AP’s idea of ‘fair use’ limits you to four words or less

Anyone who has taken a high school English class has learned a bit about attribution and fair use when quoting someone else’s work. If you include a direct quote from another work, you cite that work as your source. The number of words you can quote is governed by the fair use doctrine, which is [...]

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Phoenix lander settles safely onto Mars surface!

The Phoenix Mars Lander has just settled successfully, softly on the surface of of the Red Planet! Not a bouncing, rolling landing like previous probes, but standing on its own legs, like the big guys. Wow.
Congratulations to NASA and the JPL on this magnificent achievement!!!
Update: The first pictures sent back from Phoenix are now posted on the [...]

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Two more primaries slip by today; wake me when it’s over

North Carolina and Indiana are having their presidential primaries today. Can you sense my excitement? yawwwn …
You may have been astute enough to notice I’ve gone somewhat apolitcal recently. Frankly, I’ve grown colossally tired of this campaign. I’m just waiting for it to be over. Or it least move on to the conventions and [...]

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Found: Not-so-cool technology from childhood

Slumped on my sofa, laptop and TV fully engaged, I’ve been browsing the Web this evening. I came across an article on the old shoe-fitting machines in use when I was a kid. It’s been decades since I thought about those things. They were cutting-edge x-ray technology, seemingly magic. Look through the viewer, see your feet inside [...]

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