Author Archives: matt

Temperatures have actually be above freezing during the daytime for the past couple here in my little corner of the Upper Midwest. I’m a fan, personally; winter was great, I loved all the snowstorms that I didn’t have to drive … Continue reading →

I’m reading the transcript from some CNN show last night, where the host (Dobbs) had a spirited debate with one of his guests (Glassman) about the offshoring of jobs by big American companies. Glassman, who sees this as a good … Continue reading →

Thematically related to last night’s long ‘un: The Poor Man has a brief essay on the standard model of political reporting. If you weren’t snickering by halfway through, then all I can say is that you haven’t read enough physics.

One of the few things that I’m really excited about in my life right now is a course I’m going to be teaching this summer (May-June). I know, you’re probably saying that if I have to look ahead to May … Continue reading →

Specificity in search terms is always good. For instance, if one was looking for an enlarger for a darkroom, you might think that just going to eBay and typing “enlarger” into the search box would be sufficient. After all, what … Continue reading →

If I ever manage to Break the Chains for good, I think Freecell is one of the only Windows programs that I would really miss. Of course, even if I went Windows-free, I’d still own a deck of cards, so … Continue reading →

Well, it’s been over a month since I made the leap from OS X 10.2 to 10.3, and I finally decided to get rid of the “Previous System 1″ folder. I don’t really need the diskspace, since my drive is … Continue reading →

Have I mentioned how much I love the Toronto Star editorial page? Carol Goar has an article today regarding a U of T study that purports to measure the value of the institution in terms of return-on-investment. Goar’s point is … Continue reading →

Separatism: it’s not just for les habitants anymore. The Western Canada Concept is apparently a twenty-plus-year-old separatist group for western Canada; they feel that the four provinces west of Ontario, together with the territories, should secede from confederation. Assuming it’s … Continue reading →

While reading an interesting discussion thread at Ruy Teixeira’s Donkey Rising, I came across a commenter who used the word “vaselated” in reference to the voting record of a candidate. I believe that this is the best new word I’ve … Continue reading →