What the…

So, I got home earlier today because at precisely 8am I was at the school doing an assessment with one of the employees from Santa Cruz who’s going on vacation next week, therefore he won’t be at the company for the big line-up of interviews — 20 something people whom I need to speak with for 15 minutes and decide which level they’ll be placed. Fantastic…

My students cancelled the class tonight, so I had some time to go online and check the news, and I came across this article from CNN’s Hala Gorani about how writing letters has become almost obsolete. I totally agree with the fact that we’ve been losing the ability to focus, at least it happens to me: e-mail, tweets, podcasts, IMs, all happening at the same time and all of a sudden you forget why you went online to begin with. I do like having the possibility of contacting people fast or accessing information with a few key strokes, but I do miss the time when there wasn’t anything technological at all around us and we would have to wait until the next day for news coverage in the paper or check the mail box for cards and letters — not only bills!

But anyway, I had a few things to do around the house so I went on to organise some stuff, and the TV was on Beck’s programme — you know, I need the reminder! — and I heard him talking about Robin Hood and…. no, sorry, Robin MAO Hood, saying that he was the guy taking from the rich and giving to the poor, a true socialist. He was taking from the elites and giving to the people that had nothing. And he went on to say that folks should tell the story to their kids… What the… I didn’t really get if Beck was okaying the story, which would sound odd because of the MAO thing, or if he was scolding the guy or scolding the elites… Bottom line is: there’s so much nonsense coming out of that person that I don’t think I’ll ever waste my time trying to pay attention to what he says. I’ll let Jon Stewart do the dirty work for me!!! Welcome back, man!!!!

I have another TEDTalk translation published, with a little help from my friend Volvey Faustini, who reviewed the work. Nathan Myhrvold and his group of smart people spend most of the time inventing, not only for fun and profit, but also to help people around the world. They present a series of inventions that could really lend a hand when it comes to reducing preventable diseases in developing countries. And the malaria mosquito is the main target of their studies — literally! Fascinating talk!

We Feel Fine’s randomly selected piece of story of the day: “I flourish in that God has assigned to me I feel I am truly following his will” (2 hours ago)