Is the next big thing going to be a solar-powered Macbook from Apple?

Apple’s new patent — U.S. number 8,638,549 — concerns a rear plate for the MacBook. It could be used to house solar cells. (The correct term is photovoltaic, but I’m trying to keep things relatively clean here.) From Apple Insider: Finally, Apple… Continue Reading

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Can we solve the Morgan Harrington murder (the Metallica disappearance case) soon?

As of this past weekend, it’s been going on four years in the case of Morgan Harrington’s murder. If you don’t know the basic story, she was a Virginia Tech student attending a Metallica concert at UVA (in Charlottesville) in October… Continue Reading

This President Obama State of the Union word cloud is all about America and unity

Here’s the word cloud from last night’s State of the Union address. Some of the top words: “America” and “American” and “Americans.” See a theme here? Other key ones: “people” and “jobs” and “help” and “work.” Again, see a theme? Here’s… Continue Reading

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Performance reviews / evaluations are mostly a train wreck that everyone hates. So what do we do?

Here’s some new research on ‘performance appraisal satisfaction,’ or, phrased in more layman’s terms, “how people feel about the idea of performance reviews.” To avoid traipsing in the deep end of academia, let’s turn to The Washington Post to let us know… Continue Reading

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Broncos and Seahawks? Negative. The Super Bowl is really about a small town in central Arkansas (thank you, cheese dip)

Nobody appreciates Arkansas, and that’s probably truer with food than anything else: it’s right near Texas and Louisiana (both extremely famous in different food sub-categories), and it doesn’t even have an official state food. But around this time of year every… Continue Reading

Scarlett Johansson, Daniel Defense, and how the banned Super Bowl ad culture seems to work

The above ad features ScarJo hawking SodaStream. It was targeted as a Super Bowl ad — considering it features a highly-paid movie actress — but was banned from airing by FOX, who’s televising the game. Go ahead and watch the… Continue Reading

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This season of Girls is basically completely about Hannah (Lena Dunham) and that’s making it be pretty awful

I watch Girls and I do so semi-religiously, despite being a 33 year-old guy who doesn’t live in New York anymore and looks like a cross between a sub-par college football player and a character from Of Mice and Men. I doubt I’m really… Continue Reading

What will Obama discuss in the State of the Union address tonight?

Logically you’d assume some of the following things need to come up: gay rights, privacy, marijuana, inequality, job creation, student loan debt, and ObamaCare. On the last one, he needs to showcase its recent successes while also taking credit for… Continue Reading