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Viewing latest 20 tagged LINK. | Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 (159 Views)  |  |
| http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/sc...138&ei=5087%0A
This is truly a fascinating article. I admit to spending entirely too much time lost in thoughts concerning the evolution of intelligence. It's difficult to answer the two giant questions regarding it:
1) Why are we the only species with our level of intelligence?
2) What gradual adaptations could have led to it?
It's fascinating to think about; intriguing to read about experiments like these that will some day help us understand.
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“If it’s so great to be smart,” Dr. Kawecki asks, “why have most animals remained dumb?”
Dr. Kawecki and like-minded scientists are trying to figure out why animals learn and why some have evolved to be better at learning than others. One reason for the difference, their research finds, is that being smart can be bad for an animal’s health.
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| Friday, May 2nd, 2008 (113 Views) |  |
|  The story of the man who re-grew a finger using "pixie-dust" has captured the imagination of many this week. Lee Spievak, 69, chopped off part of his finger - said to be almost down to the first joint - in a model aeroplane accident in 2005. Within weeks, it is said the tip of the finger - including bone, tissue, skin and nail grew back.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7379745.stm
Quite an interesting piece. Clearly, the applications of this treatment, if proven to be completely effective, are limitless over time. Imagine the impact this treatment could have on war veterans injured during the course of battle. | |
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| Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 (331 Views) |  |
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| Thursday, April 24th, 2008 (275 Views) | |
| Nice.
This is the story of Helmer. A linux cluster in a IKEA Helmer cabinet.
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3D computer rendering are very CPU intensive and the best way so speed up slow render problems, are usually to distribute them on to more computers. Render farms are usually very large, expensive and run using ALLOT of energy. I wanted to build something that could be put in my home, not make too much noise and run using very little energy... and be dirt cheep, big problem? :) no computer stuff cost almost nothing these days, it just a matter of finding fun stuff to play with.
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| Friday, April 11th, 2008 (261 Views) |  |
| Demonoid is back up and running after what seemed like an eternity of downtime!
Take that RIAA and CRIA, go shove it!
http://www.demonoid.com | |
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| Friday, April 11th, 2008 (354 Views) | |
| A part of our on-going education ;)
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/that-vs-which/
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When proofreading a peer’s article on the solar system, I realized that she, and I, are unsure of the proper use of “that” and “which” in a sentence. Below is [SIC] two examples of the same sentence, one using “that” and the other “which.”
* “To our knowledge, it is the only body in the solar system which currently sustains life, although several other bodies are under investigation.”
* “To our knowledge, it is the only body in the solar system that currently sustains life, although several other bodies are under investigation.”
Which is the correct sentence, and what is the general rule of thumb?
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When referring to objects, though, the rule for using “that” and “which” correctly is simple:
* THAT should be used to introduce a restrictive clause.
* WHICH should be used to introduce a non-restrictive or parenthetical clause.
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I've had problems with which in the past. I knew the basic idea, but always kind of guessed at it. I should be golden, now ;) | |
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| Saturday, March 29th, 2008 (341 Views) | |
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| Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 (879 Views) | |
| Oops, I meant Junior, not twins :/
http://advocate.com/issue_story_ektid52664.asp
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Sterilization is not a requirement for sex reassignment, so I decided to have chest reconstruction and testosterone therapy but kept my reproductive rights. Wanting to have a biological child is neither a male nor female desire, but a human desire.
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| Sunday, March 23rd, 2008 (346 Views) | |
| http://www.newsweek.com/id/106554
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What's missing from this electronic wonderland? Human contact. Discount the fawning techno-burble about virtual communities. Computers and networks isolate us from one another.
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I have to disagree. The main reason why I became hooked to the internet was because of the various forms of communication. Multiplayer games fuel rivalry and competition, myspace and facebook provide an outlet for us to get jealous over who is sleeping with who.
Perhaps he just made a poor prediction? Likely not seeing as he wrote some book named
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STOLL is the author of Silicon Snake Oil--Second Thoughts on the Information Highway
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He now sells some peculiar looking and interesting klein bottles, whatever they are. | |
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| Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 (224 Views) | |
| Lol. da Vinci rules.
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext04/7ldvc10.txt
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1330.
WHY DOGS TAKE PLEASURE IN SMELLING AT EACH OTHER.
This animal has a horror of the poor, because they eat poor food,
and it loves the rich, because they have good living and especially
meat. And the excrement of animals always retains some virtue of its
origin as is shown by the faeces ...
Now dogs have so keen a smell, that they can discern by their nose
the virtue remaining in these faeces, and if they find them in the
streets, smell them and if they smell in them the virtue of meat or
of other things, they take them, and if not, they leave them: And to
return to the question, I say that if by means of this smell they
know that dog to be well fed, they respect him, because they judge
that he has a powerful and rich master; and if they discover no such
smell with the virtue of meet, they judge that dog to be of small
account and to have a poor and humble master, and therefore they
bite that dog as they would his master.
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| Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 (271 Views) | |
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| Monday, March 17th, 2008 (652 Views) | |
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| Sunday, March 16th, 2008 (270 Views) |  |
| http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/0...utrino-02.html
A brief summary of the short news article:
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Magnetic Gun Stops Teeny Bullets Mid-Air
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Researchers at the University of Texas-Austin have built a so-called coilgun that works in reverse, stopping atom- and molecule-sized bullets in flight. The research could eventually help measure the mass of one of the most elusive and ubiquitous particles in the universe, the neutrino.
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Here's how it works: The researchers trap particles from the air, store them in a tiny chamber, and release them in the direction of the gun. When a particle reaches the gun and encounters the coils, each coil's magnetic field progressively slows the particle down without touching it.
The coilgun brought atoms and molecules traveling at 500 meters per second (1,118 mph) to a compete stop.
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Been watching a lot of discovery/history lately particularly about things which are amazingly massive (space) and that of which is really tiny (molecules and atoms.) This just fit right in. Dont know how many of you watch many of those shows, but 'The Universe' ive found to be fairly interesting, if often times highly theoretical. | |
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| Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 (879 Views) | |
| Linked from a friend:
http://www.villagevoice.com/people/0...374057,24.html
Three coming-out stories.
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I'm a 16-year-old gay boy. I grew up in an evangelical Christian home. Being the intelligent chap I am, I forgot to clear the history off the computer after looking at pornography one day last October. I got yelled at until I cried that night, and again the next morning, and every day for two weeks. I wasn't allowed to use the computer for a year, and I was forced to attend church nightly.
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I'm pretty sure being told you're an abomination by your own parents ranks up there as one of the more difficult things to go through as a teen.
The second story quoted above is similiar to my experience, although my parents were far more level-headed and less throwy-breaky of things. My mom did completely destroy my room a couple times looking for gay-related paraphernalia, but at least she helped clean up afterward.
I'm glad my friend had an easier time than many do. Her family is exceptionally brilliant and amazing in every way, however, so it doesn't surprise me.
I think my own experience was far better than most queers who have fundamentalist Christian parents. It wasn't exactly fun, though :P
Putting up with their bullshit wasn't too hard. I just ignored them. I'd lived a fairly compartmentalized life up until then (and still kind of do today) so it wasn't a big deal. I think what hurt me the most was seeing how pained my parents looked whenever they told me I was going to Hell. How can you be mad at people who honestly think they're trying to help you?
I haven't talked to them for about five years now other than short, polite emails at Christmas. My mom's mailed me a couple times, probably without my dad knowing, since nothing I send them ever gets replied to. For some reason they also send me towels now for my birthday / Christmas. It must mean something to them, but fuck if I know what. I sent them towels last year. They said thanks.
Most people claim family are the most important relations in one's life. I envy that. For me, since I was 13 or so, friends have always come first.
At least I can be honest to them. | |
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| Friday, March 7th, 2008 (388 Views) | |
| http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...-792058.html#a
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A gay teenager who sought sanctuary in Britain when his boyfriend was executed by the Iranian authorities now faces the same fate after losing his legal battle for asylum.
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According to Iranian human rights campaigners, more than 4,000 gay men and lesbians have been executed since the Ayatollahs seized power in 1979.
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I've always been a fan of Manifest Destiny. I don't even think it applies solely to the US anymore, either; I think all first-world countries should endeavor toward it. Who wouldn't like to see a new British empire?
I'm all for keeping cultural heritages and identities even if I do seem a bit anti-Hispanic at times. But not when it infringes on basic human rights.
I'm sure more rational, saner people would propose we deal with things more diplomatically. You know, the whole dignity and respect thing. Not me. | |
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| Thursday, February 28th, 2008 (240 Views) | |
| http://www.mises.org/story/2261
Great article. Some of my favorite bits below:
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"Activists" don't see it that way. "You're stuck paying $20 a week, and by the time you're done paying for it, you've paid three times what it's worth," says East Side activist Michelle Johnson. "It's robbery." But that's also true in a sense for 30-year mortgages: by the time I'm finished making the payments on my house, I have paid far more than the house is "worth."
The point is that the house is "worth" more to me in the present than in the future. I suppose I could live in a hut somewhere while I save up the money to buy the house in cash, but it turns out I'm willing to pay extra – a lot extra – to live in a house right now rather than hut now, house later.
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I like the way economist David Henderson puts it: you don't help the poor by looking at their list of options and eliminating the one they actually chose.
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| Friday, February 22nd, 2008 (171 Views) | |
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| Monday, February 18th, 2008 (218 Views) |  |
| Some dude actually took the time to come up with this. Too much time on his hands? Probably. Fucking awesome?
Yes.
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| Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 (262 Views) | |
| http://news.filefront.com/wal-mart-c...m-rated-games/
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[Wal-Mart stores] will soon begin displaying “M” rated games in a black sleeve that obscures 3/4 of the game’s cover, much like adult magazines in many news shops.
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Here's a hint: Making things forbidden makes kids want them more, not less. | |
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| Saturday, February 9th, 2008 (236 Views) |  |
| http://thecontaminated.com/top-nine-...eapons-of-war/
odd site with some funny tid-bits:
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4. Anti-tank dogs:
Hungry dogs with explosives
Anti-tank dogs, also known as dog bombs or dog mines, were hungry dogs with explosives harnessed to their backs and trained to seek food under tanks and armoured vehicles. By doing so, a detonator (usually a small wooden lever) would go off, triggering the explosives and damaging or destroying the military vehicle.
The dogs were employed by the Soviet Union during World War II for use against German tanks. The dogs were kept without food for a few days, then trained to find food under a tank. The dogs quickly learned that once released from their pens, food could be found under tracked vehicles. Once trained, the dogs were fitted with an explosive charge and set loose into a field of oncoming German tanks and other tracked vehicles. When the dog went underneath the tank—where there was less armour—the charge would detonate and damage the enemy vehicle.
According to Soviet sources, the anti-tank dogs were successful at disabling a reported three hundred German tanks. They were enough of a problem to the Nazi advance that the Germans were compelled to take measures against them. An armoured vehicle’s top-mounted machine gun proved ineffective due to the relatively small size of the dogs and the fact that they were low to the ground, fast, and hard to spot. Orders were dispatched that commanded every German soldier to shoot any dogs on sight. Eventually the Germans began using tank-mounted flame-throwers to ward off the dogs. They were much more successful at dissuading the attacks, but some dogs would not stop.
In 1942, one use of the anti-tank dogs went seriously awry when a large contingent ran amok, endangering everyone in the battle and forcing the retreat of an entire Soviet division. Soon afterward the anti-tank dogs were withdrawn from service. Training of anti-tank dogs continued until at least June 1996.
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