Have you ever had that thing. That mental blank where you can’t remember what word you’re after but can remember how to describe it. Of course you have. Well, the Reverse Dictionary is here to save the day. Just type your description and away it goes. Pretty useful. I was looking for something like this a while ago – it’s like a thesaurus, only with multiple input fields.
Nerd theology
Kevin Kelly is the founder of Wired Magazine. As far as nerds go, he’s pretty cool. He wrote an interesting little piece on “nerd theology”
It’s worth a read if you’re a nerd, and at all interested in God.
His basic premise is this:
“We investigate the nature of intelligence, not by probing human heads, but by creating artificial intelligences. We seek truth not in what we find, but in what we can create. We have become mini-gods. And thus we seek God by creating gods.”
If you’re not a nerd – or at all interested I’d stop reading there – because this gets kind of confusing. But is also kind of interesting…
In nerd terms, god is a being function. We could write it like this:
Let g (god)=? s (initial nothing state) -> sl (something state)
Or g=? s -> slNow the universe we humans occupy is sl We are inhabitants of the something state produced by some god function. Christians like myself see a recursive nature in God. God (g), the creator created humans in his image, and so we too are creators. We can be designated as gl .
By means of our technology, we are becoming derivative gods ourselves. We are making our own tiny somethings out of nothing. True, our nothings are not as nothing as the nothing we came from, but we are getting better at starting from scratch, and producing more elaborative creations once we start creating. Our godhood could be described like this:
gl = ? sl -> s2
That is, we derivative gods began in a made world and created a second-order something.
Those somethings might have once been astoundingly realistic paintings, or perhaps a marble statue of a hero, or more recently a VR world crowded with fantastical creatures.Someday, not too far away, we will create a creature (a robot) with its own mind (yes, a different mind) and its own free will that is capable of taking the next step and creating its own creation. In other words our little man will, like us, make its own little man or its own made-up world.
Magical Mystery Cure
Another shared item from Dan. This story from the SMH.
AUSTRALIA urgently needs a national screening policy for Down syndrome, experts say, after international research showed it could halve the number of babies born with the incurable genetic condition.
So how does testing produce such amazing results?
Access to the four tests that help detect if a foetus has Down syndrome varies widely between states, urban and rural areas, and public and private patients, leading to stark differences in birth and termination rates.
Amazing. The miracles of modern technology.
Potty potty putter idea
I’ve posted some stupid products lately. I don’t know why. They’re just indicative of what’s been tickling my fancy. But today I’m plumbing new depths. With this. The potty golf set. That’s right. Make Christmas special this year with this easy to assemble toilet golf putter game. It fits snuggly against the base of the loo – allowing you to putt while you do your business.
Double space
Dan just shared an article on the one space v two debate via google reader that had me scratching my head. I completely forgot that once upon a time a new sentence required two spaces. Seems I’m ahead of the curve on this debate. I can’t even remember the last time I double spaced. Does anyone out there still do that?
10,000 Hours
10,000 hours. 416 and two third days. That’s how long it takes to become prodigiously good at whatever it is you do. Malcolm Gladwell, who wrote tipping point
I plan to get a hold of it for some light holiday reading – but in the meantime there’s this idea in there that I found quite interesting. Here’s a review on the chapter in question from the simple dollar (which is a pretty useful blog in its own right).
The 10,000 Hour Rule
Here, Gladwell continues with the birthdate theme, but argues that sometimes the year is important. Gladwell gives two examples: the generation of “robber barons” (Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller, and so on) who were all born in the 1830s, and the generation of computer entrepreneurs (Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and so on) who were all born in the 1950s. Sometimes, it requires being born in a certain period to have the opportunity for exceptionalism.
The more important (and interesting) part of the chapter, though, discusses the huge role that nearly-obsessive practice plays in making people great. Gladwell uses The Beatles and Bill Gates as examples here, showing how they both were able to take advantage of stupendous amounts of practice time to become very, very good at what they did. In each case, Gladwell estimated that it took 10,000 hours of practice for those individuals to hone their natural raw talents and become world class – roughly ten years of multiple hours of practice (3 or so on average) every single day. Gladwell offers many other examples of how this practice pays off, but that magic number of 10,000 hours pops up again and again.
I’m not sure I’ve spent 10,000 hours on anything. And I’m not sure what I’d like to spend 10,000 hours on. Any ideas?
Super Super Mario Kart Video
Remi Gaillard is a French prankster with some form for this sort of thing.
Lost in space
If your investment banker was spending an inordinate amount of money on three trips to space in the middle of a “global economic crisis” would you change banks? His name is Per Wimmer, he’s lined up to be the first space tourist. He runs an investment bank.
From his own website – which one can only assume is autobiographical:
In brief, Per Wimmer is a global financier, an entrepreneur, an adventurer, a pioneer and a philanthropist – or, as a commentator has argued, a true “Indiana Jones meets 007 James Bond.”
Yeah, I’d trust a renaissance man like that with my money. If I was a fictional character. Seriously, fiscal responsibility is the new black. Opulence is out. That’s why, in Townsville I’d choose these guys – who have the worst ads and uniforms in the region, over these guys who spent last year building an extravagant office space – and losing their over leveraged clients an average of 17%.
Your mum, popular on Facebook
Facebook has a tool called “Lexicon” that allows you to track the popularity of any word or phrase used on user’s walls. “Your mum“, not surprisingly, is quite popular – but spiked dramatically on the first of September. It will be much more useful when the switch is made to the “New Lexicon” where you’ll be able to dig a little deeper into the data.
iPhone killer
This must surely be a joke. If not, the Pomegranate NS08 is the iPhone killer. It comes with an in built coffee brewer. Based loosely on the “pod” concept this phone has an in built mechanism to suck up water and push it through a pod holding section of the device. It’s also an electric razor. Their website is worryingly well made and convincing. But it’s got to be a joke right? I’m pretty sure it is. But the site is worth a look.
The in-built harmonica is the giveaway really. And the accompanying video.
New Bretton Woods
From XKCD…
I like the new google reader l…
I like the new google reader layout. In fact I like most of the things about google reader. I’m turning into a regular google fan boy.
Espressions
I’ve been trying really hard to drink “spro” a couple of mornings a week I’ll forego my second milk based coffee* for a short black – an unadorned shot of espresso**. This morning, we had no milk, so to stave off coffee deprivation headaches, Robyn and I both had to drink a straight shot.
If you haven’t tried it – a shot of coffee by itself can taste exceptionally bitter – it’s a taste that requires acquiring. Like beer. Or wine. Or cheese. Essentially like anything good. Coffee flavours can be just as nuanced as the aforementioned delicacies.
A good shot of espresso contains “crema”- best defined as a layer of reddish brown coffee oils that sits on top of the shot.
This crema is vital to a characteristic known as “body”- the viscosity of the shot. Coffee tastes best when it has body.
Crema tastes terrible. On it’s own it is completely bitter. But without it the coffee flavour disappears in milk.
I’ve been reading a couple of blogs offering solutions to this problem. This guy, Kiril, tried filtering the Crema with the following findings:
The conclusion that I have established indicated that the main characters of espresso (with crema) will carry out through filtration. In this instant the distinct chocolate note was very much present although the overall espresso lacked body. I personally prefer the espresso for what it is today a smooth, creamy, well balanced drink and all those aspects are tied in by ONE essential ingredient, crema. I also found that filtered espresso is good for picking out the main flavours and raw (bold) character out of the bean to more accurately describe its main taste.
He also reported on a separate experiment conducted by the “coffee collective” where the crema was removed,
A nice reddish brown crema on the espresso of course signals correct preperation but… have you ever tasted the crema itself?!? To us it seems to be kind of dry and bitter!
Try to take some crema with a spoon from the top of a good espressoshot and taste it!
After having tried this we sometimes skim the crema of the espresso right before drinking the espresso using two small spoons. This seemes to give a more clean and less bitter cup which is finishing of extremly soft. On the down side the cup also looses some body. But it is definitely a good way to drink coffee if you wan’t it to be soft and intense!
Kiril tried his own experiment pulling the shot onto a broader area.
Today I have been extracting into a shallow plate, the results are staggering. I encourage you to try this. As the coffee falls onto a shallow surface the espresso evenly mixes and slowly spreads out on a plate. As a result you get a well-balanced, clean “plate” of coffee.
This was his finding:
The way the coffee falls and mixes (especially in early stages of extraction) is absolutely vital, I will dedicate some time into exploring different surfaces for coffee to fall into and document my results.
A meet the press pot interview with barista Andy Schecter suggested stirring the shot as a solution to the bitter crema problem.
Speaking of espresso, a colleague of mine has said recently that she has a theory: “Crema is disgusting.” I wanted to hear what you think of that theory. How do you feel about crema?
“…You know, crema is part of what makes espresso espresso. It helps deliver some of the fragrance to your nasal passages, and so much of what we know of as flavor is delivered through our sense of smell. Espresso without crema is not really espresso. I am baffled as to exactly what is disgusting about it.
Well, I think she’s exaggerating to prove a point, that crema is overpowering and strong, and can be quite different from the rest of the drink’s body, that maybe it detracts from what would otherwise be a more balanced taste experience. I mean, there are people who refuse to so much as jostle their cup, let alone stir a shot, but it’s true that that first crema-full sip can be quite pungent.
I started stirring my espresso sometime last year because there was a post by Pete Licata where he talked about blending it all together. I always stir now. I find that it does bring more of a balance. But I know some people like to do one layer at a time, they like the taste to evolve in that way. Mostly I like to stir it up and get the total taste, “What is this espresso like?”
* not a “cuppocino” – cappuccino doesn’t even mean “cup of cino” it is derived from the Italian word for hood because the coffee is essentially hooded with froth. “muggacino” is equally flaed and stupid.
** definitely not “expresso”
Rules of Engagement
Somehow our generic work address was added to the Citizen’s Electoral Council spam list. They send out conspiracy theories media releases on world events. I’ve never seen any picked up anywhere – except perhaps in their own newsletters, and in blogs mocking them.
PR rule number one – if you saturate the market with inane media releases you kill your credibility. It’s a “boy who cried wolf” situation – nobody will ever take you seriously if you comment on everything without having established credibility first.
Commenting on everything is a legitimate strategy – but only if a) you’re running for office, b) you’re not a loony, or c) you’re saying something about something that people vaguely care about.
Today’s CEC missive is about the Mumbai terrorist attacks. It wasn’t Pakistan. It wasn’t Islamic militants. It was the British.
“On Nov. 28 Lyndon LaRouche stated that it is absolutely clear that the British are behind the terror attack in Mumbai‚ India. Early press reports originating in India indicated that at least two of the terrorists captured alive by Indian security forces‚ and possibly several in total‚ were British-born Pakistanis. LaRouche commented that this phenomenon is suggestively similar to the number of Saudis who were involved in the 9/11 attacks in the United States in 2001.”
Comparisons to 9/11 must surely be the new Godwin’s Law. In fact, 92 articles on the CEC website mention Hitler. They’ve jumped the Godwin shark.
PR rule number 2 – don’t mention Hitler or 9/11 in your articles if you want to be credible.
The Citizen’s Electoral Council get their inspiration from perennial American presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche.
His Wikipedia bio says:
“There are sharply contrasting views of LaRouche. His supporters regard him as a brilliant and original thinker, whereas critics variously see him as a conspiracy theorist, an anti-Semite, a fascist or neo-fascist, and the leader of a political cult. The Heritage Foundation has said that he “leads what may well be one of the strangest political groups in American history.”[2][3] In 1984, LaRouche’s research staff was described by Norman Bailey, a former senior staffer of the National Security Council, as “one of the best private intelligence services in the world.” In 2008, Russian economist Stanislav Menshikov described LaRouche as being “among those few economists who look at the root causes, and therefore see what others cannot see.”
One of the CEC’s big pushes is to introduce a new financial world order – based on the failed Bretton Woods System.
The chief features of the Bretton Woods system were an obligation for each country to adopt a monetary policy that maintained the exchange rate of its currency within a fixed value—plus or minus one percent—in terms of gold and the ability of the IMF to bridge temporary imbalances of payments. In the face of increasing strain, the system collapsed in 1971, following the United States‘ suspension of convertibility from dollars to gold. This created the unique situation whereby the United States dollar became the “reserve currency” for the nation-states which had signed the agreement.
Here are some recent highlights. These are from a recent email titled “Religious Right swaps neo-con crusade for global warming crusade”
“The Flagellants whipped each other to atone for their sins, calling on the populace to repent,” Mr Isherwood said. “Today, we have the Global Warmers whipping our sick economy to death, even during the worst financial crash since the 14th Century! How insane can you get?”“As Executive Intelligence Review magazine has documented, the Religious Right is financed by huge sums of government money laundered through ‘faith-based initiatives,’ with which it has engaged in extensive social engineering to shape elections, etc.”
“Financier Maurice Strong, the Secretary General of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, laid out the real intent behind the financial oligarchy’s crusade on global warming in his query: ‘Isn’t the only hope for the planet that the industrialised civilisations collapse? Isn’t it our responsibility to bring that about?’
“What we have here, is a financial oligarchy which intends to destroy the economy via draconian measures—such as shutting down farming in the Murray-Darling Basin—to stop a problem which doesn’t exist in the first place, the pre-calculable effects of which will be genocide. Does that count as a sin in Rev. Cizik’s bible?”
And this one ominously titled “Rudd be warned — only LaRouche’s ‘New Bretton Woods’ will avert a dark age”:
“Kevin Rudd had better support Lyndon LaRouche’s prescribed New Bretton Woods measures at the G-20 conference on 15th November in Washington D.C., or he’ll be guilty of contributing to the collapse of Australia, and the world, into a dark age,” CEC National Secretary Craig Isherwood declared today.“If Rudd intends, as it appears, to support Gordon Brown’s British imperial scam to empower the IMF as a world financial dictatorship, but exempt from regulation the largely-British offshore tax havens and their associated hedge funds and derivatives—the cancer of the financial system—it will be a betrayal of Australia’s true interests, to further the City of London’s.”
PR Rule number 3 – Don’t be crazy.
All sorts of awesome
The whole Pirate v Ninja debate just doesn’t do it for me. It just doesn’t make any sense. What can a pirate possibly bring to the party? Nothing. That’s right. Ninjas are a black wrapped package of awesome. And now, you can ninjafi your fridge with these shuriken magnets. Just $19US a pair, plus postage… that’s a lot to pay for a set of magnets…
