A few days ago my friend Matt flagged this n + 1 essay on Adderall use among Ivy League college students. In December, I attended a discussion with Randy Cohen (author of The Ethicist), and of the dozen or so questions submitted by attendees, four had to do with Adderall. After reading the n + […]
A British gambler recently won 1 million pounds after placing a 50 pence bet that correctly predicted the winning horse in eight separate races. I don’t know about you, but I’d be kicking myself for only betting half a pound.
Thanks to feministing.com I just watched this video by Mark and Ari, which sings the praises of a true feminist icon, Ms. Pac-man. I was sick yesterday so this is hands down the highlight of my weekend.
Last week the writers strike came to an end (and thank god it did, I was not a fan of the overly improvised Daily Show, although I agree that Colbert did well). This week Toshiba called it quits on HD-DVD, giving pixel-loving Americans the green light to spend their $600 tax rebate on a new […]
Sometimes people ask me exactly we computer science types study. What is a “computer” really? Why are computers so important? How do they relate to the world around us?
Footage from IBM’s booth at the 1964 worlds fair fills in some of the details (skip to 2:30 if you like) :
As a graduate student in computer […]
Even a non-fan like myself is aware that Roger Clemens is currently testifying before congress, responding to the Mitchell Report’s allegation of steroid use. His decision to testify is a bold move to be sure.
To aid in his defense, the Clemens team has assembled the The Clemens Report, which—surprise surprise— concludes that Clemens late-career performance […]
A while back I posted a picture of the world’s tallest man, Bao Xishun, meeting the world’s shortest man, He Pingping, although Mr. Pingping’s title is not official. It turns out there’s also a brief video of the meet up, but it’s not very exciting. Honestly, I don’t think the world’s tallest man was that […]
Passive-Aggressive Notes is a finalist in the SXSW Interactive Web Awards‘ prestigious “blog” category. The winner of each category will be announced at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin on March 9th, and yes internets, yours truly will be in attendance. In the meantime, I’ll be hard at work making passiveaggressivenotes.com extra super awesome (suggestions […]
NPR has just informed me that the “megamac” is selectively available at McDonalds in Japan.
Surely the rightful home of this product, which features four (4) all beef patties, is the good ol’ US of A (or at the very least Nauru, the world’s fattest nation).
Update: The actual story behind Nauru certainly calls into question […]
voted yesterday, apparently. In 2006 I registered to vote in Rhode Island so I could vote in our very tight senate race (and based on this, it sounds like Lincoln Chafee forgives me for it). The Rhode Island primary isn’t until March 4th, but my mother voted in New York City yesterday and noticed my […]