I was just listening to a lecture (from the University Channel podcasts, linked on the right side of weeklyrob) about trends in dying, which is a funny phrase. It’s by the author of “The Living End: The Future of Death, Aging, and Immortality.” [Amazon US seems to think the title is slightly different, and spells […]
Author Archive | weeklyrob
Save the Semicolon
I own the domain, savethesemicolon.com. There’s nothing there, so don’t bother looking. Anyway, it’s about to expire (in February) and I can’t figure out whether to keep it or not. I wish I had the energy to really save the semicolon. But I may not.
Minority President
Lilly Goren, contributing to the under-appreciated, but ever-interesting Britannica Blog, helps us figure out whether America is more likely to elect a woman or a black man as president. How does she do it? She collects and assesses historical data from the only really important sources that ever existed: Movies and Television Series. Her findings tell […]
Global Warming
I mentioned before that Denis Dutton, aldaily.com guy (along with other things), responded almost immediately to my email about a typo on his site. It got fixed on the same day. Then, on Christmas day, I wrote aldaily about another typo, and Denis wrote back that day again. Twice! Once to say thanks, and once […]
Big Think
I’m excited. Thanks to aldaily for the link.
Hyperrealistic Daydreaming
I walk about a mile and a half every day in order to get to and from the train station. That time is spent daydreaming. What it would be like to go back in time, and be the only guy with an Army tank in the Punic Wars? Would it make me a ruler? Would I at […]
Two Roads
While walking along a path with a non-American friend of mine, I asked whether he’d heard the Robert Frost poem, “The Road Not Taken”. Of course, any American friend of mine would have already heard of it, but this guy hadn’t. So once I got home, I looked it up and sent it to him. […]
The Gangsta Code
The L.A. Times runs a Homicide Report blog that allows comments and asks for information. One incident was a 37 year old man, gunned down in the middle of the night. The comments show family members and friends mourn the loss. But then other people started to comment, in record numbers, and we learn more […]
Cussin'
I really liked the movie “Knocked Up.” I thought it was very funny. One thing that distracted me, though, was the language. It was in English, of course, but man, did they all cuss a lot. Even the characters who you wouldn’t expect to cuss all the time, cussed all the time. People cussed to […]
My Bro
My brother is a photo bug. Do people still say that? Anyway, one of his photos just took first place in a monthly contest. Check it out.