When The Dark Knight Rises came out, an improv classmate mentioned having heard that Christian Bale\’s costume was so elaborate he had to be sealed into it at the beginning of each filming day, necessitating a catheter until the costume was removed. \”That\’s why I\’m sticking with improv,\” another classmate observed. \”I\’m Batman because I […] … learn more→

My cat caught a starling this week. By the time I intervened, the poor bird’s leg was broken, the kitchen floor was strewn with feathers, and I had to make one of those awful decisions. Was I to leave the bird to the satisfaction of my cat; do all I could to keep her alive; […] … learn more→

The day students from my Massachusetts college came to my Alabama hometown, we drove through the near-mile-wide gash left by The Tornado. Near the church of my youth, students gawked at plains of denuded trees, half-gone houses, and bare foundations. Then we emerged on the far side of the disaster zone and parked on the […] … learn more→

After 11 days of discussion and debate about the future of the internet, the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai appears to have collapsed. On the meeting’s penultimate day, talks broke down, with delegates from the US and UK (and other countries) refusing to sign a revised version of the International Telecommunications Regulations […] … learn more→

Audrey Watters has a great piece this week in her Hack (Higher) Education column Top Ed-Tech Trends of 2012: The Business of Ed-Tech What resonated most with me is her assertion that: \”…for all the finger-pointing about the flaws in the business models of higher education, it\’s not clear that the business models of many […] … learn more→

World nuclear electricity-generating capacity has been essentially flat since 2007 and is likely to fall as plants retire faster than new ones are built. In fact, the actual electricity generated at nuclear power plants fell 5 percent between 2006 and 2011. In 2011, following Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, 13 nuclear reactors in Japan, Germany, […] … learn more→

Until the academic warning letter from my son’s college arrived home last December 23rd following his fall freshman term, he assured us that he was getting Bs in his classes. Confronted with this letter, he broke down in tears, admitted that he spent most of the last half of the semester playing an online computer […] … learn more→

In 1863, Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote, “Try to pose for yourself this task: not to think of a polar bear – and you will see that the cursed thing will come to mind every minute.” According to a recent experiment conducted by my colleagues and me, Dostoevsky’s observation about ironic thought processes may have public health […] … learn more→

Anyone who has been paying attention to higher education this year will have heard of the MOOC – courses from prestigious universities offered for free online. There’s been great interest in them from academics and students alike. And the major players are already establishing themselves and their place in the market – edX, Udacity and […] … learn more→

The Old English \”ceapman\” wandered from village to village, peddling his wares from a bag or pushcart. Like all medieval trades, it was expected that the children would take over the family business from the parents, and Ceapman the Elder begat Ceapman the Younger. From that trade name came the common surname \”Chapman,\” which I […] … learn more→