January 2010
22 posts
The Neuroscience of Screwing Up →
“The reason we’re so resistant to anomalous information — the real reason researchers automatically assume that every unexpected result is a stupid mistake — is rooted in the way the human brain works. Over the past few decades, psychologists have dismantled the myth of objectivity. The fact is, we carefully edit our reality, searching for evidence that confirms what we already believe....
December 2009
24 posts
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From "Marry Me" (webcomic)
Guy: Yes, hello, excuse me. How many burgers do you have?
Clerk: Um, our menu's on the wall. I think there's nine or ten different burgers.
Guy: No, I mean how many actual burgers do you have available?
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J.C. Maxwell's 1873 lecture on "Molecules" →
Worth a read. This may be one of the earliest examples of a scientist struggling with quantum weirdness; in this case, the fact that sufficiently small particles appear in only finitely many varieties.
Cephalopods are Smart. →
They’ve been spotted collecting used coconut shells, tossed in the ocean by humans, and making nests out of them - the first example of “tool use” (defined as collecting or maintaining an object for later use) in invertebrates. This differs from, say, the behavior of the hermit crab, because while collecting the shells, they don’t provide any shelter.
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http://☃.net →
Unicode snowman for you! (See also http://www.marco.org/83873337)
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Dictionary Paradox
The dictionary entry for “paradox” contains two contradictory definitions.
2a. An apparently absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition, or a strongly counter-intuitive one, which investigation, analysis, or explanation may nevertheless prove to be well-founded or true.
2b. A proposition or statement that is actually self-contradictory, absurd, or intrinsically...
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A Flashlight That Cooks Eggs →
The Torch Ultra Flashlight appears to essentially be a ray gun.
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“Old radar systems never die, they just phase-array”
– Unknown
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“Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You...”
– Charles Elmer Hires (creator of Hires Root Beer, the longest continuously made soft drink in the U.S.)
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Saul Griffith: I don't know how to optimize for fashion...
Neil Gershenfeld: I think it depends on the model.
In A Democracy Now
McNamara: Schlemmer, can you tell them not to stand at attention every time I walk in the room? Explain that they live in a *democracy* now!
Schlemmer: That's the problem, sir. Before, if told to sit, they would sit. Now, they do what they want, and what they want is to stand.
(from "One, Two, Three," a movie about post-war Berlin.)
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URDB: a Universal Reversible DeBugger →
For gdb, perl -d, pdb, and MATLAB - it somehow enables you to step backwards through your code. This is awesome if you use any of these debuggers on a regular basis.
davidad: what's a céilí?
Sasha: irish.... social.. fest.. dance...
Sasha: *waves arms* thingy
Sasha: also, just to piss you off, it's pronounced "kaylee"
LOLrio-kart + Yakety Sax →
Charles Guan’s motorized shopping cart….plus Yakety Sax. There’s not much more to say. Watch it.
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Comic idea (one frame)
Lucille Ball is seated at a dinner table, trying to eat spaghetti with a spoon, and failing. Desi, across the table, says, “Use the fork, Luce!”