Twitter uses the t.co domain as part of a service to protect users from harmful activity, to provide value for the developer ecosystem, and as a quality signal for surfacing relevant, interesting Tweets. Back to Twitter Learn more Continue reading →

The Unibomber Updates Status: Ted Kaczynski, "The Unibomber," recently had a chance to update his status, reports The Globe and Mail. 1962 alumni from Kaczynski 's alma mater, Harvard, sharing personal news in their alum directory, might have been shocked to find Kaczynski's occupation changed to "prisoner." Under awards, he wrote, “Eight life sentences, issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, 1998.” Harvard apologized for publishing Kaczynski's contribution. (1:16 p.m.) via The Globe and Mail Man Eats Endangered Eagle: What happens when you shoot, kill and then eat a critically endangered species? In the Philippines, not much. In the first case brought under the Philippine’s 2001 Wildlife Act, a farmer was fined 100,000 pesos (about $2,300) for shooting and ... Continue reading →

Pete Souza/The White House In the photo that has hung in the West Wing for three years, President Obama looks to be bowing to five-year-old Jacob Philadelphia, his arm raised to touch the president’s hair — to see if it feels like his. WASHINGTON — For decades at the White House, photographs of the president at work and at play have been hung throughout the West Wing, and each print soon gives way to a more recent shot. But one picture remains after three years, its staying power testifying to the thousand words it seems worth to those who see it. In the photo, President Obama looks to be bowing to a sharply dressed black boy, who stands erect beside the Oval Office desk, his ... Continue reading →

A new university-backed project aims to investigate cryptic species such as the yeti whose existence is unproven, through genetic testing. Researchers from Oxford University and the Lausanne Museum of Zoology are asking anyone with a collection of cryptozoological material to submit descriptions of it. The researchers will then ask for hair and other samples for genetic identification. "I'm challenging and inviting the cryptozoologists to come up with the evidence instead of complaining that science is rejecting what they have to say," said geneticist Bryan Sykes of the University of Oxford. PHOTOS: Rate the Bigfoot Evidence in These Images While Sykes doesn't expect to find solid evidence of a yeti or Bigfoot monster, he says he is keeping an open mind and hopes to identify perhaps ... Continue reading →

Draft is a series about the art and craft of writing.As I noted in my earlier article, rules and conventions about when to use and not to use commas are legion. But certain errors keep popping up. Here are a few of them.Identification Crisis If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it a thousand times. I’m referring to a student’s writing a sentence like:I went to see the movie, “Midnight in Paris” with my friend, Jessie.Comma after “movie,” comma after “friend” and, sometimes, comma after “Paris” as well. None is correct — unless “Midnight in Paris” is the only movie in the world and Jessie is the writer’s only friend. Otherwise, the punctuation should be:I went to see the movie “Midnight in Paris” with my ... Continue reading →