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Killing in the Name Of
This season I’ve started following the television show House again and I’ve taken advantage of the “bye” week to catch up. I doubt any avid followers of the show have as much lag time between air time and watch time as I do, but in the off chance you fail worse than me: Spoilers Ahead.…
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This Was a Triumph
All too often my weekends pass by in a blur of responsibilities, visiting families, and going places that, after ensuring I am sufficiently dizzy, cruelly abandons me on Monday morning. I am left drinking coffee and asking myself just where that time went, and how long is it until Friday again? In a refreshing inversion,…
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How to Save the Music Industry
I first started getting interested in “copyfight” and issues related to filesharing in college, where I was introduced to a local network where resident students across the university campus could connect and share what they loved on- and offline. As the music industry continued to ratchet up their anti-sharing campaigns, I thought that the iTunes…
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Silly AMCAS
Remember how the AMCAS med school application website doesn’t work with any modern browsers? How I can’t upgrade Firefox past 3.0 on my Mac at work because there are no other supported OSX browsers, and at home I can only use IE 8 in compatibility mode? They haven’t fixed it yet.What’s even more frustrating is…
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Abstinence-Only, the Only Way to Fail
Last week, while the Senate Finance Committee was busily voting down health care reforms supported by doctors and more importantly, the American People, Utah Republican Orrin Hatch tossed in a $50 million line item for abstinence-only sex education. This, despite the fact that one of the GOP’s main concerns about health care reform is the…
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Who Really Has the Moral High Ground on Filesharing?
A number of people I have talked to claim that they do not engage in filesharing because “it’s wrong,” a sentiment that seems deeply rooted in the idea that sharing files involves taking something that doesn’t belong to you; that is, stealing. These people believe they are taking the “moral high ground” by refusing to…
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Occupational Hazards
Aside from the occasional mishap, my colleagues and I do rather well managing the ever-present hazards of working in a research laboratory. Every so often, though, something happens that’s particularly interesting. We have some neat little stitch scissors for detailed snipping activities that I needed to use today. While I was cleaning them off, they…
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A Little Customer Service Goes a Long Way
The mantra of running a successful business in the 21st century is to “connect with fans and give them a reason to buy.” Successful companies take the time to provide quality service to each of their customers, knowing that building loyalty is more important than short-term bottom lines. Zynga, the startup responsible for the majority…
Matter, Energy, and Life of Michaela A. Castello.