When you’re registered to flattr, you pay a small monthly fee. You set the amount yourself. At the end of the month, that fee is divided between all the things you flattered. You’re always logged in to the account. That means that giving someone some flattr-love is just a button away. And you should! Clicking one more button doesn’t add to your fee, it just divides the fee between more people!
I’ve been looking for a micropayment service like this for a really long time. Hopefully all the newspapers and bloggers I love will start using it so I can start paying them for great work. And I imagine I’ll find out just how much you all actually like my posts!
Nike resigned from the board of the Chamber of Commerce in protest of the chamber’s position on climate change. Other companies flat out resigned their memberships. It’s good to see companies recognizing climate change is going to start affecting their profits.
I feel like the appropriate punishment for these sorts of crimes would be to deny them modern medical care.
Second wave feminism has a bad reputation, but without it, women would still be writing songs like this:
A new spider species was recently discovered and named after David Bowie.
Heteropoda davidbowie
Warming can fundamentally change interactions in an ecosystem. This means that many of our predictions about what’s going to happen to ecosystems with climate change could be very, very wrong.
The Finance Committee killed the public option this week and then approved money for abstinence only sex-ed, which is the proven best way to up teen pregnancy and std rates. I’d like to point out that democrats Lincoln, Conrad, and Baucus voted down the public option. I suggest letting them know how you feel about their vote, especially if you come from Arkansas, Montana, or North Dakota.
Laurent is finally blogging again – I adore his silly botany posts. Here’s a great one about how purple toothwort protects its nectar.
This Saturday, these shoes were 62% off, and I almost bought them. As adorable as they are though, I know I’d probably only wear them once or twice a year. I’ll just look at them for a few days and sigh a bit.
Last year I got enough scholarship and grant money that I didn’t have to take out any loans. This year has gone even better, despite not getting the Udall. In addition to having enough to pay for school, rent, and all my bills through August 2010, I’ll be able to get new glasses (which I desperately need), pay off my E.R. bill from 2006 and a small student loan from the university I briefly attended in NC, AND get a cheap couch off of Craigslist. I’m pretty excited about not having to sit on the floor if I want to hang out in my living room.
Even more exciting is the prospect of getting rid of all of my medical debt. Since my financial aid has been so much better the last couple of years, I’ve been able to put a lot of my paychecks toward the $5000 of medical debt I accrued between 2003 & 2006. With the amount I’m getting this year, I’ll have all my old medical bills paid off by next August as long as I can control my shoe problem.
Once my ER bill and my other medical debt are gone, I’ll just have student loan debt - about $24,000. $24,000 isn’t that bad considering I’ll have been in school at least part time 5 1/2 years by the time I graduate and 2 of those years I was paying out of state tuition. I’m also lucky that my loans are all subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford, not the nasty Sallie Mae kind. I’m hoping that I’ll have all of those paid off before I finish grad school.
Unfortunately, I still can’t afford health insurance… Hopefully wherever I go for grad school will have decent benefits.
A couple of months ago I found out about a $4000 scholarship with very narrow eligibility requirements that I fit. Unfortunately, I found out about it the day before the deadline. I emailed the scholarship contact and they said, yes, turn it in late. The scholarship required 3 recommendations. My two research mentors normally write me recommendations and another professor writes for me when I need a third letter. All of them were wonderful when I asked for the recommendation on such short notice. Then my third recommender dropped off the face of the earth.
So, I missed the late deadline. And probably missed out on $4000. I know that professors are incredibly busy, but I wish my third recommender had told me he was too busy instead of agreeing to write the letter and then ignoring me. It’s been 3 weeks and he still hasn’t gotten back to me – even after I politely emailed him and let him know that I’d missed the deadline and no longer needed a letter.
I’m oh so slowly paying off my bill from the ER. To everyone who’s donated, thank you! I wish I could make you all cupcakes like these. You may think bunny rabbit cupcakes are more appropriate for this time of year, but it’s still snowing here!
This weekend I found out I didn’t get the Udall scholarship and had a pity party. I found out yesterday that I got a $1000 scholarship from my university’s biology department. It’s not $5000, but it makes me feel better!
In science, as in politics or love, one can have all the good arguments and still be in the wrong. When it comes down to it, what matters is not whose story is more logical or beautiful, but which leads to the greatest effect. — Lee Smolin
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