'LG&E, however, is countering that they’ve just been loose in their interpretation of the law, which permits the “occasional” dump of coal ash water. If the law didn’t take the time to define “occasional,” the company contends, then that’s not their problem.'
Polluted water is flowing into the drinking water source "all day, all night”
via multitask suicide ("#idontwanttobeelfstaranymore beat")
#iwanttobedebbie
Dark Dungeons is a notorious 1984 Jack Chick tract that warns the readers about the danger of being embroiled in soul-destroying Satanic cults through playing Dungeons and Dragons and other RPGs. A group of fan-supported media creators obtained a free film license from Chick to make a film based on the comic, and they've released a trailer that hints at a very funny future for the project.
Manchester (Conn.) Journal Inquirer managing editor Chris Powell has warned his staff that they face a $15 charge for errors that require a press plate change. With this new policy, says my tipster, “I expect few reporters or editors will bring mistakes to the attention of their superiors, and would rather write a correction the next day and save their $15.”
Here’s Powell’s memo:
Thursday, March 13, 2014
ALL NEWS STAFF:
We’ve got to reduce the waste of press plates caused by news department errors that don’t get fixed in ordinary editing, as discarding a plate costs $15. So henceforth requests to the press department to change a plate to fix a news department mistake will have to go through the managing editor, or, in my absence, through the assistant managing editor for production, and a plate change required to fix mistakes for which there’s no good explanation may cost the responsible employee, whether editor or reporter, a payroll deduction for the cost of the plate. Let’s be more careful.
I’ve invited Powell to respond to comments about the memo.
You may recall that the editor made an appearance on this site last October after he wrote that “newspapers cannot sell themselves to households headed by single women who have several children by different fathers” and survive on welfare.
don't care: you don't talk like that even to complete bitches
A couple days ago, we considered an incident at Stony Brook involving a fat-shaming doofus and the woman he made cry.
A man who says he also watched the incident unfold explains why crying lady wasn't exactly Miss Innocent, that, in fact, she had been subtly tormenting the guy and an older woman she sat between from Downtown Crossing all the way into JP.
Boston Metro reports Massport is starting a shuttle between Logan, Copley Square and the Hynes Convention Center. The shuttle, partly in reaction to the closing of the Government Center T stop, will be free to people with an MBTA pass, $5 for everybody else.
A Catskills town called Agloe is famous this week for the fact that it doesn't exist.
The hamlet of Agloe, an imaginary place located at an rural empty intersection in Delaware County, was made up in 1937 by two mapmakers as a "copyright trap" designed to unmask competiting mapmakers who couldn't bother to do their own cartography research.
Agloe's exact location is at the intersection of Route 206 and Morton Hill Road (some say it's Beaver Kill Road) just north of Roscoe over the line in the Delaware County town of Colchester. Read more
Vintage 1950s black and white gingham dress. The chevron gingham bodice is semi-sheer with open collar, cap sleeves, fitted waist, full skirt and metal side zipper.
A new game out now on the App Store features mechanics virtually identical to those found in viral hit Flappy Bird, but with a key twist – the game can be made easier through sheer physical effort. Using the Fitbit API, developer Aaron Coleman built-in a variable difficulty engine that allows you to redeem steps counted during a day in exchange for in-game rewards, like wider gaps between… Read More
The International Non-Olympic University - INOU is acting as "World 1st Mega University" (A Mega University itself establishing an University in each country of the World, with the aim of One World !! One Education !! This is the first concept in the history of the World Education). The International Non-Olympic University - INOU would set-up a National Non-Olympic University (Online & Regular) under prevailing University Recognition Act of respective country.
The INOU is world’s most credential educational platform and its own kind of first University to make its presence in every country by giving as 1 - National Non-Olympic University (RegularCampus) 2 - National Non-Olympic Online University (It’s Kind of First Chain of Universities in the World) to make the learning ever easiest for the Working Professionals, Sports Personnel, and Research Scholars etc. Example: A- Russia Non-Olympic University (RegularCampus), B - Russia Non-Olympic Online University etc. The INOU has goal to set-up "National University - Online & Regular Campus" over 242 countries of the world, the march is began.
The Tokyo-based Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox said Thursday that it had stumbled upon 200,000 missing Bitcoin, worth about $116 million.
The digital currency was found in an old wallet that Mt. Gox, which has been under fire and recently field for bankruptcy protection, had thought was empty, the company said in a letter posted on its website. Wallets act as bank accounts for Bitcoin, which has been under increasing scrutiny from authorities around the world as a volatile and unregulated form of currency. The wallet storing the lost Bitcoin used an old format, but was found to have a six-figure balance on March 7.
The uncovered loot replaces a portion of the 850,000 Bitcoin that Mt. Gox said it could not locate when it declared bankruptcy in February. The majority belonged to customers. Mt. Gox, once the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange, halted withdrawals due to a cyber attack earlier in mid-February. At the end of the month, the company had filed for bankruptcy in the United States and Japan. In March, hackers accused the company of stealing Bitcoin that had been lost in fraudulent withdrawals.
HBX uses proprietary technology, not the edX platform.
HBX is pioneering fee-based courses, which hold the promise
of significant new revenue streams.
The new HBS-originated business offerings debut with three
elements:
CORe (the acronym for Credential of Readiness), a two-month suite of
three fundamental courses aimed at a new audience—college liberal-arts
students, non-business graduate students pursuing other professions (law, say,
or engineering), and people early in their careers— for whom familiarity with
basic business concepts may prove helpful in their work or subsequent career decisions.
Specialized executive courses, beginning with offerings on
subjects such as entrepreneurship and innovation; disruptive innovation, growth
and strategy; and the microeconomics of competitiveness.
HBX Live, a virtual classroom, built in partnership with
public broadcaster WGBH, that enables direct, real-time interaction among 60
participants dispersed worldwide and with a faculty member, as if they were all
located within a campus classroom; anticipated early users include HBS alumni
and executive-education matriculants.
In the news announcement, HBS dean
Nitin Nohria said, “HBX embodies the
highly engaged, interactive learning that has been a hallmark of the school’s
M.B.A., doctoral, and executive education programs for more than a
century. Moreover, HBX will
provide a powerful channel for communicating ideas to and engaging with new and
wider audiences, complementing the work we do through Harvard Business
Publishing.”
That statement explains
two elements of HBX.
First, HBS determined to
create its own online platform in order to emulate its case-based, interactive
classroom experience. The CORe offerings, for example, according to a March 20
communication from Nohria to the HBS community, are informed by careful thought
about “how we can create an online
counterpart to the signature on-campus HBS experience, including how students
might be cold-called or benefit from the diversity and experiences of other
students.” (The cold-calling will apparently be effected by pop-up prompts requirng a rapid response from online learners.)
Second, rather than simply
using that technology to translate existing classes to an online format, HBS is aiming,
in its initial offerings at least, to reach entirely new audiences: in Nohria’s
words, “segments of the population we’ve never directly addressed before.”
Those include CORe’s target market—the undergraduates and graduate students in
other fields or employees early in their careers who might progress faster with
basic business education.
Finally, HBX Live,
available on an invitation-only basis, provides an avenue for lifelong learning
for the school’s alumni, who by some reports are less likely than non-alumni to enroll in
executive-education courses. It also offers new opportunities to teach
executive-education classes around the world. (Some of these are already taught in
HBS facilities in Mumbai and Shanghai, on company premises in other countries,
or in serial segments internationally and on the campus in Allston.)
Thus, HBS represents a fourth arrow in HBS’s educational quiver, joining the campus-based M.B.A. and doctoral programs; executive education; and Harvard Business School Publishing (which operates Harvard Business Review, disseminates teaching cases, and releases books—and which is HBS’s largest business by revenue, with income of $180 million in the fiscal year ended last June).
Founding Principles
According to Nohria’s
community message, planning for HBX began in mid 2012, shortly after the
announcement of edX. The work was guided by several principles:
HBX
must expand the reach of Harvard Business School and our mission of educating
leaders who make a difference in the world. We must think strategically
about well-defined student segments where we see potential for significant
impact.
HBX
must provide faculty with a powerful platform for disseminating their ideas
globally.
HBX
must complement and enhance our on-campus offerings. Our residential
programs are among the most treasured academic experiences in the world, and we
should not dilute the integrity of those experiences—rather, we should try
to strengthen them.
HBX
must elevate our reputation for excellence and impact. We must pick our
spots carefully, looking for places where we can create sustained, differentiated
value for individuals and organizations. Our commitment is to do no less
than transform.
HBX
offerings must be highly differentiated from existing alternatives. Our
challenge is to establish a standard for excellence in online business
education and pedagogy, just as we have established the standard for excellence
in our case method classrooms.
HBX must be
built on a robust and forward-looking economic model. While HBX should
make business education more accessible, including financially, it also must be
economically sustainable to enable future investment and growth.
That last point distinguishes HBX from HarvardX, which is funded, so far, by philanthropy and the deployment of University funds. (edX received infusions of capital from Harvard and MIT, and receives revenues from members schools and other users of its technology, but does not charge students who use its courses.)
The actual
planning was led by Byers professor
of business administration Bharat N. Anand, a member of HBS’s strategy
unit, who serves as faculty chair of HBX, and Jana Kierstead, former director
of career and professional development (HBS’s career-services organization) and
staff director of the M.B.A. program, who serves as HBX executive director.
Accordingly, Anand—who also serves on the HarvardX
faculty committee—oversaw development of the HBX platform from a teaching
perspective; Kierstead assembled a staff at 175 North Harvard Street, managing technology,
business operations, and personnel. (The investment appears to be substantial,
given the scope of the initial offerings, the virtual classroom facility at
WGBH’s studios, and a staff that by one account numbers more than 30 people.)
The Initial Program
CORe will launch in June, with an initial cohort of 500
to 1,000 students drawn principally from rising juniors and seniors in
Massachusetts colleges and universities; applications will be available on the
HBX website in April. The program consists of three courses: business
analytics, taught by Philips
professor of manufacturing Janice H. Hammond (see screenshot, above);
economics for managers, taught by Anand; and financial accounting, taught by Casserly
professor of business administration V. G. Narayanan. Business executives appear in videos during the courses, much as they make in-person appearances in HBS classrooms during case discussions.
HBS has some familiarity
with teaching this material in this way; entering M.B.A. students are expected
to have mastered it before beginning their first-year, required courses on
campus, and have been offered summer instruction (in person and in varying
online formats) in prior years. Testing the program relatively nearby will
allow the faculty to work out any problems in course delivery or student
engagement; but the plan is clearly to make the program widely available, to
the broad universe of students and new members of the workforce who could
benefit from basic business intelligence.
In CORe, HBS aims to reach
different learners entirely; to require their active participation in the class
(assessment will depend on both mastery of material and participation in the
course, as in an M.B.A. class on campus); and—both to defray costs and to
motivate engagement—to charge $1,500 for the course sequence (need-based
financial aid is available). The intent is to have students who enroll complete
the courses and “graduate.” In a sense, this is the inverse of the MOOC model,
where enrollment is free, but attrition is widespread: according to research on
the first year of HarvardX and MITX courses, about one-third of
registrants in the no-cost, no-obligation offerings never proceeded to sample any of the content, and so had no deeper
“engagement” with the course than completing the online registration itself.
The HBS-focused
executive courses, beginning in
late spring, are an experiment in broadening dissemination of faculty members’
idea and research to a wider audience. Initial subjects and likely faculty
members are listed above, but further offerings are promised. No announcement
was made about whether the program would be fee-based. Updated 9:00 a.m.: An FAQ on the HBX website indicates that the courses are meant to be offered to multiple members of an organization, with pricing details available on request to HBS.
HBX Live debuts in the summer—presumably reflecting not
only build-out of the studio and practicing with the technology before use, but
also a seasonally suitable time to engage participants, and to reach out to
alumni during the school’s capital campaign.
University Context
Although HBX and HarvardX
are communicating and have overlapping faculty committee members (Anant, plus Narayanan, who
serves on the HarvardX research committee)—and can be expected to share
best practices—the technology platforms, as noted, are distinct. HBS faculty
are using HarvardX to offer courses for general public consumption (as have professors from the Law School and the School of Public Health). HBX
offerings are all either fee-based or are designed for controlled enrollment aiming at
specific audiences.
There is no indication so
far that HBX has partnered with other professional schools, some of which now
offer case-based classes like HBS’s core M.B.A. methodology, and many of which
have executive-education operations.
In the news announcement,
Provost Alan Garber, who is a member of the HarvardX leadership group and
co-chair of the edX board, said:
We applaud the arrival of
HBX. This unique digital learning endeavor continues the Business School’s long
history of innovation and experimentation in management education, and is yet
another example of how Harvard is setting the standard for the twenty-first century. The lessons we learn
from HBX will be deeply interwoven with other efforts such as HarvardX and
edX, informing best practices in blended and online teaching and offering
world-class educational materials beyond our campus.
On March 23rd, at Anthony's Function Hall in Somerville, MA Josh Lewin and Katrina Jazayeri present, Nowruz. Persian New Year, which coincides with the beginning of the Spring season is a celebration of family, friends and in this case, cuisine. Sponsored by Beacon Hill Hotel and Bistro and Jeff Gabel's Kitchen Kibitz, this is a unique opportunity to explore something new from a group of dedicated and informed restaurant professionals, passionate about bringing this experience to the Boston area.
Collaborating in this event and bringing their unique expertise are Geoff Lukas of Sofra Bakery and Lenagev Middle Eastern Pop ups as well as Louisa Shafia, author of "The New Persian Kitchen." Celebrate the new year and the coming of spring with a cocktail reception featuring unique cocktails as well as the flavors of traditional Persian cooking in a family style casual environment. Take part in activities and opportunities to celebrate and learn about Persian culture and cuisine. As well as dancing and fun and community.
Join us simply for our cocktail reception featuring traditional Persian cooking or join us first for our VIP dinner featuring innovative Persian cooking, based in tradition but translated into a multi course tasting menu experience with beverage pairings. (VIP dinner ticket includes admission to cocktail reception)
The menu for the VIP dinner will begin with a procession of amuse bouche courses including a caviar service, followed by a number of plates based on traditional Nowruz meals, but through the lens of a fine dining journey, followed by exciting desserts. The diner can expect a high level of cuisine and service as well as a crash course in Persian flavors, cooking, and tradition. This is a very limited seating for twelve guests only.
As Nowruz is a holiday spanning 13 days, Josh and Katrina will pack up and regroup with Louisa in New York city one week later to recreate the event. Details to follow.
TOPEKA, KS—Fred Phelps Sr., the founder of the Westboro Baptist Church and the man who is widely credited with forever ending the gay rights movement in America, died today at age 84. According to biographers and historians, many of the facets of mo...
‘‘The world lost someone who did a whole lot more for the LGBT community than we realize or understand,’’ said Cathy Renna, a longtime consultant to LGBT groups. ‘‘He has brought along allies who are horrified by the hate. So his legacy will be exactly the opposite of what he dreamed.’’
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Fred Phelps Sr. led his small Topeka church for more than two decades in a bellicose crusade against gays and lesbians, saying they were worthy of death and openly declaring — often at military funerals — that the U.S. was doomed because of its tolerance of homosexuality.
Deepti Nair and Harikrishnan Panicker (known collectively as Hari & Deepti) are an artist couple who create paper cut light boxes. Each diorama is made from layers of cut watercolor paper placed inside a shadow box and is lit from behind with flexible LED light strips. The small visual narratives depicted in each work often play off aspects of light including stars, flames, fireflies, and planets. The couple shares about their work:
Paper is brutal in its simplicity as a medium. It demands the attention of the artist while it provides the softness they need to mold it in to something beautiful. It is playful, light, colorless and colorful. It is minimal and intricate. It reflects light, creates depth and illusions in a way that it takes the artist through a journey with limitless possibilities.
What amazes us about the paper cut light boxes is the dichotomy of the piece in its lit and unlit state, the contrast is so stark that it has this mystical effect on the viewers.
Scientists have discovered yet another new species of dinosaur, a creature known colloquially as the "chicken from Hell," because it's "scary as well as absurd," according to researcher Emma Schachner.
Schachner, who co-authored the report revealing the new species, describes the new dino as "a giant raptor, but with a chicken-like head and presumably feathers. The animal stood about 10 feet tall."
In the paper published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE today, Schachner and her co-authors describe the features of Anzu wyliei, a member of the feathered oviraptorosaurs group. Discover Magazine fills in some details on what the creature may have actually looked like:
Despite its vicious-looking claws, A. wyliei likely ate vegetation, small animals and possibly the eggs of other species. It lived on a floodplain and, while flightless, had a bird-like appearance with slender legs and a toothless jaw. Although no fossilized evidence of feathers were found, based on its relationship with other feathered species, researchers believe the animal had feathers on its tail and arms. Researchers estimate Anzu wyliei weighed perhaps 450-650 pounds, making it among the largest known oviraptorosaurs.
The dinosaur's fossils were discovered in North and South Dakota nearly a decade ago, and are dated back to the end of the Cretaceous period -- soon before the dinosaurs were killed en masse. Scientists discovered three partial skeletons, which together make up almost one full skeleton. Schachner says that "two of the specimens display evidence of pathology. One appears to have broken and healed a rib, and the other has evidence of some sort of trauma to a toe." Poor hell chickens.
Courtesy of PLOS ONE.
Report co-author Hans-Dieter Sues added that the new discovery is significant, and not just because “this group of dinosaurs looks really bizarre even by dinosaurian standards." Per Sues:
For almost a hundred years, the presence of oviraptorosaurs in North America was only known from a few bits of skeleton, and the details of their appearance and biology remained a mystery. With the discovery of A. wyliei, we finally have the fossil evidence to show what this species looked like and how it is related to other dinosaurs.
Two of the partial skeletons are at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (and the third is being held at the Marmarth Research Foundation in South Dakota) for those of you in need of a hellish, chickenish, dinosaur fix.
likely: joy richard will destroy you with blender drinks
A culinary event that supports a Cambridge community center and social service agency is returning to the area, and once again food, drink, and entertainment will be included.
On Friday, April 4, the 11th annual Cooking for a Cause will take place at the MIT Media Lab on Amherst Street in Cambridge, with the event going from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM. A number of familiar folks within the Boston-area restaurant scene will be offering food and drink at the event, including Will Gilson (Puritan & Company), Joy Richard (Citizen Public House), Michael Leviton (Area Four), Chris Coombs (Deuxave, Boston Chops), Tzurit Or (Tatte), and many others, with a silent and live auction also taking place along with music from the Winker Orchestra.
Tickets to Cooking for a Cause cost $125, with proceeds going to the East End House Community Center, a nonprofit social service center that has been around since the 1800s. For more information, go to the following link:
Daylight savings time arrived this week, perfectly aligned with some beautiful sunny weather in the Bay Area. And that means two things in San Francisco: One, everyone prematurely gets out the summer outfits; and two, it’s al fresco drinking time.
So, as we brace for the balmy highs courageously reaching into the low 70s this weekend, we’re bringing back our Inside Scoop call for readers’ best outdoor bars in the Bay Area. Since last year, a few places have closed and a few places have opened. Beer gardens are all the rage, especially in the East Bay, and Off the Grid continues to grow. The port restaurants, bars and dives are always great calls (Red’s, The Ramp, Pier 23) and fancier folks have options like Waterbar, Epic and Marketbar.
What are your favorite spots? What did we miss? Share your picks in the comments.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s original stories, like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, get all the attention and overshadow the fact that Tolkien is known in academic circles as an authority on Beowulf, citing the work as having a major influence on his writing.
Tolkien felt that Beowulf should be appreciated as a work of fantasy fiction, and not as just some silly vikings versus monsters story, and in 1926 he finished his own translation of the poem, a translation that would never see publication-until May 22nd, 2014 when Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary arrives in bookstores.
With this new policy, says my tipster, “I expect few reporters or editors will bring mistakes to the attention of their superiors, and would rather write a correction the next day and save their $15.”
A cafe in Tsukuba, Japan has been posting amazing messages on their chalkboard sign announcing their reasons for seemingly random closures. Choice signs: "We're feeling kind of sad today. So, we're closed." "We totally screwed up cooking one of our side dishes. So, we're closed." "Hungover. Try again tomorrow." [RN24]
PLOS ONE 
