Author Gore Vidal died on Tuesday at 86 years old. I never read any of his books, never knew much about him except that he was one of those towering literary figures that people invoke reverently from time to time. The New York Times piece has given me a little more perspective on who he was as a person. Anyone more familiar with his work care to enlighten me in the comments?
Did you know that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has hundreds of their courses available online, for free, without even the need to register? Some have videos (or audio recordings) of lectures, some have notes, some have projects and exams, and some have all of the above. You don’t get course credit, naturally, but there’s still a wealth of instant knowledge out here, on topics from aerodynamics to brain science philosophy to chaos theory. Stanford also has a nice collection of free online lecture videos.
Ever wanted to construct your name from the Periodic Table of Elements? No? Well then you’re probably not geeky enough for this site.
PvP asks the important questions.
SMBC explores the practicality of alien abduction.
Two Guys and Guy has an important lesson about consequences.
Finally, quite possibly the cutest thing you will see all week: bulldog puppies learning to walk.
Have a great weekend.
Brian D. Buckley 
My name is stupid. You can’t spell ‘Jo’ in elements.
Huh! Never noticed the lack of ‘J’ elements before. Well, my wife’s middle name is Jo too, so I’m sympathetic. Maybe we can get them to name the next element something like Jellydonutium so we can get a ‘Jo’ abbreviation?
I’ll definitely back that plan. đ