I seem to be a verb - posts tagged 'learn'

Richard Feynman not explaining why magnets work.

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:57:14 GMT

Richard Feynman not explaining why magnets work.

Dimensions is a BBC site that "takes important places, events and things, and...

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 02:05:29 GMT

Dimensions is a BBC site that "takes important places, events and things, and overlays them onto a map of where you are." – Check out Burning Man or The Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch compared to Vienna. Very cool!

Understanding and Applying Operational Transformation

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 02:57:18 GMT

http://www.codecommit.com/blog/java/understanding-and-applying-operational-transformation

Memory Colors: A fascinating blog post on color correction in movies. See als...

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:22:39 GMT

Memory Colors: A fascinating blog post on color correction in movies. See also this rant.

W3C Requirements for Japanese Text Layout: More fascinating details on Japane...

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 06:13:32 GMT

W3C Requirements for Japanese Text Layout: More fascinating details on Japanese typesetting than you ever wanted to know.

[Reposted from fyi]

"Most fascinating is a feature that would make any journalist tremble. Tuyuca ..."

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:26:31 GMT

"Most fascinating is a feature that would make any journalist tremble. Tuyuca requires verb-endings on statements to show how the speaker knows something. Diga ape-wi means that “the boy played soccer (I know because I saw him)”, while diga ape-hiyi means “the boy played soccer (I assume)”. English can provide such information, but for Tuyuca that is an obligatory ending on the verb. Evidential languages force speakers to think hard about how they learned what they say they know."

–What Is the Most Complex Language in the World? – Neatorama

[Reposted from hairinmy]

" !Xóõ, spoken by just a few thousand, mostly in Botswana, has a blistering..."

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 13:24:47 GMT

" !Xóõ, spoken by just a few thousand, mostly in Botswana, has a blistering array of unusual sounds. Its vowels include plain, pharyngealised, strident and breathy, and they carry four tones. It has five basic clicks and 17 accompanying ones. The leading expert on the !Xóõ, Tony Traill, developed a lump on his larynx from learning to make their sounds. Further research showed that adult !Xóõ-speakers had the same lump (children had not developed it yet)."

–Economist.com: In search of the world's hardest language

"Gene variants generally considered misfortunes (poor Jim, he got the “bad” ge..."

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:25:00 GMT

"Gene variants generally considered misfortunes (poor Jim, he got the “bad” gene) can instead now be understood as highly leveraged evolutionary bets, with both high risks and high potential rewards. ... [T]he children who suffer most from bad environments also profit the most from good ones."

–The Science of Success – The Atlantic

Language Learning with Livemocha

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:10:04 GMT

free courses in 30 different languges

http://www.livemocha.com/

Why Your Friends Have More Friends Than You Do | Psychology Today

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:48:09 GMT

(It's because "you are more likely to be friends with someone who has more friends than with someone who has fewer friends.")

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/200911/why-your-friends-have-more-friends-you-do

On Girls, Boys, and IT Careers

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:56:53 GMT

On Girls, Boys, and IT Careers
Google TechTalk by Dr. Cornelia Brunner (59:00)

Butch vs. femme ways of thinking about tech, and what the difference means for IT education: "[Currently we're focused on] finding the girls who are interested to think in butch ways [...] and making them feel comfortable in [the butch IT] world. The missing piece is inducting femme thinkers into this universe."

"Schulden können zwar den einzelnen Schuldner ins Elend treiben, aber auf eine..."

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:34:30 GMT

"Schulden können zwar den einzelnen Schuldner ins Elend treiben, aber auf einer allgemeineren, systemischen Ebene machen Schulden nicht arm, sondern reich. Schon für den „ehrbaren Kaufmann", erst recht für den Industriellen, und ganz gewiss für ganze Gesellschaften gilt: Man kann sich nicht reich sparen, man kann sich nur reich investieren. ... Hätten die Menschen nicht begonnen über ihre Verhältnisse zu leben, würden wir immer noch in weit ärmeren Verhältnissen leben."

–Erlöse uns von unseren Schulden! - Robert Misik

Median voter theory - Wikipedia

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 04:26:04 GMT

"in a majority election, if voter policy preferences can be represented as a point along a single dimension ... and if there are only two politicians, then the politicians ... should both commit to the policy position preferred by the median voter." (ie, the same exact position)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_voter_theorem

Robert Misik über das Ausländerproblem – Bin normalerweise kein Fan von seine...

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 22:00:12 GMT

Robert Misik über das Ausländerproblem – Bin normalerweise kein Fan von seinen Videocasts, aber diese Ausgabe ist gut, differenziert, inspirierend.

"Environmentalists [can be seen as] being split into three groups: Light green..."

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 03:06:58 GMT

"Environmentalists [can be seen as] being split into three groups:

Light greens see protecting the environment first and foremost as a personal responsibility. ... They often focus on environmentalism as a lifestyle choice.

Dark greens believe that environmental problems are an inherent part of industrialized capitalism, and seek radical political change.

Bright greens believe that radical changes are needed in the economic and political operation of society in order to make it sustainable, but that better designs, new technologies and more widely distributed social innovations are the means to make those changes - and that society can neither shop nor protest its way to sustainability."

–Bright green environmentalism - Wikipedia

To what degree are these types reflected in, say, the Austrian Green party?

The Principles of Extropy

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 02:36:48 GMT

Perpetual Progress
Seeking more intelligence, wisdom, and effectiveness, an open-ended lifespan, and the removal of political, cultural, biological, and psychological limits to continuing development. Perpetually overcoming constraints on our progress and possibilities as individuals, as organizations, and as a species. Growing in healthy directions without bound.
Self-Transformation
Affirming continual ethical, intellectual, and physical self-improvement, through critical and creative thinking, perpetual learning, personal responsibility, proactivity, and experimentation. Using technology — in the widest sense to seek physiological and neurological augmentation along with emotional and psychological refinement.
Practical Optimism
Fueling action with positive expectations – individuals and organizations being tirelessly proactive. Adopting a rational, action-based optimism or "proaction", in place of both blind faith and stagnant pessimism.
Intelligent Technology
Designing and managing technologies not as ends in themselves but as effective means for improving life. Applying science and technology creatively and courageously to transcend "natural" but harmful, confining qualities derived from our biological heritage, culture, and environment.
Open Society - information and democracy
Supporting social orders that foster freedom of communication, freedom of action, experimentation, innovation, questioning, and learning. Opposing authoritarian social control and unnecessary hierarchy and favoring the rule of law and decentralization of power and responsibility. Preferring bargaining over battling, exchange over extortion, and communication over compulsion.
Self-Direction
Valuing independent thinking, individual freedom, personal responsibility, self-direction, self-respect, and a parallel respect for others.
Rational Thinking
Favoring reason over blind faith and questioning over dogma. Understanding, experimenting, learning, challenging, and innovating rather than clinging to beliefs.

Bevölkerungswissenschaftler Herwig Birg im Interview

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:05:08 GMT

über die schrumpfene Bevölkerung in europäischen Ländern, deren wirtschaftliche Auswirkungen und die daraus resultierende Verschiebung von weltpolitischen Kraftverhältnissen, Zuwanderung & Integration, und den Vorschlag der Bevorzugung von Bürgern mit Kindern im Sozialsystem und der Arbeitswelt.
Differenziert, teils provokativ, auf jeden Fall sehr interessant.

http://derstandard.at/fs/1246542002266/Interview-Die-68er-haben-das-bis-heute-nicht-kapiert

"Feeling sleepy? That’s because parts of your brain are actually asleep ... Sl..."

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:27:23 GMT

"Feeling sleepy? That’s because parts of your brain are actually asleep ... Sleep creeps up on you as independent groups of brain cells become fatigued and switch into a sleep state even while you are still (mostly) awake."

–Newswise Science News

"What we are experiencing is not a crisis of capitalism. It is a crisis of fin..."

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 13:15:28 GMT

"What we are experiencing is not a crisis of capitalism. It is a crisis of finance [over-leverage], of democracy [unwillingness to enact short-term pain for long-term gain], of globalization [national politics vs. global economy] and ultimately of ethics."

–Zakaria: A Capitalist Manifesto | Newsweek.com

Fußgängerzone, Aufzug, Flughafen

Wed, 27 May 2009 13:12:42 GMT

über das merkwürdige Verhalten von Menschen auf engem Raum - Leben in der Masse - sueddeutsche.de

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/O5E38f/2907725/Leben-in-der-Masse.html

[Reposted from konnex]

Fourth Spatial Dimension 101

Tue, 26 May 2009 07:25:48 GMT

Fourth Spatial Dimension 101

[Reposted from sofias via oneup]

"How much stress we experience depends more on how well we control attenti..."

Fri, 22 May 2009 03:31:42 GMT

"How much stress we experience depends more on how well we control attention than on what happens to us."

–Psychology Today: Finding flow

"We can be happy experiencing the passive pleasure of a rested body, warm ..."

Thu, 21 May 2009 23:10:14 GMT

"We can be happy experiencing the passive pleasure of a rested body, warm sunshine, or the contentment of a serene relationship, but this kind of happiness is dependent on favorable external circumstances. The happiness that follows flow is of our own making, and it leads to increasing complexity and growth in consciousness."

–Psychology Today: Finding flow

Did pirates really say "Arrrr"?

Thu, 21 May 2009 00:44:35 GMT

http://www.slate.com/id/2167567/?GT1=10135

"The skillful management of attention is the sine qua non of the good life and..."

Mon, 11 May 2009 12:50:28 GMT

"The skillful management of attention is the sine qua non of the good life and the key to improving virtually every aspect of your experience, from mood to productivity to relationships."

–Salon.com Books | Why can't we concentrate?
Note to self: Pay more attention to what you pay attention to.

bestposts

Mythen über Migration

Wed, 06 May 2009 22:01:19 GMT

(ORF ON Science)

http://science.orf.at/science/news/155609

Ephemeralization - Wikipedia

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:20:25 GMT

Coined by R. Buckminster Fuller. Refers to the ability of technological advancement to do "more and more with less and less until eventually you can do everything with nothing."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephemeralization

"When a lifetime of intellectual labor and study came up against a moment of e..."

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 19:01:28 GMT

"When a lifetime of intellectual labor and study came up against a moment of emotional engagement, emotion won, in a rout."

–The Failure of #amazonfail « Clay Shirky

"As long as managers are paid a percentage for managing other people's money, ..."

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:59:14 GMT

"As long as managers are paid a percentage for managing other people's money, they will compete with each other based on the returns they appear to generate. The pressure to create out-sized returns will eventually force them to invent the latest complex scheme which will have the same effect: eventually the investors lose it all."

–Semyon: The real cause of the financial crisis
Insightful.

"The technology stock bubble inflated in the late 1990s and collapsed in the e..."

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 01:42:02 GMT

"The technology stock bubble inflated in the late 1990s and collapsed in the early 2000s without devastating the economy. Why was that? Mainly because there wasn't much debt involved. Very few people had borrowed money with Pets.com shares as a collateral."

–The Curious Capitalist - TIME.com

Evolution of Life in 60 Seconds by Claire L. Evans via Seed Magazine bestposts

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:58:28 GMT

[Reposted from fragmad via antifuchs]

Evolution of Life in 60 Seconds by Claire L. Evans via Seed Magazine

bestposts

Startups in 13 Sentences

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:15:41 GMT

Pick good cofounders / Launch fast / Let your ideas evolve / Understand your users / Better to make a few users love you than a lot ambivalent / Surprisingly good customer service / You make what you measure / Spend little / Get ramen profitable / Avoid distractions / Don't get demoralized / Don't give up / Deals fall through

bestposts

http://www.paulgraham.com/13sentences.html

Overcoming Bias: You Are Not Hiring the Top 1%

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 04:11:36 GMT

Statistical fallacy: The sample of people applying to your job/sending manuscripts to your publisher/applying to your educational program/applying for your grant/wanting to date you is likely biased towards the incompetent – because they apply at many more places, as well as more frequently.

http://www.overcomingbias.com/2007/03/you_are_not_hir.html

Capital flows and the financial crisis – The Economist

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:07:34 GMT

"The deep causes of the financial crisis lie in global imbalances—mainly, America’s huge current-account deficit and China’s huge surplus."

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12972083

lie-behind-the-lie-detector.pdf

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:16:42 GMT

Fascinating in-depth description of polygraph tests as administered by US law enforcement and government agencies

The EURion constellation is a pattern more or less hidden on almost all moder...

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 10:03:14 GMT

The EURion constellation is a pattern more or less hidden on almost all modern banknotes across the world, used to help prevent counterfeiting.