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Save The Words

In honor of the cold I am fighting, I just adopted the word “gleimous,” meaning “slimy, full of phlegm.” –Save The Words.

 

Academia | Culture | Health | Humanities | Language | Writing

I’ve Stopped Creating Syllabi. Now I Create Syllabuses.

At some point, using “syllabi” as the plural of “syllabus” started to bother me.

Being “correct” about egg-headed words such as phenomenon/phenomena or criterion/criteria is among the most visible markers of education and class — and insufferable pedantry.

For instance, those who wear tinfoil hats while blogging from their parents’ basements are likely to wave [...]

Culture | Drama | Health

Students aim for Broadway in musical with true-life focus

David Mahokey of Dunbar, a senior at Point Park University, and Greg Kerestan of Greensburg, a senior at Seton Hill University, wrote the 20-song score and script, respectively, for ″In Control,″ a musical that focuses in part on Mahokey’s real-life battle with bone cancer.

Two free performances of ″In Control,″ directed by Anthony Marino, artistic [...]

Current_Events | Health | Journalism | Science | Weirdness

Northeast braces for temps near boiling point – Yahoo! News

The inter tubes are clogged with pundits mocking the AP for a story claiming that “residents are bracing themselves for temperatures near and above boiling point.”

In defense of the AP, I will point out that the article does not specify the planet on which these “residents” reside, so this could be a northeastern [...]

Health | Nature | Psychology | Science

Can a Playground Be Too Safe?

After observing children on playgrounds in Norway, England and Australia, Dr. Sandseter identified six categories of risky play: exploring heights, experiencing high speed, handling dangerous tools, being near dangerous elements (like water or fire), rough-and-tumble play (like wrestling), and wandering alone away from adult supervision. The most common is climbing heights.

“Climbing equipment needs to [...]

Education | Government | Health | Usability

USDA’s MyPlate – Home page

I have mostly a good first impression of the website touting MyPlate, the USDA’s replacement for the food pyramid. It wasn’t entirely clear that the items on the plate were clickable — probably because the graphic treatment of the plate resembles a button, and my brain said to me, “Oh, that’s a plate, [...]

Health | Science | Technology

WHO: Cell phone use can increase possible cancer risk – CNN.com

Neurosurgeon and CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta says Tuesday’s announcement, “dealt a blow to those who have long said, ‘There is no possible mechanism for cell phones to cause cancer.’ By classifying cell phones as a possible carcinogen, they also seem to be tacitly admitting a mechanism could exist.” Manufacturers of many popular [...]

Amusing | Health | Language | PopCult | Science

‘Tears in Space Don’t Run Down Your Face’ : Discovery News

That line sounds like the title of a great blues song. The second verse isn’t quite so poetic.

“Tears in space don’t run down your face,” he said, according to lead spacewalk officer Allison Bollinger who described the problem Feustel encountered when out on the spacewalk with astronaut Mike Fincke.

“They actually kind of conglomerate [...]

Cyberculture | Health | Media | Social_Software | Technology

All those tweets, apps, updates may drain brain

“The best way to define it is in terms of the offline consequences,” said Dr. Elias Aboujaoude, director of Stanford’s Impulse Control Disorders Clinic and author of the new book “Virtually You.” “Are we suffering in terms of our cognition and attention spans because of all the time we spend online? Is our professional life [...]