Half-Serious

You don't get in -- no way, no how -- unless you own a flash drive (and know how to use it).

-- That way, if you're in a lab and the computer goes bonkers, you won't lose the paper you've been working on all day because you didn't save it.

I just completed Depaul's "General Compliance Training" test. It seems to have consisted of a gazillion questions. Oddly enough, it didn't include the following:

• Is it okay to eat people alive?
• When robbing a bank should you only ask for twenties?
• You know all those empty liquor bottles under your desk? If you kicked them under the desk of a colleague so that it looked like he had a drinking problem and not you, would this constitute a violation of university guidelines for recycling of glass, paper and plastic?

1. The way of the world, our progress so far, the meaning of it all.
2. Why the Cubs will make it to the World Series in 2010!
3. Why I'll take 'Augmented' over 'Reality' any day of the week.
4. Why 'Cloud' and 'Disruptive' will finally be put to rest, replaced by 'Heaven' and 'Topsy-turvy'.
5. Why Daley ought to sell me Lincoln Park when he puts it up for sale next year.
6. Why I've got time to do this if I'm supposedly working on that 'other project'.
7. Why our only hope is a three-legged cow with 25% less carbon emissions.
8. Why the Encyclopedia of Associations and the Occupational Outlook Handbook will never fade from my memory (ever again). (Don't Ask.)
9. Why a knowledge of English Poetry is perfect preparation for anything related to web development. (And I've got the sheepskin to prove it!)
10. Why if we have a chance to do this over again, we ought to proceed directly to 2010 and only pretend like it took us 10 long years to get here.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Not sure how I got on Ebsco's Nursing Reference Center newsletter list but this nugget in their latest about "Hand Hygiene" caught my eye:

... We learned that using soap and water may have been a "best practice," but that it wasn't an evidence-based solution to curtailing the spread of microorganisms....

Here's something fun that I did for Prof. Taffy Raphael from the College of Education at UIC.

The idea was to present a series of (fake) Google searches that ultimately would reveal the winner of an award that Taffy would be announcing at the annual meeting of the National Research Conference in Albuquerque.

Since I had content of all kinds related to the winner (photos, video, bibliography, etc.), I just appropriated whatever corresponding Google interface there was. For example, for the bibliography I used something that looked like a combination of Google Books and Google Scholar; for the video I used something that looked like Google Video. I even managed to work in a Google Map or two.

Judging by the tittering in the audience during the presentation, it seems to have been a success.

So the email goes out: "pumpkin nut/raisin bread" in the Reference Workroom.

Sounds nice, huh? So what's left when the Saturday crew finally shows up? You're looking at it.

Outrageous!

Talk about potpourri, this week's DePaulia, the student newspaper of DePaul contains the following highlights:

Buy new underwear!

You too can have your own 'dream' funeral parlor, no doubt exquisitely furnished, within easy reach of the Loyola Redline Stop and the Lake.

"I want to do a business plan and I need your help."