I think this is a terrifically cool idea. My advice would be not to put any equation you don't understand, or you'll feel like a tool every time someone asks you to explain it. If you know any quantum mechanics, you could put Bohr's equation for the energy levels of a hydrogen atom. Coulomb's law springs to mind as well.
Good luck!
Well I for one would be willing to pay $10-20/month to read the NYT online. I already spend probably an hour a day reading it, and fifteen years ago I'd be paying for daily newspaper delivery at my age anyhow. Good journalism deserves my money.
Except that you can't carry Bacardi 151 onto a plane, as the document states:
Alcoholic beverages
Alcoholic beverages containing 24% or less alcohol are not restricted in checked baggage. Those containing more than 24%, but not more than 70% alcohol in retail packaging are limited to 5 L (1.3 gal.) per person and 5 L (1.3 gal.) per container in checked baggage. Those containing more than 70% alcohol (more than "140 proof") may not be carried onboard passenger-carrying aircraft [emphasis added]. Alcoholic beverages containing 70% or less alcohol are limited to travel size containers (3.4 oz/100ml) through the screening checkpoint.
I took notes in LaTeX for all four years of college, including upper-level math and CS courses. It worked fine for me. Once you get used to it, typing most symbols is just as quick as writing them. Long formulas or lots of embedded fractions and things make it more difficult, but you can still type it pretty quickly, especially if you don't worry about compiling it as you go (which I did, and which was perhaps a bad idea since it does slow you down).
As some other people here have suggested, you can also define new commands to help you. One class I was in started using a lot of diagonal matrices, so after being slowed down a bit the first time I defined a new command that would easily let we write diagonal matrices. You can similarly define new keywords or languages or whatever you need to help you stay on top of things.
It might not work for everyone, but if you type fast and know LaTeX well it is easy and can work well.
No industrial lab would allow a flammable solvent near an electrically charged heating mantle.
Gotta tell you, it would be great if that were the case but it just isn't. I work in a QC lab at a drug company, and people are always doing things like distilling isopropyl alcohol in a regular fume hood. There are hot plates used in the same hood as all sorts of solvents. Many people don't wear gloves, ever, even when working with stuff like mixtures containing DMSO. Safety will never trump people's intrisic laziness.
Don't forget the other fun facts of the summit.
The ever-present bear menace: http://www.rumblingedge.com/2008/07/29/bear-with-me-while-you-sleep-at-whistler/.
The power in the hotel going out for half a day: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=448604#c88.
Good salesmen and good repairmen will never go hungry. -- R.E. Schenk
