We Only Think We Know the Truth About Salt

WHY have we been told that salt is so deadly? Well, the advice has always sounded reasonable. It has what nutritionists like to call “biological plausibility.” Eat more salt and your body retains water to maintain a stable concentration of sodium in your blood. This is why eating salty food tends to make us thirsty:…

LinkedIn: now officially the most annoying of all social media

I’m generally ambivalent about the whole “LinkedIn experience,” but if it wants to inspire confidence, the company should devote the same amount of attention it currently places on badgering its members on tightening its security. —LinkedIn: now officially the most annoying of all social media | Loren Steffy | a Chron.com blog. Similar:RIP Metaverse, we…

It Evolved Into Birds: Ten Science-Fictional Thinkers On the Past and Future of Cyberpunk

Interesting collection of reflections on the status of cyberpunk, that branch of science fiction devoted to the exploration of dystopian networks and augmentations and hacking and  information, rather than galactic empires, huge space objects, aliens among us, etc. It Evolved Into Birds: Ten Science-Fictional Thinkers On the Past and Future of Cyberpunk Similar:Rebooting “Rossum’s Universal…

MLA Journals Adopt New Open-Access-Friendly Author Agreements

And there was much rejoicing. The journals of the Modern Language Association, including PMLA, Profession, and the ADE and ADFL bulletins, have adopted new open-access-friendly author agreements, which will go into use with their next full issues. The revised agreements leave copyright with the authors and explicitly permit authors to deposit in open-access repositories and…

Maker Faire and Science Education: American kids should be building rockets and robots, not taking standardized tests.

I was at a “serious games” conference several years ago. During a crowded seminar, where I found myself seated on the floor because there were no open seats, one of the industry types was frowning because an educator kept speaking critically of testing. “If you don’t test,” asked the pragmatic businessperson, “how can you assess?”…

We’re Creating a Culture of Distraction

I’d argue that what’s happening is that we’re becoming like the mal-formed weight lifter who trains only their upper body and has tiny little legs. We’re radically over-developing the parts of quick thinking, distractable brain and letting the long-form-thinking, creative, contemplative, solitude-seeking, thought-consolidating pieces of our brain atrophy by not using them. And, to me,…

My Parents (ages 72 and 78) Learn a Polka Step from my iPad

  Similar:Hi, I’m the St Joe’s basement doorstop. Let me start your three-day weekend by wrapping my…PersonalEnjoyed watching "Queen of Katwe" (Ugandan girl chess prodigy movie)I enjoyed watching this chess-themed com…CultureAnother visit to downtown Pittsburgh with my history-loving son.CultureAs Trump ranted and rambled in Phoenix, his crowd slowly thinned The journalist chose to spotlight a litt…CultureOpt…

My Parents (aged 72 and 78) Demonstrate a Ballroom Dance Pose

This is how my parents finish their Argentine Tango routine. My mother says, “I’d like to get up now.” My father looks down at her. “Oh, you would, would you?” Similar:National Headline Contest 2011Great headlines from winner David Bowman…AestheticsBob Dylan's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speechhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TlcPRla…CultureWhy Fears of Fake News Are OverhypedFacebook seems to have made changes…

President Obama writes sick note for 11-year-old Minnesota boy

I love this story! Mr. Ackerman — Please excuse Tyler… he was with me!” Obama wrote on 11-year-old Tyler Sullivan’s behalf. The Rochester boy skipped school Friday to attend Obama’s visit to a Honeywell factory in Golden Valley with his dad. President Obama writes sick note for 11-year-old Minnesota boy (VIDEO) – NY Daily News. Similar:Hemingway:…

Stage Right’s Alice in Wonderland

My daughter shared the role of Alice this weekend (she played “Small Alice”). On one night, she also doubled as the mouse, for a different Alice. Similar:Sorry, but I am done hearing about the "Cruise from Hell" story. Done.Okay, so yeah. One of these describes a …CultureThank you, 1993 Dennis, for documenting this low-resolution (the…

Is Bilderberg a conference on world affairs or a powerful global cabal? Depends on who you ask. – The Washington Post

I love the obscure Prufrock reference win this Washington Post story: So as the motorcades come and go, are they talking of Marco Rubio? via Is Bilderberg a conference on world affairs or a powerful global cabal? Similar:A Tribute to a Journalism FavoriteAs my news writing students work on seve…AestheticsBehind the art: The Westmoreland's 'Death…

Redshirt (fan video for Jonathan Coulton song)

Similar:Choose Your Own Buzz LightyearI was on the road (and away from a compu…AestheticsAnother NewsBreak.com Exclusive Exposes a Royal Family Lie #FakeNewsYou sheep who trust the lamestream fake …AmusingIf You're Getting Walled in a Cellar I Feel Bad for You SonAmusingConspiracy (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season One, Episode 25) Parasitic Bug Doppelgängers on…Rewatching Star Trek: The…

One in a Billion: email tips – Google Search

In the grand scheme of things, this means very little… but still, it’s kind of cool to be one in a billion. —email tips – Google Search. Similar:Research Poetry (communicating research results and expressing their significance through …For an article on communicating research…AcademiaThe Rise of Curiosity JournalismKatz and his kindred might just as well …CybercultureChatGPT…