thorne

Technically, in science, all explanations are theories. So many things that are accepted as true could easily turn out to be false. That's the beauty of the scientific method and objective thought; by being open to the possibility that what we believe may not be correct, we can keep evolving our knowledge, hopefully getting closer and closer to the truth. I'm less bothered by the idea that what we know is wrong than by the closed-mindedness of some people who refuse to believe anything other than what they've been told. We NEED to acknowledge that most things are uncertain.So it's good to see you're questioning things

Mark Bittman of the New York Times has a blog post about making popcorn. He doesn't have a recipe for specifically cinnamon popcorn, but there's a salty-sweet version which, if you add some cinnamon, would probably be pretty much what you're looking for: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

GMail without a doubt. Hotmail sends too much spam, and you don't get the google search function. Gmail's lack of folders can be a little annoying, but the tags and search make up for it, and you get used to them.

I think that, while there are different forms of "fun," some are, without a doubt, more creative than others. And I believe that these more active, creative pursuits in many ways are more worthwhile than passive entertainment. That doesn't mean that the computer can't be a method of active fun...many creative works could never have been born without a computer. But, for instance, watching trashy TV shows on the internet is probably not good for the mind. And it seems like people are more and more prone to this type of entertainment. I know that I've noticed in myself that when I choose to entertain myself by something creative which requires me to think, like working on one of my novels or programming a website, I feel better, both in during the process and afterward when I have something to show for the time I spent. When I choose to do something passive that lets my mind "mush," I feel empty and uninspired afterward. It's so much easier to pursue the latter form of entertainment, especially with current technology, and it may seem like it will be more fun, but in the end it doesn't seem to be worth much.I agree that kids are being stressed out way too much. And I think that's probably part of why they don't choose active entertainment much; if you've spent you're whole day working, working, working; why would you want to "work" more in your free time? But active entertainment isn't work once you get into the flow. It just takes work getting there. But it is worth it.

Yup...I drink milk and have yet to break a bone

I think part of it too is that America values overachieving a bit too much, to the point where people just get too stressed out. We expect kids to be superachievers...we tell them that if they want to go to college and succeed in life, they must get straight A's, be a member of every single club/sport/organization that ever existed, do 294837273 hours of community service, etc., but they still want to have lives and hang out with their friends and such...and where do you get the time for all of this? When do you get to sit down and relax? You don't, and so the stress builds and builds and, in worst-case scenarios, causes you to act out. Many kids who committed heinous acts often leave their peers puzzled because they seemed like such good kids. It's just too much pressure. When you combine the stress with influences from the media, such as the seeming normality of violence, you have a recipe for disaster.There indeed need to be some major changes in our society. Major.

That's very interesting. It does seem to go along with some of the concepts we learned in psychology, like about how people are more willing to do things when they see others doing them too.

There are so many things I love about my school. One of them is its small size; our classes are even smaller than my classes in high school were. The professors know my name, even though I am very quiet. My department is also very small, so I know my professors there too, even the ones I haven't had yet. I have been lucky to become very close to my research mentor who has given me invaluable guidance and encouragement. The professors are often very informal with us students, one of them even asks his students if they want to go to a bar with him. Considering he teaches a lot of intro level classes full of freshmen though, this usually doesn't work out haha.My school also has this program for freshman where you have to take a seminar course, and you live on the same floor as people in this course. At first I thought it was a pointless idea, but I became very close to these people and am still very good friends with them. It really established a strong sense of community. I was fortunate enough to live in a suite my freshman year, and my ex-suitemates and I still get together occasionally to have dinner and such.The campus of my school is very nice too; they are just finishing some major construction, so many of the buildings are new or refurbished. The library is gorgeous! And there are lots of trees and stuff around so it looks very pretty in spring when they flower and bloom :PI just wish the campus weren't in the middle of nowhere where you can't walk anywhere (and freshmen can't have cars which sucks), and I wish the coursework was easy! haha

I'm a Computer Science major (at a liberal arts school...how ironic), and I'm discovering that I really, really love my major. It fascinates me. One of the things I love about college is how you specialize in something like that, it is so unlike high school where they make you take a bunch of crap you'll never use. I really am enjoying my time at college...it's quite an experience!

I agree that it's not tall guys in general that girls like, just guys that are taller than them. My best friend, who is rather tall, says that one of the things she hates about it is that it limits the people she'll date...she doesn't want to be with a short guy. But my roommate's boyfriend is shorter than her, so there are obviously exceptions.I've also noticed that my brother, who is over 6' tall and a freshman in high school, gets A LOT of attention from girls. His shortest friends seem to have more difficulty. But that doesn't mean that you should be hopeless if you're short...there are plenty of girls out there who don't care about a guy's height.

The last fiction book I read was McCoupland's Microserfs. it's about a group of friends who worked for Microsoft and then switch over to a new company; basically it follows their lives. The main character keeps a journal, which is what the book is. It's hilarious, especially since it's like ten years old so some of the references are funny. But I also loved it because, as a budding programmer, that is probably what my life will be like :-\The last nonfiction book I read was Freakonomics. it was really interesting, but I think I liked Gladwell's Blink and the Tipping Point better. Gladwell's stories were so interesting. I liked Freakonomics though; it makes you stop and think about things in new ways. I thought the abortion point got a little old though...they really seemed to push that one.

I'm probably the only one who will say this, but Conrad's Heart of Darkness is the one book I read that I truly, truly hated. I can't really pinpoint why...but I think it had something to do with the way the actions they observed were all "pointless." I'm sure the book is full of symbolism and has all sorts of deep meaning, but I was never really into that stuff...I just like a good read

Indeed, multivitamins are not a quick-fix for a poor diet. It's nearly impossible to get the 100% recommended value of everything everyday, but I don't think you really need to; our ancestors most likely didn't, and they survived and even thrived or else we wouldn't be here. As long as you're getting a variety of vitamins every day, you should be fine (unless you have a deficiency or a medical condition which requires more of one, of course). This is one of the reasons it's extremely important to eat a healthy, balanced diet with LOTS of fruits and vegetables. They have so many vitamins, much more than the processed food that is eaten more often. Also, they say that vitamins and minerals are better absorbed when eaten from their natural source, as opposed to a fake one like a multivitamin. And there are probably so many more vitamins that we don't know about, so by eating natural, healthy foods, we can hopefully get some of them.I think taking an occasional multivitamin can be good idea, but if you feel like you need to take 294837 different things a day to be healthy, perhaps you should examine the foods you're eating and try to get the nutrients there instead.

I love the Series of Unfortunate Events! I want to know more about the author...like what else he's written and such. I love the humor in his books, it's just my style

This reminds me of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, where each tier builds off the ones below it. At the top is self-actualization where you become the best version of yourself you can be...you are content and productive. The first level is your physical needs. So if your body is not in good health, you won't be able to experience the benefits of further forms of well-being. To me, this makes sense. If you're starving, you aren't really going to care about a sound mind or spiritual well-being, and won't try to pursue them...food is more important. So being sure your physical self is taken care of certainly has an impact on your mental health.

When I feel depressed, I find I just need to take some time alone. The idea of going out and talking about it with a bunch of people always seems dreadful when I'm down...I'd much rather just go to my corner and be quiet for awhile. I heard that in Ancient Greece, what we consider "depression" was just considered "melancholy," and it was expected that you would feel that way every now and then. When you did, it was thought that you needed to take some time to yourself and reflect, because if you were feeling this way, you were perhaps heading in the wrong direction and needed to reconsider things. I think this can be a great way to think about sadness, as a natural time when your mind is telling you that you need to stop and think about some things. I feel like sometimes we are too quick to turn to drugs or other artificial ways of forcing ourselves out of bad moods. The mood serves a purpose; by simply covering up the feelings and not considering why you are feeling that way, any solution will most likely be temporary.

Firefox all the way! Though I love the IE top plugin you can download...it's extremely useful as I design web pages and they usually never work in IE, so it lets me see the bugs. Normal IE irritates the hell out of me, but that's because I'm used to firefox

Good points! I'd like to add a few more...Conventions and StandardsWhy make your site boring and like all the other sites? Instead of following typical standards, like making your logo clickable to the home page, break the rules and do something different. Visitors will love the puzzle of trying to figure out how to use your siteContentIf you decide to actually have decent content (not recommended), be sure to take the most important stuff and bury it. The user should need to follow at least six different links, preferably with no logical connection, to find this info. Otherwise it's just not fun.GraphicsANIMATION! Don't use anything that's still...you want flashes, glitter, snaz...you want to catch people's attention. This can most effectively be done with animated gifs, and even video files. And if you're playing any media, be sure not to make it ugly with stop/pause buttons...your visitors just want it to play automatically, looping forever. And don't skimp on quality with your images...the bigger the file, the better.NavigationIf everything is easy to find, your site will be boring. You don't want that. Don't settle for the navigation bar on the left...instead, put it in the bottom corner, hidden in a bunch of images, etc. And don't underline links...that makes them ridiculously ugly. It's better that they blend in with the text where no one knows they're there.Ultimately, remember that the purpose of a website is not to make people's lives easy and present what they need to know, when they need to know it. It is to provide them with a unique experience, and this can only be achieved by making them work hard to use your site. Don't promote laziness among your visitors...make sure they are actively involved every step of the way.

It depends where the sugar came from...I'm guessing that canned soup is made with high fructose corn syrup, which is bad, but the stuff is in so much of what we eat that it's certainly not going to kill you. Most processed foods have such things in them, which is why it's best to make food yourself, especially if you're trying to be healthy. True, it can be very difficult and time-consuming, unfortunately. But if you educate yourself about good sources of sugar, good fats, etc., you can easily learn to read labels and choose convenience foods which are healthier and better for you. Many companies specialize in making such items. Also, from personal experience, I've found that sugar is like an addiction, and it's REALLY hard not to crave it at first if you try to cut it out of your diet, but after a little bit, you stop craving it. And, at least for me, it makes you feel SO much better...I have more energy and am not as tired. Sometimes too, a sugar craving can be satisfied with a big glass of water...when I get thirsty, I find I have a tendency to crave sweets.

I was 5'5" at the end of seventh grade, so I understand. Ironically, this is my current height, so now, when it's good to be tall, I'm short. ::sigh:: My brother, on the other hand, was almost 6' at that age; he's freshman in high school now and is like 6'5". Since boys tend to grow much more slowly, he has TOWERED over everyone for so long...often I would see his friends and wonder why he was hanging out with little kids. So you're definitely not alone, some people just grow taller faster. It can be annoying, but it's normal. And luckily, our society doesn't attach a stigma to it...unlike being overweight, there is no shame associated with it. So be proud!

I LOVE food blogs...my favorite is slashfood.com for its variety of content. In terms of recipe blogs, I really like bakingbites.com, cookiemaddness.net, and smittenkitchen.com. The latter has AMAZING photos and really inspires me to cook!

Might be really good with some kind of fruit filling...like apple or cherry. The base sounds similar to a topping for an incredibly easy, delicious cobbler you can make just by putting cake mix, pats of butter, and chopped nuts over canned pie filling. I microwave it for a few minutes, and it's fabulous.

I love Italian and Japanese food best. Health-wise, I don't think one type of cuisine is particularly superior over another; it all depends on what items you choose. There are healthy and non-healthy items in any type of food. Fast food, on the other hand, is perhaps on its own...it's so highly processed that there's probably more bad than good in anything you choose there. As long as you stick to wholesome and nutritious, preferably home-made, foods, you can be healthy.

I agree milk is a wonderful food...so full of nutrients. I've always had trouble falling asleep at night, and the one thing I can always count on to put me asleep is a mug of warm milk. Plus it just makes me feel good. I hate it when people try to pass milk off as some kind of poison...perhaps the hormones we pump into the animals are bad for us, but not the milk itself. By choosing organic milk, you can reduce the amount of the harmful stuff anyway. I say keep drinking milk!

I've been wanting to run a marathon myself! There are many, many different resources online which give different training plans, which is great because you can choose which one suits you best. Some resources: An entire site dedicated to marathon training: http://www.marathontraining.com/ Marathon training at Runner's World: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ Training mistakes: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/20tml?partner=rss&refURL=&referrer= Marathons to start out with: http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Best-Marathons-Newbies-679929 Hope this helps, and good luck!