Includes stuff about anything where feedback causes the system to adapt, including the systems of nature, those that are man-made or cultural, and those of the human mind.
The offending tweet: I wouldn’t fancy the bed next to Gareth Thomas #padlockmyarse Does this mean that the tweeter would climb into the bed of any female sleeping in the same room and have his way with her, even if she didn’t want it? Because that’s what it sounds like he’s saying. If not, then …
Continue reading ‘“Footie club sacks striker for homophobic tweet”’ »
A medical breakthrough in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria! In a nutshell, these things render such bacteria vulnerable to antibiotics again, and it looks like bacteria have no way to defend themselves. 🙂 This is the kind of science I love to hear about.
As you may have noticed, this site — along with thousands of others — was blacked out today, to protest the SOPA and PIPA bills. If you’re an American Internet user and haven’t heard of them before, what rock have you been hiding under? Go find out what it’s all about (this page might help), …
This sounds like an awesome idea. It’s a “limited, unscreened” school. […] It means that any student who is interested can apply–their grades and attendence record are not taken into account in deciding whether or not to admit them, only their interest. I think this is the best thing about the school. A lot of …
Continue reading ‘“New York City gets a Software Engineering High School”’ »
“…it’s worth doing badly first.” It’s a good idea to keep in mind, especially if (like me) you have a tendency toward perfectionism.
A “National Day of Prayer”? “One Nation Under God”? “In God We Trust”? I’ve heard people claim that they’re proof that America was founded on Christian principles. If the speaker acknowledges freedom of religion at all, he invariably means that everyone must be free to practice his religion. Thing is, all three of those were …
Continue reading ‘“Religious Expressions Are Rooted in Fear-Based Politics”’ »
The LA Times recently published a four-part investigation of autism. It’s pretty good, it has more information on it than I’ve been able to find in my own research elsewhere. I’m not a scientist, and I’m operating solely on my own experience and what I’ve read of others, but it seems to me that autism …
Continue reading ‘“Autism boom: an epidemic of disease or of discovery?”’ »
I never noticed, but that phrase really doesn’t mean anything at all. All learning rewires your brain — if it didn’t, you wouldn’t have learned anything. Maybe stories like this one aren’t as important as people think.
It’s about time someone called corporations on this type of self-serving rule change. As a business owner, I can’t blame them for trying to limit their liability. I’d probably do the same thing in their shoes (though I hope I’d find a way to be more fair about it). But as a consumer it always …
Continue reading ‘“Sony sued over PlayStation Network no-suing rules”’ »
In the small mid-western hick community where my family spent the early- to mid-eighties, you didn’t dare let people know you were different in any way. Fifties McCarthyism was still alive and well, but no communists presented themselves, so it was turned on anyone who was different in any way. Kids who couldn’t fit in …
Continue reading ‘“Kids, the Internet, and the End of Privacy”’ »