Painting the Stuffed Animals

Stephen Quinn loves animals— especially painting them. But Quinn does not want his work to be noticed.

Quinn is a wildlife artist at the Museum of Natural History. He designs and constructs life-size dioramas. One of the oldest group of dioramas is the Hall of North American Mammals, which is 70 years-old. Over those decades, the lights in the dioramas bombarded the stuffed animals and natural elements with ultraviolet and infrared rays. Those rays faded fur and dust dulled the eyes of the animals.

So Quinn and his team of three conservators are part of a $2.5 million fur-lift for the fuzzy critters. They spray American brown bears with dye, paint noses for a wet glint and rub the dust of glass eyes for a sparkle.

“It’s great to be a part of the latest blockbuster new dioramas, but it’s an even greater honor to work on these historic and legendary dioramas that really have made the museum what it is today,” said Quinn.

His goal is “ars celare artem”— latin for “art to conceal art.” Quinn wants his art of diorama to be objective truth of the scenes depicted.

Quinn said, “Think of it as the first version of virtual reality.”

Brooklyn Teen Takes Second in U.S. National Texting Championship

Briana Hendrickson

New York City— The second speediest texter in America is Brooklyn’s Briana Hendrickson, 14. She won the 2010 U.S. National Texting Championship, and this year she took second place. Hendrickson taps messages with her thumbs on her phone faster than a lot of people type with all ten fingers:

Speed & Accuracy by elbertchu

Austin Wierschke was the overall champion in 2011. He put in five hours of practice a day on his new phone in preparation for the Championship. Hendrickson talked about her strategy:

Who needs strategy? by elbertchu

The energy of the crows was amplified by the St. John’s University cheerleaders. They usually cheer soccer and basketball teams. So they created new chants for the special national championship:

“T-E-X-T text text text!” by elbertchu

Wierschke and Hendrickson both plan to save most of their winnings for college. In 2010 and 2011, overall champions took home $50,000 cheques. Hendrickson added $10,500 this year for her second place finish this year. Still, being the second fastest texter in the land is not without expectations.

I have other things to do. by elbertchu

Hendrickson said she will be back next year, but she still does not plan to practice.

What Do You Think of Online Schools?

What do you think? photo: flickr user Sylvain Masson

What do you think? photo: flickr user Sylvain Masson

Online education continues to evolve and change. Schools and programs served online have been around for over two decades. Perception also has been on the move. Over 30 percent of students in higher education take online classes now.

Some online students are extremely loyal to their schools, as comments from uber-loyal Capella University students. There was an uproar when we wrote earlier about Capella’s decision to stay out of the U.S. News ranking of online schools. Is this loyalty reflective of broader sentiments about online education?

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How do You Choose an Online Degree for Your Next Job?

photo: flickr user riekhavoc

photo: flickr user riekhavoc

With over a 1,000 online degree programs, the ability to cut through the noise and find quality programs among the chaff is an added barrier for jobless Americans. How would you choose an online degree?

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