Article Recommendations

Ruin Reader

2011-05-06T23:46:00.001-04:00

A great article/big picture look at recent disasters. A redefining of "apocalypse". Says neoliberal economics led to current "rapacious" state of capitalism, in which the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer by the former strangling the latter. Treats Haiti as a microcosm-like example of what is to come if we continue in this vein. And hey, the author quotes Walt Whitman!

Don't call; just text

2011-03-19T01:08:00.002-04:00

My goodness. Usually NYTimes trends are so bologna fallacious bull-honkey... their one purpose is to ignite interesting counter-example conversation. BUT this article struck at the core of something I've been feeling for years. No matter how wonderful it is to get a call from someone - especially friends/family ya haven't talked to in a while - there remains an element of intrusiveness and urgency inherent to phone calls. Texts just seems so polite, informative, and readily available whenever there's a free second. Phone calls on the other hand require so much! Take ambient noise for instance. What's the locus of existing places that qualify both of the follow criteria: 1) A quiet area so the caller can hear you 2) not TOO quiet so you're not being a nuisance to others. How many of those places actually exist - Unless I'm at home, usually I'm impinging on one or the other.... Or I have to spend 5 minutes looking around the school for an empty room. Meanwhile, I can text all day during class!

Anywhooo - It's late. But this article got me all riled up. plz, read, enjoy. And actually anyone reading this article can call me any time. It's the people that do call me I don't want to hear from - haha - just kidding, that's mean. miss all you guys!

-Eric

2010-09-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

An old Washington Post article about an experiment involving Joshua Bell playing at L'enfant plaza.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
-- from "Leisure," by W.H. Davies

Look at the date!

2010-08-01T13:41:00.004-04:00

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/doh-we-almost-spaced-on-lisa-simpsons-wedding-date-2/?hp

Look at the date! In Lisa's future, she was getting married... today!

Jess and I were just watching the Back to the Future marathon on ABC Family yesterday. Ya know that scene in the future with grandpa Biff and the hovercraft? That's the year 2015. It seemed so distant as a kid.

Singularity

2010-06-14T10:39:00.002-04:00

I skimmed through the first few pages of this NYT article and thought "What?! Crazy! Cool! Weiiird."

It really makes me wonder what the future (of mankind!) holds.

fancy fast food (a food humor blog)

2010-04-25T00:39:00.002-04:00

it is not a particular article, i know, but this blog is an entertaining web log all about transforming fast food into fancy food

it made me laugh but it also made me feel a little queasy. however, it is fun to look at the progression pictures and i think that it is ingenious.

also, from that link you can go to his travel blog. 500+ days going around the world. sounds uh-mazing.

Magnetar

2010-04-18T14:01:00.002-04:00

Ok, this is a podcast, not an article, but does a great job explaining banks betting against their investments, here. If you prefer an article, it's here.

Pornography for the Blind

2010-04-15T23:32:00.002-04:00

Tactile Porn

my thoughts: in my opinion, people who watch porn crave a type of evocative, sex-driven, visual expression. when working at my dad's video store one summer, i observed many of the members of the neighboring deaf community rent both explosive action movies and the cruder types of porn, which i imagined was due to their lack of auditory sense and, thus, their cravings for something more.

i wonder if the visually-impaired crave tactile nudity the same, sex-driven way that porn-viewers crave visual nudity...

A New Anti-depressant

2010-04-12T06:37:00.000-04:00

Medical shrooms? What do you all think about this??

hen + rooster=hooster!

2010-03-11T12:19:00.000-05:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8561814.stm

Dead Sea Scrolls of Physics

2010-03-11T09:50:00.000-05:00

Man, I wish I could see this.

Wearing Babies

2010-03-11T09:40:00.000-05:00

“At first it was like, ‘Am I trying to be an indigenous tribal woman?’ ”

Don't usually read the fashion section, but I thought this article on parents carrying their babies on their person was interesting. It never registered in my head before I read the article, but she's absolutely right that wearing babies on your back or stomach has become the trend. Personally I do find it adorable whenever I'm surprised by a tiny head peeking out of a sling on a parent's chest.

But then there was that one time I was on the metro and saw a woman with a set of not-so-small-looking twins strapped to her stomach that made me think there should be a limit of one baby per chest and maybe a lesson or two on proper strapping technique. The poor girls' heads were lolling backward with eyes glazed and mouths open like fish.

Alice & New Math

2010-03-07T23:34:00.000-05:00

A fun article about how Alice in Wonderland is making fun of algebra.

One Century's Beauty is Another Century's Ugly

2010-03-06T23:44:00.000-05:00

A brief history of beauty from a veteran of the beauty industry.

Pain & the Brain

2010-02-20T10:40:00.000-05:00

This freaks me out for some reason.

Tech scares and CT scans

2010-02-18T01:24:00.002-05:00

Two unrelated but interesting articles, both from slate.

First is the history of media scares. Good overview of historical scares that are similar to "is google making us dumber?" - my favorite is when literacy was increasing there was a concern that education would be bad for the mental health of children.

Next is about diagnostic scanning and the cost of health care. The main point is somewhat interesting (although I feel like the point has already been made). But far more interesting is the start of the article which describes how the success of the Beatles funded the invention of the CT scanner (it's a bit of a stretch, but still kinda funny).

Game Theory

2010-02-10T00:56:00.001-05:00

applied to passing a Health Care bill... slate, yo!

Writing about math

2010-02-01T10:47:00.003-05:00

Wigner essay about the "unreasonable effect of mathematics" referenced in the first of a series of writings about math in the Times).

Hands Down

2010-01-20T00:59:00.000-05:00

OK, Anderson Cooper is just way too cool.

Side-bets

2010-01-17T11:34:00.002-05:00

Sports and lady-friends... Trashy article, but hits on some interesting sig-other trends... haha.

Google in China

2010-01-13T10:14:00.000-05:00

Yay Google!

Wind Chill

2010-01-08T23:12:00.000-05:00

I had no idea how made up wind chill is or that it change in the last 10 years.

Border Between Russia and China

2010-01-08T23:09:00.001-05:00

Found this slate article about the border between Russia and China interesting.

Linguistic Big Bang

2010-01-08T11:26:00.001-05:00

Here is a wonderful, though not current, story about one person's personal discovery of Nicaraguan Sign Language.

http://www.indiana.edu/~langacq/E105/Nicaragua.html

I loved the descriptions of the signs. And the kids' fascination with Babar.

KG Math

2009-12-24T09:35:00.000-05:00

The Building Blocks method sounds very similar to how I taught my kindergarteners math. I guess they knew what they were doing. Reading this article made me want to teach KG again.

Hello, Napoleon complex?

2009-12-23T04:58:00.000-05:00

This. Is. SAD. Koreans are sad. This does not help me with my desire to embrace my culture more. No, not at all. Tallness is overrated.

Clowning Around In the Name of Research

2009-12-17T20:19:00.000-05:00

Funny October article about cell phone distraction .

Man's Best Friend

2009-12-15T16:45:00.001-05:00

Not a surprise, but hehehe: dogs are better friends than people.

(in the walking-buddy sense)

Barefoot Running

2009-12-13T11:09:00.002-05:00

This article (more like a blog) - sort of related to this book - came out awhile ago and I meant to post it when I first read it... but I didn't. So I revisited it, and now I'm posting it.

I think the whole barefoot movement is really interesting, and I think I'll end up investing in a set of Vibram Five Fingers in the future - both for running and weight training/all other types of exercise.

Economics of Gift Giving

2009-12-10T00:41:00.001-05:00

Nothing too ground breaking, but an interesting take on the economics of gift giving.

Reformat articles

2009-12-03T16:54:00.000-05:00

Not really an article, but this is an awesome way to reformat webpages, especially news articles.

Hm, I guess I could link to the article that included the tool to better fit the posting rules of this blog.

Pentagon's Balloon Challenge

2009-12-01T23:55:00.001-05:00

Cool....
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/science/01darpa.html?_r=1&hpw

Lithium

2009-10-26T15:41:00.000-04:00

Wow, if I had to guess where lithium comes from, I would have been so wrong.

One thing leads to another (from a national uproar to ineffiecient over-use of a precious resource)...

2009-09-22T01:10:00.005-04:00

Jim Carrey marries Jenny Mccarthy. Jenny's child was autistic, and now so was Jim's-- thru marriage. On to the CNN interview box they go. Jim Carrey is famous and I, the viewer, will watch him on tv. So what do they say to viewers - vaccines Baaaaad. I say whaaaaa? Other people say, Yeahhhhh, vaccines bad.

Now kids are getting the measels again. Bad thing 1.

Bad thing 2: USA refuses adjuvants in Swine Flu vaccine....

Okay. I drew the line between Jim Carrey and this article, and it's past my bed time. But the main thing is - It's crazy how public health concerns can be made like this. Out of fear that citizens won't comply to safety recommendations.

G'nite.

Medulla oh my g-dda!

2009-09-16T18:26:00.002-04:00

Just learned about this area of the brain today. Amazing timing for this article to surface. I guess that happens a lot. You learn something new, and then you notice that new thing everywhere you look in your normal life. Like the time I was at the farmers market as a kid and saw those honey sticks (yummm) where you cut off the top and squeeze out the delicious honey. It was something totally new to me - I thought the amish had invented it. Then when I went back to my normal routine - there they were, everywhere - they had been all around me and I had just never noticed.

Brain ... slate....

Simon says: BOGUS

2009-09-16T10:29:00.001-04:00

Interesting libel case going on across the Atlantic. The link to the original article is below.

Photography

2009-09-11T19:02:00.000-04:00

http://studionineblog.com/?p=658

how can anyone read this and not want to do what he does?? or not be inspired in some way???

You Lie! haha

2009-09-10T00:42:00.001-04:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/us/politics/10wilson.html?hp

now that's good tv--- GObama

Vay - Ner - Chuk

2009-09-09T06:51:00.000-04:00

That's my boiiiii!

One way streets

2009-09-01T21:14:00.001-04:00

Short funny article.

Twin Superpower!

2009-08-26T18:31:00.003-04:00

Ann, this is the article Devin sent the BMB group. "Career Opportunity for Sarah and Angie". Still not to late to pull off a successful Alias-style mission!

Laptop free coffee shops

2009-08-17T14:08:00.002-04:00

This slate article is calling out the WSJ on the laptop free coffee shop trend. A few false trends are discussed in the article, coffee shops start near bottom of the first page.

Suing College

2009-08-14T14:26:00.002-04:00

This article isn't that interesting on its own. But it is amazing to see what happens when everyone just has a gut reaction to a one liner vs finding out the facts.

If you haven't heard, a woman is suing her college because she hasn't been able to get a job. Sounds absurd - right? Except her college is for-profit, is basically a vocational school and charges more than local regular colleges. You may not agree with her after reading the article, but at least she seems less deserving of ridicule on the national news.

Laptop-free coffeeshops

2009-08-05T22:25:00.002-04:00

I'm horrified. Coffeeshops should feel fortunate. We, the public, have shunned free libraries in favor coffeeshops despite the $2 cover price. I guess I should consider myself fortunate that when I go to coffeeshops I'll be bringing text books for the next few years. Stilllllll.

Ingenious!

2009-07-23T13:01:00.000-04:00

Odorless kimchi!

The Ultimate Obama Insider

2009-07-22T11:35:00.002-04:00

"Great article!" -Eric "An incredible look at the Obama administration through the lens of someone with power I've never heard of" -Eric "As enjoyable and thorough as a New Yorker article." -Eric "Like reading an episode of the West Wing." -Eric "Fascinating friction in an administration who espouses it's No Drama ideal." -Eric

Controlling Your Dreams

2009-07-20T23:30:00.003-04:00

I'd like a bit more scientific evidence, but this article is quite trippy.

I've had plenty of times when I've gone in and out of being awake and been able to direct a dream, but I think that was more like day dreaming. I don't think I could have made myself fly, but then again I never thought to try.

Rice is writing about what?

2009-07-17T18:11:00.001-04:00

Not exactly a good article, but kind of mind bending to read an article about golf written by Condoleezza Rice.

Hiroshima

2009-07-14T23:18:00.002-04:00

a touch of beauty. The japanese author blends a mention of current nuclear arms negotiations with childhood memories of Hiroshima. I wish this article were longer - if it were a book, I might just read it.

Sotomayor

2009-07-13T22:42:00.002-04:00

On one hand I find the Sotomayor confirmation pretty boring since it is so likely she'll be confirmed and since all the senators' stances are so obvious (it reminds me of the saying "everything has already been said, but not everyone has said it"). But in some ways I think it is an interesting add on to the strip search case. Since that was a case where having a female justice almost certainly added the prospective/empathy to lead to a certain decision. This article mentions the connection.

Wiki article of the day

2009-07-13T22:20:00.002-04:00

It's a doozy! The Beauchamp-Sharp Tragedy. Golly, it's juicy.
(But really just read the intro part--that's all I read)

Texting Teen Falls Down Manhole

2009-07-12T21:26:00.000-04:00

hahahahahahahahahahahhaha.

Does that make him a Christian Scientist (badum-bum)

2009-07-10T23:45:00.003-04:00

This article is why Article Recommendations was created. So much to discuss...

A few years back, I remember digging in to the Evolution vs. Creationism debate when it was really heating up. On one side there were the scientists and on the other were the religious Kansas Board crazies & Co. pushing creationism... But between the two poles stood one man: Francis Collins. He was in an oddly paradoxical and contradictory position. Yet he could calmly respond to any given issue - usually by yielding to the side of science but insisting on his persistent faith. He was THE Evangelical Christian / Scientist. Honestly, if Bush had appointed him to head the NIH, I might have been outraged.

The fact that obama did makes me sink into my own reflections and wonder.

Oh Joe

2009-07-07T22:42:00.002-04:00

Biden's "gaffe" actually signalled foreign miliary might to act!? I heard him say this quote to Snuffleuffagous this morning, and it sounded a little odd, but am amazed that a government would take what he said as anything more than Joe being Joe-- much less, and well orchestrated signal that we won't stand in Israel's way if they defensively attack another country.

Socialized Medicine vs. Single-Payer

2009-07-01T00:00:00.002-04:00

A good, short article about the difference between the two kinds of health care systems (recommended by my bro).

Slow Law

2009-06-25T20:52:00.005-04:00

The Supreme Court ruled today on the case about the strip-searched 13 year old girl. The real story is the girl's now 19 years old. Hooray for....... (wait for it) ........................... (keep waiting) .................................... (only a few more years) ............................................................Justice!

Medicare vs. Medicaid

2009-06-24T10:38:00.002-04:00

Things to do... I guess at some point I'm supposed to learn the difference between Medicare and Medicaid. Extracurriculars used to mean baseball or the literary magazine. Now it's, can I make me-time to learn about health care policy? (slate article)

Accident in my future home

2009-06-22T23:28:00.003-04:00

Another difficult article to get through. A train collision on the DC Metro line.

I thought it was interesting that Obama commented on the incident-- I wonder due to his new residence in DC, or if he would have commented no matter where this tragedy occurred.

Crime

2009-06-20T23:33:00.002-04:00

Never heard of this site, but digg brought up this crime. I never understood how a guy could be raped-- now I wish I didn't. The guy at the end makes it seem like 1 out of 10 guys would be okay with it.

on the modern marriage (and divorce)

2009-06-19T14:09:00.004-04:00

I came upon this interesting article in The Atlantic. A woman discusses marriage and what it means to the American today, and how it has changed from before. She delves into the idea that marriage need not be forever any longer, as the reasons for being in a lifelong marriage no longer exist.

Also, this is noteworthy:

Why Him? Why Her? explains the hormonal forces that trigger humans to be romantically attracted to some people and not to others (a phenomenon also documented in the animal world). Fisher posits that each of us gets dosed in the womb with different levels of hormones that impel us toward one of four basic personality types:

The Explorer—the libidinous, creative adventurer who acts “on the spur of the moment.” Operative neurochemical: dopamine.

The Builder—the much calmer person who has “traditional values.” The Builder also “would rather have loyal friends than interesting friends,” enjoys routines, and places a high priority on taking care of his or her possessions. Operative neurotransmitter: serotonin.

The Director—the “analytical and logical” thinker who enjoys a good argument. The Director wants to discover all the features of his or her new camera or computer. Operative hormone: testosterone.

The Negotiator—the touchy-feely communicator who imagines “both wonderful and horrible things happening” to him- or herself. Operative hormone: estrogen, then oxytocin.

Fisher reviewed personality data from 39,913 members of Chemistry.com. Explorers made up 26 percent of the sample, Builders 28.6 percent, Directors 16.3 percent, Negotiators 29.1 percent. While Explorers tend to be attracted to Explorers, and Builders tend to be attracted to Builders, Directors are attracted to Negotiators, and vice versa.

(but, I also am guilty of believing marriage is forever, love can last forever, and all that Disney stuff. so congrats to Jess & Eric!~ teehee)

Drivers

2009-06-16T21:49:00.002-04:00

Reuters. Pittsburgh is top-five for most courteous drivers. I had no idea. Seriously.

On second thought, it's the roads that are frightening-- the drivers ARE actually pretty nice.

Obama recommends Gawande

2009-06-09T13:48:00.003-04:00

Over the last year, and especially since we've launched this ArticleRec site, I've found The New Yorker's Annals of Medicine to be one of the most consistent repositories of amazingly interesting writing. This New York Times article quoted below shows Obama agreeing, and using Atul Gawande's words to actually guide policy.

“He came into the meeting with that article having affected his thinking dramatically,” said Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon. “He, in effect, took that article and put it in front of a big group of senators and said, ‘This is what we’ve got to fix.’ ”

It's fascinating that politicians are reading the same stuff we are. It's both great to know we have a reader as a president, but also a little disappointing that my childish expectation that our government has all this secret information is total bologne.

It was really cool reading the NYTimes article having just read Gawande's piece a couple days ago myself. I love when that happens.

Sliding Doors

2009-06-08T17:27:00.003-04:00

What my life could have been: the confessions of a reluctant vivisector. It really almost happened. Coming to Pittsburgh I was offered two jobs: 1) study memory with alzheimer's patients 2) study vision in rhesus monkeys. Had I chosen the latter, at the very least my last 3 years would have been wildly, tortuously different, and at most would have lead to a career of what's described in the article. One major push towards alzheimer's-- besides the better clinical experience, the more human interaction, more obvious impact and higher pay-- was the image of having to tell my 7th grade students at Poly I was leaving them to prepare live monkeys for single-cell electrode recordings in their brains. Yikes.

Sriracha everything

2009-06-02T00:34:00.001-04:00

Sriracha is officially a fad. Don't let this stop you from slathering it on everything you eat!

underlying conditions

2009-05-29T14:55:00.003-04:00

the NYT story is that people should be concerned because most Americans are afflicted with one of the following underlying conditions that could put people at risk of swine flu:

diabetes, asthma, heart disease, lung disease, a weakened immune system and, possibly, obesity[...] pregnancy, being younger than 2, or being older than 65.

this possibly could be a blessing in disguise as people might try to remedy their afflictions by eating better and more healthful foods and exercising.

Life Imitates Art

2009-05-29T06:22:00.000-04:00

White cop shoots undercover black cop... Just like in the Wire!
http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=369494&f=19
(Sorry I'm posting from my blackberry so I don't know now to embed the link)

Liberal vs. Conservative Minds

2009-05-29T04:20:00.001-04:00

According to these two questions in Kristof's latest article, I'm somewhat left of center.

I don't always read online magazines. But when I do, I prefer Slate.com

2009-05-26T08:39:00.005-04:00

Slate Article. These Dos Equis ads are so interesting-- Like a combination of James Bond, Chuck Norris, and Stephen Colbert: "The police often question him just because they find him interesting," "His beard alone has experienced more than a lesser man's entire body," "His blood smells like cologne."

And it's totally confusing why he says, "I don't always drink beer," he says, "but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis." I'm glad Slate's article acknowledges this:

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the most interesting man, in marketing terms, is his ambivalence toward the advertised product. "I don't always drink beer," he says. Whaa? "But when I do," he adds, almost offhandedly, "I prefer Dos Equis." Double whaa? Generally, a brand icon will be an all-out cheerleader. Imagine Tony the Tiger admitting that he doesn't always eat cereal for breakfast, but that when he does, he tends to eat Frosted Flakes, like, most of the time. Doesn't have quite the same impact as "They're Grrrrrrreat!"

I wonder how Dos Equis feels about Slate's creation, the Double X,which to them has taken the meaning FEMALE!

Who is the Jerry Lewis of Germany?

2009-05-24T18:54:00.001-04:00

Donald Duck, apparently. Check it out:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203771904574181722075062290.html

Post-Finale episodes

2009-05-20T10:56:00.000-04:00

Scrubs: season 9

Reading Aloud

2009-05-17T16:20:00.003-04:00

I love being read to, it's so soothing, a good way to relax. But the author of this article makes it sound like so much more. Tender? Erotic? The breath, mind, and soul? Makes me think of the movie "The Reader" with Kate Winslet- wow, what a movie. Winslet really knows how to choose the ones that are 'out there'.

And have you ever thought about what other people hear when they read silently to themselves? What are the qualities of the voices? Does it sound like the reader's own voice? Does a man usually read silently in a man's voice, and a woman in a woman's voice? I wonder if you can train yourself to have different silent reading voices...

I thought it was strange how the author made it sound like a negative thing that his students were reading for meaning. Isn't that the primary purpose of words, to convey meaning?

Another Coffee Article

2009-05-17T14:24:00.001-04:00

Eric and I just keep looking for excuses to maintain the coffee fix. It's good for you! I swear!

Absinthe

2009-05-13T23:10:00.003-04:00

My fear that drinking absinthe would make me go crazy is waning, and the herbaciousness of the flavor profile makes me think I'd be quite a big fan. Mayyyybe it doesn't make you go mad after all!?

It is an anise-flavored spirit derived from herbs, including the flowers and leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium... Yum, right?

Reality TV and Drug Trials

2009-05-13T15:57:00.002-04:00

Slate article about how short term drug trials don't always indicate long term results. It uses reality show winners as an analogy.

for the love of uni

2009-05-13T10:46:00.001-04:00

this one is for you, cousin

NYtimes Uni article

NY Fed

2009-05-06T16:56:00.001-04:00

It's too bad Eliot Spitzer was hiring all those prostitutes. He's written a number of articles for slate that seem to really be on the ball, and sometimes ahead of the rest of the news (especially the stuff about looking at where AIG payments went and why they were paid in full instead of looking at the bonuses). Of course, considering he's one of my few insights into Wall Street it is a bit circular for me to assume he's totally right.

Anyway, here's his latest slate article pointing out how questionably the NY Fed is run.

HFC

2009-04-30T17:38:00.003-04:00

Slate article about high fructose corn syrup. The part I was surprised by is that sugar contains almost as much fructose as high fructose corn syrup. Does that sound right to the medical crowd reading this? I used to think HFC is worse for you than regular sugar, but this is making me question that.

work worth doing

2009-04-29T15:40:00.002-04:00

it is what i strive for, and it happens to be what Sandra Day O'Connor believes is the secret to happiness.

-from Slate.com "The Happiness Project" blog

on eating ethically

2009-04-28T15:48:00.001-04:00

This article from Salon.com talks about whether eating ethically is affordable. A reporter does an experiment to find out, and succeeds.

I heart eating ethically.

Air Force Flyover

2009-04-27T17:08:00.002-04:00

News has felt slow and uninteresting to me lately. It's been a while since an article moved me in any direction. Finally, this article made me feel totally empathetic to the new yorkers who, having been traumatized by 9/11, were furious about this photoshoot.

DIY Nation

2009-04-24T12:00:00.002-04:00

The tanking of the economy, and also perhaps increasing awareness of our negative impact on the earth, have recently led to a do-it-yourself movement (imho). Here's a fun article on Slate about the cost-effectiveness of making your own kitchen staples. I've also seen lots of articles on how to DIY garden & compost, make gutter-water barrels to use for gardening or car-washing, etc etc... some of which I have saved in bookmarks, so let me know if you want me to point you in the right direction.

Whimsy & Wisdom

2009-04-24T11:54:00.001-04:00

How could anybody not love Maira Kalman?
I adore her. I want to name my first born female child after her.

SCOTUS says: an update on strip searches

2009-04-22T13:08:00.002-04:00

the Supreme Court of the United States is likely to overturn the opinion finding that strip searching is unconstitutional.

SCOTUS says Nay to drugs and therefore Yay to strip searches.

Slate article

Financing for Alternative Energy

2009-04-16T19:50:00.001-04:00

Slate article about how it is advances in financing, more than advances in technology, that are required to step up the use of alternative energy.

gun (out-of-)control

2009-04-14T11:01:00.002-04:00

lately there has been much buzz about gun control, or lack thereof. i wrote a post on my blog expressing my distress about the Pittsburgh event. i don't mean to self-advertise; i'm just too lazy to copy the entry in.

yesterday, bob herbert of the NYT wrote an op-ed piece about the recent surge in murderous gun usage. i was surprised to see the numbers: 120,000 since 9/11. 25 times the number of Americans that have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

i can't say i know much about the argument for and against gun control, but i do think it is an issue to be looked upon.

Shooting Pirates

2009-04-14T09:12:00.004-04:00

Q: How hard is it to shoot someone in a lifeboat 100 feet away?
A: If the pirates' heads were fully exposed, it would have been an easy shot.
I'm both amazed by the conditions of the instantaneous shots as well as the swagger the author brushes them off like "it ain't no big thang."

Lost Robots

2009-04-12T19:03:00.002-04:00

Feel good about Americans. We help robots get to where they want to go.
(Beware: associated video. I almost didn't post this link. I don't want this site to be taken over by videos. That said, I'm linking to the ARTICLE; if you end up watching the video, that's on you.)

The Other White Meat

2009-04-11T21:50:00.003-04:00

Eric always talks about pork as white meat, and I always correct him and say that pork's reputation as "the other white meat" comes from a successful marketing campaign & that red meat comes from mammals vs white meat comes from fowl, but this article says it's a lot more complicated than that. Really we should all just be eating matzo ball soup and non-carnivorous fish.

Science & Ethics

2009-04-09T15:32:00.002-04:00

Interesting that these two articles came out at the same time: The End of Philosophy and Humanity Even for Non-humans.

I think the latter article disproves the claim of the former. And as this critic pointed out, it wouldn't even be the end of all philosophy- just the ethics part. But less trivially-speaking: just because it's natural, doesn't make it right.

Cat Poop Coffee

2009-04-09T08:57:00.001-04:00

Coffee too bitter? Try cat poop coffee! For a price...

A friend of a friend told jess and me about this. The biochemistry fascinates me... The price gives me pause. As does the ethics. Most generally, the existance of cat poop coffee causes me concern about the culture of which I'm a mid-level card-carrying enthusiast (coffee lovers and snobs association-- abvr. CLASA). The idea of perfecting coffee by having an animal ingest and then excrete makes me intrigued, I mean, shudder. Where's PETA on this?

Doga

2009-04-09T08:54:00.002-04:00

Yoga with dogs. Seriously like, the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. I can't believe people pay for/get paid for/get paid to write about this nonsense.

A-Rod

2009-04-08T20:26:00.004-04:00

Funny encompassing column on A-Rod.

Texting and Twittering

2009-04-08T17:28:00.000-04:00

One article about organizing protests using twitter.

And one article about dealing with other people txting instead of paying attention to you.

Request For Comments

2009-04-07T23:56:00.003-04:00

TODAY is an important date in the history of the Internet: the 40th anniversary of what is known as the Request for Comments. Reading this, I remembered what Jess had to say about modern comments. :)

Protests

2009-04-07T16:19:00.001-04:00

Kind of short, but the article describes why some protests work and some don't.

The NYT Errol Morris Blog

2009-03-31T23:11:00.002-04:00

A fascinating story about a dead Civil War soldier and the photograph he clutched as he lay dying. Morris's past posts are really interesting, too, especially the one from last year about the Abu Ghraib photograph of the dead prisoner and the smiling guard.

Caffeine for sports

2009-03-27T11:53:00.005-04:00

The author of this NYT article is in love with caffeine. I'm reading it thinking-- yeah, but what about the health detriments... are there any? The article eventually gets to health by explaining that even though caffeine can increase your hr + bp and make you urinate more often at first, with regular use over a couple days these effects are habituated. It's hard to think anything can have so many benefits (not forgetting the holy antioxidants) without being bad. I often worry coffee will be our generation's cigarettes. But no evidence for that at all.

Seedless Tomatoes & Medicine

2009-03-26T13:43:00.005-04:00

The newly added Food Network Widget linked me to an article originally reported in Pittsburgh's Post-Gazette. Seedless tomatoes-- big deal, right? That's what I thought until I read, "The seedless tomato, he says, will benefit those suffering from diverticulitis and people recovering from surgery." That sentence tells me I have a LOT to learn in med school!

No Snickering: That Road Sign Means Something Else

2009-03-26T11:08:00.002-04:00

Classic article Jess and I found a while back.

Russell Bates/Ross Parry Agency

The “Butt” in this road, in South Yorkshire, probably refers to a container for collecting water.