March 26, 2011
Never second best.
The Cultural Cognition Project at Yale
The Cultural Cognition Project at Yale looks at the cause of polarizing debates such as: global warming, gun ownership, school shootings, terrorism, nanotechnology, public health, nuclear power, foreign wars and just about every heated thread in Internet history. In short, the polarizing issue is "risk"- the perception of risk, and the proposed solutions to risk. It turns out people see risk in polarizing ways according to where they stand on a scale of cultural beliefs. [more inside]
A fair day's wage for a fair day's work
"People who work for free are far hungrier than anybody who has a salary, so they're going to outperform, they're going to try to please, they're going to be creative," says Kelly Fallis, chief executive of Remote Stylist, a Toronto and New York-based startup that provides Web-based interior design services. "From a cost savings perspective, to get something off the ground, it's huge. Especially if you're a small business." In the last three years, Fallis has used about 50 unpaid interns for duties in marketing, editorial, advertising, sales, account management and public relations. She's convinced it's the wave of the future in human resources. "Ten years from now, this is going to be the norm," she says.
Hacking the Free Market
Engineer-turn-blogger Scott Whitlock offers some insight into the limitation of free markets. [more inside]
The Power Of Killer Tofu
Back when Super Meat Boy first came out, PETA made a parody game called Super Tofu Boy, which sort of sucked hard. Really hard. But the developers were amused, and so they put a secret into the game, letting you play as Tofu Boy himself! Unfortunately, the anemic little man could only jump half as high as the titular character and was unable to run, making it seem absolutely impossible to use him in any capacity. He can't even complete the very first level of the game.
And so, he was shelved as a joke character, and everyone forgot about him.
Or not.
{OTD}q has just released a video showing almost every possible level possible to beat with Tofu Boy and set it to a killer soundtrack, pairing the popular fansong/remix "The Power of Meat" with a lovely mix of everyone's favorite band.
And so, he was shelved as a joke character, and everyone forgot about him.
Or not.
{OTD}q has just released a video showing almost every possible level possible to beat with Tofu Boy and set it to a killer soundtrack, pairing the popular fansong/remix "The Power of Meat" with a lovely mix of everyone's favorite band.
Jack and Patrick draw and paint
Two people involved in marathon, inspirational artistic efforts:
Six-year-old Jack Henderson is offering to draw anything in exchange for a donation to the Sick Kids hospital in Edinburgh, which treats his little brother Noah for bronchiolitis.
Meanwhile, artist Patrick Joyce, aka The Incurable Optimist, is trying to paint 100 portraits before motor neurone disease (also known as ALS) robs him of his abilities, and, ultimately, his life.
Their works include, respectively, A rubber duck riding a bike shooting lasers, and Professor Stephen Hawking. [more inside]
Selections from the Philosophes
"Maxims and axioms are, just like summaries, the work that spirited people do, it seems, for the use of mediocre or lazy spirits." Presenting maxims, axioms and more from the Philosophes: Vauvenargues! Chamfort! Fontenelle! La Bruyère! Galiani! La Rochefoucauld! Saint-Évremond! [more inside]
Aloha, mahalo
Bioware politely kicks ass, takes names.
Bioware has been well appreciated for their integration of LGB inclusive play options into Dragon Age, but recently, Dave Gaider has warmed hearts and hopes with his response to a player disgruntled by this. [more inside]
Diana Wynne Jones Has Died
Dianna Wynne Jones, author of many many excellent books, especially her YA Fantasy has passed away at 77. [more inside]
Geraldine Ferraro, 1935-2011
Geraldine Ferraro — who was a prosecutor in Queens, then a House Representative, then a United Nations Ambassador, yet will go down in history for her unsuccessful run as the first woman on an American presidential ticket — died today at 75. [more inside]
Bike Awareness!
Can You See Me Now?
"The results were astounding. In a six-month period — from Aug 31, 2009, to Feb. 28, 2010, Deutsche Telekom had recorded and saved his longitude and latitude coordinates more than 35,000 times. It traced him from a train on the way to Erlangen at the start through to that last night, when he was home in Berlin. Mr. Spitz has provided a rare glimpse — an unprecedented one, privacy experts say — of what is being collected as we walk around with our phones."
Let the chips fall where they may.
J programming language
The J programming language is kind of like a super calculator (it’s been described as executable mathematical notation). It was developed by Ken Iverson and Roger Hui and is a successor to APL (and there’s no need to buy a new keyboard). The language is free and open source, and works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. A series of books and articles on using J are also available to download. To whet your appetite, here’s an article on using J to find the eighth ten-digit prime number that appears among the digits of pi.
Legocraft
Many people have described the popular freeform game Minecraft as "kind of like Lego", so a few enterprising stop-motion animators have decided to jump on that idea.
SLRP (R=reddit). PDF Paradise!
Anthrax Redux: Did the Feds nab the wrong guy?
Anthrax Redux. Wired's gripping account of the FBI's investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks.
Caution: Middle East under construction
ooooo shiny
Ever made an indie action film and needed something for that epic glass-break scene? How about the blackest black you can find? Want to adjust your boots so that they are mud repellant? Inventables has everything you need - for the budding inventor, busy set designer, or Q in training.
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