Tau (τ) > Pi (π): The circle constant you knew is all wrong

Happy Tau Day! What is tau (τ), you ask? Tau is twice the value of the famous mathematical constant pi (π), 6.28... Hence, 6/28 is "Tau Day" in echo of celebration of "Pi Day" on 3/14.

As it turns out, we've been mythologizing exactly the wrong circle constant, and τ is the more natural choice. Of course, the math works out either way, since you just need a factor of two to convert between them. So why would you choose τ over π? Why should you choose τ over π?

FCC Proceeding 14-28 "Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet" Will Do Neither

Dear FCC:

I am a Ph.D. candidate at Emory University and an avid user of the Internet. Maintaining a free and open Internet is necessary for the innovation which drives our economy and shapes our future. Before this proposed regulation and related decisions, the Internet was a set of interconnected networks which end users purchased access to, consumers and businesses alike. What each customer paid for was for a certain amount of bandwidth and usage, and data located at any point of the Internet was directly accessible from any other point on the Internet in a fair manner.

How to remove misspelled words from the Windows 8 spell-check dictionary

Every once in a while you accidentally add a word to the spell-check dictionary you didn't mean to, or maybe later you found out that it wasn't spelled the way you thought. But how do you fix your mistake?

Turns out it's quite easy to do.

The Pro-life Stance and Rape Victims

Over the last few months, there have been a number of instances of very conservative politicians giving voice to comments regarding abortion and rape victims, and these instances have been seized on by my fellow liberals as proof that Republicans are callous and don't care about rape victims.

But is that really an accurate assessment? I don't think it is. Follow along with me as I delve into the mind of a pro-life Republican.

Forming a More Perfect Union

Our founding fathers were very smart people. They managed to put together a solid governing document which has more or less stood the test of time. (Acknowledging, of course, that some decisions were made to get people to agree, not necessarily because it was a better arrangement.) But for as smart as they were, they weren’t geniuses, nor were they clairvoyant—and they knew that. This is why they allowed for the Constitution to be amended.

In my opinion, our government has accumulated some serious flaws which, if not immediately fatal, do have the potential to drag our country down. As a result, I propose the following draft amendments to the United States Constitution. I realize, of course, that many (if not all) of these ideas are not new, and variations of them have been proposed before.

Without further ado…

Reimagining the U.S. Postal Service

The United States Postal Service is becoming something of an anachronism as a result of the spread of computerized communication, and it's been in the news recently for defaulting on several large payments. However, it exists to support a Constitutional mission to provide enhanced communication between every American citizen. I believe I have an idea for how the USPS can be modernized, which will improve communication, service, and support modernization of government services in general.

The Cause of Mitt Romney's Reboots

With all the reboots the Romney campaign is experiencing, they must have had him installed with Windows ME or Windows Vista.