http://urbanastronomer.blogspot.com/2014/08/jupiter-venus-conjunction-closest.html
Oooh….Can I bring myself to wake up at 5am on Monday? (Probably not. Chances are it'll be overcast anyway. But it sounds awesome…)
Category: Facebook
“So what’s in those nearly 1.1 million public comments? A lot of mentions of…
“So what's in those nearly 1.1 million public comments? A lot of mentions of the F word, according to a TechCrunch analysis. But now, we have a fuller picture. The San Francisco data analysis firm Quid looked beyond keywords to find the sentiment and arguments in those public comments.”
A stark reminder that local conditions, remote conditions, and overall averages are not the
A stark reminder that local conditions, remote conditions, and overall averages are not the same thing.
The way Facebook chooses what to show you…
https://medium.com/message/ferguson-is-also-a-net-neutrality-issue-6d2f3db51eb0
Lately I’ve been reading a lot about the way Facebook chooses what to show you and what to hide in your news feed. Like the author of this piece, last night I also noticed a Twitter/Facebook disparity on #Ferguson discussion. It’s an object lesson on the difference between unfiltered news vs. prefiltered, even when the filtering is automated and not deliberate.
(Interestingly, I kept thinking last night about an article I read a while back about the Gezi protests in Turkey, and how Twitter factored in as a communications platform. It turns out to have been by the same writer.)
This would fall under “reuse,” right?
This would fall under “reuse,” right?
Recycled Smartphones Used To Save the Rainforests
Researchers at London Zoo are leading a pioneering project that uses recycled smartphones to make listening devices to protect some of the world’s most endangered rainforest animals from illegal loggers and poachers.
Hyperbole and a Half describes what it’s like to be in the depths of depression…
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2013/05/depression-part-two.html
Hyperbole and a Half describes what it’s like to be in the depths of depression, with the usual crude drawings and (yes) humor. The bit that always sticks in my mind is the metaphor of trying to explain the problem with her fish, but no one seems to get it.
Interesting experiment on what “Like” does to your Facebook feed…and to your friends’ feeds….
Interesting experiment on what “Like” does to your Facebook feed…and to your friends’ feeds. Always remember that it’s not just an isolated statement, it’s input for Facebook’s recommendation engine: Not only does it impact what goes into your news feed, it impacts what you actually *see* of your news feed.
Pluto and Charon orbiting each other
New Horizons Sees Pluto and Charon in Motion!
The thumbnail keeps picking up the wrong image, but what's cool is we now have a series of photos that show Pluto and Charon orbiting each other. Follow the link for an animated version. (Cue Jonathan Coulton.)
The article is disappointingly light, but I love the headline.
Cars May Think, But Will They Achieve Artificial Stupidity?
Would we even want a machine that emulated the typical driver’s strengths—and weaknesses?
The article is disappointingly light, but I love the headline.
Interesting comparison: left-wing distrust of GMOs as a technology and right-wing denial of climate change
https://www.vox.com/2014/8/1/5954701/neil-degrasse-tyson-gmos-dangerous-safe
Interesting comparison: left-wing distrust of GMOs as a technology (rather than as an excuse for predatory business practices) and right-wing denial of climate change are both cases in which people reject the scientific consensus in favor of a political one…but while the right wing embraces this rejection to the point that it’s practically required for a Republican politician to deny climate change in order to get elected, the left wing establishment is less willing to throw science under the bus. “Bad Astronomer” Phil Plait has often made similar comparisons between climate change denial as a mainstream part of the Republican platform and the antivaccination movement as a fringe part of the left wing.
Huh. I’ve never encountered issues with pepper before, of any kind, though I definitely
Huh. I’ve never encountered issues with pepper before, of any kind, though I definitely have problems with cashews. Another reason to always be prepared.
So lying on the couch makes my headache worse, but sitting and staring at a…
So lying on the couch makes my headache worse, but sitting and staring at a computer screen for hours makes it better. Counterintuitive, but fits if I managed to strain my neck sometime since the initial onset over the weekend.
Looks like I won’t make it to the reunion after all. Last minute emergency. Have fun, everyone!
Looks like I won’t make it to the reunion after all. Last minute emergency. Have fun, everyone!
Apparently I’ve added a new spot to my San Diego regular itinerary. Not what I
Apparently I've added a new spot to my San Diego regular itinerary. Not what I would have chosen.
I remember being both impressed and disturbed at how easy Chromecast was to set up
I remember being both impressed and disturbed at how easy Chromecast was to set up.
“Rickmote” box Rickrolls Chromecast, forcibly earworms hapless victims
Chromecast is very user friendly, Petro says, which translates, in security researcher terms, into ‘oh, goodie’:
“It just kind of like automagically works, which from a user’s perspective is totally awesome. And it is really is amazing easy to set up, which usually means amazingly insecure.”
“…a grim picture of a world not long ago where it wasn’t unusual for…
“…a grim picture of a world not long ago where it wasn’t unusual for children and adults to die from polio and other diseases, a reality people today are spared thanks to decades of universal immunization against these plagues.”
Having grown up in California during the 1980s, I can’t imagine NOT turning the water off while I brush my teeth.
Having grown up in California during the 1980s, I can’t imagine NOT turning the water off while I brush my teeth. OK, I can imagine it, but it’s like chewing on aluminum foil while reading an article entirely written in Comic Sans in white type on a light gray background with terrible spelling, grammar, and a complete disconnect from reality, while listening to Wolverine scrape his claws against a chalkboard.
Found at https://wateruseitwisely.com/tips/category/bathroom/
Has it really been more than 10 years since this essay about the structure…
Has it really been more than 10 years since this essay about the structure of the internet? The key idea is that the internet, at its heart, is only about moving data from one place to another. And because that's all it does, anyone can come up with any kind of service to build on it. Building preferential treatment into the system, as the cable companies want to do, undermines that potential.
Having killed a jade plant by giving it too much water…yeah.
Having killed a jade plant by giving it too much water*…yeah. There's no sense in wasting water AND killing your plants.
Found at https://wateruseitwisely.com/tips/category/landscape/
*To be fair, the plant also went through a termite tenting. I took cuttings rather than try to transplant the whole thing, and the cuttings are all still just fine. I'd put more blame on the tenting if the original plant hadn't hung on for another 7-8 months.
Having been a teenage geek in the 1990s, the phrase “AD&D coverage” always makes me…
Having been a teenage geek in the 1990s, the phrase “AD&D coverage” always makes me think of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, not Accidental Death & Dismemberment. Though depending on your DM and how the dice are rolling that day, there might be some overlap.