Friday Varia and Quick Hits

Winter is here, I think. The high yesterday was 0 (and the low was -16). That was pretty cold. The air in buildings is so dry and no amount of water can keep you hydrated. It’s like working in a desert (but it’s a dry cold).

But, the show must go on here in North Dakotaland! Some varia and quick hits:

• Can you summarize your research in a tweet? Check out the efforts of graduate students around the work to Tweet their thesis (#tweetyourthesis).

• In related news, scholarly articles that are tweeted are more likely the be cited.

• But Jstor turns away over 150 million users a year and now they’re beginning to explore ways to monetize that.

• Virtual space and learning (a literature review).

• David Pettegrew’s Corinthian Scholarship in December.

• Some more assorted things on the Bakken oil formation, Western North Dakota, and law enforcement.

• I think it’s pretty cool that Williams F1 always has Ayrton Senna’s double Ss on their car somewhere. And it’s a good story that there will be a Senna in a Williams again.

• I’ve complained that recent efforts to shape university learning and research space at UND have followed paradigms established in industrial era (rather than our own information era). I like the new Fog Creek offices. Perhaps they are not ideal for academic work space, but they offer a different perspective from the open-plan, foosball-table equipped, internet start-up office.

• The UND Honors Program turns 50.

• Whoa! What happened here? Cricket in Pakistan has had a rough year. This is a great story.

• We rock.

• Arcade Fire at Austin City Limits.

• What I’m reading: M. N. Michael, et al., Ottoman Cyprus: A collection of studies on history and culture. (Wiesbaden, 2009).

• What I’m listening to: Peter Gabriel, New Blood; So.