Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
8.8-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Chile
Chile’s TVN cable news channel was reporting 122 deaths, with the toll expected to rise, as communications were still spotty around the center of quake, near the city of Concepción in the south. Chile President Michelle Bachelet declared a “state of catastrophe.”
The Associated Press quoted Mrs. Bachelet as saying that a huge wave had swept into a populated area in the Robinson Crusoe Islands, 410 miles off the Chilean coast, but there were no immediate reports of major damage there. Those reports bore out early fears that a major tsunami was on its way across the Pacific.
via
"Want to read this article? Then enter your password." by Charlie Brooker
In this age of rampant identity theft, where it's just a matter of time before someone works out a way to steal your reflection in the mirror and use it to commit serial bigamy in an alternate dimension, we're told only a maniac would use the same password for everything. But passwords used to be for speakeasy owners or spies. Once upon a time, you weren't the sort of person who had to commit hundreds of passwords to memory. Now you are. Part of your identity's been stolen anyway.
In the meantime: you need a new password. One as individual as a snowflake. And as beautiful, too. Having demanded a brand new password from you for the 28th time this month, His Lordship Your Computer proceeds to snootily critique your efforts. Certain attempts he will disqualify immediately, without even passing judgment. Less than six letters? No numbers? Access denied. This is a complex parlour game, OK? There are rules. So start again. And this time: no recognisable words. No punctuation marks. No hesitation, deviation or repetition. Go.
Pass the qualifying round and it gets worse. Most modern password entrance exams grade each entry as you type, presenting you with an instant one-word review of your efforts. Suppose you glance around your desk and pick the first thing you set eyes on, such as a blue pen. You begrudgingly shove a number on the end, creating the password "bluepen1". You submit this offering to the Digital Emperor, and he derides it as "Weak".
continue reading
In the meantime: you need a new password. One as individual as a snowflake. And as beautiful, too. Having demanded a brand new password from you for the 28th time this month, His Lordship Your Computer proceeds to snootily critique your efforts. Certain attempts he will disqualify immediately, without even passing judgment. Less than six letters? No numbers? Access denied. This is a complex parlour game, OK? There are rules. So start again. And this time: no recognisable words. No punctuation marks. No hesitation, deviation or repetition. Go.
Pass the qualifying round and it gets worse. Most modern password entrance exams grade each entry as you type, presenting you with an instant one-word review of your efforts. Suppose you glance around your desk and pick the first thing you set eyes on, such as a blue pen. You begrudgingly shove a number on the end, creating the password "bluepen1". You submit this offering to the Digital Emperor, and he derides it as "Weak".
continue reading
Museum of Evolution and Prehistoric Human Habitation "Hušnjakovo"
Krapina Man was a name given to the discovery of Neanderthals in Krapina in 1899. Despite the name, Krapina Man was not the discovery of one Neanderthal “man” but rather a population of over 75 Neanderthals individuals who died between the age of sixteen and twenty four. In total approximately 884 bones were discovered. This discovery was made by geologist, archaeologist and palaeontologist Dragutin Gorjanovic-Kramberger.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Lulu is the world's oldest canine
A Beagle cross named Lulu is the world's oldest dog after reaching the age of 147 - in dog years.
Her owner, Travis Buckly, 60, has credited the dog's longevity to it's diet of freshly cooked fillet steak, veal and sausages.
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Creative Underwater Paintings by Eric Zener
more here
Amazing images of lions by Greg du Toit
Wildlife photographer Greg du Toit was so determined to capture the perfect image of wild lions drinking he sat submerged in their watering hole for three months.
The defiant photographer had endured a year of failed attempts at getting the right picture after building hides and digging trenches near the animals' drinking spot.
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The Science of Hollywood Films: It's All in the Chaos Theory
Now we know why we fall asleep at the movies. It's the math.
A cognitive psychologist from Cornell University studied over 150 films from the past 70 years, shot by shot, to find out just what makes one a snoozer and another an edge-of-the seat thriller.
And the answer, says James Cutting, is neither Brad Pitt nor Halle Berry.
It's chaos theory.
"Sometimes I'll be watching a film, get halfway through it, and ask myself, 'Why am I watching this?' But I'm riveted to the screen, I can't tear my eyes away. It's because it's giving you the movie at a certain pace, and you find it very engaging."
Cutting studies film, art, and culture, not to mention the perception of motion and depth and the functional analyses of perceptual stimuli. He used the tools of modern perception research to deconstruct the pacing of 70 years of film.
He speculated that, like the golden ratio Renaissance painters and architects praised so highly, there may be a mathematics underlying filmmaking -- if not a formula for aesthetics, at least something that determines how much attention people pay to films.
And Cutting has found it in something called the 1/f pattern.
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Thursday, February 25, 2010
Jesus antelope
via
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
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Coffee
A blonde was recently hired at an office.
Her first task was to go out for coffee.
Eager to do well her first day on the job, she grabbed a large thermos and hurried to a nearby coffee shop.
She held up the thermos and the coffee shop worker quickly came over to take her order.
She asked, "Is this big enough to hold six cups of coffee?"
The coffee shop worker looked at the thermos, hesitated a few seconds, then finally replied, "Yeah. It looks like about six cups to me."
"Oh good!" the blonde sighed in relief.
"Then give me two regular, two black, and two decaf."
Her first task was to go out for coffee.
Eager to do well her first day on the job, she grabbed a large thermos and hurried to a nearby coffee shop.
She held up the thermos and the coffee shop worker quickly came over to take her order.
She asked, "Is this big enough to hold six cups of coffee?"
The coffee shop worker looked at the thermos, hesitated a few seconds, then finally replied, "Yeah. It looks like about six cups to me."
"Oh good!" the blonde sighed in relief.
"Then give me two regular, two black, and two decaf."
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