Rotundus.com

It may not be such a dog-eat-dog world after all, at least among puppies. A new study has found that young male dogs playing with female pups will often let the females win, even if the males have a physical advantage.

Male dogs sometimes place themselves in potentially disadvantageous positions that could make them more vulnerable to attack, and researchers suspect the opportunity to play may be more important to them than winning. ... The gentlemanly dog behavior is even accompanied with a bow.

- Excerpted from: Jennifer Viegas, MSNBC: When puppies play, it’s ladies first

Since reading Alton Brown's book I'm just here for the food (version 2.0), I've flipped to a new method of popcorn making: metal in the microwave. Normally metal in the microwave is considered hazardous, but apparently something as small as a staple or two is safe. I'd picked up one of those hot-air poppers before, but it's just a little too awkward to be much use. The New York Times suggests something similar to Alton Brown's approach in an article discussing some of the potentially harmful chemicals in store-bought microwave popcorn bags:

Place a quarter-cup of good quality popcorn in a standard brown paper lunch bag; mix with oil and seasoning; seal the bag with a single staple (one staple does not contain enough metal to cause a spark) and heat for two to three minutes. Alton Brown, who cooks on the Food Network, uses this method.

It isn't just the chemicals in microwave popcorn that might make you want to make your own - there are other reasons to consider homemade popcorn. That said, I tried the olive-oil-instead-of-butter method once and then promptly went back to good old butter.

• Man sues the Axe body spray company due to a lack of hordes of women running after him
• Bacon-flavored envelopes to add a touch of deliciousness to paying bills
• How to trim a hedge with style
• The $15 cookie (I may have to try this sometime)

With the usual pointless (and deadly) time change a couple of weeks in the past - and with me often staying on campus until 10 or 11 pm these days - I've flipped from book to audio on the trip back home. I've found that reading a book on the bus works well on the trip in, but somehow or other I find reading on the way back, when it's dark out, doesn't work so well. I could probably adjust after a week or so, but for the moment I haven't bothered to try. Anyways, one interesting piece that I listening to is a presentation by Tim Keller entitled Writing from a Christian Perspective which I figured that I'd share:

(Stuff from Keller used to be rather sparse online, but they've now made available quite a bit)