For Language Geeks
Tony introduced me to Slashdot soon after we got married, and within months I was hooked. Their tagline is “News For Nerds, Stuff that Matters.” Topics range from computer industry rumors to sci-fi movie news to gaming to just about anything else tech or scientifc related. While I have learned a great deal through reading the articles and comments, I often find that the finer details of the more scientific or technological stories are beyond my grasp while quickly scanning the material.
Yesterday, Slashdot finally posted a story for “language geeks” like me. The title of the story is “Using the Web for Linguistic Research.” Finally, a techie story where I can understand all the terms and concepts with little effort! I certainly enjoyed the comments various users posted, but the real treat was discovering a blog called “The Language Log” that was linked to in the story. It’s a blog kept by several linguists who discuss current issues and practices in the field of linguistics. Brain candy for me!!! 
I developed an interest in linguistics while working on my English degree at Iowa State. I discovered the field too late in my college career to seriously consider switching majors, but I did end up taking several classes in the discipline and pondered the thought of going to grad school to take up the study of linguistics (with an emphasis in the field of computational linguistics, an area of study some of the contributers to the LanguageLog seem to favor). God called me into campus ministry instead, but I still find it quite entertaining to read what language professionals have to say.