Justice.  Is there any concept more noble?  Any pursuit that embodies the best parts of our humanity more?  Even as our biology asserts that might-makes-right, and when wronged we seethe for vengeance, we hold on to this notion of balance and fairness.   We have the courage to protect someone’s right to speak, even when we […]

A study conducted by the Girl Scout Research Institute (which is apparently a real place, where I doubt there are serious-looking women walking around with clipboards while wearing the little uniform) has concluded that girls who watch awful reality TV shows have worse images of themselves and beliefs about how to behave as women.  I […]

Once a month, some friends and I go to this pub-trivia competition. It’s teams of 4, 9 rounds of trivia, in a no-holds-barred, winner takes all, melee of intellectual carnage! (that’s possibly an exaggeration)  It’s also a fund-raiser for Rwandan schools, which can be a bit embarrassing to forget when you can’t remember, say, exactly […]

It is very, very sad that Steve Jobs has passed away, for many reasons, of course; but for we, the world, it is mostly for the loss of his vision, and the incredible things he surely had yet to create. And while he had resigned from Apple shortly before his death, he could only ever […]

You know that conversation where you talk about famous people who share your birthday?  I do not enjoy that conversation.  I think of this not because it’s my birthday (It was in July.  You missed it.  Don’t you feel awful?), but because another sad chapter has been added.  I was talking with a couple friends […]

A couple of bloggers have been kind enough to name me for the Versatile Blogger award.  (That’s why I’ve been in absentia for a few days now – I was at the awards ceremony in Copenhagen.  Well, I assumed there was an awards ceremony, and that it was in Copenhagen, but couldn’t seem to find […]

As you may have heard, the UARS satellite, first put in orbit in 1991, will be coming out of orbit on Friday.  The satellite, which weighs 6.5 tons and is about the size of a school bus, will burn up on re-entry… mostly.  NASA scientists speculate that approximately 26 pieces of debris will survive re-entry […]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… right around the end of The Empire Strikes Back… Luke: Leia, Chewie, C3P0, R2D2, Lando, thanks for meeting.  Okay, it’s been a rough couple months, I know we’re all pretty shaken.  C3P0 got blown to bits, Han’s frozen in carbonite— Chebacca:  Graawwnk! Luke: I know, […]