Random Thoughts
Comics have typically been shunned by educators and parents who want to promote literacy among children. After all, kids should be reading "real" books, which are more complex and require more effort to understand than colorful, picture-filled comic books.
But according to University of Illinois library scientist Carol L. Tilley, this critical view of comics is unnecessary--and even harmful. Tilley says that comics are just as sophisticated as other forms of literature, and children benefit from reading them at least as much as they do from reading other types of books.
"A lot of the…
The details of your personal life, such as grocery purchases, pizza topping preferences and Amazon wish lists, are collected every day ― by both websites and traditional retailers. Thoughthis data seems fairly innocuous, when it's put together it can tell whoever is gathering it awhole lot about your health, finances and behavior; and that means it can easily be used against you.
Dr. Michael Birnhack of Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Law and Prof. Niva Elkin-Koren from the University of Haifa recently completed a comprehensive study on information privacy laws in Israel and found compelling…
Most people would probably say they love shopping online. With the prices of online stores being so much cheaper than traditional retailers, what's not to love? According to recently released research, the increasing lack of product choices found online may be a good candidate.
A new study, published in Marketing Science, found that the traditional system of selling through retailers encourages longer – rather than shorter – product lines, which could dry up as manufacturers turn to direct sales online.
The reason is pretty simple. As more manufacturers go online and cut out the middle men…
Gender is socially mediated, and constructed, as well as neurologically predisposed. Innate qualities have to be qualities that do not depend on social interaction. Consider the so called feral children known to history. They are what people are like without social interaction or culture. These children display natural predispositions to certain behaviors, with no cultural overlay. Complex cultural behavior, dressing, eating with table manners, and much of what we call gender identity are unknown to them.
As a transsexual woman myself, I know how my brain…
"A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere".
Groucho Marx
Well, it seems that the issue surrounding the runaway balloon has finally been resolved with the entire event being a hoax. Certainly there are many people that are angry and there's much talk about criminal charges being brought. No doubt, virtually everyone has an opinion and it probably isn't favorable.
However, the concern I have is with the issue of Child Protective Services involvement and the threat of having the children removed. Despite everyone coming out of the woodwork now claiming that Richard Heene is abusive and that he's endangering his children, the simple truth…
I started looking for a seasonally appropriate squid cartoon, and found this cute little flash game called Halloween Squid.
"Mr. Squidly" follows your cursor around an underseacape littered with pumpkins, candy, and dead costumed children (really). When it swims over things, it picks them up--implying that those eight arms are all covered with suction cups, as they should be. The goal is to keep the candy and avoid the kids.
The squid is cute, but missing its tentacles. Being able to shoot out two tentacles would greatly aid in candy capture! But greatly tax the game's physics engine, I fear…
Skunked again today.Squid are here--but so are storms.It's not called "catching."
An article "Why Extremist Views Dominate" suggested that such views are expressed more willingly when people believe they hold a majority opinion. In the study the point was that students that were pro-alcohol were more willing to express their opinion when they thought they were in the majority and less inclined to when faked data indicated otherwise.
One wrinkle in this study was that those students that held anti-alcohol views did not change in expressing their viewpoint even when presented with data that indicated they held a majority position.
I would dispute the conclusion that…
Just over a year ago, the Daresbury synchrotron closed down (Is The Ring Destined For The Cracks Of Doom?) and I was contemplating the prospect of travelling to THE Continent (OK, the European mainland) in order to continue our Small-angle X-ray scattering work.
I had only started frequently visiting beamlines at the age of 59, and was finding the experience somewhat stressful. This is not due to the work itself, but rather administrative constraints. Now I have invariably found the administrative staff, as well as the scientific and technical staff, courteous and helpful.…