William is a very powerful name.

It came from the Germanic roots Wil, meaning "will or desire", and Helm, meaning "helmet, protection." Hence a person named William is a determined protector, someone who will give up at nothing to protect what he has set out to keep safe.

One of my many current blog obsessions is "Stuff White People Like." This is by far the most engaging blog I've encountered, and it strays far from my normal read.

You probably expected to see a 9/11 memorial rise from "Ground Zero." Perhaps a symbolic statue or a new building would stand in that spot, to symbolize our resilience in the face of terrorism. However, a memorial to the World Trade Center was unveiled today … in New York Harbor.

I have found something amazing on YouTube. Actually, about 70 amazing somethings. Seventy amazing 10-year-old singing somethings.

After a seriously sick (ill, not demented) couple of weeks here at school, Uni is finally getting the H1N1 vaccine.

You've probably heard the news by now: The future of journalism is changing. As the digital age progresses, Web sites, online feeds, and Twitter have become as commonplace as the local newsstand once was.

What, then, if the need to write stories altogether were to disappear entirely?

According to a blog in The New York Times, the need to write recaps of sporting events could become a thing of the past. At Northwestern University, a program generates recaps of baseball games based on their box scores. You provide the stats, the quotes, and the pictures, and the bot does the rest.

As Uni's numbers bounce back from last week's first major wave of flu-related absences, let us refrain from dwelling on the nasty specifics of swine flu. Instead, let us focus our efforts on sprucing up the aura of this horrid malady.

Heads up! Trick-or-treating times on Halloween this Saturday are from 5 to 7 p.m. in Champaign and Urbana.

I’m kind of crazy about the holidays. I have multiple boxes full of costumes for all different holidays — other than just Halloween. I have light-up pins and springy headbands for the Fourth of July, sparkly shirts and reindeer ears for Christmas, clover-print shirts for St. Patrick’s Day, and egg earrings for Easter. Then, of course, are the Halloween costumes and trinkets.

Looking into architecture programs, I have been puzzled by a study abroad program in Denmark, offered by some. A venture to Rome is obvious, London too, but Copenhagen? After happening upon a talk by Bjarke Ingels, I realized I couldn’t be more uninformed.

Lately, I have not been able to step into the lounge without seeing an array of strange cards littered across the table. Well, maybe not littered. There is a definite order to the layout of these cards and there are people behind them, picking them up and placing them down with authority.

Dear Elliott,

You died, one day before I turned 10.

Kanye West has lost it.

Last week, millions of Americans kept track of the amazing saga of Balloon Boy, Falcon Heene, a 6-year-old who was thought to have been on a helium-based balloon when it was accidentally released from his house in Colorado.