January 2012
1 post
2 tags
New York Times - One Percent Map →
Enter your household income and see how you rank in 344 zones across the country.
November 2011
1 post
3 tags
The Way We Teach Math, Sciences, and Language is... →
Instead of teaching physics or mathematics as we teach second languages, then blaming the victims for not doing well, and expecting them to internalize the blame, why not use physics and mathematics to ask and answer questions about the world?
June 2011
1 post
1 tag
Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music →
An interactive Flash application that allows you to trace through the history of electronic music as it evolved into many genres. It plays looping samples of each of the many sub-genres to exemplify the aura they create.
May 2011
2 posts
1 tag
How social influence can undermine the wisdom of... →
Social groups can be remarkably smart and knowledgeable when their averaged judgements are compared with the judgements of individuals. This wisdom of crowd effect was recently supported by examples from stock markets, political elections, and quiz shows. In contrast, we demonstrate by experimental evidence that even mild social influence can undermine...
1 tag
Thinking on rails: why Portal 2 isn't as good as... →
This review (warning: link has spoilers) nails many of the exact critiques I had been thinking about while playing Portal 2, while still giving it credit where credit is due. It is very refreshing given the one-sided praise in nearly all other reviews I’ve read.
Foremost on my mind: “With the original Portal, I could solve some of the puzzles in my own way. In fact, [challenge levels]...
April 2011
3 posts
2 tags
““‘Biased assimilation’ has been demonstrated in experiments...”
– Politics and self-confidence trump education on climate change, Ars Technica
2 tags
2 tags
Anchoring Effect: You Are Not So Smart →
The Misconception: You rationally analyze all factors before making a choice or determining value.
The Truth: Your first perception lingers in your mind, affecting later perceptions and decisions.
March 2011
2 posts
2 tags
3 tags
Color Theory for the Designer: Creating Your Own... →
Great description of many forms of palettes and several examples of what paid graphics designers have chosen. Contains links to tutorials on the psychological influence and terminology of colors. Useful for Powerpoint slides and publication-quality figures.
February 2011
1 post
3 tags
December 2010
1 post
3 tags
Man finds extreme healing eating parasitic worms -... →
Maybe I should also try some worms.
November 2010
1 post
2 tags
Straw Vulcan - TVtropes →
March 2010
2 posts
1 tag
3 tags
Why Ad Blocking is devastating to the sites you... →
Ars Technica makes a very reasonable and persuasive case for why you should whitelist your favorite sites (including them, of course)
February 2010
1 post
2 tags
January 2010
2 posts
3 tags
Why is the news media comfortable with lying about... →
2 tags
Web 2.0 Suicide Machine →
Bring your Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and LinkedIn accounts to a bitter end and regain hours of your life back. [via NPR]
November 2009
3 posts
2 tags
3 tags
NFL TV Distribution Maps →
Great website that aggregates data from national TV stations and maps how NFL game broadcasts are going to be distributed.
1 tag
DevelopmentCodeNames - Ubuntu Wiki →
Hilarious suggestions for naming future Ubuntu releases.
October 2009
1 post
3 tags
August 2009
2 posts
3 tags
InterfaceLIFT: High-Resolution Wallpapers →
2 tags
NOVA | scienceNOW : Wisdom of the Crowds →
July 2009
3 posts
3 tags
Fix your terrible, insecure passwords in five... →
2 tags
The public trusts scientists-but not their... →
An startling summary of a Pew Research poll found here. The opinions of the general public on science, politics, and religion are out of whack with what empirical scientists believe.
2 tags
“Focus your remarks on positions, not personalities. No personal attacks, name...”
– NPR.org: Community Discussion Rules [via]
June 2009
5 posts
1 tag
2 tags
Burger King Flame →
2 tags
Dropbox →
Dropbox - sync files across operating systems like an online USB key. Free account up to 2 GB. Windows, Mac, and Linux compatible. It is awesome, use it.
1 tag
Butterflies and Hurricanes - Muse (Absolution)
A...
2 tags
May 2009
5 posts
2 tags
Protein sequencing gone awry: 1 sample, 27 labs,... →
The authors conclude with what’s essentially a plea for standardization, so that the same analysis would produce the same results. That would include a normalized set of protein databases, analysis algorithms, and calibration procedures. Something of the sort would seem essential if the wider scientific community were to have any confidence that a proteomic analysis was actually informative.
2 tags
Wolfram's Black Box: a biologist's take on... →
Wolfram’s asking you to outsource all the sanity-checking that should be done when obtaining information—does it come from a reliable source? Is it in keeping with other figures that are available? You’re just supposed to trust that the folks that populated the databases behind Alpha have done their job well. If they haven’t, it’s up to you to figure that out.
2 tags
Mozilla ponders policy change after Firefox... →
2 tags
2 tags
1 tag
NYT Op-Ed: End the University as We Know It →
April 2009
7 posts
2 tags
Pandemic 2 →
I figure this timely, given the recent Swine Flu. It’s basically a lesson in Epidemiology.
3 tags
1 tag
Fox Snow Dive →
2 tags
OpenCola →
You’ve got to be kidding me.
1 tag
Principle of Evil Marksmanship →
See Also: Inverse Ninja Law
1 tag
March 2009
1 post
1 tag
December 2008
2 posts
2 tags
Politics Influence NIH Grant Distribution →
1 tag
SNL Digital Short: J**z in my Pants →
November 2008
6 posts
2 tags
“In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade, and he carries the...”
– Paul Simon
2 tags
1 tag
“A woman walks into a bar and orders a double-entendre, so the bartender gives it...”