I've got mixed feelings about this. On one hand, some exposure to foreign language, no matter how little, is beneficial. On the other hand, I've been working with area schools (in Kentucky) with First Lego League and First Tech Challenge and would like to see those programs grow. So, I would like to encourage…

I thought Battle: LA was a good commentary on the Iraq War. It was able to turn the tables on the U.S. troops by showing them as the underdog, giving American audiences a small taste of what it must be like as an Iraqi citizen. At the same time it was sympathetic to the toll that the war was taking on the members of…

Send your best photo by Monday, February 3rd at 9AM Eastern to contests@gizmodo.com with "Ornament" in the subject line.

Is "mindful" becoming a new buzz word? I feel like I've been hearing it more outside of its traditional spiritual contexts.

I think it was announced on Sunday. I had other things to do, so I couldn't get anything together.

I was teaching this morning, so I have my class stuff.

This is my nomination for the one scene in SW:TPM that wasn't awful.

You beat me to it.

I want the third movie to be Q deciding that the alternate timeline is damaging the universe and undoing the events of the last two movies.

I'm talking about the books. In the movie, Gary Oldman plays Sirius with more wisdom and more like a father-figure than what I remember from the books. Also, his on-screen death is so sudden and quick that it is still a shock even when you know that it's coming.

Spoilers (?)

For me, the turn-off was when the book referenced Star Trek. I would have liked it better if the characters came up with a different way to know they were TV show characters.

I helped with a robotics camp at our college this summer, and we taught the kids how to build a line following robot with Lego NXT bricks. We used electrical tape on the floor for a track. I wonder what one of these would do on a similar track.

When I started at my college, the president had us reading Now, Find Your Strengths. The main idea of the book is the same as this article.

When I can't remember a command, I use the apropos command. I don't know if it is installed on Ubuntu, but is shows up on other Unix-like OS's.

Financial aid will only pay for 150% of the credit hours for your program. For an associates degree, that's 90 hours. Withdrawals and failing classes count against the max credit hours as well. We've had several students come up against that limit.

Find a country where it is midnight before you want to go to sleep. Then listen to one or their radio stations online. You'll get the New Year's Eve vibe at 8:00 pm or whenever.

I remember both this article and joke from last year.

If you are feeling truly minimalist.

I read it the same way. "A long novel about a greenhouse gas" would still be more interesting than Atlas Shrugged.