Alexplorer
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Displaying Results 1 - 116 (of 116) for All Content
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Pink Floyd Album Cover Art WorkI was surprised to find that I did actually like some of the more simplistic covers. I am usually more attracted to complexity and multiple layers of discordant information (visually and, often, musically).
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Recommended Reading for NeuroscientistsSome of these are perhaps only peripherally related to the neurosciences, but I think they all shed some light on concepts we are trying to understand in neuroscience proper.
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Recommended Reading for EducatorsOf the texts I've read in the field of education, these are the ones that stand out for me as particularly insightful and useful to educators at virtually all levels.
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Recommended Star Wars BooksThese are interesting books from and about the Star Wars universe that I recommend.
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And Justice for All...: Guitar Hero Goes DownFiction, sadly.
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Why TESB is the Greatest Movie of All TimeIt's difficult to look at something as subjective as a movie and say any one is "best" out of all the others... but I'm going to make this case that The Empire Strikes Back is and I dare anyone to top this.
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Fight Club: A Re-writeNo, this really isn't a re-write, but I've had a number of ideas in my head about this film for quite a while.
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Star Wars: The Early DraftsIt isn't common knowledge outside of the die-hard Star Wars crowd, but starting in 1974, George Lucas wrote four very different drafts of the first movie before it was filmed.
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Revenge of the Sith ReviewedSome thoughts on the coda to the saga.
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My Favorite SoundtracksThe most listenable movies ever put on disc...
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My Favorite MoviesFilm criticism is far too subjective a genre to put these choices forward as a challenge to other would-be critics. But, looking at it as objectively as possible, I think it's a good list just the same.
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My Favorite Halloween/horror MoviesHalloween and horror movies come in a lot of different forms. Here's a list of my favorites within (and around) the genre.
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Movies with Paradigm ShiftsThere are some movies you must watch again because your viewing experience will be incomplete without having seen the entire film all over again.
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Star Trek Technologies Vs. Traditional StorytellingThe Star Trek franchise presents technological advances without the corresponding paradigms these advances would usher in, and frankly that pisses me off.
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The Ten Stoopidest Sequel Titles Ever..Since it's the summer of sequels (same as pretty much every summer), here are my nominations for The Ten Stoopidest Sequel Titles Ever.
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3 + 1 = Cashing in on TrilogiesGiven enough time and dvd box set revenue, movie trilogies often fail to stop there.
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Matrix Revolutions CriticismI've never seen such a great series crash and burn so badly.
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The Best Movies You've Never SeenThe following titles are "must see" films that you almost certainly missed at your local cinema and may not even have heard of.
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The Best Documentaries I Have SeenOf the many, many documentaries I have seen in recent years, the following are among the best out there, at least in my opinion.
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Paranormal Investigations: OrbsSkeptical about the paranormal? I am too. Why is it no one applies a more scientific approach to assessing the validity of this phenomenon.
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Blogging with a CameraMy urbex site has a lot of selling points, but I think the main one is that it effectively straddles the line between the two extremes that typify urban exploration sites on the web.
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Homeless Encounters in Urban ExplorationsAnecdotes of encounters with vagrants.
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The Greatest Urban Exploration Engagement Story Ever ToldUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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(Nearly) Drowned Tunnel RatsUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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Secret CampusUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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Urban Spelunking: The BeginningUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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The Hurricane Katrina CorrespondenceUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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The Drop-Off: Still Further UpstreamUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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Canoe MarathonUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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Where the Vagrants Live: Three Not-so-easy PiecesUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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Mini-marthon WeekendUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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Our Blair Witch ExperienceUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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Rafting (almost) into Crater Tunnel and a Visit to Beaver TunnelUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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Three Way Tunnel, the 3rd ExpeditionUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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The Rat RaceUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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The Mouth and the Drop-OffUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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The Rat Race, 2nd ExpeditionUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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Marathon WeekendUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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The Drop-Off: UpstreamUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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Skull CreekUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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The Swift Ruins: Dead MeatUrban exploration. Excerpts from my journal about expeditions.
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Frames of Reference in Urban ExplorationAdvice to all on the subject of frames of reference and photography....
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Darwin in the ClassroomIn the past, a teacher could get fired or fined for teaching evolution in a public school system as in the famous 1925 "Scopes Monkey Trial."
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Combating Science Students' Misconceptions About the Concept of HeatOne of the favorite topics of science educators is research into students' misconceptions about naturally-occurring phenomena.
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The Role of Environmental Science in Global EducationOne of the critical issues in science education.
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Constructivist Administration: Will Vygotsky Please Report to the Front Office?Administrators espouse constructivist ideals and expect them to be employed in the classroom. It would be nice to see these principles exercised by the administration as well.
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How Did You Guys Get Here?A Study of Factors That Deterred Male Secondary Teachers From Pursuing Alternate Careers In Education.
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Proposal for Research into Why Males Enter the Teaching ProfessionThe proposal I submitted for the research that became my M.Ed. thesis. It is a decent example of how to write a proposal and, compared with the final version of the thesis, offers some insight into the research process.
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An Introduction to Action ResearchAction Research is the study of educational phenomena in which the teacher assumes the role of the researcher rather than leaving research to academics in higher education.
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Cooperative LearningMy own teaching style emphasizes this approach in concert with other learner-centered methods that foster greater initiative and critical thinking from students.
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A Guided Tour of One Constructivist MethodMy thoughts on constructivism and how it might be employed in the classroom based on my use of this approach.
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Alternate Approaches in Graduate SeminarsThese are not recipes for lessons, but rather are illustrations of an alternate framework on which to hang your own ideas.
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The Use of Analogies as a Constructivist Approach in Science EducationThis paper attempts to explore the use of analogies as a constructivist-based method in science education.
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Uplifting: A Hang Gliding StoryI guess it would be corny if I start pulling puns about getting "high" here, but you can't help but sound trite when you talk about something this uplifting. Damnit. I did it anyway.
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Too Much, Part III: Garage SalesMy partner Dani and I planned to have a garage sale for years, literally. And if you move in with a hoarder (especially a second-generation hoarder), you absolutely need to get rid of some crap.
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Too Much, Part II: MovingEveryone says that moving to a new place is one of the most stressful things you can undertake.
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Too Much, Part I: Garage Days I Wish I'd Never VisitedOCD is a little bit like claustrophobia. You literally feel constricted and suffocated in certain situations. Like my partner Dani's parents' garage, for instance.
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Material Catharsis: Quitting My StuffThere's a Buddhist thread to the book/movie Fight Club, this idea that if a person wants to truly break with his past, then he needs to leave behind everything that was part of that life.
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That Sinking Feeling...Home improvement projects have this unpredictable quality about them that guarantees they'll never go as expected.
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Casting the First Stone"I've got good news. It isn't appendicitis; it's a kidney stone." Well, relatively speaking, I guess it was good news.
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Playing on the Swing SetSwinger's clubs are one of those things you hear about in movies, but just never expect to run across. As such, I put them in the same category as other mythical Hollywood creations like wookies or Keanu knowing how to use a computer.
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BugsI used to have an infestation of tiny bugs in my house, always dead on the kitchen counter in almost exactly the same area. This was a mystery for many, many months, but I found the source of them at long last.
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Strip ClubNow, my ideas about strip clubs were largely informed by and restricted to scenes in '80s cop movies. Still, the night was largely bankrolled by the brother of groom-to-be, so we were going along for the ride.
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A Story with SubtitlesA story with subtitles
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Thanks for All the (raw) Fish: My Love Affair with SushiAside from clips of happy insanity served up by YouTube or a few cartoons I grew up watching, my interest in much else Japanese never really took off. Except for sushi.
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Conventional Geek: Tales from a Sci-fi Con.My first sci-fi convention remains the best I've ever been to.
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A Wedding StoryWould you rather agonize over the planning or just show up and be surprised? I know which I was happiest with.
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A Limited EngagementI looked at her kind of seriously and said, "You want to get married, right?"
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About FaceIf you're reading this, you're probably the first people to hear this story besides her therapist.
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Jack/OffSome situations are impossible. This is what's called a Catch 22, a situation defined by the presence of two conditions that contradict one another such that any action is impossible.
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Trilogy: What's the Opposite of a Love Triangle?Three people. Three stories. Love and hate make for strange geometries.
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Tales of Non-traditional StudentsSix versions of the same story.
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I Know Spanish!It's weird when you discover you knew something you didn't know you knew.
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Acting OutThe assignment was to perform a task as fast as possible.
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The Lemon JokeIt isn't a joke you tell so much as a joke you play on the person you're telling it to.
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The Junky Next DoorWilliam S. Burroughs. On the lam.
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In the Days Before Caller ID....you could pretty much get away with anything.
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Majoring in a HobbyMy first year in college, I was amazed at the sheer numbers of music majors and dance majors and ceramics majors. Honestly, I thought to myself, what are they producing that I'm buying?
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Nine Writing TechniquesThese aren't all of the techniques I've used, but I think these are helpful and easily adaptable to most folks' writing style if you want to try them yourself.
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The Other Side: Giving GiftsDon't get me wrong; I love getting presents for people; I just can't stand receiving them.
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Haunted by the Ghosts of Xmas PresentsYou know what I want for my birthday every year? People not to know it's my birthday. The only thing I dread more than my birthday is Xmas, and those two have one thing in common: I stand the risk of getting presents.
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An Intersection of Memory and ExperienceWe go through different stages and levels of imprinting in our lives. And we gain awareness inversely proportional to how sharp our ability to learn is. But at some point this abilities intersect.
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I Don't like the BeatlesDon't get me wrong, I don't hate the Beatles. I just don't dig them enough to feel anything. And this is in spite of how much I wish I genuinely did.
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Why I Don't DrinkThe short version why I don't drink is this: I'm an alcoholic.
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SimultaneityEveryone tries to pair activities by a simple formula. They try to do something that occupies their mind while they do something that they'd be out of their mind with boredom doing otherwise.
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Head Start on the HateWhile opinions differ on whether it is appropriate to actually "hate" another human being, people on either side of that opinion universally decry my position that it is perfectly reasonable to hate certain children.
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Laughing MattersWhere's the line between morbidity and humor?
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What's in a Name?For those who don't know already, my own name hasn't always been Alex, but I've long hated the one I was given at birth.
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Don't Be CattyI have never been a fan of cats. I tolerate them, but I do not consider them domestic animals any more than you might view a snake as a "pet" in the same way that you can think of your dog.
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I'm Tired of Being HumanI'm tired of being human. Here are my grievances. Consider this my resignation letter.
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Laughing at YourselfPeople think it's arrogant to laugh at your own jokes, but I don't think so. I do it all the time.
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My Sense of HumorWhat is funny? While people have written volumes on the subject, a while back I started realizing that I could at least answer this as it related to myself.
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Survey Says...The social networking (MySpace and Facebook) meme of surveys say only one thing about their respondents: That they're throwing away an opportunity.
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Searching for Solace: An Open LetterLet's say you're a medical equipment company. Do you care for equipment or do you care for families?
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Brushes with Death... and Life.Thoughts on death after a childhood growing up with dying relatives. Inspired by the near-simultaneous death of a mother and impending fatherhood.
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Computers Keep Getting StupiderWhy is it every generation of computers is supposedly faster, any yet everything takes just as long to accomplish?
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Life in FFwdTake advantage of every feature of every generation of technology that allows you to speed up your consumption of media, so you'll have time to do other things. Like consume more media.
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Tattos: This Will Mark You for LifeI don't understand tattoos. I can't help but see tattoos as a short-sighted indulgence with long-lasting consequences reflecting short-lived cultural trends.
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I'm Telling You the Truth...Do all stories have to be fiction? Even autobiographical narratives contain manipulations to make them read better. At what point does writing depart from the straight truth?
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"To Do" ListsA "to do" list is more than just an itemized agenda; it's a way of putting things out of your mind and on paper (or the computer, as the case may be). Peace of mind is as much a path to productivity as being organized.
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Pee Wee Herman, Monica Lewinski, and AIDSMasturbation, oral sex, and gay men. All these things were below the American cultural radar other than snickers at dirty jokes. That is, until they made the news.
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Christmas for Christians?: An Open Letter"Keep Christ in Christmas"? Seriously? It didn't start as a Christian holiday, and it isn't one anymore. It's an American holiday. Get over it, zealots.
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I Made Up a ReligionYour religion is crap leading you to waste your life on mindless rituals with no payoff. You know what would be better? Anything. This is a start.
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An Impromptu Agnostic's ManifestoDeath confirms the fact that religion is full of empty promises that play upon our fears of death.
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Dieting: Five Intuitive Ways to Cut BackThe best ways to change the way you eat are to follow rules so simple, you can't forget them.
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Hey, Back Up a Second!A primer on simple, straight-forward approached to backing up your data.
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Blogging: Why Masturbation Isn't Quite UselessWhat purpose does blogging serve anyway? The writer? The reader? Or is it really mental masturbation?
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Why I Love Technology But Hate Cell PhonesI don't hate technology, really! I just hate cell phones. -
Questioning Marriage Traditions: Here Comes the Bride, There Goes Her NameLet's question some traditions before following them down the aisle.
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Meditations in a Catholic ChurchI spent a lot of time thinking in church one day about why we shouldn't be there.
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Can't Help Falling - but Sometimes He's Just Not into YouGirls fall harder, guys fall faster. But some guys never fall at all.
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Journaling About JournalingI like journaling so much that I journaled about the process and practice of journaling.
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Sometimes the Notebook is a CameraCameras don't lie, but your memory will. Why you should start taking pictures like you never want to forget.
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Pentax DSmobile 600 Scanner ReviewedBalanced review of the Pentax DSmobile 600 Scanner -
Synchronicity: Life, the Universe, and MacGyverWhat is synchronicity? I'll bet you were thinking the exact same thing just the other day... -
(Electoral) College MathAn examination of the relative disparities in the distribution of popular vote by the Electoral College system.