moldybluecheesecurds

Ever Broken a Textbook Beyond Repair? Now, with iBooks, You Can! : TreeHugger

2012-01-24T19:18:00.001-06:00

Ever Broken a Textbook Beyond Repair? Now, with iBooks, You Can! : TreeHugger

Op-Ed Columnist: The Value of Teachers

2012-01-18T04:19:00.003-06:00

Op-Ed Columnist: The Value of Teachers

Freedom isn't free, y'know | Eric Black Ink

2012-01-18T04:19:00.001-06:00

Freedom isn't free, y'know | Eric Black Ink

Why Parents (Should Be Able To) Complain

2012-01-15T11:54:00.000-06:00

I've got two kids now, and they are wonderful little rug rats. The oldest is almost three, and has all the delightful imagination, play, and mind-numbing challenges that come with that age. The youngest is 7 months, and she's 100% smiles and cheer, and also tons of work with her acid reflux and teething.

Sometimes I feel like I'm expected to enjoy every second of having kids, otherwise "why did I have them?"

That's why this blog post really hit home:

I think parenting young children (and old ones, I’ve heard) is a little like climbing Mount Everest. Brave, adventurous souls try it because they’ve heard there’s magic in the climb. They try because they believe that finishing, or even attempting the climb are impressive accomplishments. They try because during the climb, if they allow themselves to pause and lift their eyes and minds from the pain and drudgery, the views are breathtaking. They try because even though it hurts and it’s hard, there are moments that make it worth the hard. These moments are so intense and unique that many people who reach the top start planning, almost immediately, to climb again. Even though any climber will tell you that most of the climb is treacherous, exhausting, killer. That they literally cried most of the way up.
And so I think that if there were people stationed, say, every thirty feet along Mount Everest yelling to the climbers – “ARE YOU ENJOYING YOURSELF!? IF NOT, YOU SHOULD BE! ONE DAY YOU’LL BE SORRY YOU DIDN’T!” TRUST US!! IT’LL BE OVER TOO SOON! CARPE DIEM!” - those well-meaning, nostalgic cheerleaders might be physically thrown from the mountain.

We don't only do things we enjoy all the time. Sometimes we do hard things because the moments along the way are worthwhile.

Op-Ed Columnist: A Poverty Solution That Starts With a Hug

2012-01-09T01:33:00.003-06:00

Op-Ed Columnist: A Poverty Solution That Starts With a Hug

How Cities and States are Sticking It to Citizens United | Common Dreams

2012-01-09T01:33:00.001-06:00

How Cities and States are Sticking It to Citizens United | Common Dreams

Bugs may be resistant to genetically modified corn | StarTribune.com

2011-12-29T13:06:00.001-06:00

Bugs may be resistant to genetically modified corn | StarTribune.com:

And we’re surprised why? Technology can’t overcome gross stupidity…

Hungary's Slide into Authoritarianism

2011-12-19T21:06:00.001-06:00

Hungary's Slide into Authoritarianism

Robert Reich (The Most Important Economic Speech of His Presidency)

2011-12-10T03:33:00.003-06:00

Robert Reich (The Most Important Economic Speech of His Presidency)

How U student with MS came to doubt her neurologist's motives | Second Opi

2011-12-10T03:33:00.001-06:00

How U student with MS came to doubt her neurologist's motives | Second Opi

Don’t Tax Soda, Tax Sweeteners - Miller-McCune

2011-12-09T10:49:00.001-06:00

Don’t Tax Soda, Tax Sweeteners - Miller-McCune

Gingrich led conservatism once before, off a cliff | StarTribune.com

2011-12-09T10:48:00.000-06:00

Gingrich led conservatism once before, off a cliff | StarTribune.com

Adjust Your Car Mirrors Property To Avoid Accidents

2011-12-06T15:48:00.003-06:00

Adjust Your Car Mirrors Property To Avoid Accidents

GOP presidential campaign: a series of flashes in the pan.

2011-12-06T15:48:00.001-06:00

GOP presidential campaign: a series of flashes in the pan.

Newt Gingrich will never be president; I will never stop loving this video | Grist

2011-11-29T17:34:00.001-06:00

Newt Gingrich will never be president; I will never stop loving this video | Grist

Technology once protected our privacy, now erodes it

2011-11-29T00:34:00.001-06:00

Technology once protected our privacy, now erodes it

xkcd: Money

2011-11-24T01:33:00.001-06:00

xkcd: Money:

You’ll learn more from this infographic than you’d ever imagine.

A case study in how media bias works against clean-air rules | Grist

2011-11-22T16:03:00.000-06:00

A case study in how media bias works against clean-air rules | Grist

Prosecutions for Bank Fraud Falling

2011-11-20T22:04:00.001-06:00

Prosecutions for Bank Fraud Falling

Comcast puts on great security theater

2011-11-20T07:27:00.001-06:00

At the urging of a friend I recently decided to buy my own cable modem
and save the $7 a month Comcast charges me to lease their equipment.
The only complicating factor is having to contact Comcast to
let them know the equipment MAC address and serial number so they can
properly provision it.

And as you may guess, contacting Comcast is like getting a root canal
when all you really needed was a good floss.

I went for the live chat option, hoping that incompetence would seem
less frustrating via IM than phone and knowing that relaying a
15-digit serial number verbally was asking for trouble. I filled in my
details (name, address, account #) and enter the chat room. The agent sends me the usual canned
text about being happy to help and asks for account verification (basically, everything I've already typed in plus the last four digits of the account holder's SSN).

Note: the account is in my wife's name, but I have been added as an
authorized agent at least twice, and remember vividly the last time
when I had called during the MLB playoffs in 2010 to clarify why I couldn't
watch.

Everything seems fine, I'm thanked for the information, they ask what I
need and I tell them I need to set up my own equipment. They leave for a
bit to ~~play solitaire~~ look up an answer and the agent says that I'm not an
authorized user and they can't discuss the account.

I explain that I can actually tell them the date and time I was (most
recently) authorized to suffer through this indignity. Amazingly, I
got an honest answer about why I keep having to be added to the account.

Comcast has a notes section on each account where they record things
like authorized users. The rep informs me that these notes are
regularly purged if they "get too long" and that this precaution is a
matter of security in an era of identity theft, so this is really for
my own good.

Using simple words, I share my sentiments with the rep, end the chat,
and promptly start a new one posing as my wife. Five minutes later,
we're done.

Thanks for keeping my identity safe, Comcast.

Obama plays the George Washington card | Eric Black Ink

2011-11-16T20:33:00.001-06:00

Obama plays the George Washington card | Eric Black Ink

why the Occupy Wall Street protestors are mad: (On OWS, fairness, and why w

2011-11-15T16:04:00.001-06:00

why the Occupy Wall Street protestors are mad: (On OWS, fairness, and why w

Parenting in charts

2011-11-09T22:13:00.001-06:00

The True Cost of Commuting: You Could Buy a House Priced $15,900 More for Each Mile You Move Closer to Work

2011-11-08T14:03:00.001-06:00

The True Cost of Commuting: You Could Buy a House Priced $15,900 More for Each Mile You Move Closer to Work

The most amazing presidential election analysis you have ever seen

2011-11-03T11:28:00.001-05:00

Seriously. When you combine a talented statistician with a talented writer (in one person) with the talented multimedia crew at the New York Times, you get this unbelievable tool for looking at Republican prospects for the presidency in 2012.