I've upgraded to Wordpress 2.5 and switched to a new theme based on the copyblogger theme . Please point out any bugs you see.

more...

An article in the WSJ reports on a study of energy consumption in Indiana before and after their recent switch to DST. The switch cost them $8.6 million extra for electricity.

more...

I was excited about potential for the XO as a delivery vehicle for assistive technology. The laptop looks great online so I ordered one through the buy one get one program. I figured we'd get to develop a demonstration on it for Maze Day. Boy am I disappointed...

more...

An interesting post suggesting that the proper response to the inevitable increase in surveillance of every aspect of our lives is looking back. Why should public officials have more privacy that us?

more...

From Scientific American " The Secret to Raising Smart Kids " by Carol S. Dweck. Hint: Don't tell your kids that they are. More than three decades of research shows that a focus on effort—not on intelligence or ability—is key to success in school and in life.

more...

I used the SVN approach this time. Very simple to set up and it seemed to work fine. In the future I should just have to type

more...

I've been a platelet donor for the Red Cross for years but driving over to Durham to donate is a bother (can't ride the bus so I have to drive to work that day but then parking around here is awful). So I'm going to give the program here on campus a try.

more...

I do my best to avoid the horrible 1980's vintage computer system over at advising (3270 emulator running on a PC) but it has one feature I couldn't find anywhere else; screen 1GE. This screen tells you what new curriculum requirements a course meets. You'd think maybe there would be a list in the undergraduate bulletin, and you'd be right except it is sorted by requirement, not by course! You might expect that each course description would list the requirements it satisfied but you'd be wrong.

So, I wrote a short python script to scrape the data off the requirements page from the bulletin . Here is the output of that script for quick reference without requiring a 3270.

more...

This weekend in Silk Hope NC. Good country fun, good food, and lots of fascinating old machinery. Check out Jonah's post for more info.

more...

A really enjoyable story about the demise of the Weekly World News that I read in the N&O; today. I'm pig-biting mad! I only read the cover while waiting in line at the grocery store but I remember laughing out loud at the clever headlines they'd have. So much better than the celebrity crap I see now...

more...