Varifocal Glasses

barackobama: Because we live in the future, the White House is...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:44:25 -0400

Because we live in the future, the White House is doing a fancy enhanced live feed of the State of the Union tonight and we’re able to embed it here so you can watch it directly on Tumblr. Enjoy, and let us know what you think of the president’s speech.

Photo

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:44:15 -0400

Felix: The @felixsalmon - @johngapper NYT paywall bet

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:44:06 -0400

Felix: The @felixsalmon - @johngapper NYT paywall bet:

felixsalmon:

(Edited in response to John’s comments.)

The number we’re looking at is total paid digital subscribers to the NYT — not including print subscribers or people who get their digital subscription for free through some promotion. We’ll look at whatever public statement the NYT makes about that number…

felixsalmon: Email du jour: Nate Nickerson can help facilitate meetings between members of the...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:43:56 -0400

felixsalmon:

Email du jour:

Nate Nickerson can help facilitate meetings between members of the media at the World Economic Forum and MIT faculty. Please contact Nate in advance, if possible, or on the ground at Davos. The one exception is that media interested in Sir Tim Berners-Lee should contact Celebrity Speakers Associates.

"Start by chopping the bacon and putting it in a pan, perhaps with a little olive oil if the bacon..."

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:43:47 -0400

“Start by chopping the bacon and putting it in a pan, perhaps with a little olive oil if the bacon isn’t super-fatty. While it’s cooking you can also add other red meats like beef or venison and let it all brown together. When the bacon and meat is crispy to your liking, add the pre-cooked sprouts, along with any other veggies you may have cooked them with. Some people like their sprouts lightly cooked, others like them “cooked senseless,” as advice columnist Amy Alkon advised me to do. When the sprouts are done, add some minced garlic. Stir fry for a minute, deglaze with a shot of bourbon if you have it, and turn off the heat. (That bourbon shot is a secret trick, by the way. From hunting camp. Share it wisely.) Season with black pepper and hot sauce, and add the above dressing of vinegar, soy sauce, and olive oil. Toss the sprouts to maximize their uptake of dressing. Add the meaty, greasy sprouts to your salad, or pop them straight into your mouth.”

- In Defense of the Brussels Sprout - Ari LeVaux - Health - The Atlantic

This.
(via felixsalmon)

"2 — The number of strips of bacon a person has to eat every day to see a 19 percent rise in the risk..."

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:43:38 -0400

“2 — The number of strips of bacon a person has to eat every day to see a 19 percent rise in the risk for pancreatic cancer. That’s about 50 grams of processed meat. Source: “Pancreatic Cancer Risk Increases With Every 2 Strips of Bacon You Eat: Study,” CBS.”

- Vital Signs: The Man With 2 Hearts; Painkiller Addictions; Eating Bacon - Nicholas Jackson - Health - The Atlantic

OK, this gets headlines. BUT IT IS WRONG. The “19% rise” thing is ever so impressive, but if you read the article, it turns out to correspond to a 0.00002641% increase in your lifetime chance of getting pancreatic cancer. If you’re a man. If you’re a woman, it’s even lower.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that a single metastudy of 6,000 pancreatic cancer patients can’t possibly identify probabilities that small with any accuracy. And that if you tried to replicate this result somehow, you would fail. Not that anybody will.
(via felixsalmon)

"In fact, the chance that what you are reporting is bogus is much higher than the 5% you so..."

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:43:27 -0400

“In fact, the chance that what you are reporting is bogus is much higher than the 5% you so cheerfully claimed with your poignant asterisk. Because journals will only publish novel, interesting findings – and therefore researchers only bother to write up seemingly intriguing counterintuitive findings – the chance that what they eventually are publishing is BS unwittingly is vast.”

- Why you really can’t trust any of the research you read « StrategyProfs.net (via felixsalmon)

"A member of Gagosian staff tells me that the key paintings which correlate specific colours with..."

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:43:19 -0400

“A member of Gagosian staff tells me that the key paintings which correlate specific colours with letters of the alphabet are the start of a game: if you look at each painting carefully, a sequence of colours will reveal a hidden word, and if you get the word first you win a spot painting.”

- ArtSlant - Damien Hirst: The Complete Spot II

What?? OK people, let’s crowdsource this
(via felixsalmon)

felixsalmon: Yes, it’s real.

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:43:07 -0400

felixsalmon:

Yes, it’s real.

Felix: Here’s why I’m so angry at Julie Moos’s unjustifiable attack on Jim...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:42:51 -0400

Felix: Here’s why I’m so angry at Julie Moos’s unjustifiable attack on Jim...:

felixsalmon:

Here’s why I’m so angry at Julie Moos’s unjustifiable attack on Jim Romenesko: the way that she’s so fucking certain that she’s right and he’s wrong, and the way that she hammers this home over and over again:

I now know that Jim Romenesko’s posts exhibit a pattern of incomplete attribution…

felixsalmon: (via Language Log » Annals of airport...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:42:39 -0400

felixsalmon:

(via Language Log » Annals of airport Chinglish, part 3)

Someone, please, set up a simple website where Chinese companies can input whatever language they want, and then helpful English-speakers can provide a comprehensible translation, mechanical-Turk style but for free. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours for the translation to iterate with some clever wiki to something almost perfect, and in no case would you end up with something worse than this.

Point being, the people who made this sign put effort into creating the English translation. If there were a website which was easier to use than what they’re using right now, wouldn’t we all win?

"Do I want the future of education to be tied to Stanford, Harvard, etc.? Absolutely not. I want to..."

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:42:29 -0400

“Do I want the future of education to be tied to Stanford, Harvard, etc.? Absolutely not. I want to see educational disintermediation, in which students and teachers connect directly. With disintermediation, we will need new ways to identify quality teachers and successful students. Just as on the Internet search engines needed to figure out how to identify quality web sites and online market sites needed to figure out how to identify quality sellers. Let’s develop new reputation systems for new teaching methods, rather than try to bolt the old Ivy League brands on to educational innovation.”

- Educational Disintermediation, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty (via felixsalmon)

cbenjamin: keepsdiary: joy-joyous: Badass motherfucker of the...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:42:16 -0400

cbenjamin:

keepsdiary:

joy-joyous:

Badass motherfucker of the century.

THIS KID GIVES ME HOPE.

What the fuck kind of school bans The Qu’ran… AND The Divine Comedy? Also, if your school bans Animal Farm they are more than likely trying to brainwash you.

vimeobuzz: Time Magazine 50 Best Websites 2010 Vimeo is the...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:42:03 -0400

vimeobuzz:

Time Magazine 50 Best Websites 2010

Vimeo is the video-streaming service of choice for creative types — the indie darling to YouTube’s blockbuster. For casual viewers, Vimeo is the place for shorter, artsier clips. Search for “President” and you’ll find yourself watching a humorous animated pop-up book that catalogs George W. Bush’s presidency. Enter the same term into YouTube and you’ll find relevant music videos and old news clips. See the difference? The site recently announced a new embeddable HTML5 player, compatible with Apple devices that don’t support Flash, and a new Vimeo channel for Roku set-top boxes that streams staff picks as well as your account’s queue straight to your TV.

vimeobuzz: CNET: “Along with the new player, Vimeo quietly...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:41:55 -0400

vimeobuzz:

CNET: “Along with the new player, Vimeo quietly rolled out a new feature called ‘Watch Later’ that allows users to bookmark videos to watch at a later date. This differs from the service’s like button, which would share your video preferences with other users, and instead keeps bookmarked videos in a private playlist.”

Vimeo's Video School - Technorati.com

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:41:47 -0400

Vimeo's Video School - Technorati.com:

vimeobuzz:

“I’m a big fan of the video community Vimeo. It’s sort of the independent version of YouTube. They recently launched a video school that shows users how to shoot good video.”

vimeobuzz: Video site Vimeo debuts iPhone app - CNN.com “We’ve...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:41:40 -0400

vimeobuzz:

Video site Vimeo debuts iPhone app - CNN.com

“We’ve been working on it for a really long time,” Pile said. “It’s definitely the most full featured video-editing app out there for the price.”

7 YouTube Alternatives and Why They Make Sense - Mashable.com

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:41:29 -0400

7 YouTube Alternatives and Why They Make Sense - Mashable.com:

vimeobuzz:

What it is: Vimeo is the artsy cousin of YouTube. Home to many creative-types, Vimeo users usually aim for high-quality content over fails or cat clips.

Features: It comes with the standard suite, plus the ability to create and share videos to groups or channels. There’s also a video school to help you make better videos. A pro account will let you bump up your weekly upload capacity from 500 MB to 5 GB with unlimited HD uploads.

Why Vimeo?: It’s a solid platform if you feel more serious about video as creative outlet or are just looking for a more constructive community (i.e. less trolls, more feedback).

vimeobuzz: “By having a video editing feature on board, Vimeo...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:41:17 -0400

vimeobuzz:

“By having a video editing feature on board, Vimeo is sorta sticking to their guns. They still don’t want your “oh I pulled out my iPhone at a party” videos, they want to encourage people to take time in creating something worth watching.”

cbsfilms: BEASTLY fans rejoice! The film will now open wide on...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:41:08 -0400

cbsfilms:

BEASTLY fans rejoice! The film will now open wide on March 4, 2011!