The Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies. A love that I have shared with my true loves, my children. I’ll never forget the way my youngest squealed with the perfect mix of delight and horror at the moment of the ROUS attack. We also say goodbye at school by yelling, “Have fun storming the castle!”
Therefore, I’m always going to like a series of LEGO vignettes capturing iconic scenes from the film.
Girls with Slingshots by Danielle Corsetto is one of my favorite comics. You can and should go see and support her on the “Slingshot Across America Tour”. Don’t make me judge you.
Danielle was also cool enough to let us use a bit of one of her comics, in which she made a mitosis joke out of boobs (she also did not believe we could make the bit we used SFW).
My birthday cake created by my kids (with help from my mother). It features a whale shark, a starfish, an octopus, and bioluminescent plankton/animalcules.
If you have interest in neuroscience and how developing brain imaging technology is influencing the field for better or for worse, you owe it to yourself to read Virginia Hughes’ “In Defense of Brain Imaging” at the Only Human blog at National Geographic’s Phenomena. Hughes applies an even hand to the issues confronting brain imaging, its public perception, and the times where the criticism may be too extreme. In the end, we are left with a picture of a field that continues to develop, much like any other field, with leaps forward and gross missteps:
…neuroscientist Martha Farah makes two compelling counterpoints. One is that brain imaging methods have improved a great deal since the technology’s inception. The second is that its drawbacks — statistical pitfalls, inappropriate interpretations, and the like — are not much different from those of other scientific fields. – Virginia Hughes
The biggest news in technology is that Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, announced that Tesla would no longer attempt to enforce their patents on electric car technology. This has the potential to push electric car manufacturing forward several years in one fell swoop. Referring to Tesla’s patents, Musk wrote:
They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology…Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.
–Elon Musk (emphasis mine)
The potential fly in the ointment is the phrase “in good faith”. They are retaining the right to enforce their patents, but choosing not too. It makes Musk’s definition of good faith and the consistency of that definition quite important. Continue reading “Mi Patent, Su Patent?”
The Finch and Pea 