Violated by police officers in many places including Ferguson, Baltimore.

Deep in dodo doodoo.

Yes, you read that correctly in the summary, there actually is a John Hancock tower in Boston (240 m tall). It is shorter than the better-known one in Chicago (321 m tall, twice as many hits by Google). The Boston one looks very skinny, so maybe it shakes enough for the video gizmo stuff to pick up vibrations. (What me, make fun of MIT?)

Almonds are fascinating, using over a trillion gallons of water per year in California. I always thought eating nuts was lower impact on the environment than eating meat and so a better use of resources. Not sure why we can't grow almonds in water-wealthy states - almonds grow all over the Mediterranean. In fact, almonds are very genetically close to peaches, and I'm sure would make Georgia more money than peaches, with a little investment.

So this is telling me that the apps that Google "Features" currently are not inspected or analyzed by any humans before they become featured. "Featured," to my way of thinking, means recommended. So, currently, are algorithms recommending apps, not people? And if so, how long before algorithms recommend movies, books, music? (Currently, Wikibooks notes that "Featured books are books that the Wiki community believes to be the best . . .")

"It's the sort of thing tenured professors can get away with." I'm thinking I need to rethink my career path right away and become a tenured professor.

You FBI Coward, I spit on you! No, wait, I don't want to spit on you because then you will collect my DNA. I throw my hairbrush at you! No, no, that won't work either. I, I, punch you with boxing gloves!!! Take that!!!

According to James Clapper, "Even more than terrorism, the threat of cyberattack is the biggest peril currently facing the United States". If Cybersecurity is a major threat to the US, you would think that some agency in the government would be interested in making it easy to report security flaws and not prosecute people for reporting security flaws. "And I said to myself, what a F&$#ed up world."

Hi, A friend of mine was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, Stage 4, and he spent the next 6 months lecturing his sons (grades 5 and 8) and getting them to promise to be good. I hated to watch him do it because it put a tremendous extra burden on them. One year later, I would have to say the sons are not being "good." The burden of living up to Dad's expectations was overwhelming, I think. I lost my father the summer after 6th grade. I remember him telling me I could do anything I wanted, after he listened to me sing, "I am Woman, hear me Roar," probably slightly off key, and telling him I wanted to be a rock star. You won't be there in person in the future, but you are there now. Love her every day as if there is no tomorrow, thinking about today's concerns. Respond to her questions today. She's not ready for the future now, but trust that you've given her enough by who you are and she will be when she gets there.

Of course, you can always read the Last Lecture, and do what that tells you to do.


-A geeky scientist Mom

I had a phonne that did this; very helpful on campus where, due to instruments/equipment, whatever, you can't cell a cellular signal in many buildings, including the med school, but you can easily get wifi. Now my kid is in college, I signed him up for Republic because hey, he's nearly always around wifi and he can afford the monthly fees.

If the kid does not want play dates, I would not force them. Find a way to make time with the kid happy and learning or exploring his world - if this occurs at the specialist's, great, if it occurs at a museum where the kid is essentially alone looking at exhibits or just with you, great. Sometimes kids like individual sports such as swimming. Childhood is short! good luck. But, I'm not autistic and no expert, just a Mom.

Sounds easy, but there are more bacterial cells in your body than eukaryotic (human) cells by a factor of 10, and unlike the human cells that all have the same DNA, the bacteria are different. By the way, if you want to know what various types of bacteria are in your personal stool, you can go to American Gut and pay someone $99 to analyze your shit. The answer, however, will be fairly general, because no one's sequenced all the different bacteria there.