Interesting Elsewhere

Here are some fun, thought-provoking, educational or otherwise interesting things I’ve come across in recent weeks.

Beastie Boys Fight Online Video Parody of ‘Girls’ | NY Times

A few years ago as part of my digital media studies classes, I took a course about digital media law. In general I find law rather dull, but copyright law is an exception — I think it’s pretty fascinating, so it’s been really interesting to read some of the articles in recent days about the Beastie Boys vs. GoldieBlox. The latter made a really neat ad for their toys — a kind of legos/tinker toys hybrid aimed at girls — using a parody of “Girls.” Instead of the original misogynistic lyrics, it’s all about how girls can build spaceships and code apps. It’s an ad, and the Beastie Boys are famously opposed to using their music in ads. But GoldieBlox argues that their use should be qualified as fair use under copyright law. I tend to side with GoldieBlox, but it’ll be interesting to see what a judge decides if it goes to court.

Pounding Pavement by Heel or Toe | NY Times

And if you have little experience with injury and are comfortable with your stride, then by all means, stick with it, as is. The best running form, Mr. Kulmala said, is any that keeps you moving regularly.

EXACTLY. (Too bad I’m not taking the “move regularly” advice right now.)

Mauna Kea: Where humans shoot lasers at the heavens | Chron SciGuy

Super cool video, along with a nice explanation of an astronomy technique called adaptive optics. I have always wanted to go to the top of Mauna Kea, but since I was pregnant when we went to Hawaii, none of the tours would have let me go to 14,000 feet. So we went to Maui instead. But someday! Big Island. And I will go to the top of this mountain and see the observatories.

Twitter Is Weird—and Other Things Fatherhood Taught Me | The Atlantic

“…it’s the very things that make Twitter fun for the core user that make it daunting for the casually interested.”

This struck me because the same thing happened to me — I was a pretty heavy Twitter user before having Emma, but while I was on maternity leave I stopped checking it as much. It was too much to keep up with in the midst of everything else going on. And even though she’s almost 15 months old, I’ve never really returned to Twitter with the frequency I used to.

Stay-at-home mom, bullied at the bus stop | Salon

A SAHM was asked what she does all day, and considered this “bullying” of sorts. I’m not sure I agree. I also think in general, people are way too darn sensitive these days. Why can’t we all just get along?

I Might Not Send My Kids to College | Huffington Post
Mike Rowe on How Many Are Following the ‘Worst Advice in the History of the World’ | The Blaze

One online calculator told me that if I want to cover 100% of Emma’s college costs, I need to be saving $581/month. For the next 17 years. Hopefully the assumption of a 5% increase in cost per year won’t turn out to be accurate, and hopefully she can go to a public school, but still. Oh, and that’s just for one child. So when we have another, that means I’m supposed to save $1162. PER MONTH.

That is insane. No wonder people are starting to think maybe college isn’t the best option for their kids.

The Problem We’re Afraid to Name | Chronicle of Higher Education

In fact, it’s not uncommon for today’s college students to mirror their parents’ disdain for college professors; for example, after failing an examination, a student once told me, “Just because you have a Ph.D. doesn’t mean you know more about American history than I do.”

Wow. Just, wow. This article talks about one of the things I really hope to avoid as Emma grows up — coddling her so much that she doesn’t know how to tackle problems on her own. I want her to know that I’ll be there for her, but that she has to put in the work as well. And sometimes she’ll fail, and the thing to do is just get up and try again.