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The newest essays, interviews, and features from Big Think.
"One of the main developments in recent American literature has got to be a newly self-conscious traditionalism." A report on this decade's fiction finds a rebirth of classical values.
"The FCC has halted discussions amid reports spread that Google and Verizon will propose their own, less regulatory framework for Net neutrality." The L.A. Times says the FCC must act now.
Yesterday the Senate passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act by unanimous consent. The bill allots $4.5 billion to fund public school food programs. The bill, which was backed by Sen. […]
A little Friday afternoon fun from Media Matters... A profile of Dr. Kevin Pezzi, a contributor to Andrew Breitbart's website Big Government. Update: Shrinkage has occurred at Big Government. Is […]
Providing adequate and sustainable sources of energy isn't a geophysical problem of finding supplies or a technological challenge of using sun, wind or gas more efficiently. It's a psychological problem: […]
Since this is Big Think's ‘Month of Thinking Dangerously’, here are my three pennies worth. In politics it has almost been impossible to think dangerously on either side of the Atlantic […]
I think Elena Kagan will be an outstanding Justice, not just because of her outstanding (and underrated) technical abilities—as I'll mention shortly, I think the Court as a group is […]
Emily Yoffe, aka Slate advice columnist Dear Prudence, has evidently been driven to distraction by the prospect of an Islamic cultural center/mosque two blocks from the former World Trade Center. […]
6mins
The famous developer of Perl talks about his work set-up, how he works best, and why he sometimes procrastinates.
5mins
"But when good taste becomes mandatory, then it's not really good taste any more—it's just manners," says Wall.
4mins
The "Lord of the Rings" characters embody what Wall sees as the three virtues of good programmers: laziness, impatience, and hubris.
6mins
Programmer Larry Page offers language suggestions to amateur programmers who might not know exactly where to start.
Our Sun has been asleep for a while, but now it’s starting to wake up. You’ve probably read or heard about the recent solar storms that sent plasma towards Earth, […]
5mins
Computer programming is a lot like writing a recipe. If you've read a recipe, you know what the structure of a recipe is and you can copy the format to […]
6mins
"Perl culture is a culture of fun; we really encourage that and do not think that it is in any way counter to the notion of doing good work," says […]
5mins
Wall’s background in linguistics helped him to create a programming language that borrows bits from other languages, much like English.
5mins
Perl developer Larry Wall says that, like a human language, you can use Perl in many ways—for baby talk, grownup talk, writing poetry or plays, and even cussing.
45mins
A conversation with the founder of the Perl programming language
"When life is being led in public, every word and gesture is open to criticism." A new book explains how social media recall the dating games of Jane Austin's provincial England.
Harvard psychologist Gene Heyman says what while people may have predispositions to addiction, evidence shows people consciously choose to break their addictive habits (or not).