July 2009
55 posts
Super Michael Jackson Bros. →
Kafkaesque conversation with Apple's App Store →
Riverturn’s VoiceCentral app had been available for several months on Apple’s iPhone App Store, but this week Apple removed it and all other apps that connect to Google Voice. Here’s the conversation Riverturn had with a representative from the App Store:
Richard: “I’m calling to let you know that VoiceCentral has been removed from the App Store because it duplicates features...
How Physicist Build a Bridge →
You start a bridge by sending a small piece of string across a chasm and then feeding it with thicker and thicker pieces of rope, and then construction materials. Physicists at Fermilab’s Wilson Hall had a clever way to do this:
Now they could call in a construction crew, build scaffolding up twenty stories and just connect the cable like that. Not pretty but it would get the job done....
Humans time blinks so they don't miss information →
From the Telegraph:
A study of eighteen volunteers found they synchronized their blinks while watching video clips taken from the comedy TV show Mr Bean.
But the same phenomenon did not occur when they viewed a background video or listened to an audio recording of a Harry Potter book.
Dr Tamami Nakano, of Tokyo University, said: “We seem to be unconsciously searching for a good...
Swinging your arms makes walking more efficient →
From the Independent:
The mystery of why people swing their arms while walking rather than holding them still and rigid like the famous silly walk of John Cleese in his Monty Python sketch appears to have been solved. An experiment involving making a group of volunteers take equally silly walks in a laboratory setting has confirmed that arm swinging makes walking more efficient and easier.
...
Not your standard way of starting a wedding →
Will Shortz explains how he puts together the NYT... →
One of his answers in a very interesting Q&A with NYT readers:
I receive 75-100 freelance crossword submissions a week, from which I select my favorites for publication in The Times. Some of the contributors are frequent, others not. Since the payment is modest ($200 for a weekday puzzle, $1,000 for a Sunday), most contributors make crosswords mainly for the pleasure of doing so and for...
A better way to harvest bone marrow →
(via GrrlScientist)
A software engineer on why he won't be going to... →
Mark Chu-Carroll’s amazing post:
As pretty much any reader of this blog who isn’t a total idiot must have figured out by now, I’m a geek. I have been since I was a kid. My dad taught me about bell curves and standard deviations when I was in third grade, and I thought it was pretty much the coolest damn thing I’d ever seen. That’s the kind of kid I was. I was also...
Going to Flour + Water for dinner tonight. Can’t wait. http://bit.ly/19f6UR
White girls doing Bill Cosby impressions vs Asians doing Christopher Walken. http://bit.ly/hBzHw vs http://bit.ly/7iuS
White Girls Doing Bill Cosby Impressions (and... →
and
(via Buzz Feed)
I rarely want to leave San Francisco, but Central Park in the summer sure sounds fun. http://bit.ly/LWljb
These hearings are completely worthless. It’s like listening to potheads discuss philosophy—sounds high-minded but illuminates nothing.
If summer’s got you down, make your own air conditioner. http://bit.ly/pCX4H
Are you in the UK? DM or e-mail me, would like to ask a quick favor. (farhad.manjoo@slate.com)
Just heard this for the first time: The Streets “Dry Your Eyes” is pretty great. http://bit.ly/BXoZr
Add a baby picture to your wallet to make sure... →
An experiment:
Hundreds of wallets were planted on the streets of Edinburgh by psychologists last year. Perhaps surprisingly, nearly half of the 240 wallets were posted back. But there was a twist.
Richard Wiseman, a psychologist, and his team inserted one of four photographs behind a clear plastic window inside, showing either a smiling baby, a cute puppy, a happy family or a contented...
Wikipedia debates showing the world Rorschach... →
Editors on Wikipedia are in a battle over whether to post the famous what-do-you-see-here inkblot tests. The argument against: If everyone sees them, the test will no longer be effective.
I got Spotify to work for me in the US. I don’t hear any ads. Am I supposed to? What am I missing?
How to get people to follow you on Twitter →
This guy tried out several different ways to ask people on his site to follow him on Twitter. The most effective: “You should follow me on Twitter.”
State Dept. staffer asks Hillary Clinton why the department doesn’t use Firefox. Turns out it’s too expensive! http://bit.ly/5eX2W
State Department workers want Firefox! →
At a Q&A session with State Department staffers, someone asks Hillary Clinton why the department doesn’t use Firefox. Turns out the free program is too expensive!
MS. GREENBERG: Okay. Our next question comes from Jim Finkle:
Can you please let the staff use an alternative web browser called Firefox? I just – (applause) – I just moved to the State Department from the National...
Sotomayor defends her nunchuck ban. I hope Michelangelo doesn’t get wind of this. http://bit.ly/7q0N6 (Yes, I mean the Ninja Turtle.)
Bittman calls this “possibly” the best pea soup recipe. I disagree. It is the best. Make it tonight. http://bit.ly/vvE0k
If you’re near the Ferry Building in SF, @dcpatterson is giving out free lunch at the new Cane Rosso.
Cats control humans with high pitched purr-cries →
Researchers at the University of Sussex played back different kinds of cat cries to human subjects, some of whom didn’t own cats. They found that a particular kind of cat meow—” a purr mixed with a high-pitched cry,” as LiveScience describes it—was very difficult for people to ignore:
They found that humans, even if they had never had a cat themselves, judged the...
Down with Verdana! My story on Typekit and terrible Web typography. http://bit.ly/U53kR
My awesome Restoration Hardware decorative American Flag and Declaration of Independence cushions got delivered today. http://bit.ly/7bXjS
Thanks for the links, @bryanmason and @veen — and thanks for chatting with me!
I’ve raised the hackles of a lot of Linux fans with my five reasons why the Google OS is doomed. http://bit.ly/LZVkc
RT @LordOfTheTweet: “Soylent Green is manufactured in a facility that processes eggs, wheat and tree nuts.” #1stdraftmovielines
SlateV on how to save newspapers: Buy One Anyway! For the price of a cup of coffee, you can help feed a reporter! http://bit.ly/3wHUhv
I can’t get enough of the Vitamin String Quartet’s version of Sweet Child O Mine. Better link: http://bit.ly/zz7rq (Thanks to Kevin on FB)
I can’t get enough of the Vitamin String Quartet’s version of Sweet Child O Mine. http://bit.ly/IP8fn
Should you buy a dot-whatever domain name? No, I say — URLS aren’t very important anymore. http://bit.ly/xPE30
Is your Twitter avatar still green? Did you change it back? How did you make that decision?
Researchers: Social Security Numbers Can Be... →
From the WaPo:
The researchers at Carnegie Mellon set out to see if they could discover people’s numbers by first exploiting what is publicly known about how the numbers are derived.
The Social Security number’s first three digits — called the “area number” — is issued according to the Zip code of the mailing address provided in the application form....
I made @101Cookbooks vegetarian chili the other day. Delicious, and such a huge portion I’ve still got some for lunch. http://bit.ly/86fqP
Hey, are you your company’s “social media” maven? I’d like to chat with you about your job.
Wife of MI6 chief blows cover on Facebook — exposes where they live and all their friends. http://bit.ly/5ri1K
How To Take Ritalin Correctly →
A psychiatrist explains the correct way to use drugs like ritalin as stimulants:
Let’s conceptualize how these drugs work. Imagine getting a brain scan while you are performing a task. The parts of your brain you are using for the task will light up, brighter than those you aren’t using.
Now you drink coffee (1). The whole brain lights up brighter, proportionally.
Now...
Yay — Indian Court legalizes gay, as American Apparel would say. http://bit.ly/Qkb8s
The Best World Of Warcraft Freak Out →
(Via Buzz Feed.)
Hitler Finds Out Michael Jackson Has Died →
(Via Buzz Feed.)
Thanks to everyone for tips on single-themed blogs like This is Why You’re Fat. Here’s my story: http://bit.ly/JbNVQ
RT @Slate: Video of Jackson rehearsing two days before his death http://tr.im/qFly — I like the part with the MLK Jr speech.
Finally, a connection between The Office and Michael Jackson: Bubbles once bit a hole in Rashida Jones’ hand. http://bit.ly/xMLZS
For when fans of The Wire get lonely: Dominic West reads from Pride and Prejudice. http://bit.ly/Bl9cM (via @alexkoppelman)
I love Mark Bittman, but he almost gave people botulism! http://bit.ly/7fjmt