This entry was published at least two years ago (originally posted on May 28, 2010). Since that time the information may have become outdated or my beliefs may have changed (in general, assume a more open and liberal current viewpoint). A fuller disclaimer is available.
Sometime between May 25th and May 28th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!
- Today’s College Students Lack Empathy: "College students today are less likely to 'get' the emotions of others than their counterparts 20 and 30 years ago, a new review study suggests. Specifically, today's students scored 40 percent lower on a measure of empathy than their elders did. The findings are based on a review of 72 studies of 14,000 American college students overall conducted between 1979 and 2009. 'We found the biggest drop in empathy after the year 2000,' said Sara Konrath, a researcher at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research."
- Is Queen’s "Invisible Man" the Best Scifi Music Video of All Time? Yes.: "How awesome is the music video for 'The Invisible Man'? Let's just say that if there was a machine that could quantify awesomeness, this machine would be built of dinosaur bones and powered by the inchoate yalps of happy babies. Here's the music video – we'll dissect its scenes and themes below."
- Republicans’ New Web Site Not Exactly What They Hoped It Would Be: "The Web site filters out obscenity and the like, but it hasn't kept out hundreds of ideas: some serious, some offensive and some so wacky they surely must be Democratic sabotage. 'Let kids vote!' recommended one. 'Let's make a 'Social Security Lotto,' ' proposed another. 'What dope came up with the idea of criminalizing a parent's right to administer corporal punishment?' a third demanded. Some contributors demanded action to uncover conspiracies involving the 9/11 attacks and the 'NEW WORLD ORDER.' One forward thinker recommended that we 'build the city of the future somewhere in a non-inhabit part of the United States, preferably the desert.'"
- Ten of the Greatest Maps That Changed the World: "From the USSR's Be On Guard! map in 1921 to Google Earth, a new exhibition at the British Library charts the extraordinary documents that transformed the way we view the globe forever"
- Is Texting [or using a cellphone] Legal if I’m at a Stoplight?: No, and after June 10th, you can get cited: "'Even though you are stopped, you're still in physical control of the automobile, which would require you at a moment's notice to take off,' State Patrol Sgt. Freddy Williams said. 'Are you going to stop texting immediately when the light turns green?'"