Hell Anyone? (Midterms)

“Mid-terms have now stretched to basically 5 or 6 weeks (almost half the semester), and consist of little more than hell. And, on top of it all, we have to go class and try to keep up on our daily class work and readings. I am not super-man! I am not even She-ra! I am…

Why I am a Bad Correspondent

“When the novel comes to an end, I feel a certain letdown, a loss of contact. It is natural to want to recapture that feeling by reading other works by the same author, or by corresponding with him/her directly. All of this seems perfectly reasonable—I should know, since I have had these feelings myself! But…

Rings Around the Sun

“Not only was there a halo around the Sun–the so-called ’22° halo,’ which sky watchers often see–but also there was an enormous ring of light running parallel to the horizon at the same altitude as the sun. It was like a giant angel’s halo suspended above my town, interrupted every 120° by a brighter splash…

Physics bitten by reverse Alan Sokal hoax?

“We all laughed when Alan Sokal wrote a deliberately silly paper entitled “Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity”, and managed to get it accepted by a refereed journal of social and cultural studies, Social Text. But now I hear that two brothers have managed to publish 3 meaningless papers in physics…

Clown Paintings

“But these 60-some full-color plates are, most likely, not the reason you’d want to own Clown Paintings. I mean, if you’re like me, you spend a little too much time every day trying to avoid clowns, so why would you want to bring a bunch of pictures of them into your home? (Except maybe to…

The Impact of "Too Much Information"

“Techniques for managing information are the new critical ‘meta-skills’ needed to stay current (and hopefully sane). Gurus urging ‘simplicity’ and ‘turn off technology’ (while very sage advice) miss an important point: nothing is slowing down. What we need is simplicity in how we manage information, not simplicity by ignoring or turning off information.” gsiemens —The…

Gar's Tips on Sucks-Less Writing

“When writing, don’t try to edit as you go. Say what you want to say, unencumbered by the constant commentary from that fussy little editor swimming around inside your head. First, get it all down. Then, have at it, keeping what works and bug-zapping the rest. By separating writing and editing functions, you can convince…

US Historical Documents

Inaugural adresses of the presidents; a letter from Columbus, letters from a Civil War soldier from Iowa, and the letter of transmittal introducing the Constitution. This up-to-date site has an archive spanning from the Magna Carta (1215) to Bush’s 2002 State of the Union Address. —US Historical DocumentsU of Oklahoma)

Teen Angst Rooted in Busy Brain

“Nerve activity in the teenaged brain is so intense that they find it hard to process basic information, researchers say, rendering the teenagers emotionally and socially inept… The team found the speed at which people could identify emotions dropped by up to 20 per cent at the age of 11. Reaction time gradually improved for…

Say Hello to Sanjeep, Er, Sam

“More than 30,000 employees at Indian call centers, among whom Radhika becomes Ruth and Satish becomes Steve, are told to adopt American names and say they are calling from a U.S. city in order to put their American customers at ease. Their training includes a smattering of U.S. history and geography, along with speech therapy…

Fire at Will

“When the question period came, he started with the first of the four large men. ‘You say the probate records show very few guns, and argue that this proves people in early America didn’t have guns. But when my father died, there was nothing in his will about his guns… Are probate records really a…

Google Sued by Search Optimism Company

“Google Inc has been sued by a search engine optimization company, which claims Google deliberately altered its ranking when it realized the SEO company was competing with it.” —Google Sued by Search Optimism CompanyThe Register) Note the reference to “optimism” in the title… Optimism leads me to hope that The Resister will one day optimize…

The Superiority Complex

“Truly happy people live by the maxim ‘Overrate thyself.’ They are raised by loving parents who slather them with praise. They stride through life with a confidence built on an amazing overestimation of their own abilities. And they settle into an old age made comfortable by the warm glow of self-satisfaction. Each of these people…