On =, +, – and many Z’s.

May 29, 2009
On =, +, – and many Z’s.

Robert Recorde is as famous for being a Welshman who actually invented something useful, as he is for his invention. His greatest gift appears to have been the equals sign: …to avoid the tedious repetition of these words: “is equal to”, I will set (as I do often in work use) a pair of...
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The Female Orgasm

May 28, 2009

I don’t want to be purposefully controversial, but I find it incredible (though totally believable) how sexism must still be rife in science and research. We’re still asking what – these days – are very basic questions about female physiology. Why? Because men still rule in science. “The dispute raises an intriguing question. In...
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Twitter, Prediction Markets and Profits

May 26, 2009

According to Wikipedia, Prediction Markets are “speculative markets created for the purpose of making predictions. Assets are created whose final cash value is tied to a particular event (e.g. will the next US president be a Republican) or parameter (e.g. total sales next quarter). The current market prices can then be interpreted as predictions of...
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The Mechanical Turk

May 11, 2009

Link: The Mechanical Turk The True Story of the 18th Century Chess-Playing Machine (‘Automata’) that Fooled the World.
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Neave Strobe …like dropping acid, but not

May 10, 2009

Link: Neave Strobe …like dropping acid, but not Stare at the animation for 20 seconds, then look away – the world will seem to throb. I like these – even trivial – things that connect the web to the real world.
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