Potato

Apparently, this has something to do do with how gravity differs at different places on earth. Also, it has pretty colors.

Arcadia

Is Tom Stoppard's Arcadia the Greatest Play of our Age?

McDonald's Hot Coffee Case

In the famous case of the woman suing McDonalds for burning herself on her hot coffee, the actual facts are more than enough to warrant a jury trial.

I like the case because it is a litmus test for people who a) have knee-jerk reactions about these sorts of cases, and b) often don't take the time to do their own research.

El Camino del Rey (Very scary trail)

In the spirit of vertigo, and my prior post about climbing up a radio tower.

Cities with significantly cited papers in psychology (Fig. 3)

http://www.leydesdorff.net/topcity/figure3.htm

How to Make a Mind Map®

http://www.mind-mapping.co.uk/make-mind-map.htm

Glory Road

Glory Road is an excellent movie to watch at the beginning of March Madness. However, it's not so good to watch on TNT starting at midnight, because the geometric increase in the number of commercials per hour catches up to me when I'm most tired. Josh Lucas looks like Kevin Costner, except I think he's a better actor.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I celebrated St. Patrick's Day yesterday by watching The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day. Not very good, but fun enough.

Tsunami video

A three minute clip From Clint Eastwood's movie Hereafter.

Seven Steps to better brainstorming

From McKinsey & Co.

Myth of the Teenage Brain

Q: If there are biological reasons for the challenges adolescents face, why aren't they universal across cultures?

A: Because many of the challenges are actual social rather than biological.

via Scientific American.

Speed Racer

2.5 stars out of 5. Very enjoyable, but like candy -- totally unsatisfying. Uninspiring work from the Matrix guys.

I think this about sums up the Christianity and Homosexuality debate

"I am a Christian who happens as well to be gay ... Those realities, which are unreconcilable to some, are reconciled in me by a loving God." -- Rev. Peter Gomes, Plummer Professor Of Christian Morals

via Andrew Sullivan.

My new favorite movie character archtype description: Manic Pixie Dream Girl

From a series of articles about boring romantic female leads (attacking, defending) in the Atlantic Online.

Fordson tractor stuck in the mud

That's how it's done.

Graphic Novel Biography of Hunter S. Thompson

From BoingBoing.

When Do You Hold The Bus?

The great football coach John Madden was once asked whether or not he would tolerate a player like Terrell Owens on his team. Owens was both one of the most talented players in the game and one of the biggest jerks. Madden answered:

“If you hold the bus for everyone on the team, then you’ll be so late that you’ll miss the game, so you can’t do that. The bus must leave on time. However, sometimes you’ll have a player that’s so good that you hold the bus for him, but only him.”

Phil Jackson, the basketball coach who has won the most NBA championships, was once asked about his famously flakey superstar Dennis Rodman: “Since Dennis Rodman is allowed to miss practice, does this mean other star players like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen can miss practice too?” Jackson replied:

“Of course not. There is only room for one Dennis Rodman on this team. In fact, you really can only have a very few Dennis Rodmans in society as a whole; otherwise, we would degenerate into anarchy.”

You may find yourself with an employee who fits one of the above descriptions, but nonetheless makes a massive positive contribution to the company. You may decide that you will personally mitigate the employee’s negative attributes and keep them from polluting the overall company culture. That’s fine, but remember: you can only hold the bus for her.


http://bhorowitz.com/2011/01/04/when-smart-people-are-bad-employees/

Rule of Thumb for Teaching in the age of Google

From Unwrapping the Gifted.

Hiding Gold Nobel Prizes in Plain Sight

When Nazi Germany invaded Denmark in World War II, the Hungarian chemist George de Hevesy dissolved the gold Nobel Prizes of the German physicists Max von Laue and James Franck in aqua regia to prevent the Nazis from confiscating them. The Nazi government had prohibited Germans from accepting or keeping any Nobel Prize after the jailed peace activist Carl von Ossietzky had received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1935. De Hevesy placed the resulting solution on a shelf in his laboratory at the Niels Bohr Institute. It was subsequently ignored by the Nazis who thought the jar—one of perhaps hundreds on the shelving—contained common chemicals. After the war, de Hevesy returned to find the solution undisturbed and precipitated the gold out of the acid. The gold was returned to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Nobel Foundation who recast the medals and again presented them to Laue and Franck.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua_regia#History

Science rules.

How Your Coffee Mug Controls Your Feelings (& What You Can Do About It)

via johnnyholland