Missed the Vice Presidential Debate? Don’t worry—Twitter has your back. Here are the highlights of last night’s showdown between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan according to some political-savvy (or not) tweeters.

@NotBillWalton: Paul Ryan’s American flag pin on his label is bigger than Joe Biden’s! BIDEN HATES AMERICA!! #TeaPartyTweet

@SoloDovePR: Why ryan drinking all this water? Lying make your mouth dry #lyingryan

@so_rudez: Joe Biden’s laugh is like when you ask your mom if you can borrow some money right before she says no.

@KimJongNumberUN: Iran? You’re worried about their nuclear weapons? Hello? Forgetting someone? #vpdebate #debate

@heroine_tv: Joe Biden makes me really excited to get older. I can’t wait to start saying malarkey and laughing at youngsters

@jamsambee: I’m listening to the debate on the radio so I can’t see anything. Biden’s wearing leather pants, right? Please say yes.

@MensHumor: I don’t think Martha gives a Raddatz what either of these guys are saying. #ZING

@JenKirkman: The part of the debate where two Catholic men are asked about women’s reproductive rights is where I’M the one who’s gonna start laughing.

@halfadams: I hope bidens response is “just look at my teeth, America.”

@NotBillWalton: BREAKING: Paul Ryan just took another sip of water.

@VanityFair: Yo, Jim Lehrer, This Is What Killing It Looks Like: the Martha Raddatz Story

@indecision: But… what about Big Bird? #vpdebate

@GarrettNBCNews: I can’t tell who is winning or losing here but Joe Biden sure seems to be enjoying himself. #NBCPolitics

@DaneCook: Ryan went to his barber and said make my hairline look like the Van Halen symbol. #VPdebate

@PaulBegala: Conservative CW last week: scowling during debate bad. Conservative CW tonight: smiling during debate bad.

@RahielT: Let’s all admit – POTUS Obama could have never been this “aggressive” without a pandemic of fear sweeping white America. #VPDebate

@seanhannity: WHAT are you giggling at? This actually isn’t even funny anymore. I am legitimately concerned Biden is not OK

@jaketapper: Top rising Google searches during the debate 1. biden 2. conflating 3. malarkey 4. who is wining the debate 5. how old is paul ryan

@MMFlint: BREAKING: Post debate results just in… Ryan now at 6% body fat, 94% water.

We recently offered you a Brief History of Presidential Candidates Messing Up.  Today’s we’ve got a round-up of coverage from Thursday night’s debate.

It’s a draw!  Check out the results of this CNN poll from the night – 48 percent say Ryan won, 44 percent say Biden did, and 8 percent were watching the Orioles beat the Yankees.

The country may be divided as to which candidate won the debate, but I think we’re pretty united in saying that moderator Martha Raddatz beat last week’s Jim Lehrer.  At least, the New York Times is.

Cutting defense by a trillion dollars doesn’t sound right to you either?!  Check out Politico’s fact check to see what statements may have been fudged lduring the contest.

If you didn’t notice, Biden laughed last night.  A LOT.  The WaPo breaks down what that performance meant for Ryan.  LOL.

Thank you, Vice President Biden, for making #malarkey a thing.

Remember, next Tuesday at 9 pm is the next debate between President Obama and Governor Romney.  It’s town hall style with questions on both foreign and domestic policy. Will that one be as exciting as this one?

 If you missed it watch it here. 

As the weekend rolls in, you don’t want to be without your football Snuggie and and good reads for halftime. Here are four articles to get you started.

1. The little cube that changed the world – CNN

Erno Rubik never dreamed that small cube he created as teaching aid for his design students would turn out to be the most popular toy ever made.

The puzzle, which started out as chunks of wood and rubber bands, has sold nearly 350 million units over the past 40 years. Check out CNN’s interview with Mr. Rubik, where he admits that he is not, in fact, good at solving the Rubik’s Cube.

2. Weird & Wild: Rare Maned Lionesses Explained? – National Geographic

Did you know that some lionesses have manes? We didn’t, either. In Botswana, some female lions sport the luscious hairdo of their male counterparts.

While this phenomenon may be due to embryo disruption, the definite cause is still unknown. Luke Hunter with the Panthera conservation group has all the details.

3. Books as Muses – The New Yorker

Books aren’t just for reading. Many artists use them for creative inspiration, or even as the centerpieces of their compositions. In this photo gallery, artists explain how books haven given life and meaning to their work. Warning: Photos may cause excessive salivating for avid book-lovers.

4. A Home at the End of Google Earth – Vanity Fair

Let’s face it—until now, Google Earth was only good for getting a bird’s-eye view of your neighborhood and playing I Spy with your friends.

Saroo Munshi Khan, an India native who was separated from his family at the age of 5, used the detailed map tool to trace his family using only distant memories. The entire process took him three years, and required a complex math problem to determine a search perimeter. How’s that for putting us to shame?

You are invited to our Diversity Recruitment Dinner—FREE!!!

TUESDAY 10/23

Meet with employers in your major! Free Dinner! Prizes!

Advance registration is required! Registration available at:

http://careers.umbc.edu/news_events/diversity.php

Registration deadline is Wednesday, October 17.

Limited seating will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Employers who are interested in diversifying their workforce will be on hand to discuss career opportunities with in their organizations.

Munch and mingle with employers who are interested in hiring students in your major.

 You will speak directly to employers matched to your industry.

Get career advice from key panelists and successful UMBC alumni working at GE, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Morgan Stanley, NSA and T. Rowe Price.

This is an event for all students . Dress professionally and bring several copies of your resume.

 Co-hosted by the Career Services Center and the National Society of Black Engineers.

Feel free to contact the Career Services Center (careers@umbc.edu, 410.455.2216 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 410.455.2216 end_of_the_skype_highlighting) with questions.

Donald F. Norris, professor and chairman of UMBC’s Department of Public Policy, commented in today’s Gazette on both the Dream Act and same-sex marriage, topics of two referenda on Maryland ballots this November.

In “Same-sex marriage ad campaign begins,” Norris argued that in general advertisements won’t sway voters already committed to a position. However, he suggested, ads featuring black ministers supportive of same-sex marriage rights could persuade some black voters whose churches oppose the measure to vote for it themselves.

In “Dream Act fiscal impact remains murky,” Norris argued that a recent UMBC report which found the legislation to be economically beneficial for Maryland is “not going to change the minds of the hard-core opposition.” On this issue, he said, “Many have made up their minds regardless of cost.”

The New Media Studio will offer a three-day digital storytelling workshop on January 16, 17 and 18, 2013 (10am - 4pm). Bringing together writing, photography and audio, the digital storytelling process facilitates the telling of personal and reflective stories in the form of digital movies. Through the process of producing their own digital stories over a three-day period, workshop participants gain insight into potential application of this approach in their own teaching. For those of you not familiar with the workshop you can find more information and story examples from last year here.

The workshop is available to UMBC faculty free of charge however we ask that you commit to attending the full three days. There are a limited number of seats available for faculty from other area institutions. The fee for non-UMBC faculty will be $500.

If you are interested in reserving a seat please contact me at shewbrid@umbc.edu. Preference will be given to those who have not taken one of our workshops before, however alumni are welcome to join us if space is available.

UMBC Information Systems Department
Fall 2012 Distinguished Lecture Series

The 'Learning Health System'
as the Consummate Informatics Challenge

Dr. Charles P. Friedman
Professor of Information and Public Health
Director of the Michigan Health Informatics Program
University of Michigan

11:00am 19 October 2012, ITE456, UMBC

It is widely recognized that the nation requires a Learning Health System (LHS) to provide higher quality, safer, and more affordable health care. An LHS is one that can routinely and securely aggregate data from disparate sources, convert the data to knowledge, and disseminate that knowledge, in actionable forms, to everyone who can benefit from it. Achieving a Learning Health System at national scale requires solution of a wide array of technology and policy problems and, as such, is the consummate challenge in health informatics. This presentation will describe the LHS, why it is vital to our future, the specific problems that must be addressed, and a pathway through which the nation might achieve an LHS.

Charles Friedman directs the Health Informatics program at the University of Michigan. Prior to joining the university in 2011, he was chief scientific officer of the Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. From 2007-2009 he served as the nation’s deputy national coordinator for health IT. He has also held federal positions as associate director for research informatics and information technology at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health and senior scholar at the National Library of Medicine. He led the creation of informatics programs during his professorships in medicine, information science, and biomedical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He is the author of a well-known health informatics textbook and serves as associate editor of the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

see http://bit.ly/SVgTEE for more information