introduced varieties that sell widely in North America and Europe.
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Daylilies are my major garden interest.  While I refuse to be so smitten that I myopically class other perennials as "companion plants", I've built a medium size assortment (400) for garden pleasure and hybridizing. I've always wanted to hybridize again, and daylilies are such a no-care and simple group to work with that I could not resist. I currently have about 3000 seedlings, 1000 from each of the past 3 years.  I am a modestly successful hybridizer with about 20 introduced varieties that sell widely in North America and Europe.
  
I'm a member of both local daylily societies: the [http://www.nedaylily.org/ New England Daylily Society] and the [http://patriotdaylilysociety.org/ Patriot Daylily Society].  I regularly speak around the region about my hybridizing program and my gardening interests.
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I'm a member of both local daylily societies:
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* the [http://www.nedaylily.org/ New England Daylily Society]
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and the [http://patriotdaylilysociety.org/ Patriot Daylily Society].   
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I regularly speak around the region about my hybridizing program and my gardening interests.
  
I'm developing my next website on this wiki: [[Daylilies]].
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* My newest daylily website, on this wiki: [[Diploids Resurgent]].
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* [http://hubendaylilies.blogspot.com My second daylily web site, a blog.]
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* My first daylily web site, [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/garden.html Mike Huben's Garden Page].
 
<br style="clear: both" />
 
<br style="clear: both" />
  
 
== Cooking and Eating ==
 
== Cooking and Eating ==
 
[[Image:Viennese Crescent Cookies.jpg|thumb|Viennese Crescent Cookies, one of my family traditions.]]
 
[[Image:Viennese Crescent Cookies.jpg|thumb|Viennese Crescent Cookies, one of my family traditions.]]
I do a lot of cooking in many styles, mostly really yummy but none terribly expert.  I've long kept [[:Category:Recipes|my recipes on the computer.]]  I cook some Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Italian, Viennese, and Latin American dishes, as well as Canadian/American mainstays.
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I do a lot of cooking in many styles, mostly really yummy but none terribly expert.   
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* I've long kept [[:Category:Recipes|my recipes on the computer.]]   
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I cook some Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Italian, Viennese, and Latin American dishes, as well as Canadian/American mainstays.
  
I most love Asian foods with the exception of Korean and Indonesian (I just haven't grown accustomed to them.)  Europe holds less gastronomic allure for me, since I don't appreciate wine or cheese, can do without beer, and can't eat most sausages or cured meats because the salt levels are too high.  My favorite Chinese places to eat out are [http://www.marychung.com/en/ Mary Chung] (Central Square, Cambridge) and Yen Ching (Harvard Square, Cambridge.)  If anybody can get me Mary's recipe for Dun Dun Noodles or the Yen Ching recipes for Kung Pao Chicken, I'd be grateful.  I also enjoy Dim Sum in Chinatown.  When I crave Japanese food, I usually go to the restaurants of my Aikido friends: Yasu Itoh's [http://www.boston.com/ae/food/restaurants/articles/2010/07/14/at_tampopo_great_tempura_and_more/ Tampopo] in Porter Square, Cambridge, or Shinji Murakai's [http://www.hiddenboston.com/Toraya.html Toraya] north of Arlington Center.
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I most love Asian foods with the exception of Korean and Indonesian (I just haven't grown accustomed to them.)  Europe holds less gastronomic allure for me, since I don't appreciate wine or cheese, can do without beer, and can't eat most sausages or cured meats because the salt levels are too high.  My favorite Chinese places to eat out are:
 +
* [http://www.marychung.com/en/ Mary Chung] (Central Square, Cambridge) and  
 +
* Yen Ching (Harvard Square, Cambridge.)   
 +
If anybody can get me Mary's recipe for Dun Dun Noodles or the Yen Ching recipes for Kung Pao Chicken, I'd be grateful.  I also enjoy Dim Sum in Chinatown.  When I crave Japanese food, I usually go to the restaurants of my Aikido friends:
 +
* Yasu Itoh's [http://www.boston.com/ae/food/restaurants/articles/2010/07/14/at_tampopo_great_tempura_and_more/ Tampopo] in Porter Square, Cambridge, or  
 +
* Shinji Murakai's [http://www.hiddenboston.com/Toraya.html Toraya] north of Arlington Center.
 
<br style="clear: both" />
 
<br style="clear: both" />
  
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My philosophical ideas spring from skepticism, relativism, positivism, pragmatism, progressivism and humanism. When evaluating ideas, I work with the assumption that theories ought to match reality -- it is surprising how much theory matches reality badly. This tends to produce a preference for ideas that are valid (ie. work well) rather than theoretically correct (without working well.)
 
My philosophical ideas spring from skepticism, relativism, positivism, pragmatism, progressivism and humanism. When evaluating ideas, I work with the assumption that theories ought to match reality -- it is surprising how much theory matches reality badly. This tends to produce a preference for ideas that are valid (ie. work well) rather than theoretically correct (without working well.)
  
[http://world.std.com/~mhuben/libindex.html Critiques Of Libertarianism]<br>I specialize in criticizing libertarianism, and run the only site I know of dedicated to that. This features:
+
* [http://critiques.us Critiques Of Libertarianism]<br>I specialize in criticizing libertarianism, and run the only site I know of dedicated to that. This features:
** [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/faq.html The Non-Libertarian FAQ]  
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** [http://critiques.us/wiki/A_Non-Libertarian_FAQ The Non-Libertarian FAQ]  
 
** a host of related materials I've been able to find.  
 
** a host of related materials I've been able to find.  
 
**  [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/sigs.html Signature quotes from my collection] related to libertarianism.
 
**  [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/sigs.html Signature quotes from my collection] related to libertarianism.
  
* [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/skept/index.html Mike's Skepticism]<br>I was briefly a contributing editor writing a monthly column for [http://www.suite101.com/ Suite101]. That ended when I did not meet deadlines. The originals were at: [http://www.suite101.com/topics/page.cfm/645 Skepticism].
+
*[https://press.princeton.edu/titles/13343.html Economics in Two Lessons: Why Markets Work So Well, and Why They Can Fail So Badly] by John Quiggin.  An extraordinary rebuttal to the bad economics of libertarians and neoliberals. I assisted John Quiggin by commenting on almost all the chapters, suggesting changes for clarity, completeness, anticipating responses, etc.  [https://johnquiggin.com/2018/08/30/economics-in-two-lessons-acknowledgements/ Earned myself a very nice credit!]
 +
 
 +
* [[Mike's Skepticism]]<br>I was briefly a contributing editor writing a monthly column for [http://www.suite101.com/ Suite101]. That ended when I did not meet deadlines. The originals were at: [http://www.suite101.com/topics/page.cfm/645 Skepticism].
  
 
*[[Disgust With Philosophy]]<br>I believe philosophical thinking is a necessary tool.  But not for any knowledge or wisdom.  The only valid use I find for philosophy is to REJECT ideas: most prominently those of philosophers.  When students tell me they are interested in philosophy, I want to steer them away from it: what a futile waste of time!   
 
*[[Disgust With Philosophy]]<br>I believe philosophical thinking is a necessary tool.  But not for any knowledge or wisdom.  The only valid use I find for philosophy is to REJECT ideas: most prominently those of philosophers.  When students tell me they are interested in philosophy, I want to steer them away from it: what a futile waste of time!   
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== Atheism ==
 
== Atheism ==
 
[[Image:Flying spaghetti monster manifests..jpg|thumb|Vortices from jet engines resembling the Flying Sphagetti Monster.]]
 
[[Image:Flying spaghetti monster manifests..jpg|thumb|Vortices from jet engines resembling the Flying Sphagetti Monster.]]
I am a zealous, evangelistic, crusading [http://www.infidels.org/ agnostic and skeptic], in religion, politics, pseudoscience, and quack medical practice. I've been posting for about 35 years (first on the old PLATO system and later on USENET) to political and religious newsgroups.  Here's an [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/humbio autobiographical posting] from an old secular humanist mailing list.  I'm a huge fan of Richard Dawkins and PZ Meyers.
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I am a zealous, evangelistic, crusading [http://www.infidels.org/ agnostic and skeptic], in religion, politics, pseudoscience, and quack medical practice. I've been posting for about 40 years (first on the old PLATO system and later on USENET) to political and religious newsgroups.  I'm a huge fan of Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett and PZ Meyers.
  
I have a small index of writings against various [[Creationism]] arguments.
+
* [http://harvardhumanist.org Humanist Community at Harvard]: I've long hung out with these folks and their allied organizations.
 
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* Here's my [http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/02/23/why-i-am-an-atheist-mike-huben/ Why I Am An Atheist] posting at Pharyngula.
Here's my [http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/02/23/why-i-am-an-atheist-mike-huben/ Why I Am An Atheist] posting at Pharyngula.
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* Here's an [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/humbio autobiographical posting] from an old secular humanist mailing list. 
 +
* I have a small index of writings against various [[Creationism]] arguments.
 
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== Entomology and Evaniidae ==
 
[[Image:MouseMites.jpg|thumb|Mouse skin mites using Jamin-Lebedeff interference microscopy.]]
 
One of my true loves has always been [[Entomology]]. I used to specialize in [[Acarology]] (the study of mites), and built a collection of a thousand slide-mounted specimens (and who knows how many more in alcohol that I've never mounted.) I've got a substantial number of colorful mite photographs that I've always wanted to publish, photographed by my friends in the New York Microscopical Society and me. After my last sabbatical collecting insects in Ecuador (1988), I finally settled on my current specialization, the [[Evaniidae]] (a family of wasps that parasitize cockroach egg cases.) I study these at the [http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/ Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology] on an unofficial basis. I'm also a member of the [http://entclub.org/ Cambridge Entomological Club].
 
 
One of the fun aspects of being a wide-ranging collector is that [[Species|my collections are used for describing species.]]
 
[[Image:Neochlamisus gibbosus.jpg|thumb|A warty leaf beetle, Neochlamisus gibbosus (Fabricius, 1777).  Looks just like my car!]]
 
I always name my car: my current Scion xB is named Neoclamisus because it looks like the beetle.
 

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