I’m actually going into work in a bit, both to work on getting ready for the first day of classes and to do some student advising (which I hope I don’t totally screw up). Here’s some interesting posts and links to get you through the day:

• Bitch, Ph.D. on the crazy housing market in California.
• A report from the EFF on the RIAA’s efforts to defeat illegal downloading by suing people. It’s been four years since the first case. I think I’ll be coming back to this with more commentary tomorrow.
• MMF on whether suburbia is friendly toward children.
• Nels on the “Senator Craig incident.” I must say I’ve been mystified by the coverage of this. Even NPR seems to not want to discuss it in any detail. It’s weird. Nels’ analysis of the situation and comparison to similar incidents is spot on.
• An article from IHE about new teaching methods, including using America the Book as a textbook. Be careful, as always, treading into the comments. It’s revealing how many faculty know nothing or next to nothing about how people actually learn. And then there’s the elitism factor. Sigh.