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  • I’m a Pundit on a Tech Show and the Host Calls Me the Kwisatz Haderach

    In my valiant attempts to win the interest of tech geeks for my skepto-atheist organization, I somehow managed to finagle my way into a stint as a guest pundit on Tech News Today, the daily news show of the TWiT network, which I listen to or watch every day. As far as I can tell,…

  • The Two Greatest Tweets of All Time

    Twitter has become one of my favorite mediums. When used well, its strict character parameters enforce pith and concision. Over the years, my twit-fu has become strong, and I have a real admiration for those who have mastered the form. (Two such twit-fu masters would be the likes of Dave Weigel and Alison Forns.) Two…

  • The Self and its Ever-Corrupting Shell

    Lionel Shriver quotes one of her own novels’ characters to explain the different worlds inhabited by attractive and non-attractive people: People who’ve always been good-looking, she says, “haven’t a clue that how they’re treated—how much it has to do with their appearance. I even bet that attractive people have a higher opinion of humanity. Since…

  • A Little Too Much Character Building

    Hannah Dale Thompson has lived both sides of the attractiveness divide, and cops to behaving much as her tormentors did, once she had a taste of the power of prettiness. Her article is far-reaching, and delves more specifically into how women and girls deal with each other, among and between social castes. But this portion…

  • The Boy Will Turn into an Ice Cube

    The Boy (3 years old): Daddy, one day, when I’m an ice cube… Me (35 years old): Wait, you’re going to turn into an ice cube? Boy: …Daddy, when I’m an ice cube, I’ll melt. Me: Well, when will this happen? When will you be an ice cube? Boy: In two weeks. And I will…

  • I Married Up

    Last year, I made a little photo montage video as a gift for my wife on our fifth anniversary. Today is our sixth, and I have her permission to share it with you now, one year later. I’m not posting it because I think it’s amazing, but I don’t often enough tell the universe how…

  • The Approval of the Civilized World

    Stephen Fry says Russia’s treatment of gays and lesbians must have international consequences. In an eloquent and moving post, he declares: An absolute ban on the Russian Winter Olympics of 2014 on Sochi is simply essential. Stage them elsewhere in Utah, Lillyhammer, anywhere you like. At all costs Putin cannot be seen to have the…

  • The New Toad Record Gives Me Feelings

    Toad the Wet Sprocket has just dropped their first record in sixteen years to Kickstarter backers (I was late, but got in under the wire), New Constellation, and if you know me, you know I’m thrilled they’re back. I’ve been a fan since high school, and it’s been great that as I’ve grown up, and…

  • It’s American to Welcome the Weirdos

    In a previous post, I mentioned how Emily Hauser directed me to a revelatory article on introversion by Jonathan Rauch. One of the things I like about that piece is that it says to the planet-dominating extroverts, hey guys, it simply can’t just be about you. We have to figure out how we’re all going to be…

  • One of the More Beautiful Asymmetries

    I am in no way qualified, and in no way inclined, to judge between the arguments over the existence or nonexistence of free will. Let me just get that out there. I’m not smar enough, nor am I at all trained in philosophy or neuroscience. But this is the Internet, where that kind of thing,…

  • Nexus 7 Gen. 2: The Tablet for People Who Live in the Sky

    Wow! The new Nexus 7 has a Retina-level screen AND gets nine hours of battery life! What’s your excuse, Apple? Oh. In my test, the new Nexus 7’s battery life was underwhelming. Compared with the same battery test of the iPad Mini and first Nexus 7, it fell short at just six hours; the others…

  • The White Butterfly is Broken: Kids and Death

    Virginia Hughes looks at the way children process the concept of death, and the prevailing research on their timetables for comprehension. She focuses on the three key aspects of death that children grasp at different ages, two of which stood out to me from my own experiences both as a parent, and from when I…

  • Prose before Superheroes

    Jonathan H. Liu at GeekDad is putting a temporary ban on comic books for his fifth-grade daughter. Because of the violence? The sexist depictions of women? Because comic books are an inferior art form? Nope on all counts.  He found that his smart, curious daughter was, in fact, leaning on comics and easy, action-oriented books…

  • The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known

    Tim Kreider on the disorientation that results from accidentally discovering what people think of you: Hearing other people’s uncensored opinions of you is an unpleasant reminder that you’re just another person in the world, and everyone else does not always view you in the forgiving light that you hope they do, making all allowances, always…

  • You Are a Wonderful Person, But Now Please Shush

    Following my previous post on introversion, the delightful Emily Hauser directed my attention to a piece by Jonathan Rauch from 2003 that not only acknowledges the difficulty of being introverted, but also advises extroverts on how to help the introverts they love. First off, he makes a refreshing clarification: we’re not, by virtue of our…