September 10, 2009
Information from the School of Information
Great free lectures online from the School of Information at Berkeley. The lectures are from 2007 to the present and include (among many others):
- "The Internets We Did Not Build" (Dave Clark, MIT)
- "Combating the Participation Gap: Why New Media Literacy Matters" (Henry Jenkins, MIT)
- "(Re-)Defining the Public Domain" (Carl Malamud, Public.Resource.Org)
- "Sustainable Innovation" (Judith Estrin, JLabs)
Sorry, Alan.
UK government apologizes to Alan Turing. It might be a long time overdue, but it's a really nice apology.
[previously]
More than just beautiful minds
Photographer Mariana Cook has a new book of portraits of well-known mathematicians. Here's a slideshow with some interesting audio, and more of the photographs.
History of the Soviet Union via Tetris
The Pig With The Face Of A Boy are an anti-folk band whose free set rocked this years Edinburgh festival. Most of their stuff won't rock your world, but their History of the Soviet Union to the theme of Tetris is awesome. [more inside]
The latest fashions from Bedrock Vogue
Much Cooler Than Ceiling Cat!
The Iron Lady ❤s The Iron Curtain
New Documents from the Soviet Archives reveal that as the Warsaw Pact was falling apart, Margaret Thatcher called Gorbachev to inform him that:
The reunification of Germany is not in the interests of Britain and Western Europe. It might look different from public pronouncements, in official communiqué at Nato meetings, but it is not worth paying ones attention to it. We do not want a united Germany. This would have led to a change to post-war borders and we can not allow that because such development would undermine the stability of the whole international situation and could endanger our security. In the same way, a destabilisation of Eastern Europe and breakdown of the Warsaw Pact are also not in our interests.This backs up assertions from former German Chancellor Kohl's new memoir that Thatcher put up obstacles to German Re-unification, fearing the rise of a Fourth Reich.
It's Thursday evening in the 21st century and I still don't have a jetpack. And now mice can hover. It's unfair.
Somewhere on Earth, in a laboratory, a mouse is levitating. Science is awesome.
Let's ride bikes!
Ride a Bike through an Architectural Drawing: no, really.
Downward Dog
Yoga Dogs as photographed by Dan Borris.
Research correlates inequality with religiosity
In this episode of Radio 4's Thinking Allowed, Professor David Voas explains old secularisation theory was that, as a nation modernised, its religiosity would decline with which the US obviously doesn't conform.
In the show Dr Tom Rees explains his new theory that addresses this anomaly. Having researched religiosity in 50 countries he has discovered a correlation (although no causality) between a country's level of personal insecurity (using inequality as a measure for this) and its religiosity.
Professor Paul C Vitz is approaching this issue from a different angle, questioning not why do people become religious, but why do they become atheists.
Animation by Daniel Greaves
2D characters in a 3D world: Flatworld (part 1, part 2, part 3). One of the many funny, clever, and innovative animations by Daniel Greaves of Tandem Films. [more inside]
The Market for Lemons, or Thieves Discount the Value You(r Identity)
Calculate the value of your identity on the black market, based on how you access your financial information, your involvement in social and file-sharing networks, and security software installed. Spoiler: it's less than you imagine, as using the data is riskier than stealing the data, and the thieves market is polluted by liars (you can read more in the 12 page Microsoft research PDF). [more inside]
Time is the universal frequency of synchronization, mathematically expressed as a ratio constant, 13:20
Welcome to the official website of the Galactic Research Institute
of the Foundation for the Law of Time (via i09)
Know Thy Congressman
Know Thy Congressman (an Apps for America Project of Sunlight Labs) provides a handy bookmarklet that lets you get a quick overview of Congresscritters that you might not be familiar with. The winners for Round Two of Apps for America (focusing on data.gov) were announced yesterday. [more inside]
World Cup 2010: Little guys play too
What`s great about the World Cup of football is that everyone gets a chance to qualify, against all odds. This week was a fascinating week of World Cup qualifying matches around the world. But while the world's attention was focused on Portugal and Argentina and France and Cameroon and England, among others, a small victory was won in a dusty forgotten corner of UEFA Group Seven. On Wednesday the Faroe Islands recorded their first cWorld Cup win , a 2-1 victory over Lithuania. [more inside]
La Pura Vida
Bone Loss at a loss
Up to 270 women with osteopenia would have to be treated with drugs for three years so that one of them could avoid a single vertebral fracture. Millions of women worldwide, have been told they have osteopenia and should take drugs to prevent bone loss. Drugs like Fosamax, Boniva and Actonel. But now many health public health experts say it's a case of disease-mongering. The WHO has stepped into the fray with an online diagnostic tool only to stir up its own controversy.
"Folk music for people who don't like folk music."
Sometimes called The Barnsley Nightingale, British folk singer Kate Rusby was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 1999, and has won four BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Her cover of The Kinks' "Village Green Preservation Society" is the theme song for the TV show "Jam & Jerusalem." The Daily Telegraph called her "England's answer to Dolly Parton. Not in terms of the wigs and the sequins, but in her quaveringly sincere ability to tell a simple, downhome story in a song and make your heart ache for it." BBC says she performs "folk music for people who don't like folk music." [more inside]
Lower Your Exposure to Cell Phone Radiation
So, cell phones emit radiation. But how much does yours emit? Compare over 1,000 different cell phones and smartphones.
"I Think It's Time"
Published in 1989, Richard McGuire's Here is a 6 page comic that spans billions of years and about 25 square feet: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Special Bonus Student Film Adaptation For The Comic-Phobic [more inside]
The Five Best? Really?
PZ Myers takes on the Five Best arguments for creationism. PZ Myers (previously linked) is an apologist and vocal advocate of evolution. Because of his regular discussions about the distortions made by Creationists, he earned his place as one of the 'Top 5 media leftists who distort Americans' views on the Bush and Obama presidencies.' His reaction to joining such top Distortionists as Paul Krugman, Jon Meacham, Ezra Klein and more is pretty entertaining.
And if you're interested in learning about the scientific answer to the multitude of creationist arguments, check this out.
World's Smallest Postal Service
Lea Redmond is Postmaster of 'The World's Smallest Postal Service'. In CA she sets up her tiny shop and sends miniature versions of transcribed letters, complete with little wax seals.
(not-so) Real Housewives of Lancaster County
A new subgenre is rising to meet the significant demand for romance novels that won't corrupt the flesh: Amish Romances. The relatively chaste romances, mostly written by non-Amish authors, the books are selling well, with Cindy Woodsnall's Sisters of the Quilt trilogy leading the pack on the New York Times bestseller list, and many new authors jumping into the game.
Helveticamembert
Galliard. Amienne. Miso. Postel. Is it a cheese? Or is it a font?
Oh dear god, the drill actually spins
I now pronounce you...
Harmony Korine's Trash
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