James Harris Simons Interview

James Harris Simons co-invented a new mathmatics concept and became a billionaire philanthropist , donating funds to basic research and subsidizing mathematics education in the United States.

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Developing Better Memory

Claudia Hammond reviews research results on how to improve memory retention and recall.

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Follow-Through

Tim Dowling links yoga and grit .

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The Relief of Humor

Jonathan Waterlow shares jokes from the reign of Stalin to show how humor supports the human spirit.

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Speed Reading

Claudia Hammond shares the secret of speed reading - developing a large vocabulary so that concepts and patterns are generally recognized.

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Progress Indicators Bring Comfort

William Park explains why progress indicators provide comfort to users.

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Decline in Religious Affiliation

Daniel Cox and Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux report that millennials are leaving religion . The writers cite several influences, and one is self-fulfilling prophecy:

whether people are religious is increasingly tied to — and even driven by — their political identities. For years, the Christian conservative movement has warned about a tide of rising secularism, but research has suggested that the strong association between religion and the Republican Party may actually be fueling this divide. (para. 11)

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Conflicts of Interest

Annie Waldman and David Armstrong investigate conflicts of interest in academia.

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Quadratic Equation Solutions

Mathematician Po-Shen Loh has developed a new method for looking at quadratic equations .

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Retreating Christian Soldiers

Emma Green writes in the Atlantic about how Christians are retreating from the diversity of today's general society.

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Divorce Rate in America

Joe Pinsker reports on why there is getting to be a lower divorce rate in America. The reason is not an overall growth in devotion and faithfulness, but, as Andrew Cherlin said, “In order to get divorced, you have to get married first.”

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Disabling Routines the Channel Our Life Toward Mediocrity

Maura Thomas warns about the distractive power of routines and habits which disrupt the flow of creative thought.

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Mental Models

Farnam Street has developed a partial list of mental models which shape our educational curriculum and government policies.

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Simplify Your Life

This Farnam Street article extols simplification .

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Radically Open Administration

Michael Bugeja discusses being an able administrator in an academic environment. Most of his points apply to managers outside of academia.

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FireFox Monitor

Mozilla, the maker of FireFox, has developed a security site that can inform visitors if an email address was subject to a known data breach.

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Insurance Evaluation

The Library of Congress has guidelines for evaluating the value of books and other library materials.

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Chrome Browser Settings

J. R. Raphael suggests ten ways to secure the Chrome web browser.

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Guide for Digital Nomads

Mike Elgan provides a guide to the technology needed to be a digital nomad anywhere.

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Sugar Substitutes

Jamie Pitlick reviews the current sugar substitutes available in the United States.

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Visualizing Where Supporters of NBA Teams Reside

Nick Devlin maps the fan base of NBA teams in the United States.

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Boomerang for G-Mail

J. R. Rachael plugs a G-Mail add-on called Boomerang , which sorts and organizes email.

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Grammarly vs WhiteSmoke vs Ginger - What's the Best Grammar Checker in 2...

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Teaching Older Adults Technology and Cyber Security

Bill Van Parys explains the importance of training older adults in cyber security and technology.

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Facebook vs. Real World Friendship

Hunt Allcott, Luca Braghieri, Sarah Eichmeyer, and Matthew Gentzkow researched the impact of cold-turkey withdrawal from Facebook and observed that the research subject's lives changed for the better. A less technical account of the research results is given by Minda Zetlin in an Inc. article.

The implications are disturbing to me, as our schools, churches and other social welfare organizations use or promote social media use. It appears to me that social media is like alcoholic beverages - justifiable only when used for social purposes in moderation.

Though as a minimal user of social media, it is not painful for me to be so judgmental . . . .

-DD

Evidence-Based Beliefs

Francisco Uribe speaks of William Clifford and the morality of believing without evidence .

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Leadership

Martha Heller provides tips for leading a thriving digital corporation .

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Negative Thoughts

Steven Hayes suggests methods for a person to change their own thought patterns . He suggests:

1. Defy oppressive thoughts,
2. Identify your thoughts,
3. Appreciate why you are driven,

as well as several more techniques.

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Coping with Sorrow

Lucy Hone shares her experience of coping with tragedy and loss.

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Communication

Jake Amorelli suggests how to communicate ideas so that they grab the attention of your audience.

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Writing for a Popular Audience

Katie Pryal encourages academics to write for a popular audience. She provides a checklist of considerations before starting such a project.

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library extension

Andrew Abrahamowicz authored the library extension , a software that compares an Amazon item with public library holdings.

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Ebooks, Libraries and Publishers

Heather Kelly talks about ebooks and the conflicting interest of library patrons and publishers.

-DD