| Large Hadron Collider |
[Dec. 26th, 2007|06:39 pm] |
I don't know about you, but I'm ready for the Large Hadron Collider to be fired up already, if only because I'm sick of every single science article ending with, "But we don't know.... we'll have to wait and see what the LHC tells us!" |
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| Misc |
[Dec. 23rd, 2007|01:31 pm] |
I've been in Moscow for the past week for this Google Code Day [video], giving a talk on social graph / interop stuff ("Открытие Социального Графа"). It was a public talk, so I should be able to post the slides, but I'll wait and confirm before I do.
Went to SUP's holiday party too. [some pics] But I guess those pics don't really highlight the ridiculousness of the venue. All the nightclubs here are pretty extravagantly ridiculous. But there was no George Clooney or Gwenth Paltrow in a cage. (love that article: you don't often see the phrase, "We OWN you, bitches!" in a printed newspaper with your breakfast, hotel restaurant windows looking out to St. Basil's in the Kremlin...)
I just got a call from the hotel receptionist saying that my driver was here. My driver? What? Oh, my flight was originally today, so probably my return taxi to the airport, but I'm returning now instead on Tuesday (yes, flying all day xmas). But even so, a driver at 13:30 would be way too late to get to the airport. I ask the receptionist to point him out or describe him. She's flustered, trying to explain that he's black. (Black people are incredibly rare here.) Went out, found him, and after a confusing conversation, turns out that not only was he going to the wrong airport (Domodedovo, not Sheremetyevo), but he was supposed to be driving Boy George, not me. Wtf? I can only imagine the confusion at the receptionist's desk that she called me down to "my driver" instead of Boy George.
Anyway, Moscow is great, as always. I love this city. One warning, though: when a relatively large Russian guy with the nickname "Wolf" wants to drink whiskey with you, politely decline.
Speaking of wolves, apparently a wolf boy is loose in Moscow. Wtf.
Newly discovered funny blog from article above: Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears.
Unrelated misc links:
- 2007 OpenID wrapup
- Who mattered in 2007 -- apparently I matter, and I'm an introvert. Several of my friends matter too. Love the insular valley. Reminds me of the directed graph I saw recently with two nodes labeled "Blog" with two edges pointing at each other. Yay! :)
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| Hee |
[Dec. 21st, 2007|05:30 pm] |
From this flying car article:....
The Transition isn't so much a car you can fly but an airplane you can drive, and it is meant to be an alternative to driving for trips between 100 and 500 miles.
....
The airplane will cruise at 115 mph and have a range of about 460 miles. Surely won't be replacing my 480 mile trips. |
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| Genomic Sequencing! |
[Nov. 16th, 2007|05:01 pm] |
The future has finally arrived. No flying cars yet, but this company will decode (part of) your genome for $985:
http://www.decodeme.com/
Articles:
http://www.forbes.com/business/2007/11/16/personal-genome-services-tech-cx_rl_1116decode.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/16/science/17gene.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Hell yes.
(Although there's some nonsense about part of the website being unavailable to individuals in certain US States, including California, but I'm sure there's a work-around....)Some states have laws that do not permit their residents to obtain certain information regarding genetic risk provided by the Genetic Scans. (As of the date of publication of this Service Agreement those states are Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Wyoming.) Therefore the Genetic Scan may omit certain information where it is provided to a resident of states where providing such information is restricted. |
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| Neat |
[Sep. 19th, 2007|06:24 pm] |
This article reminds me of the beginning of Inherit the Stars, one of my favorite books. I love it when then-futuristic technology becomes just, uh... not futuristic. :-) |
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| The CIA and Buffy |
[Aug. 14th, 2007|10:48 am] |
If you haven't seen this linked just about everywhere, check it out:
http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/
... 35 million wikipedia edits, all indexed by IP address, so you can see which organizations are making which edits.
For instance, it's good to know that somebody within the CIA is editing the article about the musical episode of Buffy, "Once More, with Feeling". Their contribution?*Buffy sings, "I've got a theory, it doesn't matter" but then quickly adds "as long as we're together," revealing both the depression and the (revealed in this episode) cause. |
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| Poor Decisions |
[May. 1st, 2006|07:11 pm] |
"Hey ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) whitaker, it's such a nice day out... wanna go with me to get a carwash at lunch and eat at a nearby deli, somewhere we don't normally go?"
"Yeah, that sounds cool."
[drive to carwash, nice, nice....]
[eat, dope sandwich, nice nice.....]
[drive back .....
 
WTF?]
Apparently a Day Without Immigrants means a day of city-wide gridlock. Open the borders! |
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| More money |
[Mar. 15th, 2006|11:32 pm] |
Six Apart just got more money:
bling
So somebody read that and asked me, "Uh, so why is Intel investing? Are you going to get two blogs if you have a Core Duo?"
heh. |
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| Foot, meter? eh, same thing. |
[Mar. 11th, 2006|11:10 am] |
I'm reading a (paper) article about the new Mars probe. The article starts by describing all the failures of previous Mars missions, highlighting especially the one where the metric/imperial units were messed up. But then the article goes on to say of the current mission:
... powerful camera, blah blah, imaging items as small as one meter .....
Then,
... unusual resolution and clarity, blah blah, imaging items as small as one foot across .....
*sigh* |
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| uh huh: AI and banner ads |
[Dec. 3rd, 2005|01:38 pm] |
So this company claims they've invented the world's "First True Artificial Intelligence" and then goes on to say that advertising is in its product roadmap....GTX Global Corporation (GTXC) (OTC: GTXC.PK - News), a leading provider of innovative IP multimedia technologies that enable profitable IP communications today announced that GTX Global Corporation has developed the first true artificial intelligence, so named Cognitive Robotics(TM), or more particularly, a human-like information management and delivery system.
....
"GTX Global Cognitive Robotics(TM) product schedule includes interactive banner advertising utilizing... Uh-huh.
That's like saying, "We've invented a cheap, safe car that runs on water, and also flies, but our actual business model is creating 2" large plastic replicas for sale in McDonald's Happy Meals."
*yawn* |
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| best wall ever |
[Nov. 3rd, 2005|11:52 am] |
Where can one buy such a wall?
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1596810.html.....
A Dutch designer has created a wall of fake breasts to help male shoppers buy bras that fit their wives or girlfriends.
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"Most men have a selective memory," she explained. "They know all about their car, but never seem to know their wife's bra size.
....
"When trying to buy a sexy bra for their wife or girlfriend, usually they point to other women in the shop or, when asked about size, they say a 'handful'."
....
The wall consists of rows of silicon breasts in all sizes. By look and touch, male shoppers can work out the right size, she says. |
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