Mark Kleiman has rediscovered a semi-clever approach to the problems of smart kids: So here’s the puzzle: is there any justification for not treating high-IQ kids as having “special needs” and therefore entitled to individualized instruction? Yes, yes, I know that in the South “gifted” programs have been used as a technique of within-school resegregation. […]
Month: October 2007
Fraternity Weekend
Here’s the crew I spent this past Saturday morning with: The guys who are younger than I am are a bunch of students from the local chapter of Sigma Phi. The one guy older than I am is from a volunteer group who help maintain the local bike path. The stone wall behind us is […]
Kids Those Days
One of the odd things about blogdom, and the commentariat in general, is the way that people will all seem to latch on to some particular idea at about the same time, despite the lack of any obvious connection between them. I keep having days when I scan through my RSS feeds, and find the […]
links for 2007-10-24
slacktivist: Gay-Hatin’ Gospel (pt. 3) Part three of Fred Clark’s look at why evangelicals are so anti-gay. (tags: religion politics blogs US gender) The Big Three How important are the major SF magazines, anyway? (tags: SF books literature) Evolving Thoughts A taxonomy, of sorts. (tags: religion science) james_nicoll: How to save the SF magazines A […]
Overheard on Campus
I was standing in the back of the Taiko Ensemble concert tonight, when two students I didn’t know came in, carrying large, elaborate Nerf guns. They had a certain… hunted look about them. “Hey,” I said, “Who’s winning?” “Oh, man,” said one, “The zombies are kicking our asses. They’re multiplying really fast.” Yes, it’s Humans […]
DonorsChoose: Two New Incentives
The DonorsChoose fundraiser is winding toward its conclusion, which means I need to find some new way to raise money for a final push. So, here are two new offers, one for high rollers, one for small donations: Incentive 1: Guest Post: Taking my cue from the Seed overlords, we’ll add a random element to […]
Dorky Poll: Favorite Math Book
I had a doctor visit and a meeting schduled for this morning, which cut into my blogging time. And I have another meeting in an hour, and I need to get lunch. This sounds like a job for a Dorky Poll! So here’s a quick pair of questions, based on a glance at my office […]
Don’t Wear Red or Mention Montana
The Science Times this week appears to be the Special Coturnix Issue, at least judging from the titles in my RSS reader– a huge stack of articles about sleep and biological clocks. Bora must be thrilled. Mixed in there, though, are two articles about NASA. One bears the dramatic headline “NASA Faces House Hearings on […]
links for 2007-10-23
Cocktail Party Physics: they do it with mirrors What’s up with those “It’s the mirrors” commercials for DLP. Still no explanation of the elephant. (tags: physics industry science materials gadgets) A.C.C. Teams Thinking About the Final Four Already – New York Times Let’s not get ahead of ourselves… (tags: basketball) Harvard University engineers demonstrate quantum […]
New “Meme”: Manly or Self-Sufficient?
As mentioned in the previous post, Cut to the Chase offers two lists of skills to look at: The Popular Mechanics list of “25 Skills Every Man Should Know” and a new list of “20 Practical Skills Every Self-Sufficient Adult Should Have.” This seems ripe for an Internet “meme” thing, so here’s a the proposed […]