Cipolla’s famous stupidity theory: A person is stupid if they cause damage to another person or group of people without experiencing personal gain, or even worse causing damage to themselves in the process.
Month: June 2007
Voter Bias
bryan caplan identifies 4 biases that prompt voters systematically to demand policies that make them worse off. First, people do not understand how the pursuit of private profits often yields public benefits: they have an anti-market bias. Second, they underestimate the benefits of interactions with foreigners: they have an anti-foreign bias. Third, they equate prosperity with employment rather than production: Mr Caplan calls this the “make-work bias”. Finally, they tend to think economic conditions are worse than they are, a bias towards pessimism.
Subspace
Secure Cross Domain Communication for Web Mashups now that everyone is figuring out the same tricks, surely there must be a better way via WHATWG?
DIY Cyborg
how long before this stuff is on popular mechanic, make or the home improvement channel? due to tort laws in the us, i’d imagine we’ll see it in south korean lifestyle mags first.
Even if you live on a limited budget, you can try a few of the following ideas on for size. Who knows? You might decide that you enjoy being less human and more resistant to all the limitations that the flesh endures.
Institute For Figuring
At the core of the IFF’s work is the concept of material play. We believe that ideas usually presented in abstract terms can often be embodied in physical activities that engage audiences via kindergarten-like practices. Through activities such as cutting and folding paper, we affirm that the hands and eyes can serve as guides to developing the human mind. By inviting our audience to literally play with ideas, the IFF offers a new, hands-on approach to public science education that is at once intellectually rigorous, pedagogically rich, and aesthetically aware.
another math museum. why is this stuff in smarts-challenged LA and not in boston?
Televangelism
Watch Current.tv. On cable television or online. It’s like what The Daily Show would be if it were a 24-hour network and Jon Stewart didn’t always have to be funny. It’s like YouTube without the 99% crap. It’s like watching a Buddha Bar DJ surf the Web. It’s like MTV 20 years ago, but with more substance. I am a highly targeted TV watcher – I focus on movies and specific shows like Heroes, Lost, Frontline/World, and The Daily Show. I have never watched a channel as an entity, keeping it on to see what comes next. Until Current. It draws from the best, not the worst, qualities of our present (avoided the use of “current” there, yup) media era, and I can’t stop watching.
dream job? TV is very much dead to me, but this does sound intriguing.
Women of Wikipedia
off to a so-so start with ada lovelace (good!) and amy lee (please, no starlets).
Internet structure
3 distinct regions are apparent: an inner core of highly connected nodes, an outer periphery of isolated networks, and a mantle-like mass of peer-connected nodes.
Big Hand
When I viewed the new iPhone site something struck me: did Apple change the dimensions of the unit? A quick comparison of the official Apple photos revealed they’ve just changed handsize.
perception hacking
Second Earth
Mirror Worlds vs. Virtual Worlds – Second Life is fictional, whimsical, experimental. Google Earth is a reflection of the real world and will remain so in the future. In SL, you can make or do almost anything. GE is meant to be a platform for delivering geo-referenced information that is strictly relevant and useful (as well as fun) for our first lives.
next time jerry brings this up, i can ask “where is the code”?
Gregor J. Rothfuss 