05.06.09
Flute + Beatbox = Flutebox
Very interesting performance art… at Google?
Stress Canary
I have a new definition… I was surprised when wikipedia and even the urban dictionary didn’t have a definition for the term “stress canary”.
Stress Canary – noun
- the person on a team or project that feels the effects of stress well before anyone else
- a modern version of a canary in a coal mine, someone who reacts to stress as an early warning signal
05.02.09
Perseverence
Nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
— Calvin Coolidge
04.28.09
Colbert is Not Joking
From the Huffington Post:
Additionally, there was no significant difference between the groups in thinking Colbert was funny, but conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements. Conservatism also significantly predicted perceptions that Colbert disliked liberalism. Finally, a post hoc analysis revealed that perceptions of Colbert’s political opinions fully mediated the relationship between political ideology and individual-level opinion.
The title of the original research paper was “The Irony of Satire“. It would certainly be ironic if The Colbert Report actually made conservatives more entrenched in their opinions.
This might also explain how Colbert was able to perform at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner back in 2006 without any of the event organizers thinking it was a bad idea…
04.27.09
Swine Flue
From xkcd:
And then here’s an interesting take on how to determine the seriousness of the new Sine Flu from Paul Wilmott, the celebrity death test:
It is almost impossible for the layperson to rationally determine the seriousness of any new disease and whether it has the potential to be the next Black Death. I’m thinking of the new Swine ‘Flu…
So I have my own way of determining the seriousness of any new threat to human life, it’s called the Celebrity Death Test, and I hope you find it useful. The way it works is simple, if a Celebrity dies from the Threat then it is to be taken Seriously, if they don’t then it’s probably nothing to worry about. Bird ‘Flu, fine. AIDS, not fine. I can remember when Rock Hudson died, that was the moment when AIDS became real for me. (I’m also a fan of Doris Day, read into that what you will!) You see how it works? It’s just a statistics thing. If a Celeb suffers from it (and assuming it’s not something that has a natural correlation with Celebrity or is self inflicted) then it is statistically significant for the rest of us.
04.24.09
Luckiest 13 Year Old Ever
“The one billionth app … was downloaded by Connor Mulcahey, age 13, of Weston, CT. As the grand prize winner of Apple’s one billion app countdown contest, Connor will receive a $10,000 iTunes® gift card, an iPod® touch, a Time Capsule® and a MacBook® Pro.”
04.23.09
Blood Falls
Picture of Taylor Glacier, in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, forming a feature commonly referred to as Blood Falls. The iron originates from ancient subglacial brine that episodically discharges to the surface. Outflow collected at Blood Falls provides access to a unique subglacial ecosystem that harbors a microbial consortium which actively cycles iron, sulfur and carbon for growth.
04.08.09
Goethe
“Most men only care for science so far as they get a living by it, but they will worship error when it affords them a subsistence.”
-Goethe
04.07.09
How Not to Start a Fire
Hmmm… this does not look like a good way to start a fire. Quite sad, really.
Looks like UNC needs to start offering a pyrotechnics course or something…
More pics here.