My advisor suggested that, before my prospectus defense, I write a couple of pages about punditry: its etymology, its connotations, its use in mass media, its use in the blogosphere, and what I mean when I use the term "punditry" in my dissertation. It's an apt recommendation, one a colleague had also made several weeks earlier, so I'm taking it to heart. I don't have the complete explication done yet, but this evening, I've been assembling links to weblogs with "pundit" in the title. If you know of others, please let me know.

Are you ready to find out how many blogs have "pundit" somewhere in the title? Even I was surprised...

If you have to do the following math problem:

 1811
-  969

assuming (just play along!) you can't do it in your head and don't have a calculator with you, how would you do it? Would you use the standard American algorithm, or "borrowing" as they explained it to us in school? Would you do it using Austrian subtraction? Steve Wilson, the math professor whose material on alternative subtraction algorithms I'm linking to, writes that the standard American algorithm is "pretty messy with all of the cross outs and rewrites. Even if you do all the cross outs and rewrites in your head so that your paper doesn't get messed up, its a lot to keep in your head."

Yes, yes, yes! When I was in elementary school, I found the mess generated by the "borrowing" method terribly difficult to handle, and I literally experienced anxiety attacks trying to deal with it. When I learned Austrian subtraction in sixth grade, it was an enormous relief, and it made so much more sense to me -- something about my cognitive style, I reckon -- and I've used it ever since. I don't know why I've been thinking about this; maybe it was spurred by a conversation I had with Jonathan last night about intelligence testing (and childhood experience with). At any rate, I'm curious to find out if any of you are Austrian subtraction advocates.*

* UPDATE: I forgot to point out that I'm really talking to readers in the U.S. here. In his description of Austrian subtraction, Wilson claims that it's the preferred and most-often-taught method in European schools (is he right?). Of course, any thoughts on either method of subtraction, or additional ones, are welcome.

To "Hey Jude," that is. I absolutely love that song. This whole halftime show is so much better than last year's obvious lip-synching by Shania Twain, and that other thing.

UPDATE: I tire of the word "dynasty."

Thinking About Political Polarization, by Pietro S. Nivola.

...the State of the Union address, I mean: and while I understand the reluctance and dread I've seen expressed on a good number of lefty blogs and cited as reasons they didn't watch the speech, I can't help but think it's important to watch it anyway. Confront it, study it -- not just "it" as in the content but the way the content is presented, explained, and delivered. As can be expected, having watched the speech I have a much more vivid understanding of the setting and the affect experienced by the audience, Bush, the other officials, and the "special guests." I absolutely do not, in any way, want to reprove anyone who chose not to watch the speech, but that's what I think.

A couple of people have told me my site doesn't look right in Safari. They both said my main middle column was super-narrow, and one person mentioned that he had to do some horizontal scrolling to see everything. I changed the width of the main column and changed the margin padding, but I can't test it in Safari. Safari users, would you mind clearing your caches and telling me how it looks now? CSS-savvy people, is there any way to make the width of the middle column variable? I'd appreciate the help immensely.

Prompted perhaps by my reading of Michelle's reflections on teaching for the first time this semester,* on the way home from getting a haircut just now, I decided to figure out how many students I've taught over the years. I started teaching in Fall 1999, so I'm still relatively new at it, and I was surprised to realize that I've taught four hundred and eight students. I have interacted with four hundred and eight students. Four hundred and eight people have known me in that capacity, in the role of teacher. Wow. Makes me wonder how many students John has taught. Or anyone else, if you want to count, please post your number.

* I haven't said so enough in the comments to your blog, Michelle, but no, you're not the only one who thinks/feels what you're thinking/feeling, and yes, these things happen to everyone. :-)

UPDATE: D'oh! That number's wrong. I forgot that there are several students who have taken more than one course I've taught. I'll do a recount and post the new number later tonight. For now, I'm off to a little soirée.

SECOND UPDATE: Okay, the number is actually 396. Still, though, 396 people! It has made me think a lot about the magnitude of what teachers do and take teaching even more seriously.

The new issue of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication is out, and it features an article on blogs by teenagers. I'm thinking Lanette might find it useful for her CCCC presentation. :-)