Check It Out

Links to cool places or things.

There are 1,530 posts filed in Check It Out (this is page 115 of 153).

Chinese moms vs. Western moms: Is there a mother superior?

A rebuttal to the Chinese Mom story I posted recently:

Go to any school today with a “progressive” philosophy and administrators proudly espouse the virtues of addressing the “whole child” and creating an independent, creative, empathetic individual. These are the buzz words that resonate with Western parents. It’s true, we want happy, well adjusted, well rounded children who will contribute to society. We also buy into the theory that creativity, critical thinking and social skills are essential for future success.

Yes, our kids need to excel at algebra, but we want them to not only learn, but to also enjoy learning in a stimulating environment where they can thrive in their own uniqueness. Rote learning is out; individual exploration is in.

via Chinese moms vs. Western moms: Is there a mother superior? – CNN.com.

Thunderstorms Shoot Antimatter Beams Into Space

Thunderstorms can shoot beams of antimatter into space—and the beams are so intense they can be spotted by spacecraft thousands of miles away, scientists have announced.

Most so-called normal matter is made of subatomic particles such as electrons and protons. Antimatter, on the other hand, is made of particles that have the same masses and spins as their counterparts but with opposite charges and magnetic properties.

Continue reading →

China Tests Stealth Fighter

With China’s supreme understanding and adherence to face there is absolutely no way this was a coincidence. This was a deliberate slap in the face to Secretary Gates.

In a show of force that seemed aimed at the United States and visiting Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, China apparently conducted the first test-flight of its new stealth fighter jet on Tuesday, only hours before Mr. Gates was to meet with President Hu Jintao.

Mr. Gates said he directly asked Mr. Hu why it was conducted during a three-day trip that is meant to smooth over rocky relations between the U.S. military and China’s increasingly assertive armed forces.

Mr. Hu replied, Mr. Gates said, that it “had absolutely nothing to do with my visit.” Asked if Mr. Gates truly believed that, Mr. Gates said yes, but acknowledged he had questions about whether the Chinese military was acting independently of the political leadership. “I’ve had concerns about this over time,” Mr. Gates said.

via China Apparently Tests Stealth Fighter – NYTimes.com.

Red Hat stays (relatively) put

There were rumors over the past few weeks that Linux pioneer Red Hat was shopping around for new office space, including digs in Massachusetts, Austin, and Atlanta, among others. Today, Governor Purdue announced that Red Hat would be staying in Wake County (though she didn’t say Raleigh, specifically).

A month ago when rumors started swirling I predicted Red Hat would stay, posting this on the WRAL story about the office search:

Red Hat would have a hard time finding anyplace with a better quality of life than it has right here. The company’s executives are savvy enough to know that.”

Sure enough, the first thing out of CEO Jim Whitehurst’s mouth when explaining Red Hat’s choosing to stay was this area’s quality of life. Now, Red Hat just needs to vacate the overpriced Centennial Campus space and hang their hat in downtown Raleigh and then they’ll be in business!

Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior

Here’s an insightful look at the marked differences between Chinese parenting and Western parenting.

In one study of 50 Western American mothers and 48 Chinese immigrant mothers, almost 70% of the Western mothers said either that "stressing academic success is not good for children" or that "parents need to foster the idea that learning is fun." By contrast, roughly 0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way. Instead, the vast majority of the Chinese mothers said that they believe their children can be "the best" students, that "academic achievement reflects successful parenting," and that if children did not excel at school then there was "a problem" and parents "were not doing their job." Other studies indicate that compared to Western parents, Chinese parents spend approximately 10 times as long every day drilling academic activities with their children. By contrast, Western kids are more likely to participate in sports teams.

via Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior – WSJ.com.

Southwest Airlines screws the pooch

In a single, boneheaded move, Southwest Airlines just lost me as a loyal customer. The airline’s simple rewards program just got a lot more complicated.

Fans are hopping mad and are burying Southwest’s Facebook page with their comments. It’s sad, considering how much cheerleading I’ve done for them over the years.

The Baltimore Sun’s Consuming Interests blog has a good breakdown on what the changes mean.

Southwest Airlines Co. overhauled its frequent-flier program to add rewards with no black-out dates and redemptions for international flights on other carriers.

The first major revamp of the Rapid Rewards loyalty plan since it began in 1987 should add “several hundred million” dollars a year in revenue, Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said yesterday at a briefing at Southwest’s Dallas headquarters.

Southwest, the largest low-fare airline, spent almost $100 million on the project and aims to win new customers and deepen ties to existing business travelers, who generally pay higher prices. The carrier unveiled a related website for passengers today to explain the changes, which take effect March 1.

“If we get our fair share of frequent fliers, the opportunity is huge,” Kelly said. “We’re very confident this is a good investment.”

via Southwest Loyalty Program Gets First Revamp in 23 Years to Boost Traffic – Bloomberg.

Why does Paul Allen hate the Internet?

Billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is one of the top twenty richest Americans, and life gets hard when you’re at the top. Those megayachts aren’t exactly easy on the gas pump, if you know what I mean. So what’s a poor billionaire to do, you say? Why not sue the biggest companies on the Internet by claiming patent infringement!?

Yes, Paul Allen – a man who once did some cool things with his Microsoft money – has become a lowly patent troll, claiming his company invented a number of web technologies. His claims are absurd, in my view, and strike me as being a money grab. Allen’s reputation has dived deeper than the submarines he keeps on his yacht.

See Engadget, Ars Technica, or the FOSS Patents site for the techie nitty gritty, or ABCNews for the non-geek version:

Interval Licensing LLC, a company owned by billionaire Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen, has filed an amended lawsuit against Facebook, Google Inc. and nine other companies, claiming they infringed on patented Web technology.

Interval Licensing, based in Seattle, owns the rights to information systems, computer science and communications technology developed in Silicon Valley by Interval Research, which Allen co-founded in the 1990s. Interval Research no longer exists.

The filing is a revision of the lawsuit Interval Licensing filed in August against Facebook, Google, Google’s video site YouTube, AOL Inc., Apple Inc., Yahoo Inc., Netflix Inc., eBay Inc., Office Depot, OfficeMax, and Staples.

via Paul Allen Refiles Suit Against Internet Giants – ABC News.

Fossil DNA points to new branch of humanity

Truly fascinating.

A finger bone from Siberia now reveals that a previously unknown group of ancient humans once existed there, one neither like us nor Neanderthals.

Bizarrely, the DNA from these extinct Siberians seems unusually similar to that of Pacific Islanders from tropical Melanesia.

The 30,000-year-old fossil was found in Denisova Cave in southern Siberia in 2008, a bone fragment that likely came from a fingertip of a young girl. It was discovered along with microblades (small stone blades used as tools), body ornaments of polished stone, and a molar shaped very differently from those of Neanderthals and modern humans, resembling that of much older human species, such as Homo habilis and Homo erectus. (The tooth and the finger bone apparently came from different members of the same population.)

via Fossil DNA points to new branch of humanity – Technology & science – Science – msnbc.com.