So you like games, huh?

OK, one more then. This one is seriously addictive though. Share your scores in the comments if you like! (Some may like one of the older versions better which are still available on the page.)

This Is the Only Level

15 minutes of platforming, puzzling fun. (Well, 17:48 for me… I should’ve used the pause button to think.)

Video Lectures

Videolectures.net provides an excellent selection of (who would’ve thought) video lectures, mainly (but not exclusively) about computer science topics, especially machine learning and related fields. The best feature is the presentation of the slides alongside the actual video, which focuses on the professor. Good audio quality in the videos I’ve seen; highly recommended.

Edge Foundation

What is the Edge Foundation? Their website is neither one of the humblest nor one of the clearest.

“Edge Foundation, Inc., was established in 1988 as an outgrowth of a group known as The Reality Club. Its informal membership includes of some of the most interesting minds in the world.

The mandate of Edge Foundation is to promote inquiry into and discussion of intellectual, philosophical, artistic, and literary issues, as well as to work for the intellectual and social achievement of society.”

Sounds like your regular old delusional internet mumbo-jumbo with a cultish flavour. But after taking a look at some photos of their events on this page, the name-dropping alone makes you curious. And the quotes in the left column of this page got me reading the right column as well, in which John Brockman explains his vision of a Third Culture of openminded, communicating, somewhat adventurous scientists and intellectuals.

I don’t really know what to think of it yet – but I strongly recommend having a look at http://www.edge.org/ and subscribing to their weekly EdgeEditions. It’s an interesting read at the very least.

When Zombies Attack!

Okay, this is my last post about zombies. I promise*.

If anyone was wondering why exactly this blogger’s going to be a scientist, check this out.

“Zombies are a popular figure in pop culture/entertainment and they are usually portrayed as being brought about through an outbreak or epidemic. Consequently, we model a zombie attack, using biological assumptions based on popular zombie movies. We introduce a basic model for zombie infection, determine equilibria and their stability, and illustrate the outcome with numerical solutions. We then refine the model to introduce a latent period of zombification, whereby humans are infected, but not infectious, before becoming undead. We then modify the model to include the effects of possible quarantine or a cure. Finally, we examine the impact of regular, impulsive reductions in the number of zombies and derive conditions under which eradication can occur. We show that only quick, aggressive attacks can stave off the doomsday scenario: the collapse of society as zombies overtake us all.”

Published in: Infectious Disease Modelling Research Progress, Editors: J.M. Tchuenche and C. Chiyaka, pp. 133-150, ISBN 978-1-60741-347-9.

*lie

TV-B-Gone DIY

“Tired of all those LCD TVs everywhere?
Want a break from advertisements while you’re trying to eat?
Want to zap screens from across the street?

The TV-B-Gone kit is what you need! This ultra-high-power, open source kit version of the popular TV-B-Gone is fun to make and even more fun to use. This version can be used in both “North American/Asia” as well as “Europe/UK” areas (basically, the whole world)!

This kit comes unassembled with all parts necessary. Tools and batteries are not included. This is a very simple kit and great for people who have never soldered anything before.”

Also great for people who can run really fast, in case there was a soccer game on. In case you didn’t quite get it yet: This thing allows you to turn off other people’s (primarily public) TV sets. It’s ideally suited for all kinds of environmental de-noisification shenanigans.

Rotten Tomatoes

District 9 is out, and this is what meta-critic-site rottentomatoes.com has to say:

“The summer movie season may be winding down, but it still has some thrills in store. Exhibit A: District 9, a sci-fi/action flick that critics say is uncommonly thoughtful – and intense. Set in an alternate-reality South Africa, District 9 is the story of a group of aliens who have been quarantined and victimized by prejudice and hatred from human oppressors. But why? It turns out the aliens have something the humans want to get their hands on – weapons of war. The pundits say District 9 is both a potent allegory and an exhilarating action film, with outstanding performances and an uneasy sense of reality. District 9 isn’t just Certified Fresh, it’s also one of the best-reviewed wide releases of the year.”

Rating across critics: 93%

It follows:

1) rottentomatoes is awesome, I use it every day to plan my TV watching (that is, my TV recording for watching when I’m retired or something)

2) Go see District 9.

The American Day

Doesn’t look like much work at first, but then again it includes the unemployed and people not in the labor force. Use the buttons to filter for age, gender, race, education, employment and family size. [Source: United States Department of Labor, American Time Use Survey]

Unidentified Sounds

“Slow Down is a sound recorded on May 19, 1997, in the Equatorial Pacific ocean by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The source of the sound remains unknown. The name was given because the sound slowly decreases in frequency over about 7 minutes. The sound was detected at 15°S 115°W / 15°S 115°W / -15; -115. It was recorded using an autonomous hydrophone array.” [Wikipedia]

“The Bloop is the name given to an ultra-low frequency underwater sound detected by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration several times during the summer of 1997. The source of the sound remains unknown. The sound, traced to somewhere around 50° S 100° W (South American southwest coast), was detected repeatedly by the Equatorial Pacific Ocean autonomous hydrophone array, which uses U.S. Navy equipment originally designed to detect Soviet submarines. According to the NOAA description, it “rises rapidly in frequency over about one minute and was of sufficient amplitude to be heard on multiple sensors, at a range of over 5,000 km.” According to scientists who have studied the phenomenon it matches the audio profile of a living creature but there is no known animal that could have produced the sound. If the sound did come from an animal, it would reportedly have to be several times the size of the largest known animal on Earth, the Blue Whale.” [Wikipedia]

This is the Bloop in real time.

Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.

TrueSkill

The guys at Microsoft Research Cambridge developed a Bayesian skill rating system to ensure that people on Xbox Live can be matched with players of comparable strength. Then they decided to apply it to something interesting.

“Based on these models we present an analysis of the skill curves of
important players in the history of chess over the past 150 years. Results include plots of players’ lifetime skill development as well as the ability to compare the skills of different players across time.”