THE EARTH keeps some vibration going
There in your heart, and that is you.
And if the people find you can fiddle,
Why, fiddle you must, for all your life.
What do you see, a harvest of clover?
Or a meadow to walk through to the river?
The wind’s in the corn; you rub your hands
For beeves hereafter ready for market;
Or else you hear the rustle of skirts
Like the girls when dancing at Little Grove.
To Cooney Potter a pillar of dust
Or whirling leaves meant ruinous drouth;
They looked to me like Red-Head Sammy
Stepping it off, to “Toor-a-Loor.”
How could I till my forty acres
Not to speak of getting more,
With a medley of horns, bassoons and piccolos
Stirred in my brain by crows and robins
And the creak of a wind-mill—only these?
And I never started to plow in my life
That some one did not stop in the road
And take me away to a dance or picnic.
I ended up with forty acres;
I ended up with a broken fiddle—
And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories,
And not a single regret.

I've always loved this poem. To me, it's about a man, loved by many, that recognizes his responsibilities, but can't help but forgo them to go and have fun with friends and loved ones (in short, anyways). The first line, however, has always intrigued me, and I can never land on a meaning for it. I think it's basically saying that in your heart is your true character (your soul), and that will never change. Or maybe it's saying that everyone has that "vibration" in their heart that yearns for enjoyment. What do you think?

So I'm just browsing the internet when I should be asleep, and naturally I'm on Reddit. I've read a couple of topics about Aaron Swartz. Comments that get heavily upvoted are things like "the prosecution didn't kill him. he did." ... why does nobody realize this is an incredibly callous thing to say? What the fuck is wrong with people? Why is this acceptable? You'd think more people would take his side or at least be sympathetic.

Thanks to @dubteedub for doing this up until now, let's bring em back :)

Have you watched any movies recently you want to discuss? Any movies that you'd like to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here!

Spoilers are okay, just give fair warning so people who care about them can participate too.

I'm working on some sleep hygiene habits at the moment and would like to know if anyone has any feedback, good or bad, for using a wake up lamp/sunrise alarm clock. I have to get up for work before it's light outside so this wouldn't be replicable by just leaving my blinds open.

Part of me likes the idea of a softer, gentler wakeup from light rather than noise, but there's another part of me that's worried I'll hate it just as much as I hate my alarm clock. My bullshit detector is also ringing pretty loudly when I see that the flagship brand name model is selling for $200 USD. Two hundred dollars for... a... light... that... slowly... turns... on. What?!?!

Nevertheless, maybe there's something I'm missing here (like the other $180 worth of technology presumably hidden in there). As such, I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has one. I'd love to hear your experiences and, if you're willing to share, which model you have.

Mythbusters is back, but in a tweaked format.

Adam Savage fronts with a team of six young people. Jamie, Kari, Tory, and Grant are absent, only appearing in video flashbacks to the previous show.

Mythbusters with kids could have been horrific, but they've managed to make this entertaining and informative. They've increased the amount of STEM stuff. We see people doing a bit of math while planning something out. The kids are smart, and the show allows them to be smart while also being children. Adam is a great fit, being a big kid himself but also filling the role of a pseudo parent and giving friendly advice (often around safety, such as the tag strap used to manoeuvre huge steel plates).

The old show had a some problems. They'd have too many pre-break "what's coming next" and post-break "here's what happened before", and they'd chop up the myths being tested into tiny little bits. They still do that, but not nearly as much.

It's a fun, entertaining watch, and it's safe for families to watch together.

What are you coding? Or are you reading a CS paper?

and of course, have you read SICP today?

                             ___-------___
                         _-~~             ~~-_
                      _-~                    /~-_
   /^\__/^\         /~  \                   /    \
 /|  O|| O|        /      \_______________/        \
| |___||__|      /       /                \          \
|          \    /      /                    \          \
|   (_______) /______/                        \_________ \
|         / /         \                      /            \
 \         \^\\         \                  /               \     /
   \         ||           \______________/      _-_       //\__//
     \       ||------_-~~-_ ------------- \ --/~   ~\    || __/
       ~-----||====/~     |==================|       |/~~~~~
        (_(__/  ./     /                    \_\      \.
               (_(___/                         \_____)_)

it's creative thread time, gamers. here you can share/provide updates on some of the projects that you're working on. they can be of any kind--digital, physical, work related, passion project, whatever. pretty straightforward, i think.

november thread • february thread • march thread • april thread • may thread • june thread • july thread