From the category archives:

General

Green shoots?

May 22, 2009

With all this "green shoots" talk, I almost forgot that R sent me this picture: I think it speaks for itself.

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It is not only possible - it is essential!

May 3, 2009

It has just come to my attention that the most highly rated comedy on Rotten Tomatoes is Dr. Strangelove. Stanley Kubrick's dark comedy about the Cold War shouldn't be missed by anyone. Therefore, as a public service (and thanks to the magic of the internet), I present the Peter Sellers extravaganza in its entirety. Please enjoy [...]

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Touché.

April 27, 2009

I have been doing some research on text analysis, in particular on extracting sentiment in the absence of context (a la Twitter). Among all the theory, I came across the following joke which I think really captures the complexity of any natural language processing (not that it prevents us from trying): A linguistics professor was [...]

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Cars burn at this spot

April 25, 2009

The research of Nobel prize winning professors Kahneman and Tversky is among my favorites, and Haaretz has published an article littered with excellent anecdotes tying their findings back to familiar situations. I particularly enjoyed this one, regarding the security we find in perceived aid, even if the aid itself is worthless: It concerns a group of [...]

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Fire safety

April 21, 2009

Via Modern Mechanix.

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BMW: Checkmate

April 17, 2009

Amazing ads in Santa Monica, as a sign for the new Audi A4 is countered by BMW's new M3:

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Stop Motion with Wolf and Pig

April 15, 2009

Creative use of stopaction photography:

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Presidents vs Pirates

April 15, 2009

Two excellent graphs making the rounds - the first showing Obama the Pirate-Slayer: And the second with historical context (that being the First and Second Barbary Wars):

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Pardon our dust

April 6, 2009

Some things are changing around here, as they do every couple months when I get bored of looking at the same layout. There may be a little transition trouble; please let me know in the comments if you see anything suspicious!

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The Mountain Cleaners

April 2, 2009

Switzerland is running an ad campaign with the tagline "We do whatever it takes to make your vacation perfect." This accompanying video is excellent:

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I'll have a carbonated beverage, please

March 27, 2009

Anyone who has visited the South has probably heard a conversation like this: Waitress: What would you like to drink? Southerner: I'll have a coke. Waitress: What kind of coke? Southerner: I'll have a Coke. And after this bizarre back and forth, the waitress goes off and comes back with (surprise!) a Coke. Like this: But [...]

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Now departing from platform 9 3/4

March 27, 2009

From the Freakonomics Blog: You might have learned about the hidden elves of Iceland if you read the Michael Lewis article we blogged about recently. (Note: for Icelandic pushback to Lewis’s colorful tales, see here.) The Icelandic government apparently takes these elves very seriously, and often requires that new construction sites be certified as clear of elves before building [...]

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InfoGraphics in motion

March 26, 2009

One of my favorite music videos is Royskopp's Remind Me, because of it's cleverly informative visual style, not unlike an animated airplane safety card or pictograph instruction pamphlet: Recently, a student named Tomas Nilsson has reinterpreted the classic story of Little Red Riding Hood in similar fashion: In fact, the style bears some resemblance to the Microsoft [...]

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Extreme Sheepherding

March 18, 2009

This is awesome. Take some Welshmen, some sheep, some LED's and a camera and you get: (Via swissmiss / Cultural Fuel)

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Correlation

March 11, 2009

Statistics humor: (xkcd via AK's tumblelog)

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Better late than never

March 4, 2009

This is the one they meant to make 7 years ago: Casting Out Devils, BMW’s 7 Becomes More Heavenly.

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The Japanese Office

March 3, 2009

Amazingness for any Office fans, probably just a bit weird for anyone else:

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Is TV getting LOST?

March 1, 2009

The NYT has an interesting roundtable up on whether network television has a future. One interesting comment was on the power of characters vs gimmicks: Some worry that the big network shows aren’t developing great characters that will last. I’m not so sure about that. “Lost,” when you get right down to it, is a [...]

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Piso Mojado

January 6, 2009

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"Skewered. One sympathizes."

April 22, 2008

The Aston Martin featured in the new 007 movie was driven off a cliff and into Lake Garda on Saturday morning. Great, except it wasn't a stunt... the driver had an accident while delivering the car to the set. Apparently it was the only car available for the film, and at £120,000 (~$240,000 USD) I'm [...]

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Sort of like a global afikoman

April 22, 2008

First it was the Tam Tams. Then it was margarine. Now the matzah is missing? On a not entirely unrelated note, this morning I tried to make cereal with matzah farfel, milk, cinnamon and sugar. It was not good.

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The M is dead, long live the M

April 17, 2008

This weekend's drive has driven home the realization that my car is gone. (Assuming I even can drive with my knee shot to hell. Squash is a bloodsport dressed up with golf claps and lets. But I digress.) But I won't go on moping about it because a) the new car in the stable is [...]

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Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated

April 14, 2008

Apparently there are enough people reading this that I've actually managed to disappoint some of you with my recent silence. A select few have been angered to the point of threats, which, while flattering in its own way, is just a little overenthusiastic. Moreover, I'll disregard for the moment your suspicious concentration in Greenwich. Needless [...]

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Let them eat matzah

March 28, 2008

From what has to be one of the strangest (and yes, saddest) stories in today's NYTimes: Why is this Passover different from all other Passovers — or at least the last 68 of them? No Tam Tams. It’s true. Manischewitz, which manufactures the bite-size matzos, says it has temporarily stopped making them at its plant [...]

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The Most Important News You Will See Today

March 22, 2008

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For my next trick...

February 20, 2008

The mercury sensation (that's sweeping this part of the nation), is forcing me to find alternatives to my standby, the spicy tuna roll. For example, after squash tonight I called up Shinju - my tiny, local, amazing but inexpensive sushi spot - and included in my order a spicy scallop roll which, I happen to [...]

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Wotcher, Hermione

February 14, 2008

While I was waiting for my pupils to dialate and leave me about as happy outdoors as one of those things in I Am Legend, I wandered into the frames shop and put on a pair of round glasses. The girl behind the counter looked up and said "'Ello, 'Arry." I am not making this [...]

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Blink.

February 14, 2008

This afternoon I had the dubious pleasure of getting my eyes checked. (This story will probably be more interesting if I reveal that I have an eye phobia.) Everything started well enough -- the doctor's office was just a couple blocks away, and after a short wait I was told the doctor was ready. I [...]

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And now for something completely different

February 3, 2008

So I'm starting to get comfortable with this blog business, though I need to learn some CSS quickly to build a better theme... Basically there are a few things I want to put here: Articles I want to share, comment on or otherwise disparage. Quotes I want to share, comment on or otherwise disparage. Anything [...]

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