The FPP made it sound like they were going at each other tooth and nail. The article makes it clear that they were having a good time joking with each other, and that Stan Lee has a good sense of humor.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 12:03 PM on July 25, 2008

You guys know that if you click on a map, it expands, and if you click again, it opens the image directly, right? If you do that, you can see that the Discworld map in question is from this site.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 11:09 AM on July 25, 2008

That particular map happens to have a URL written on it. But in general, these appear to be "borrowed" without attribution.

Yes. It would be good if they listed sources (many are obvious, but some are not), it would make the site even more interesting and certainly useful. However, as for "borrowed," while you are correct in that they are not properly attributed, I am not sure that this is a particularly egregious form of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 11:19 AM on July 25, 2008

Well, the other post doesn't mention Knol that I can see. I guess our favorite giant search engine is doing two things today...
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 12:43 PM on July 23, 2008

I am not sure I buy this mini-essay FPP as being about a coherent topic. Why are computer-assisted proofs like large scale data mining efforts, other than that they use computers? Where do you get the idea that new statistical techniques are being developed as a result of some sort of crisis?

In any case, large-scale data mining to find correlations has been is a basic tool of science and social science for a long time, take a look at empiricism, and even the standard... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 6:44 PM on July 21, 2008

malter51, which sites are causing you issues? I didn't have any problems (using Firefox with its default popup-blocker).
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 9:35 AM on July 16, 2008

ormandsacker, that's actually pretty funny.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 12:22 PM on July 16, 2008

I also realized I forgot to include the link to Humor in the Bible, which concludes that "there are no jokes in the Bible but there is an abundance of wit and humor," such as:
Samuel said: ‘What then (meh) is this bleating of sheep in my ears?’" The word for "what then" is meh which sounds uncannily like the bleating of sheep.
...clearly, not the high point of Jewish (or even Egyptian) humor.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 12:28 PM on July 16, 2008

I have a LiveScribe Pulse pen, which is really, really amazing. It records everything as you write, so that you can play back exactly what was said when you were writing that particular note. It will be even cooler once the SDK is released next month, and developers can code neat applications.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 4:33 PM on July 15, 2008

There is another AKR clip in the Magnetosphere sounds link.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 8:43 AM on July 2, 2008

I should have been so clever in my post, but this this is apparently Goose Turd.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 1:29 PM on June 20, 2008

Oops, I guess the font html code works in preview, but not in the post. Nevermind.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 1:30 PM on June 20, 2008

See also my old post on defense games.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 12:21 PM on June 20, 2008

Dave Faris: I've had quite a few posts that did, and which were good. But the intent was not merely to be chatty, so just read the links instead, all of which (should be) interesting and on topic.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 12:10 PM on June 19, 2008

As for my contribution, among the suggested propositions in the OrgTheory link, I really like the Class Size Paradox, which drives a large number of social phenomena, such as why some desegregation efforts of paradoxically resulted in more segregation. It basically says that your views on how big your group is, and your behavior as a result, has nothing to do with the actual size of your group, but rather its size relative to other groups.

To quote from a paper from... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 12:41 PM on June 19, 2008

For those who want the full scoop of hours vs. deaths, the hazard rates per hours slept graphs are in the second link in my post.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 10:06 AM on June 11, 2008

LSK, Trodant: You got me. If I could edit the post I would change it to say the study showed that they were 12% more likely to die in a six year period. If the mods want to change it, that would be great.

If they don't, consider me officially mocked for bad sentence construction.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 10:12 AM on June 11, 2008

Okay, my last follow-up post on my own FPP, honest:

"This was the first large-scale population study of sleep to also take into consideration variables such as age, diet, exercise, previous health problems, and risk factors such as smoking, in comparing longevity among the participants. In other words, individuals with specific characteristics were compared with individuals of a similar age, health background, etc.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 10:22 AM on June 11, 2008

So, the only evidence at all that this may or may not be happening is the following incisive statement from the Palm Beach Post?

Since the United States doesn't keep statistics on dual citizens, it's impossible to know exactly how many people have applied for citizenship in Europe. But it's estimated that more than 40 million Americans are eligible for dual citizenship, and a growing number of Americans want to try their luck elsewhere.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 9:58 PM on June 10, 2008

Its a neat toy that has been the subject of a lot of discussion on the various "serious games" mailing list. Ben Medler had a good review from that perspective.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 8:46 PM on June 9, 2008

I remember seeing my first laser show at Tommy Bartlet. The Devil Came Down to Georgia even had fireworks!
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 8:10 PM on June 9, 2008

delmoi - that is one of Buffett's core complaints about funds as well. It is called 2 and 20, and it is a rip off.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 2:37 PM on June 9, 2008

This is not just about big boys tossing around money. Everyone should pay attention to this.

Well over half of all Americans are directly invested in the market, either through savings or retirement plans. And, while hedge funds target only the rich, the contrast between "lazy investing" in indexes vs. other approaches such as high-load mutual funds or stock picking works the same way as it does with hedge funds.

And if you think of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 3:54 PM on June 9, 2008

It is all lies!
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 6:14 AM on May 18, 2008

I have been considering a Shannon post for awhile, and I wanted to incorporate two things:
1) His machines. (A whole collection is at the MIT Museum, viewable online here)
2) Shannon's solution to the problem of Maxwell's Demon
Also, I love the fact that his master's thesis is considered the most influential thesis ever written. Next to mine.

Great post, DU!... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 8:32 AM on May 6, 2008

This are the entire books of David and Kelly Sopp posted online (again). They are funny, so you should buy them. You should not scan them and post them to get traffic for your site.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 6:59 AM on April 27, 2008

There's a HP-48 emulator for the iPhone. It makes me happy.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 4:03 PM on April 25, 2008

It was an "informal online poll" - I don't think that the 20% number would be anything that should be published in a journal like... whoops.

You can download the data, btw.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 9:09 PM on April 10, 2008

Another missing sketch: The State's Dinner with the Muppets has always stayed with me.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 8:44 AM on April 10, 2008

I didn't list any of the Kids in the Hall sketches in the FPP, because I didn't like their picks very much - Chicken Lady and I'm Crushing Your Head? Okay, I guess. How about Girly Drink Drunk?
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 12:00 PM on April 10, 2008

See also my previous post, listing some other sources.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 3:46 PM on April 5, 2008

The serious games mailing list (don't ask) was just discussing this game, and someone called it "chocolate covered broccoli." I have to agree, a beautiful game covering up the worst kind of teaching. The things that make the game fun have nothing to do with the things that the game is trying to teach. It would be better without the quiz.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 12:41 PM on March 17, 2008

The company said it will now start winding up and sell its remaining assets under Guernsey law.

Its incorporated in the tax shelter of Guernsey, a little British island in the English Channel.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 9:38 PM on March 16, 2008

I think there is a bit of an overreaction here on the Blue. Economies can and do survive this sort of thing without turning into Mad Max zone. It is just really, really expensive. According to Krugman,

"The U.S. savings and loan crisis of the 1980s ended up costing taxpayers 3.2 percent of G.D.P., the equivalent of $450 billion today. Some estimates put the fiscal cost of Japan’s post-bubble cleanup at more than 20 percent of G.D.P. — the equivalent of $3 trillion... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 9:50 PM on March 16, 2008

FDIC protected accounts will be secure, even if the government had to shell out a major portion of GDP to cover it. Unless things get so bad that "where should I put my money" is irrelevant.

If you want to play the market, commodity ETFs are a good bet, unlikely to plunge anytime soon, and you aren't investing in a single commodity.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 10:59 PM on March 16, 2008

Argh, sorry about the misspelling. Could one of the moderators fix, please?

Also, there is lots of neat stuff added to the UI: the built-in real-time histogram, zebra mode(showing overly dark or light spots), and lots more. Photos of the interface are here. Lots more good details in the CHDK forums.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 8:38 AM on March 13, 2008

At around $200 for a camera, the "cheap" is kind of relative but still

You can buy a fully compatible A620 (or other cameras) on Ebay for under $100, and there are others that are even cheaper.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 8:45 AM on March 13, 2008

I dunno which version of which build by which guy to download or for what.

Download AllBest if you are starting off. Details and hints about which build to download are here.

Anyone come across any reports of negative impacts from this? Any cameras left unusable?

From the FAQ: Yes CHDK is safe. CHDK doesn't make any actual changes to your camera. If you delete the CHDK software... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 9:28 AM on March 13, 2008

Wow. I am so downloading this for my A630. If I can ever find the cable that connects the camera to the computer.

You don't need the cable - just put CHDK on the SD card/CF card...
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 11:11 AM on March 13, 2008

For me, a passage from Fernandez-Armesto's Civilizations, a rather and involved poetic book about how environment shapes culture, came to mind. It recapitulates the book elegantly and in minature.

[Buenos Aires] was a frontier capital, when Argentina was an estuary and the pampa a palatinate. Everything in the environment was daunting, every view limitless - so vast as to be practically indistinguishable from the blur of blindness and numbness, along the sea-wide river,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 9:41 PM on March 9, 2008

On the fiction side, from Rushdie's Midnight's Children:

No colours except green and black the walls are green the sky is black (there is no roof) the stars are green the widow is green but her hair is black as black. The Widow sits on a high high chair the chair is green the seat is black the Widow’s hair has a centre parting it is green on the left and on the right black. High as the sky the chair is green the seat is black the Widow’s arm is long as death its skin is... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 9:58 PM on March 9, 2008

I'm more than a little surprised that these bits, so meaningful to each of us that took a moment to add them, lose so much out of context. It's a bit like trying to choose one feather from a beautiful bird which will allow everyone to see the bird. It fails.

I disagree, but I also think this exercise works much better for nonfiction than for fiction, as in the original example. It is hard (but interesting) to try to encapsulate a work of fiction,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 10:48 AM on March 10, 2008

start statgeekery

Statistically, shouldn't this be done as an ordinal regression?

I did run it as a standard regression, and the p-value is kosher, with an R-squared of .38, so there might be something to it, but I don't think you want to run a standard regression (that is, a simple line on a scatterplot) on a ranked list.

The link in the FPP provides the data in CSV and Excel, if anyone wants to run... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 7:54 AM on March 10, 2008

Sorry, should have made it clear - the first link goes to a little embedded flash game, with minimal sound effects.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 6:42 AM on March 7, 2008

Sounds like a job for a certain asavage to me.

Ooooooo this would be the BEST MYTHBUSTERS EPISODE EVER.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 1:23 PM on March 5, 2008

This is the entirety of the Sopp's book. Which makes this kind of sketchy post.

Incidentally, our baby absolutely loves to look at these pictures. It makes us a bit uncomfortable.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 1:20 PM on March 5, 2008

Forgot to mention - 1km1kt also hosts the 24 Hour RPG challenge entries, which are pretty fun to read, at least.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 11:56 AM on February 15, 2008

Apparently is this an updated Shift Happens [prev], is there anything substantially revised about it, or is the same random set of statistics without context or sources? Still, kind of neat in a Wired-Magazine-From-1999 kind of way...
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 9:49 AM on February 13, 2008

I'm not having problems running Earth Live (at least on XP FF 2.0.0.12), but I am surprised that you only saw static views: the "Featured Stories" are all dynamic (the size of Katrina is stunning), but the "Create a Story" section is static data, but at least static data in the last 24 hours. It looks like they will be adding a more data feeds in the future.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 9:03 AM on February 11, 2008

This Blue Marble: Next Generation image is true color, there's info on colors in the PDF off the main Next Generation link. And, DU, I mean that the size of Katrina was stunning, Earth Live itself is interesting, but not yet up to its full potential, but, hey, its free and still pretty nifty.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 9:36 AM on February 11, 2008