| (no subject) |
[Jul. 6th, 2009|12:04 am] |
| [ | music |
| | The Polyphonic Spree - Section 12 (Hold Me Now) | ] |
For any Shirt.Woot fans, it's Bag of Shirt day again. Always right around holidays, eh? |
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| 5,852? |
[Jul. 5th, 2009|06:47 pm] |
Only 1,697 entered Day 1C today. That's slightly more than I projected, and brings the three-day total to 3,686. If 3,000 entered tomorrow (the maximum) the total would be 6,686. So we're guaranteed a decrease from 2008 and likely a decrease from 2007. Anyway, here are the numbers:
Day 1A: 1,287 (2007) vs. 1,297 (2008) vs. 1,116 (2009)
Day 1B: 1,541 (2007) vs. 1,158 (2008) vs. 873 (2009)
Day 1C: 1,743 (2007) vs. 1,928 (2008) vs. 1,697 (2009)
Day 1D: 1,787 (2007) vs. 2,461 (2008) vs. ?,??? (2009)
Total: 2007: 6,358 vs. 2008: 6,844 vs. 2009 ?,???.
I originally projected 6,300. Based on the current slippage the number now projects to 5,852. They'll have to do better than last year to reach my original projection. |
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| and it feels like... |
[Jul. 5th, 2009|07:01 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Aphex Twin - Delphium | ] |
A new episode of the podcast is up and at 'em.
The Plan: Get a famous listener to link to us. The most famous people I know are Peter Hughes and Marcus Striplin and Bret Egner. This plan is probably doomed to failure.
Listeners called out: Ren, Donald, Jeremiah, Shae, mystery listener, mystery listener #2, Andrew Andrew Andrew, Scott, Audra, Darci, Leonardo DiCaprio. |
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| WHAT?! JULY 5th?! |
[Jul. 5th, 2009|04:09 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Olive Oil - champion style | ] |
Yes, I have my windows open today, and the screen door to the porch. It rained this morning before I woke (and lightly after I woke) and it feels excellent outside. Not muggy, just cool (for a Texas summer - 81 degrees, maybe) and damp.
I say, if it rains more:
Open the windows
and let the rain come inside
and relax a while |
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| It certainly does suck |
[Jul. 5th, 2009|11:58 am] |
Can an airplane commode suck an stream of toilet paper all the way down the length of the plane?
via boingboing. |
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| Operator killed in Disney World monorail crash |
[Jul. 5th, 2009|11:46 am] |
Orlando Sentinel:
Two Walt Disney World monorail trains collided early Sunday morning, killing the operator of one of the trains.
Walt Disney World spokesman Mike Griffin said the crash happened at about 2 a.m. Sunday, on one of the monorail's last runs of the day.
[...]
The trains were transporting guests leaving Epcot. Six park guests were on the train during the crash, and were evaluated by paramedics at the scene according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
The park was operating normally Sunday, except for the closure of the monorail. Guests, who were being directed to buses instead, did not seem deterred by the accident.
[...]
The wreck is the first fatal accident in the Walt Disney World monorail system's almost 38-year history, according to CFNews13.com. However, at Disneyland in California, there has been at least one death on the monorail system, according to park historians.
Wow... I'm kinda surprised this happened. Not that I thought it would be impossible, but I remember a conversation a long time ago with my dad while we were waiting in a huge-but-quickly-moving line for the monorail, where he made some admiring comment about how efficient/quick they were, and I said something like "Well, they have to be" just out of necessity, due to the sheer volumes of people they need to move on a daily basis.
It would be sort of like reading that the Japanese had had a rail accident of some sort (which I'm sure they have had) -- you just expect them to have their shit together, in such a way that it creates the (totally unrealistic, I know) expectation that they will never have an error. |
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| Paul Erdos sucks at math |
[Jul. 5th, 2009|10:40 am] |
He tried to do the Monte Hall problem and got it wrong:
"When told of this, Paul Erdos, one of the leading mathematicians of the 20th century, said, "That's impossible." Then, when presented with a formal mathematical proof of the correct answer, he still didn't believe it and grew angry. Only after a colleague arranged for a computer simulation in which Erdos watched hundreds of trials that came out 2-to-1 in favor of switching did Erdos concede that he was wrong."
[via coding horror] |
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| 873: The Incredible Shrinking Main Event |
[Jul. 4th, 2009|07:19 pm] |
That's how many people entered Day 1B today. That's even less than I thought, and brings the two-day total to 1,989. If 3,000 entered each of the next two days (and that's not happening) the total would be 7,989. I do think 2,000 a day is possible; that would be 5,989. Anyway, here are the numbers:
Day 1A: 1,287 (2007) vs. 1,297 (2008) vs. 1,116 (2009)
Day 1B: 1,541 (2007) vs. 1,158 (2008) vs. 873 (2009)
Day 1C: 1,743 (2007) vs. 1,928 (2008) vs. ?,??? (2009)
Day 1D: 1,787 (2007) vs. 2,461 (2008) vs. ?,??? (2009)
Total: 2007: 6,358 vs. 2008: 6,844 vs. 2009 ?,???.
Day 1A decreased by 14% from 2008; Day 1B decreased by 25%. We'll see what happens with Days 1C and 1D. |
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| Reasons to love the main event |
[Jul. 4th, 2009|06:38 pm] |
From today's Pokernews coverage of the main event:
Hoyt Corkins limped for 300 before another player behind him made it 950. It was passed back around to Corkins who moved all in for 19,875 and was called by {A-Spades} {J-Diamonds}. Corkins flipped a dominating {A-Hearts} {K-Clubs} which held on a {K-Diamonds} {10-Hearts} {9-Clubs} {6-Clubs} {10-Spades} board.
Wow. That guy paid TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS to enter this tournament.
There are probably worse hands that have been reported; I haven't been refreshing that industriously today. |
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| Vista got something right |
[Jul. 4th, 2009|02:20 pm] |
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I'm still not convinced that Vista is a net win, but it just scored some points with me. It has XMouse functionality built-in. I can't remember the last time I set up a new computer and didn't immediately download TweakUI. |
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| Bad news for Stuart Smalley? |
[Jul. 4th, 2009|01:23 pm] |
Affirmations intended to raise self-esteem may actually lower it.
Psychologists Joanne V. Wood and John W. Lee from the University of Waterloo, and W.Q. Elaine Perunovic from the University of New Brunswick, found that individuals with low self-esteem actually felt worse about themselves after repeating positive self-statements.
The researchers asked participants with low self-esteem and high self-esteem to repeat the self-help book phrase "I am a lovable person." The psychologists then measured the participants' moods and their momentary feelings about themselves. As it turned out, the individuals with low self-esteem felt worse after repeating the positive self-statement compared to another low self-esteem group who did not repeat the self-statement. The individuals with high self-esteem felt better after repeating the positive self-statement -- but only slightly.
This seems to me to be a tricky thing to measure though -- you're relying on the participants to report how they feel... |
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| iPhone Vulnerability Yields Root Access Via SMS |
[Jul. 4th, 2009|12:59 pm] |
slashdot:
"Pwn2Own winner Charlie Miller has revealed an SMS vulnerability that could provide hackers with root access to the iPhone. Malicious code sent by SMS to run on the phone could include commands to monitor location using GPS, turn on the phone's microphone to eavesdrop on conversations, or make the phone join a DDoS attack or botnet, Miller said. Miller did not provide detailed description of the SMS vulnerability, citing an agreement with Apple, which is working to fix the vulnerability in advance of Black Hat, where Miller plans to discuss the attack in greater detail. 'SMS is a great vector to attack the iPhone,' Miller said, as SMS can send binary code that the iPhone processes without user interaction. Sequences can be sent to the phone as multiple messages that are automatically reassembled, thereby surpassing individual SMS message limits of 140 bytes."
(Emphasis mine) |
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| Today is also... |
[Jul. 4th, 2009|12:18 pm] |
... aphelion for 2009, the point in the earth's orbit when it is furthest from the sun. Yesterday's APOD nicely illustrates the difference in the apparent size of the sun at perihelion vs. aphelion. |
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| This is the awesomest thing ever |
[Jul. 4th, 2009|10:50 am] |
"Manualist plays Guns N Roses - Sweet Child of Mine"
Related videos: Super Mario Bros. theme, Bohemian Rhapsody, Final Countdown, Crazy Train, Stairway, ...
Oddly enough found via the comments thread of the previous entry.
More topical: Stars and Stripes Forever
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| The Patriot Act, Part 2 |
[Jul. 4th, 2009|09:48 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  blah | ] |
Many of my readers are to the left of me (politically). There are provisions in the Cap & Trade Bill that the Senate will debate next week that make it look like a repeat of the Patriot Act.
First, I will point out my bias. I don't think that agw is happening. I think climate change is natural, and that man's influence on climate is miniscule at best. I also think we should have an extremely limited government.
OK, on to Cap & Trade:
1. The bill is a huge tax increase. Estimates that I've seen show that this will be a $3,000 tax per household in the US. This will be through far higher costs of electricity, heating and cooling.
2. No one knows what's in the bill. The bill was voted on by the House with no one representative having read it. A 300-page amendment was added just before voting.
3. Details are beginning to slip out. One is that mandatory home audits are included in the bill. I've also seen that building codes will be national instead of local. That in itself makes no sense; for example, there's little earthquake risk in South Florida and little hurricane risk in North Dakota.
4. Mish has a post noting that job loss under this bill will be something over 1 million.
5. Even proponents of the measure do not believe that it will have an appreciable impact on climate change.
This measure is a job killer. It's an economy wrecker. I doubt that any Senator has read it. It's being put on the fast track because if it's read, it's certain to be defeated. I urge you to contact your Senators and let them know that this measure belongs in the trash can. |
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