Wednesday, June 25, 2014

LexisNexis must not want me to use its services.

I have changed my password seven times in two days.  It doesn't matter what password I use--LexisNexis will not let me log in.  I give up--I will never use that service again.

Monday, June 09, 2014

OK, it's throwback MONDAY today.

I was talking about the Rice T.W.I.N.K.I.E.S. Project with some colleagues today and thought I'd share it with all of you.  My favorite test, of course, was the Turing test.

Sunday, June 08, 2014

Two of my newest favorite things, both from my buddy Walter Effross.

Walter always finds me interesting and valuable things to read (and now I can thank you publicly, Walter!)--and here are two of my favorites.  One's a commencement address, and the other is a story about how the Rolling Stones refused to boycott Israel.  Both involve a discussion of courage.  (And, for what it's worth, both stories illustrate the power of standing for something bigger than yourself, rather than the cowardice of lobbing anonymous hateful comments across the Internet.)


Friday, June 06, 2014

Shame on you, anonymous commenters.

I read Above the Law pretty regularly, and I have to say that I'm saddened by the tenor of the comments overall.  I know that the comments are unmoderated, and I don't blame Above the Law for them (or any blogs that allow anonymous, unmoderated comments).  What I don't understand is the mentality of people who write hurtful, anonymous things about people they don't know (or, for that matter, people they do know).  What is it about anonymous commenting that gives people the license to be so horrible?  (I'm guessing that the commenters have never been on the receiving end of any of the drivel that they're posting.  I have been, and it's an awful experience.)

Thursday, June 05, 2014

R.I.P., Bob Faiss.

See here, here, here, and here.  Bob was a giant in his field and a true gentleman.  I will miss him.