Holiday Message from Roy Blount Jr.: Buy Books From Your Local Bookstore, Now

Roy Blount Jr’s post on the Authors Guild site: December 11, 2008. I’ve been talking to booksellers lately who report that times are hard. And local booksellers aren’t known for vast reserves of capital, so a serious dip in sales can be devastating. Booksellers don’t lose enough money, however, to receive congressional attention. A governmentContinue reading “Holiday Message from Roy Blount Jr.: Buy Books From Your Local Bookstore, Now”

I May Not Know Physics but I know What I Like

According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS), Science Dance Contest (Taking science to the dance, and back again) a/k/a Dance Your PhD, “…the human body is an excellent medium for communicating science–perhaps not as data-rich as a peer-reviewed article, but far more exciting.” Markita Landry’s PhD thesis is titled “Single MoleculeContinue reading “I May Not Know Physics but I know What I Like”

AlphaSmart Keyboard and Battery LIfe

I got a question about my AlphaSmart 2000 the other day from a writer who owned “the older AlphaSmart Pro…”  He didn’t like the action of the keys (he had to “really pound on them and half the time you have to hit them twice”) or that “every time you touch the shift key itContinue reading “AlphaSmart Keyboard and Battery LIfe”

Citigroup? What About the Huddled Masses?

The discussion I hear (when bailout funding to states is mentioned) centers around infrastructure–bridges, highways, etc. What about education? California’s train wreck of a budget will crush a lot of college dreams. Robert Reich says it much better than I can. Money quote: Education is largely funded by state and local governments whose revenues areContinue reading “Citigroup? What About the Huddled Masses?”