One thing you should know about me is that I am from New York and I am half Italian. That means when I like something,…

Legend has it that Saint Patrick gave a four-leaf clover to a group of his followers; the fourth leaf put there by God to bring…

From the darkness emerges a boot. An old leather, steel-toed, work boot. It shouldn’t be there resting on the seafloor nearly two kilometers deep. I’m…

Earlier this year I warned that The Ocean Cleanup would catch and kill floating marine life. This week they announced they’re collecting plastic, and their picture…

The Deepwater Horizon disaster released approximately 4 million barrels of oil from the Macondo Wellhead over the course of 87 days in 2010.  Thus, becoming…

Connecting the oceans to land are numerous carbon highways.  These conduits bring food from land to the ocean, supporting an abundance of life.  Our group…

How to Prepare for Severe Weather Season When spring arrives in some parts of the U.S., so does extreme weather like tornadoes and thunderstorms. And as fall and winter approach, many homeowners begin bracing themselves for wildfire season or hurricane season, followed by winter storm season. Although the types and the severity of these extreme weather events varies widely depending on where you live, it’s important for all homeowners to stay informed and to be prepared. With more people spending […]

The post A Guide to Prepare for Severe Weather Season appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

Every few months, Sarah and I clean out our pantry and cupboards. We pull out absolutely every item in there, sort them into sensible groups, make sure everything in there is still good, and put the good items back in there in a sensible fashion. Usually, at the same time, we make a bunch of meal plans for the next few weeks to use up some of the items that have been there for a while. The thing is, you’ll […]

The post Expiration Dates and What They Really Mean appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

The spread of coronavirus has shaken the economy with mass layoffs and increased uncertainty. As a result more and more Americans are finding themselves in mounting debt. In 2018, the American household debt reached an all-time high at $13.21 trillion across 300 million people. But for those with a diagnosable mental illness, debt has an even more detrimental impact.  One in four adults will experience a mental health event at some point in their life. The relationship between debt and […]

The post How to Break the Cycle of Debt and Mental Health appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

One complaint people often make when they settle into a more frugal lifestyle is that their life begins to take on a feeling of “sameness,” in that each day feels more similar to the others than it did before they made frugal changes to their life. (This same shock is being felt by people under stay at home orders, too, for similar reasons.) I’ll give you a great example of this. Many people settle into a routine of eating out […]

The post Counteracting the “Sameness” of Frugal Living appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

Mother’s Day is coming up this weekend and, for a lot of us, it’s an event that won’t be like normal. The possibility of many Mother’s Day traditions, like a nice dinner at a restaurant, isn’t even possible in many areas, and social distancing closes the door on many ideas, whether it’s enforced in your area or not. So, what options are there for Mother’s Day that don’t involve just ordering a gift online somewhere and having it shipped to […]

The post 12 Inexpensive and Thoughtful Mother’s Day Gifts appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

It's also perfect for last-minute gifting. READ MORE...

Clever, colorful, and totally affordable! READ MORE...

Its the perfect antidote to quarantine boredom. READ MORE...

According to a new report. READ MORE...

"New England nautical vintage cottage" is the soothing style we all need right now. READ MORE...

Its not a real-life hike, but its still beautiful and calming. READ MORE...

Here's what to say if they're a bit more lax on the definition. READ MORE...

In a preprint Double-graded quantum superplane, Steven Duplij and I construct a “higher” graded version of Manin’s quantum superplane. To our knowledge, this is the first quantum space that has an underlying $latex mathbb{Z}_2^2$-grading. Outline The hunt was on to find a direct generalisation of Manin’s superplane [1] to the setting of $latex mathbb{Z}_2^2$-geometry [2]....

Ride like the wind! This song reminds me of taking a long trip on a big V4 motorcycle, V-Max, it stands up on it’s center stand chrome sparkling in the street lights, it has a physical presence almost deadly, it radiates power, four chromed exhausts a huge 1800cc V4 just waiting for you to climb...

I have seen this question asked (or its fraternal twin, “when does the new decade begin”) in a number of places, and my response is this: That’s a lousy way to phrase the question.   I will remind folks that I work at the Naval Observatory, but this blog in no way represents the official position of...

In a preprint Modular Classes of Q-Manifolds, Part II: Riemannian Structures & Odd Killing Vectors Fields, I examine the notion of a supermanifold equipped with an even Riemannian metric and an odd Killing vector field that is also homological. Background In a previous post, I briefly disscussed the notion of a Q-manifold and their modular...

The “Long Earth” is a name given to a possibly infinite series of parallel worlds that are similar to Earth, which can be reached by using an inexpensive device called a “Stepper”. The “close” worlds are almost identical to “our” Earth (referred to as “Datum Earth”), while others differ in greater and greater details. Click...

Einstein’s derivation of the Lorentz Transformation is purely theoretical. This study shows how it is related to the physical phenomenon of time dilation and length contraction. The Lorentz Transformation was first derived using the conditions of time dilation and length contraction. Later, Albert Einstein has given a different derivation of the Lorentz Transformation by using...

In a short preprint The super-Sasaki metric on the antitangent bundle, I explicitly show how to lift a Riemannian metric and an almost symplectic two-form on a manifold $latex M$ to a Riemannian metric on the antitangent bundle $latex Pi T M$, which is, of course, a supermanifold. This example was first given in Modular...

The short preprint The super-Sasaki metric on the antitangent bundle, has now been extensivly rewriten and improved. I wrote about the first draft here. One of the major improvments is that I now clearly link the construction to almost Hermitian manifolds, although the almost complex structure plays no direct role in the lifting the metric...

Just finished reading an excellent and provocative book: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. The image is a fantasized depiction of me discussing the physics of this book, which is based on the concept that we live in a multiverse, with three of my doppelgangers. What would be appealing would be a work of science fiction...

The Dundee Early Intervention Team (DEIT) provides early intervention support to families.

The team is a partnership of the four leading children's charities in Dundee – Aberlour, Children 1st, Action for Children and Barnardo's Scotland – the team works together with Dundee City Council, NHS Tayside and Dundee Voluntary Action.

Practising a social pedagogy model, the team work alongside families to build their capacity to tackle challenges and make sustainable change.

In 2017 Iriss worked with the Dundee Early Intervention Team to capture learning about the partnership model underpinning the team and to evidence the impact of its support on families.

In this conversation, practitioners Natalie, Harriet, Jade, Bianca and Brian share their experiences of working with families as part of the Dundee Early Intervention Team.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Something Elated by Broke For Free

Michael McEwan speaks to Ruth Gallagher (Voluntary Action East Renfrewshire), Lynn Wardle (Thrive) and Colette Walker (carer) about the Care Collective.

The Care Collective is a project in East Renfrewshire to support carers and involve them in discussions and decisions about their support. A number of organisations are working in partnership to make it happen.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Something Elated by Broke For Free

At the Social Work Scotland AGM 2018, John Devaney, Centenary Chair of Social Work, spoke about social work in Scotland today.

He focused on three key themes:

The nature of modern social work and contribution of social workers to civil society The role of leadership in social work How to raise or sustain profile of what social work does and its value to wider society.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes

Building the future; shaping our social work identity newly qualified social worker conference was held on 31 May 2018 in Edinburgh.

Delivered with the University of Edinburgh (in partnership with the Higher Education Heads of Social Work Group), Iriss, SSSC, SASW, Social Work Scotland and the Scottish Government, it provided an opportunity for newly qualified social workers to come together to connect and reconnect.

Viviene Cree introduces the conference, and is followed by a presentation by Jane Johnstone who provides some thought provoking asks of attendees.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes

Michael McEwan speaks to Jill Keegan, Community Development Adviser with Outside the Box, an equalities charity that focuses on community development support across Scotland and the UK.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes

On 8 February 2019, Michelle from Iriss had a conversation with Kate Samuels from Generations Working Together about the work it does to promote and support intergenerational practice.

She also chatted to Keith Mitchell and Natalie Stewart from Glasgow's Golden Generation; and Charlotte Craig from Impact Arts about their intergenerational work.

Generations Working Together is holding its annual conference on 6 March in Glasgow. You can book a place on their website.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes

The Centre for Youth and Criminal Justice (CYCJ) annual conference was held on 19 and 20 June 2019 in Stirling, with the theme 'Youth Justice Through the Ages'.

Michelle from Iriss spoke to some of speakers on the first day of the conference. These included Fiona Dyer, Interim Director at CYCJ; Bruce Adamson, Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People; the Right Hon. Lady Dorrian, Lord Justice Clerk; Dr Tim Bateman, University of Bedfordshire; Rosie Moore, Independent Care Review and Co-chair of conference; and James Frame, Co-Chair of the conference. 

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes.

The Life I Want is a partnership project in Greater Glasgow and Clyde that includes people with disabilities in the design of services.

Michael McEwan speaks to Donna-Marie Speir, the co-ordinator of the project. 

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes.

On 27 March 2020 Iriss spoke to Eona Craig, Chief Executive of Articulate Cultural Trust about its work to support care experienced young people, and how the organisation has managed to continue to deliver services in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Articulate works with often socially isolated care experienced young people in Scotland, challenging loneliness, supporting connectivity and promoting physical and mental well-being.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes.

Cumbernauld Action for Care of the Elderly or CACE is an organisation that supports improved wellbeing and quality of life for older people in Cumbernauld.

We spoke to Margaret Riley, Chief Executive of CACE about how the organisation is managing in the Coronavirus outbreak.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes.

Creative Commons has joined forces with other legal experts and leading scientists to offer a simple way for universities, companies, and other holders of intellectual property rights to support the development of medicines, test kits, vaccines, and other scientific discoveries related to COVID-19 for the duration of the pandemic. The Open COVID Pledge grants the … Read More "Open COVID Pledge: Removing Obstacles to Sharing IP in the Fight Against COVID-19"

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New beginnings at WIPO  On March 4, Daren Tang was nominated director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the United Nations agency dealing with intellectual property matters. Tang is currently the chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and his six-year term as top WIPO official will start on October … Read More "Does WIPO’s New Leadership Have the Vision to Shake Up Global Copyright Policy-Making?"

The post Does WIPO’s New Leadership Have the Vision to Shake Up Global Copyright Policy-Making? appeared first on Creative Commons.

Momentum continues to swell in support of the Open COVID Pledge, with the announcement today by Amazon, Facebook, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM, Microsoft, and Sandia National Laboratories, that they are pledging their patents to the public to freely use in support of solving the COVID-19 pandemic. Following in the footsteps of Intel, Fabricatorz Foundation, and … Read More "Tech Giants Join the CC-Supported Open COVID Pledge"

The post Tech Giants Join the CC-Supported Open COVID Pledge appeared first on Creative Commons.

Since the founding of Creative Commons (CC) in 2001, we’ve been supported by like-minded organizations and individuals who value open access, the open community, and the global commons as much as we do. As we near our 20th anniversary, we are reflecting on the past and planning for the future. What better way to do … Read More "Open Access in Practice: A Conversation with President Larry Kramer of The Hewlett Foundation"

The post Open Access in Practice: A Conversation with President Larry Kramer of The Hewlett Foundation appeared first on Creative Commons.

On the occasion of both Earth Day and World Intellectual Property Day, which this year centers on the theme of Innovation for a Green Future, we’d like to underline the importance of cultural heritage preservation as a response to the threats posed by climate change. In this post, we’ll also share some insights on how … Read More "Using CC Licenses and Tools to Share and Preserve Cultural Heritage in the Face of Climate Change"

The post Using CC Licenses and Tools to Share and Preserve Cultural Heritage in the Face of Climate Change appeared first on Creative Commons.

Thousands of strangers working together, almost entirely online, to effectively solve an urgent, global challenge is remarkable—and it’s happening, right now. Recently, we published a post titled, “Open-Source Medical Hardware: What You Should Know and What You Can Do” examining the collaborative efforts by volunteer groups, universities, and research centers to solve the medical supply … Read More "Just One Giant Lab Co-Founder Leo Blondel on the Power of Community and Open Source During COVID-19"

The post Just One Giant Lab Co-Founder Leo Blondel on the Power of Community and Open Source During COVID-19 appeared first on Creative Commons.

In the early hours of July 21st, 1969, shortly after the Apollo Lunar Module landed on its surface, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to step foot on the Moon. 28 years later, Buzz wrote a letter to Barry Goldman, a professor at the University of Maryland. Transcript follows. (Many thanks to

On October 31st, 1918, as the First World War neared its end, celebrated war poet and officer of the Second Manchesters Wilfred Owen wrote home to his mother. Sadly, this would be his last letter. Four days later–exactly a century ago–Owen was shot dead as he led his company across the Sambre–Oise Canal. His mother

On April 18th of 1961, it was announced that iconic Hollywood star Gary Cooper was dying of cancer after a glittering 36 year career that saw him amass countless fans, plaudits, and awards across the globe. Weeks after that news broke, and just days before he died, Cooper received the following fan letter from Kirk Douglas,

SALLY BANGS THE CLOWN not that there's anything wrong with that

THE CALVIN CYCLE stage of photosynthesis that requires dark. Problem?