I mentioned Developing Intelligence the other day, so I thought I’d quote from there and hopefully spread a little knowledge around: Anyway, the Bennett point is simple: when you run a large number of statistical tests simultaneously, even on a random dataset, you’re bound to find some percentage of tests that turn up “significant” just [...]
From the always interesting The Awl: Because here’s the thing that we all know: just because you employ a ton of women (40%, they say!) on your staff doesn’t negate the possibility that the content of your show, and its public image—as in, who actually writes and says the words, who, in a word, are [...]
Today’s “quote of the day” is from an article someone on Twitter described as a poorly written attack on Gawker Media. I thought the piece made an important point about incentives in for-profit blogging. As of this writing, Carmon’s post has generated almost 1,000 comments and nearly 90,000 page views. It’s a prime example of [...]
Final thoughts: The Ghanaians are gutted, predictably. Gyan, who missed that penalty in extra-time, is distrought. I quite wanted Uruguay to win, to be honest, but in these circumstances? They have cheated their way to victory. Within the rules of the game we all love, but cheating all the same. Even more final thought: Boooooooooooooo! [...]
But we here at Woot are still a thoughtful company, so, at the end of the day, I watched the sunset, and its golden-hued glory made me think about two questions: 1) Is there really a universal deity? 2) Does such a thing preclude free will or are we humans in control of our own [...]
Even if you don’t find Starship Troopers as prescient as I do, the years have been kind to it, if only because it’s now removed from the context of whatever expectations people might have had for it at the time. It seems absurd now to write it off as some silly piece of escapism, as [...]
The Wikipedia definition of a line: In Euclidean geometry, a line is a straight curve. The Wikipedia definition of a curve: In mathematics, a curve is, generally speaking, an object similar to a straight line but which is not required to be straight.
History suggests that the road to a firm research consensus is extraordinarily arduous. –Thomas Kuhn Truth emerges more readily from error than from confusion. – Francis Bacon
From Neil Gaiman’s FAQ: Q. How can I get Neil Gaiman to make an appearance at my school/convention/event? A. Contact Lisa Bransdorf at the Greater Talent Network. Tell her you want Neil to appear somewhere. Have her tell you how much it costs. Have her say it again in case you misheard it the first [...]
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.