Self-tutoring about French: the tutor notices a pair of French homonyms. I’m not even sure if French includes the concept of homonyms. If it does, however, I think it’s got a lot. I’m not French, but my wife and high-school-aged …
Self-tutoring about statistics: the tutor mentions rarefaction. I’ve seen the terms rarefy, rarefied, rarefaction, etc, but never knew what they meant. Today I decided to change that, but it was like opening an overfilled closet where everything jumps out at …
Self-tutoring about biology: the tutor takes a first look at the idea of human growth hormone vs aging. Some people theorize human growth hormone (HGH) has the potential to reduce the effect of aging. Apparently the body’s production of it …
Self-tutoring about biological processes: the tutor mentions autophagy. Autophagy is a process in which the body consumes its non-functioning cells, re-allocating their components to healthy ones. It may also encourage cells to give up garbage they are holding onto. It’s …
Self-tutoring about file formats: the tutor mentions 7z and zip. The other day I compressed a folder into 7z format to submit somewhere, and was told only zip format would be accepted. I was using 7-Zip, which also compresses to …
Self-tutoring about music and messages in songs: the tutor mentions “Don’t Dream it’s Over” by Crowded House. Although it was released Aug 1986, I didn’t notice “Don’t Dream it’s Over” until spring of ’87. For me, the song was a …
Self-tutoring about local birds: the tutor notices, for the first time, a red-tailed hawk. Red-tailed hawks are summer residents of most parts of Canada, but live year-round on Vancouver Island as well as in extreme southern BC, Ontario, and Quebec. …
Self-tutoring about birds: the tutor mentions the barn owl. Barn owls inhabit every continent save Antarctica. However, their Canadian range is quite small: extreme southern Ontario and southwestern BC. I saw a barn owl on Mainland BC: as I rounded …
Tutoring English, homonyms are always interesting. The tutor mentions another pair. I’ll assume rabbit needs no definition. rabbet: an indent or groove cut into a surface, possibly so it can host a joining piece. Source: Mish, Frederick C. (editor). Merriam-Webster …
Self-tutoring about classic rock: the tutor mentions one of Night Ranger’s other songs. Many bands have one big song everyone remembers, then one or a few others less known that were hits as well. Toto might be a great example: …