Author: John

Film Threat: 50 Reasons Why Jedi Sucks. There really are only two good Star Wars films. Sad really. The Comics Curmudgeon: Yikes! The guys who write Archie read the Curmudgeon!

Greater Washington: Why Walkable Urbanism is Better for Adolescents. NOACA: So here are the initial lists of projects in NE Ohio approved for federal stimulus funding. The 2nd largest single line item: The Towpath Trail at over $11 million. Although it’s currently in the “Tier II” collection of projects that can only start if any…

NY Times: A Modest Proposal: Bikers Take the High Road. Fabulous article about how bicyclists have become the bad guys in NYC now that there are 131,000 of them commuting every day there. (131,000!! Holy cow.) Why? Basically because most riders refuse to follow the rules. The article includes some totally obvious suggestions to help…

Strange Maps: World War II: If Maps Could Fight. A cute cartoon that summarizes the events of WWII. The characters are fairly accurate little maps of each of the countries involved. The Big Picture: Robots. 32 photos of a variety of current robots. I found a lot of these pictures fairly creepy. It’s almost like…

McSweeney’s: Conversations My Parents Must Have Had When Planning to Raise a Child. NY Times: Utilities Turn Their Customers Green With Envy. I read the book Yes!, by Robert Cialdini recently. Lots of excellent examples about how to actually convince someone to do something. In this article, Cialdini figures out how to convince people to…

Academic Earth. A video lecture site. Lots of high-powered teachers. Most of the videos are simply plunking a camera in the back of a lecture hall and letting it run. Still great, though. Here’s a good one for someone wanting to know more about how computers actually work. The Guardian: Twenty Things Everyone Needs to…

Wikipedia: List of Cognitive Biases. Mentat: Techniques for becoming a better thinker. Lots of ways to memorize stuff, do hard math in your head, and be more creative. Heading East: Lies I’ve told my three-year-old recently.

Wikipedia: List of Logical Fallacies. Common Errors in English. The Snowflake Method of writing a Novel. This process would seem to appeal greatly to someone who wants to think about novel construction in a logical way. Obviously not for everyone, especially those who don’t know what they wanted to say until after they’ve said it.

Wikipedia: List of Common Misconceptions. Vanity Fair: Wall Street on the Tundra. Michael Lewis on the financial collapse in Iceland.

WKYC: High tech high school grads in high demand. A little article about Max Hayes HS. Bill Callahan: House Bill 3, Foley/Driehaus foreclosure reform bill, to be rolled out this week. So along with Obama’s foreclosure bill, maybe something will finally be done to get to the root of this finance problem. After all, real…