Let’s hear it for the invertebrates!

The Xerces Society has a new website. Yay, bugs!

Xerces Society

I mean, seriously, just because they lack endoskeletons and have more appendages than you do is no reason to get all squeamish.

Here, we’ll start you off slowly with some really, really important bugs: native honeybees and bumble bees (one of my favorites). And they’ve got all these cool books and guidelines.

what catching up looks like

Google Reader stats

[Graph of my feed-reading habits over the last month, courtesy Google Reader.]

OK, maybe less “catching up” and more “declaring newsfeed bankruptcy.” I’ve been a wee bit busy for the past month or two (or three… shush!), and it’s not likely to let up for another month at least. Sorry about the relative radio silence. I still have stories to tell, just no time/energy/brain to tell them.

Why, you may ask? Well, if you don’t know already, prod me in the comments and I might post more detail about my current gut-wrenching life change, er, side project.

Barefoot’s ATEV

Since I know y’all are just waiting breathlessly for updates on our new Electric ATV or ATEV from Barefoot Motors, here’s a recent article on Wired: Behold the Tesla of All-Terrain Vehicles.

Our vehicle is supposedly going to be ready in March. Y’all can start making travel plans to come test drive it; I’m starting the sign-up list now.

Click Swiftly to the Swivet (But Don’t Panic!)

I have recently discovered The Swivet. It is the blog of one Colleen Lindsay, a self-styled “unrepentant nerd” and a literary agent with FinePrint Literary Management.

I am posting the link to her blog since it’s a lot easier than re-posting every link she posts to Global Spin.

In fact, I would like to submit a motion to include Colleen as an honorary member of the Global Spin geek freak squad. She’s lived in San Francisco, has a link to XKCD on her blog and posts things like this and this. So, just a humble suggestion to read her blog, folks.

Prop 8: The Musical

Happy Monday!

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

writing it down

“First, writing the decisions down is essential. Only when one writes to the gaps appear and the inconsistencies protrude. The act of writing turns out to require hundreds of mini-decisions, and it is the existence of these that distinguishes clear, exact policies from fuzzy ones.”

— Frederick P. Brooks, Jr. “The Mythical Man-Month” (via Brad)

Happy Birthday, Frontalot

Today is MC Frontalot’s 35th birthday, which means he’s 6 days older than me. And he always will be! In honor of that, I give you a series of nerdy dances:

free as in choices

“How am I supposed to vote with my dollar if you won’t even give me a polling place?”

— Karen, trying to get around Southern California by train

Oh, evil pleasure

If you, like me, have enjoyed watching Sarah Palin squirm when confronted with ‘gotcha’ questions, or were amused by McCain’s obvious discomfort at various moments in the debates, then you have experienced the strange happiness known as schadenfreude. Fortunately, you can indulge your terrible morals with a terribly delicious pie - schadenfreude pie.

Prop 8: What Happened to Separation of Church and State?

So, I’ve been asking myself that question a lot since Prop 8 eked out a victory this week at the polls — thanks in large part to the approximately 22 million dollars donated by members of the LDS (Mormon) Church to the Yes on 8 campaign. Seems like I’m not the only one asking this question — and they’ve even started a petition.

I know that the LDS church offers a lot for its members — community, faith, support — but what I don’t understand is why they should have the right to use their resources to force the rest of us to conform to their world view. It’s not only unfair and immoral, it’s unconstitutional.

(The genius of the constitution being to protect the minority from a hostile majority through an intricate set of checks and balances — one of them being the Bill of Rights. Each time I watch our democratic process at work, I am awed by the foresight and genius (and sheer dumb luck) of our country’s founders. For this very reason, I love my country.)