DOG RACING Derby Lane • Where: On Gandy Boulevard, just west of the Gandy Bridge and east of Fourth Street, St. Petersburg. ...more

October 26, 2009

Nutritious and Delicious. ...more

August 31, 2009

Rihanna is back — on the red carpet, at least. ...more

May 5, 2009

DOG RACING Derby Lane • Where: On Gandy Boulevard, just west of the Gandy Bridge and east of Fourth Street, St. Petersburg. ...more

March 9, 2009

Sometimes you don't know when you are lucky. Certainly I did not consider myself lucky when I left home at 17 and discovered the hard way that there was no great demand for a black teenage dropout with no experience and no skill. ...more

September 24, 2008

I was thinking about the effect of bias in thinking and decision making. It came up in the context of some people indicating they could not vote for Obama for president because he was black, no matter what; a predictable and unfortunate attitude with some in the American South. But it started me thinking about bias in general, where and how much weight it is given in all kinds of thinking, in the process of decision making. Firstly, I was concerned with whether it becomes a factor in evaluation, whether it is included, inappropriately, in a list of concerns which lead to a decision. That would be bad enough but what if it serves as a filter, to block the receipt of otherwise relevant information never let into the process of weighing facts and making choices on a rational basis? I was watching a TV show, book reviewing, and I decided I didn't like the necktie worn by the lecturer. It was a skimpy, pale, stripy bow tie, an utterly silly looking thing and as I looked at it, the words of the lecturer seemed to fade. Was this merely an absurd fashion bias on my part or perhaps my questioning why anyone would wear such a tie and whether the choice of wearing such a tie reflected on the quality of the judgment-making ability of the wearer, and shouldn't I take that into consideration in weighing, or even accepting the quality of his opinion, downgrade his believability or even reject everything he has to say out of hand because of his flawed judgment in necktie selection? ...more

August 11, 2008

System: Sony PSP Publisher: Sony ...more

July 4, 2008

The PlayStation Portable has been around for three years, but the machine you might buy today is far different from the one you'd get in 2005. Sony is continually tinkering with the thing in big ways (introducing a lighter, slimmer model in 2007) and small (any number of regularly issued firmware updates). ...more

June 23, 2008

Pop star Michael Jackson has resurfaced. He has returned to the recording studio. And in celebration of the 25th anniversary of "Thriller," he gazes placidly from this month's cover of Ebony magazine. And, to be blunt, he does not look like a creepy goofball. ...more

December 3, 2007