It’s been a while now since studies have started suggesting that Project Self-Esteem was doing more harm than good by appraising kids on who they are instead of what they’ve done. It looks like people are finally starting to take note. I remember when my grades started to skyrocket in middle school. How did I feel? Terrified. I felt it was some sort of fluke that would be exposed to my own humiliation. Read the article to see how that relates.

Energy costs to suppliers declines 50% as shale assists energy growth. My energy costs have not decreased by 50%.

Note to Microsoft: OSes should get better and not worse over time. I have a dedicated NAS, so I don’t use Windows Server, but I have been annoyed at how anemic Vista/7’s photo slideshow screen saver is compared to XP. No, it’s not a big deal (there are freeware alternatives), but features should get better and not worse. On the other hand, every version of Windows Search was worse than the previous until Vista came along. Good show!

Does Facebook demonstrate that the Web is not as polarized as we think? No, but it does suggest that we are not as segregated as we think. I know this because of all of the arguments I see about how Obama and/or the Republicans are destroying our country (Note: this is not an invitation to talk about how Obama and/or the Republicans are destroying our country.)

My wife and I were married for three years before I gave her my password. Kids today are dumb.

I am naturally attracted to the idea of employee-ownership. But it might be a bad idea.

Buffalo is paying its teachers to have plastic surgery. This is such an embarrassment that the teachers union itself is willing to drop it at the next round of negotiations. But they don’t want a new round of negotiations. In the current environment, that’s understandable.

Men want sons and women want daughters. I will have to read the whole report at some point, but society’s girl-preference would mean that either (a) women want daughters in larger numbers or (b) women are more insistent on their desire for daughters.

Cue the ominous music. Mitt Romney has sent millions to an organization believed by many to be anti-gay and with a spotty racial history. Namely, his church. It’s actually an interesting article (without the ominous music, for the most part). I wonder if this is how the Obama campaign might run against Romney’s Mormonism without being accused of religious bigotry. Assuming Romney wins the nomination, of course.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again: If you think that smoking should not inconvenience you, you are a prohibitionist. You logistically can’t allow smoking to be a legal and not allow people a place to actually smoke. Smokers will simply ignore the rules. Just as they do now, but in larger numbers. If they’re breaking the rules by smoking at home, they might as well break them by smoking in a place you are more likely to have to breathe it.

The record labels have been forced to pay $45M for claiming music that isn’t theirs.