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:Mount St. Mary's…

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:The Masque of…

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:POV: You are coding the automatic doors on your fantasy neovictorian cruiser personal proj…  POV: You are coding th…AestheticsTrouble importing UMA clothes from Blender 3.6In Blender3D, I created a jumpsuit, rigg…CybercultureIt's a Didactic Day in the Neighborhood: Mister Rogers and Educational IdeologyI recently lamented that my kids are gro…AestheticsUltimate Infographic Design Guide + Design…

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:Writing School Papers: Does Your First Version Say It All?My colleague Mike Arnzen talked about th…AcademiaDon’t Text While Parenting — It Will Make You CrankyThe study summarized in Time…

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:Most Christians don’t actually care about Starbucks cups. Here’s what we do know.No Christians in my social media…

Redshirt (fan video for Jonathan Coulton song)

Similar:Cry from a Far Planet by Tom Godwin (WAOB Audio Theatre; read by Dennis Jerz)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ0BBIss…CultureAstronauts cloaked Klingon space patch: Star Trek-inspired emblem revealed The current commander of the Internati…AestheticsEthics (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 16) Leaky cargo barrel-1, Worf-0.Rewatching ST:TNG Worf is paralyzed i…Culture'Peter Pan Live' Was Never Intended to Be EnjoyedI didn’t watch…