Time Wasters

Like kleenex and facial tissue, tabasco has become synonymous with hot sauce. Some background on the family behind the sauce.

Where’s the free time?

Terry Jones (from Monty Python) on the British hostages in Iran (from MM).

Phil Zimbardo, creator of the Stanford Prison Experiment, discusses its relevance to Abu Ghraib.

The final four, alas, has grown a bit tedious at times (and no, not just because Duke isn’t playing…). (via JA)

Frank Rich on Elizabeth Edwards (TimesSelect).

In a world… where folks with deep voices become famous. The Crash Test Dummies were before their time.

Claims of match-fixing in Sumo.

Should we give up on trying to curb plagiarism? Talk about a paradigm shift.

Time Wasters

The computers (or CEO’s) are taking over.

Scienceblogs is a great blog for the scientist and otherwise (and I suppose, aptly named). Here’s something on the neuroscience of daydreaming.

A very interesting take by a secular, liberal Pakistani.

One great thing about living in Japan was the exceedingly low petty crime rate. One could leave their bag on the train, and either find it the next day in the same spot, or find it was turned in to the conductor. And on the rare occasion where petty crime does occur, justice is swift and complete.

March Madness is the best time of year in American sports. This is actually from the Division II championship game–simply amazing.

If you’re like me and love pizza, you too have been waiting for this news your whole life.

Why are we overseas?

Though Ruben is an American citizen (er… will be, when his passport arrives next month), he was born in a local hospital in Heidelberg, Germany (as folks saw and heard in his Day 1 video). What are two three Americans (Kirstin’s ambiguities notwithstanding) doing in Germany?

I work for the University of Maryland University College (UMUC), and am currently with their European program, after having spent the last six years in Asia. UMUC is contracted with the US Department of Defense to teach college classes to US military, civilians, and local nationals living abroad. Thus, we are university professors teaching abroad, and no (the most common confusion), we are not English teachers…except for, well, the English teachers. I’m a Psychologist by training, and taught everything from Intro Psych to Learning and Memory to Research Methods to Stats. Thousands upon thousands have taken classes with UMUC overseas, and many finish their bachelor’s degrees while abroad. It’s really a great idea– if you’re going to station folks away from home, bring the important services to them, so they don’t have to put their education on hold (and by services I mean not just banalities like the food court and golf…though I won’t look the gift course in the mouth) . I’m quite proud of what we do.

UMUC has been overseas since 1949 (in Europe) and 1956 (in Asia), and as I’ve said many times, it’s an absolutely wonderful teaching opportunity for newly minted Ph.D.’s, faculty looking for an interesting sabbatical, or early retirees. Times are certainly changing, with the downsizing of the overseas military population and proliferation of competitor online institutions (reputable and otherwise). Regardless of these obstacles, formidable as they appear at the moment, it’s a great community and organization, and many folks have fond memories of their time overseas with our program.

Besides some background on why Ruben is starting life in Germany, this is a lengthy lead in to a nice series of blogs put together by a former overseas Marylander. Take a look at some of the pics especially– it really was, and still is to some extent, a “rock-star” lifestyle to be out here, and these blogs give some clue as to why so many of us come overseas “for one to two years” and end up staying much, much longer.

Time Wasters

Ben Stein posts an article, appropriately enough, on winning and money.

I’ve always argued for a “marginal utility theory of leftovers”. That is, you reach a point during any good meal where you’re better off packing the rest away, even if still hungry, as your enjoyment of that food will be greater later that night when your real hunger returns. Few things make me happier than pizza hut in the fridge at 1130 at night, or 8 the next morning. Well, there’s apparently some science behind this notion.

When food or drugs are tainted, companies can order a recall. But how to do so with surgical implants? Perhaps Mola Ram from Temple of Doom can be consulted…

Bill Maher has taken the baton from Dennis Miller. (via Andrew Sullivan)

NY Times “timeselect” articles are now free for .edu email holders (via Instapundit and CG).

A well-rounded profile of Rudy Giuliani.

A friend of ours here, who was an officer deployed in Afghanistan, vents about the state of the war.

Stanley Fish discusses the establishment clause (the 18 March post).

I’m 6′2″ and can barely touch the rim these days. Sigh.

Time Wasters

Is Kal Penn the brown Zack Braff? And if you haven’t, you should read Jhumpa Lahiri’s first work, The Interpreter of Maladies. Achingly powerful short stories.

If you enjoyed Freakonomics, you’ll like the everyday economist on Slate. Here’s a report on an odd decrease in leisure time.

And now for the weirdo barnyard animal portion of our program. KFC is not a fan favorite in Egypt.

Micro-photographs of bugs on windshields. They are surprisingly intact–I was expecting Jackson Pollock (via Andrew Sullivan).

And this is just weird.

Craftiness in political advertising.

Wot is a yuut?

As a Mets fan, and having a father-in-law who lives and dies with the Red Sox, this brings me particular glee (via The Big Lead).

Time Wasters

Is making a Meez as creepy as those dancing elf-with-your-picture bits that were all the rage this past Christmas?

I can’t decide if this poem is brilliant, a more sanguine version of Jeff Foxworthy, flippant in simplifying matters, or all of the above. But for sure, it’s thought-provoking. (via Thomas Friedman at NYT)

David Brooks on Bill Richardson. It makes sense to me that senators almost never win presidental elections (recently), considering how partisan they end up behaving in congress, marching mindlessly in lockstep with their party. It is too polarized, and attempts at centrism (even genuine) end up looking fake (see Hillary and McCain).

Apparently Bangkok now has clean air. I’ll believe it when I can see (through) it…

The neurobiology of sporting talent. A fascinating (but long) article. I want my son to be an athlete. No secret of that. Reading this, I now know how to make him a successful female Russian tennis star, for what that’s worth.

Conditions appear to be better in India when women in remote areas are given control and power. Conversely, conditions are better in my household when I’m given remote control power…

The 80’s were glory days for the NBA…especially if you grew up in Southern California. Here’s one of the best moments, Magic’s junior-junior skyhook. (via The Sports Guy)

Even if you never played soccer, you ought to be able to appreciate just how cool this goal is.

Time Wasters

I’m thinking about posting these once a week or so. I can save posts as drafts, and thus just drop links in a new post as I run across them, and post after reaching a critical mass. Handy.

I am no longer a “gamer”, and frankly, never really was one (except for sega and snes football and hockey in the early 90’s), but stuff like this gets my juices flowing.

I have no idea who I’ll be supporting in ‘08. In the meantime, I’ll post interesting political clips like this: Obama on the war in 2002 (via Andrew Sullivan). I’ll try to be substantive with political posts, and not bother with silly things like Bush dropping a basketball or Gore’s electricity bill. Funny stuff of course, but it’s too easy not to be thinking critically during these critical times. In any case, there’ll be plenty of fluff otherwise.

Good for Lincoln Chafee to bring this up.

And finally, where do you stand politically?

I’ve always enjoyed maps and geography, even after getting stuck doing a report on “Upper Volta” in seventh grade (which had recently suffered a military coup and changed it’s name to Burkina Faso– imagine the 13 year old stress of finding zero sources on Upper Volta at the local library…actually, imagine having to do research at your local library…). Anyway, here are some neat maps– #75-78 are especially interesting.

The straight dope is a precursor to Yahoo answers and all those other “answer” sites. Good stuff.

Slate offers a nice diversity of topics– something for everyone. But I’m mostly posting this one for the funny image.