Saturday, March 15, 2008

Nazi America: A Secret History

Haven't watched it. Interesting how religion can be contoured to boost really any belief.

More Americans giving up golf

Must be demographics and technology:

The disappearance of golfers over the past several years is part of a broader decline in outdoor activities — including tennis, swimming, hiking, biking and downhill skiing — according to a number of academic and recreation industry studies.

Living literally in a wooden box

It has wheels and a padlock. The guy finally left it behind, but discovered different complications with apartment living.

Odds of dying from...

2004 numbers for various manners of injury from the National Safety Council.

More people walking away from homes

Foreclosure is the correct option for some people, but certainly look deeply into the consequences.

Make security camera for the the home

Pretty involved to save a lot of money. Images to an SD card from what I can tell.

Did they open that link you e-mailed to them?

It generates a URL from the one you want to send. This new one is what the recipient clicks on. You get an e-mail if that happens indicating city and state.

How people count cash in different countries


How People Count Cash? - The funniest videos clips are here

Dryer Miser -- reduce energy consumption up to 50 percent and clothes-drying time up to 41 percent

... a specially-engineered fluid to dry clothes using hydronic technology. By heating up a non-toxic fluid in a self-contained system, the dryer produces enough heat to dry clothes significantly faster than traditional dryers...

Table manner tips

10. When you’re done with your meal, the proper placement of the silverware is to lay them parallel to each other and across the plate with the handles facing the right. To clarify, the ends would be facing 10 o’clock and four. Note: Not all waiters will know this and they still may ask you if it’s okay to clear your plate. At least you appear classy.

Web around heart to assist in contractions

The webbing wraps around the heart and therefore does not come into contact with the blood stream. Inbuilt sensors recognise when the heart wants to beat and trigger a series of miniature motors which cause the web to contract – increasing the internal pressure and assisting the heart to pump the blood around the body.

Increase productivity and relieve pain with the simplified Dvorak keyboard

A personal anecdote and tips.

Anatomy of explanations

In Tilly’s view, we rely on four general categories of reasons. The first is what he calls conventions—conventionally accepted explanations. Tilly would call “Don’t be a tattletale” a convention. The second is stories, and what distinguishes a story (“I was playing with my truck, and then Geoffrey came in . . .”) is a very specific account of cause and effect. Tilly cites the sociologist Francesca Polletta’s interviews with people who were active in the civil-rights sit-ins of the nineteen-sixties. Polletta repeatedly heard stories that stressed the spontaneity of the protests, leaving out the role of civil-rights organizations, teachers, and churches. That’s what stories do. As Tilly writes, they circumscribe time and space, limit the number of actors and actions, situate all causes “in the consciousness of the actors,” and elevate the personal over the institutional.

Then there are codes, which are high-level conventions, formulas that invoke sometimes recondite procedural rules and categories. If a loan officer turns you down for a mortgage, the reason he gives has to do with your inability to conform to a prescribed standard of creditworthiness. Finally, there are technical accounts: stories informed by specialized knowledge and authority. An academic history of civil-rights sit-ins wouldn’t leave out the role of institutions, and it probably wouldn’t focus on a few actors and actions; it would aim at giving patient and expert attention to every sort of nuance and detail.

Jukefly -- turn your computer into a music server for the Web

So, listen to the music on your computer from anywhere. Also with social sharing.

Police power trips on video

Dumb shits. Five videos if you click on the title. This is the Maltese one; the others are American.

Herve This -- the man who unboiled an egg

Well, some guy tried to replicate it, but it didn't turn out so well. Good to know somebody is bringing scientific rigor and thus innovation to the discipline.

A couple of ways Tim Harford's Logic of Life is wrong

Number 3 stood out:

... he describes a resume experiment where otherwise identical fake resumes with "black names" were less likely to get a response. "High-quality applicants were more likely to be invited for an interview, but only if they were white. Employers didn't seem to notice whether black applicants had extra skills or experience"...I tested these claims using one of the world's best labor data sets, the NLSY. The results directly contradict Tim's self-fulfilling prophesy story. Blacks actually get a substantially larger return to education than non-blacks!
Why? Caplan speculates:
... my wife was working a lot, so I often took my kids places on my own. Funny thing: Time and again, strangers came up and said, "Wow, you're such a great dad!" But there were moms of young kids doing the same thing in plain sight, and the strangers rarely praised them. Why not? Because a dad taking care of two babies is counter-stereotypical, which grabs people's attention.
Purely anecdotal, yes. But it is consistent with the small academic literature on counter-stereotypical behavior. If you clearly violate expectations, people not only notice; they often over-react.

Ambient air fridge -- using external cool air to cool your food

Thermostat to keep temp steady.

Cancer prevention lifestyle tips

Mostly dietary.

2. Eat your fill of broccoli, but steam it rather than microwaving it. Broccoli is a cancer-preventing superfood, one you should eat frequently. But take note: A Spanish study found that microwaving broccoli destroys 97 percent of the vegetable's cancer-protective flavonoids. So steam it, eat it raw as a snack, or add it to soups and salads.

Update scanner Firefox add-on to monitor web pages without feeds for updates

Haven't tried it.

Repeated test-taking better for retention than repeated studying

Perhaps equally important, this study demonstrates that students who rely on repeated study alone often come away with a false sense of confidence about their mastery of the material.

Woman sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for witchcraft

Losing respect for any place that would have this sort of law on the books. Thanks to Greg.

HYmini -- small arm-worn prop for mobile electricity production

Like for when you're skiing or skating and such, for small devices.

Food economic crisis need not be this bad

Indeed, there is already ample evidence that political tensions are building: the World Food Programme, for example, now thinks a third of the world’s population lives in countries with food price controls or export bans.
Developing world being hit hard. Trade and investments barriers need to come down to allow for efficient resource allocation and bring down prices. However, I also read recently that wheat, corn and rice account for half the world's calories. In this instance, we need to move to grains that are not tied to livestock feed and auto fuel.

Identical twins not quite so genetically identical

Whoa. A lot of studies probably need to be reviewed.

Good2gether -- connecting nonprofits with people and resources they need

Needs distributed through local news sites.

Commuter feed -- recent updates of road traffic problems

User-submitted via Twitter.

We're useless at choosing between time-saving options

For a 100km trip, which saves more time?

a)Travelling at 50km/h instead of 40km/h.
b)Travelling at 130km/h instead of 80km/h.

a)Travelling at 50km/h instead of 30km/h.
b)Travelling at 130km/h instead of 60km/h.
"If you're like most of the participants in Svenson's study, you will have assumed that option (b) in both pairs is the most time saving. In fact, for the first pair, the time saved is equal (allowing for rounding off), and for the second pair, option (a) saves more time. From analysing participants' judgements, Svenson found that people seem to be mistakenly comparing the ratios of the two changes in speeds - applying what she calls the Ratio Rule."

Point Blank Solutions' Thor Shield Taser-protective fabric


More verbal explanation at video here.
Patent application mention link from previous post here.

18% of Americans believe the Sun revolves around the Earth

Here's another one from the Gallup poll:

Only 66% of those aged 18-29 know that America gained its independence from England...

Farecast now offering international flight price predictions

Sure took 'em a while.

Wikinvest displays metrics tailored to industry

Each industry has its own unique set of comparable metrics by which analysts and professional investors gauge the health and productivity of the companies in that industry. For airlines, it might be fuel costs, revenue per available seat-mile, cost per available seat-mile, and load factors (what percentage of seats are sold per flight).

HijackReader -- advice on handling your HijackThis scan

Most of that scan is obscure for me; this helps to figure out what's what.

Human skin cells reprogrammed into embryonic stem cells

The combination of four genes used to reprogram the skin cells regulate expression of downstream genes and either activate or silence their expression. The reprogrammed cells were not just functionally identical to embryonic stem cells. They also had identical biological structure, expressed the same genes and could be coaxed into giving rise to the same cell types as human embryonic stem cells.

Tackling procrastination

In his research with graduate students at the University of California, Berkeley, he found that the people who made time to play sports, hang out with friends, and enjoy themselves were the ones who actually got work done faster. “The procrastinators were always worrying, as if suffering were a superstitious offering to the gods,” Fiore noted.

To Be -- the National Film Board of Canada video

Rediscovered this reflection on identity from just browsing.

Measuring living standards by consumption rather than income

Seen this way, wealth inequality doesn't seem as great. Greater affordability attributed to trade.

Webmail for storage

They guy actually scans important docs and sends them to himself.

Consumer tips for salt use

From the Salt Institute. More than just the previous fifteen.

Ferriss's sleep hacks

Pretty specific. Eating comes up a couple of times.

Valentine's, then White Day, then Black Day in NE Asia

White Day: "Tradition dictates that the men who received gifts on Valentine’s Day must return the favor and give something in return to the ladies. The return gift is also called a “sanbai-gaeshiin”, since the gift the boy gives is supposed to be three times the value of the gift he received."
Black Day: Celebrated on April 14, those that didn’t receive gifts for Valentine’s Day or White Day will get together and eat noodles with black bean or white sauce to represent their “singledom.”

Friday, March 14, 2008

A company's profits are linked to the facial appearance of its chief executive

... it isn't at all clear whether chief executives with a certain kind of appearance help their company towards profit, or if instead profitable companies choose to employ chief executives who look a certain way.

Casa Diablo -- world's first vegan strip club

Lies from electronics sales associates

Just go online, I guess?

Instant Memory Cleaner

Front end for command line ClearMem (XP), which forces pages out of physical memory and reduces size of running processes' working sets to a minimum.

Indusec's Inferno speaker blaster -- puke ray

"Being a guinea pig for a sonic ray was truly a whole lot worse than being a guinea pig for the pain ray. I would happily volunteer again to be hit by the Pentagon's pain ray. It was fun, like being Bugs Bunny dancing around when Elmer Fudd tries to shoot him. I never, ever again want to be hit by the Inferno" says [Wired Danger Room's] Sharon [Weinberger], but while the sensation was unbearable, she actually didn't experiment the extreme reactions that this sound will cause if you are exposed to it for a longer time: vertigo, nausea, and pain in the chest.

Confessions of a Caller ID spoofer

The major telecom equipment maker whose employ A.G. Bell had recently left owed him thousands in unpaid commissions, he says, yet the HR department stopped returning his calls, instead "hiding behind voicemail." Spoofing the HR director's number got his underlings to pick up the phone, at least until they wised to that ploy, at which point Bell - a fictitious name I'm affording him to protect his current job at another telecom vendor - started spoofing numbers right on up to the top of the org chart...

New receptor for HIV discovered

The receptor helps guide the virus to the gut after it gains entry to the body... For years, scientists have known that H.I.V. rapidly invades the lymph nodes and lymph tissues that are abundant throughout the gut, or intestines. The gut becomes the prime site for replication of H.I.V., and the virus then goes on to deplete the lymph tissue of the key CD4 H.I.V.-fighting immune cells.

Why companies need female managers

On average, women gather more data, consider the context, are intuitive, have a sympathising mind and think more long-term. Ms Fisher calls it "web thinking".

Men, on the other hand, are more focused, think linear, focus on rules and the short-term - "step thinking".

Update: In Norway, at least 40% of the non-executive directors in a large company have to be female, or the company is risking dissolution.

Hello Kitty Online -- MMORPG

Yeah, you read that correctly. Closed beta right now.
"In addition to many of the regular features of an online game, like a virtual economy, guilds and custom avatars, Hello Kitty Online will offer players "a persistent, beautifully-designed environment where thousands of players and (non-player characters) live, explore and quest in a magical world with real and imaginary zones such as the Flower Kingdom, Tokyo, Paris, Moscow and more."

E-mail addresses that convert file formats

Pdf's to and from other document formats and wav's to and from mp3's.

Amsterdam all but closing down its Red Light District

But at least they kept it regulated somewhat, right?
Previous post on the changing Netherlands.

Wired wallpaper offers alternative to outlets

Philips' wallpaper provides a range of voltages for devices, which can easily be tapped into from many positions on the wall. By repositioning the pins to correspond to specific pitches of the stripes, different voltage levels can be achieved. For safety, the system would likely have a total maximum voltage level of 50-60 volts.

Get over yourself and get haggling

With some personal reflections and links to tip lists.

Inhaling pig brains may be cause of new illness

Yeah, try to avoid that.

Their working hypothesis is that the harvesting technique -- known as "blowing brains" on the floor -- produces aerosols of brain matter. Once inhaled, the material prompts the immune system to produce antibodies that attack the pig brain compounds, but apparently also attack the body's own nerve tissue because it is so similar.

Minimizing remarks as interrogation style more like to lead to false confessions

... it is so-called 'minimising' questions and remarks - those that downplay the seriousness of the offence, and which blame other people or circumstances - that are the most likely to lead to a false confession.

The Manga Bible: From Genesis to Revelation

Mr. Akinsiku says his Son of God is “a samurai stranger who’s come to town, in silhouette,” here to shake things up in a new, much-abridged version of the Bible...

Njection's speed trap mashup

Aerial photo maps with red dots for locations of red light cameras and speed traps.

Retired teacher reveals that he was illiterate until age 48

A story of supply and demand.

Is pain all in the mind?

There has also been a resurgence in the number of surgeries being performed under hypnosis, rather than general anaesthetic. Hypnosis is thought to reduce both blood loss during the operation and recovery time. In 2006, a hernia operation was successfully performed on a hypnotised patient live on the More4 television channel.

From only $25 to a job, pickup truck, rental apartment and $5000 saved

Very little detail in the interview.

Travel scams

THE UNLICENSED TAXI

You’re tired, there’s a queue at the taxi rank, so you accept the cheery offer of an unofficial taxi. From this point on, a good outcome is that you’ll be overcharged, or forced to stop off at the driver’s brother’s souvenir shop on the way to your hotel.

The bad outcome is unthinkably bad. In 2006, an Austrian couple on a round-the-world trip got into a fake taxi at the bus terminal in La Paz, Bolivia – and were kidnapped. Their bank cards and Pin numbers were taken and they were held captive for five days, while their bank accounts were emptied. They were then killed.

Steering clear: Never get in unofficial taxis – full stop. And, sadly, it seems the old traveller’s tradition of sharing taxis to save money is no longer safe – the poor Austrian couple, and the others who have escaped similar ordeals (chiefly in South America), were partly undone by gang members posing as travellers and getting into their taxi. Only share rides with those you trust, and never permit the driver to pick up another passenger.

When the world's great scientific thinkers change their minds

Like #9:
So you had heard humans emerged because they began to eat meat?

I used to think that human origins were explained by meat-eating. But I now think that cooking was the major advance that made us human. Cooked food allows our guts, teeth and mouths to be small, while giving us abundant food energy and freeing our time.

Richard Feynman quantum electrodynamics lecture: Today's take on Newton's queries on light

Philosophy lessons for five-year-olds

Energies redirected from fighting to formal argumentation.

Subtle Butt fart pads

Neutralizes odor with activated carbon.

Is the tipping point toast?

Network theory scientist Duncan Watts trashes the theory that a few well-connected, influential people start trends.

Ridding of trays to reduce waste

It works, but the complaints and improvisations don't seem to stop.

Just how representative are people who volunteer for psychology experiments?

The researchers said their findings have important implications for psychology research. For example, it's been shown that people, like those choosing to volunteer, who are lower in Neuroticism, are more likely to show a positive response to drug treatments for depression and panic disorder. Also, when someone completes a personality test, for example as part of a job application process, the idea is that their score is compared against a population average, but this study suggests the personality averages (or norms) that have been calculated for tests are likely to be skewed because they're based on the scores of volunteers.
Earlier post on Stanford Prison Experiment re-look here.

More sun exposure may be good for some people

Melanoma is triggered by UVA (the long UV wavelengths) and visible light. Vitamin-D production in the body, on the other hand, is triggered by UVB (the short UV wavelengths at the earth's surface). "So perhaps we should redesign sunscreens so they don't screen out as much UVB while still protecting us from the melanoma-inducing UVA and visible light," Setlow says.

Immaculate Heart College Art Department Rules

Consequentialism -- evolution of morality

One of the main reasons I am a consequentalist (rather than believing in natural rights) is that I suspect that intuitive morality is an evolved module meant for my genes' good, rather than a window onto absolute truth.

LiveScribe's Pulse Smartpen -- tap on writing, hear audio from that time

The microdotted notebook is a key part of the technology.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Lack of deep sleep may increase risk of type 2 diabetes

We're still near the beginning of learning the intricacies of sleep physiology.