RoboCop, Ph.D

It’s hard to imagine what freshmen think when they wander into Professor Banzai’s lecture hall. Weller reports that he loses a lot of students after the first class. “They thought they were going to get the easy A from old RoboCop,” he says with a laugh. The 450-page course reader tells them otherwise. Those who…

Preface to Lyrical Ballads

I have said that Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity: the emotion is contemplated till by a species of reaction the tranquillity gradually disappears, and an emotion, kindred to that which was before the subject of contemplation, is gradually produced, and does itself actually…

A Stand Against Wikipedia

While plenty of professors have complained about the lack of accuracy or completeness of entries, and some have discouraged or tried to bar students from using it, the history department at Middlebury College is trying to take a stronger, collective stand. It voted this month to bar students from citing the Web site as a…

[Hand-made Star Wars]

—[Hand-made Star Wars] (YouTube) Very dorky, but in a totally awesome, very cool way. Similar:She’s on her way to the @thepublicpgh for two shows today as Margot in Dial M for Murder.She’s on her way to the @thepublicpgh fo…Aesthetics"The threat is no longer simply from government censorship."After using examples from Warsaw and Pra…CultureThe press lobby is…

A New Sith, or Revenge of the Hope

Han and Luke get medals but Chewie doesn’t. Actually, Leia offers him one but Chewie turns it down. He got one of those things from Yoda about 20 years ago, but there’s no way he can tell her that. —A New Sith, or Revenge of the Hope (Mornignstar) A great little detail that really helps this…

Of thought and metaphor

Even something as seemingly straightforward as asking for the salt involves thinking and communicating at two levels, which is why we utter such convoluted requests as, “If you think you could pass the salt, that would be great.” Says Pinker: “It’s become so common that we don’t even notice that it is a philosophical rumination…

New Model 500 height adjustable workstation: ideal for standing, seated or supine work positions.

—New Model 500 height adjustable workstation: ideal for standing, seated or supine work positions. (Office Organix) Strap me down, slap an IV in my arm, and I’ll get all my work done — all of it! Similar:Boston marathon bombing: All the mistakes journalists make during a crisis like the Boston… First, do not pass on speculatio…Current_EventsWhat…

Pac-Man Bathroom

—toxickaty —Pac-Man Bathroom (Flickr | toxickaty) Awesome. Similar:New Facebook Notifications Alert Users When They Not Currently Looking At Facebook “We hope these helpful new alerts will …AmusingThe Muse #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 4, Episode 21) Jake meets his muse; pregnant runaw…Rewatching ST:DS9 From his spot on the …MediaR.I.P. Blogging, Killed By Screenshorts Are screenshorts slowly killing…

Aztecs vs. Greeks: Those with superior intelligence need to learn to be wise.

The encouragement of wisdom requires a special kind of education. It requires first of all recognition of one’s own intellectual limits and fallibilities–in a word, humility. This is perhaps the most conspicuously missing part of today’s education of the gifted. Many high-IQ students, especially those who avoid serious science and math, go from kindergarten through…