links for 2008-12-23

Social spume

• Lexical Investigations: Diaspora
  The history of the term diaspora shows how a word’s meaning can spread from a very specific sense to encompass much broader ones. Diaspora first entered English in the late nineteenth century to describe the scattering of Jews after their captivity in Babylonia in the fifth century B.C.E. The term originates from the Greek diasporá, meaning “a dispersion or […]
  Hot Word
• Teen Creator of 'Clouds' Viral Music Video Dies of Cancer
  Zach Sobiech, creator of the "Clouds" song that became a viral YouTube hit, died of cancer on Monday. He was 18. "Zach was at home and at peace with those he loved most," the Children's Cancer Research Fund said in a statement announcing Sobiech's death. "Zach's life ended just as he lived, embraced by the love of his […]
  Anita Li
• Facebook Group Helps Tornado Victims Get Their Belongings Back
  A Facebook group is helping the victims of the massive Oklahoma tornado, which killed 51 people and left many homeless, get their belongings back On its trail of destruction, the tornado has blown debris from houses — including people's personal belongings and important documents — many miles away. The Facebook group asks members to post photos of any i […]
  Stan Schroeder
• 3D-Printed Sugar Sculptures Too Sweet to Eat
  You’ve heard of 3D-printed clothes and 3D-printed buildings, but 3D-printed food? We are truly entering sci-fi territory. The Sugar Lab takes simple white sugar as its base material to print delicate 3D structures that can be eaten on their own, or used as a decorative topper for cakes and cupcakes The company, founded by married couple Kyle and Liz, started […]
  PSFK
• Teen Develops Computer Algorthim to Diagnose Leukemia
  Brittany Wenger isn't your average high-school senior: She taught the computer how to diagnose leukemia. The 18-year-old student from Sarasota, Fla. built a custom, cloud-based "artificial neural network" to find patterns in genetic expression profiles to diagnose patients with an aggressive form of cancer called mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL). […]
  Vignesh Ramachandran
• Teach Your Kids Tech Basics With Electronic Building Blocks
  For parents looking for educational toys, a hardware startup developed electronic buildings blocks and a companion augmented reality app that make for an interactive learning experience. Founded by Tarun Pondicherry and Josh Chan, LightUp magnetic building blocks that can teach anyone about how electronics work. The interactive blocks are different electroni […]
  Vignesh Ramachandran
• Bieber to Booing Crowd: 'I Think I'm Doing a Pretty Good Job'
  Justin Bieber won two awards at Sunday night's Billboard Music Awards, and the audience had mixed emotions about his speech "I'm 19 years old, I think I'm doing a pretty good job [...] it should really be about the music. It should be about the craft, the craft that I'm making," Bieber said. "I'm an artist that should […]
  NowThisNews