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‘Kite Runner’ Author’s Latest Resurrects Memories Of Afghanistan

August 1, 2013 - 5:07pm

The best-selling author who garnered international fame for his examination of life and culture in Taliban-era Afghanistan has completed a new book that returns to his homeland and is an extended mediation on the exile’s plight – the pain of separation and the complicated nature of memories.

Khaled Hosseini’s new book, “And The Mountains Echoed,” follows in the footsteps of his previous efforts, “The Kite Runner,” which topped the New York Times best-seller list and became a Hollywood movie, and “A Thousand Splendid Suns.” Hosseini left Afghanistan when he was a boy, but his vivid recollections and observations did...

What's A Bubbler? New U.S. Maps Outlines Regional Dialects, Pronunciations

August 1, 2013 - 4:46pm

It turns out the United States is polarized, but not a reflection on politics or social issues. A statistical study found that Americans are staunchly divided linguistically.

Many people might be familiar with some of these distinctions in words, phrases or pronunciation, such as the age-old debate over "soda" or "pop" and "you guys" or "y’all."

Joshua Katz, a Ph.D. student in statistics from North Carolina State University, recently published a set of maps that color code how Americans speak based on where they live in the country.

Katz found that one of the...

'Geocaching' Is A Fun Way To Get Children Moving, Learning Skills

August 1, 2013 - 4:18pm

There are treasures hidden all around you. But do you know how to find them?

If you’re a "geocacher," you do. According to geocaching.com, this activity is “a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (a container) hidden at that location.”

Geocaching became possible as a sport or activity in 2000, when GPS, or global position satellites were no longer programmed to add in a large margin of error, which up until then, made finding small objects difficult, if not impossible.

Geocaching enthusiasts...

Experts Call For Doing Away With Tipping In American Restaurants

August 1, 2013 - 1:52pm

Sometimes, it's as painful as actually picking up the tab after eating at a restaurant. That is the post-meal ritual of calculating the tip, but such mental challenges could be a thing of the past if several experts have their way.

Vivian Giang, a reporter for businessinsider.com, recently published an article about tipping in restaurants in the United States, and several experts she spoke with agreed that it was time to do away with this social norm.

One of those she spoke with, Phoebe Damrosch, an author and former server, suggested that Americans should take a serious look...

Filmmaker Examines Online Privacy In New Documentary

July 31, 2013 - 2:18pm

A filmmaker has completed a new documentary that seeks to define the real cost of some online services and social media applications that have become so prevalent in people's lives.

In his film, "Terms And Conditions May Apply, Cullen Hoback said that these online user agreements and the terms and conditions can have very significant impacts to users' online privacy.

The topic of online privacy has been garnering headlines in recent weeks because of revelations about U.S. government information gathering in the era since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In a discussion about...

Study: Women Influence Philanthropic Efforts of Men

July 31, 2013 - 2:01pm

What makes a man a cheapskate and another man generous to a fault? It could be that he has a female in his life. A new study reveals the presence of the female gender, especially a family member, can influence men to be more generous.

Adam Grant, a professor of management at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote an article for the New York Times about what the study found.

“Daughters apparently soften fathers and evoke more caretaking tendencies. The speculation is that as we brush our daughters’ hair and take them to dance classes, we become...

Nationwide Strikes Spark Debate Over Increasing Minimum Wage

July 31, 2013 - 12:15pm

Fast-food workers in cities across the country -- including Milwaukee -- are striking this week over low wages, and sparking debate about whether to raise the country's minimum wage.

Protesters said that they want the minimum wage raised to $15 and are demanding a union. They're arguing that many can't live on their current salaries. Opponents, however, said that raising the minimum wage could spell the end for those jobs.

Mike Wilder, of Wisconsin Jobs Now, a nonprofit that is helping organize the protests, said fast-food workers aren't who many might think they are. He said...

Therapist: Avoiding Intimacy Won't Insure Emotional Safety

July 31, 2013 - 10:49am

If a person is looking to protect themselves from emotional injury, avoiding intimacy might not be the answer, according to a prominent Wisconsin psychotherapist.

Philip Chard, a therapist, newspaper columnist and author, said the best thing a person can do to protect themselves is “be more discriminating and take your time” when revealing intimate information.

Chard also pointed out that intimacy avoidance “is a learned behavior if you grew up in an environment where expressing your emotions was not rewarded.”

But still, being emotionally expressive might not be for everyone, he said. If a...

Including Hip-Hop In Classroom Instruction Aims To Revolutionize Education

July 30, 2013 - 11:59pm

Many children who are immersed in hip-hop culture learn early on that there’s little room for their love of combustible beats and edgy rhymes in the classroom, and as a result, school isn't a place for them either.

But an emerging movement of artists and educators aims to improve the academic success of these marginalized students by bringing hip-hop into the classroom.

Performer and recording artist Baba Israel and beat-boxing champion Yako 440 said that they regularly take time out of their touring schedules to teach hip-hop arts to elementary, middle school and high school students....

'Maker' Movement On The Rise, Magazine Editor Says

July 30, 2013 - 11:54pm

As the Maker Fair -- touted as a kind of "science fair" for adults -- concluded in Detroit last week, a leader of the “maker” movement said he sees a growing interest in tinkering, inventing and hacking.

Mark Frauenfelder, editor of Make Magazine and boingboing.com, said that Maker Faires like the one held in Detroit last weekend draw hundreds and even thousands of participants to share projects like robots, rockets, remote-control experiments, electronic projects and more.

“It’s like a giant-sized science fair that people of all ages participate in," Frauenfelder said.

Frauenfelder said...