Apple, IPTV, gadgets, politics and more
Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon University computer science professor whose final lecture inspired millions, has died of pancreatic cancer. Dr. Pausch, 47, who turned the lecture into a book, said that no one would have been interested in his words of wisdom were he not a man in his 40s with a terminal illness.
For any of you that missed Dr. Pausch’s Last Lecture, here it is:
More about Dr. Pausch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Pausch
Sphere: Related Content
Nikon has put together an amazing interactive site that puts the world in perspective, literally. This is one site you must check out.
Amazing video of the Caminito del Rey in Spain. More info on the pathway can be found at Wikipedia.
Sphere: Related ContentA new Pew research report entitled, “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey,” showing that more than 44% of Americans have left the faith of their childhood.
From the NYT article:
More than a quarter of adult Americans have left the faith of their childhood to join another religion or no religion, a new survey of religious affiliation says. The report, titled “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey,” depicts a highly fluid and diverse national religious life. If shifts among Protestant denominations are included, then it appears that 44 percent of Americans have switched religious affiliations.
For at least a generation, scholars have noted that more Americans are moving among faiths, as denominational loyalty erodes. But the survey, based on interviews with more than 35,000 Americans, offers one of the clearest views yet of that trend, scholars said. The United States Census does not track religious affiliation.
In the Pew survey 7.3 percent of the adult population said they were unaffiliated with a faith as children. That segment increases to 16.1 percent of the population in adulthood, the survey found. The unaffiliated are largely under 50 and male. “Nearly one-in-five men say they have no formal religious affiliation, compared with roughly 13 percent of women,” the survey said.
The rise of the unaffiliated does not mean that Americans are becoming less religious, however. Contrary to assumptions that most of the unaffiliated are atheists or agnostics, most described their religion “as nothing in particular.” Pew researchers said that later projects would delve more deeply into the beliefs and practices of the unaffiliated and would try to determine if they remain so as they age.
Interesting read, but it will take some time for me to think about the implications of the data. What about you? What are your thoughts?
Sphere: Related ContentThe Federal Trade Commission has just slapped Do Not Call Registry offenders with $7.7 million worth of penalties. With a figure like that, it’s clear that telemarketers are finding that boundaries are a problem. But that doesn’t mean you have to take their abuse — fight back using these 34 tools and tactics.
Ideas
Get guidance and suggestions for the best ways to get telemarketers off your back.
HDR is short for High Dynamic Range. It is a software technique of taking either one image or a series of images, combining them, and adjusting the contrast ratios to do things that are virtually impossible with a single aperture and shutter speed. Although not for every photograph, I think you will agree that the results are stunning.
There is an awesome tutorial at stuckincustoms.com on how to generate HDR images from the picture you take with your digital camera. Although the results are far more impressive with multiple RAW source images (you’ll need an auto-bracketing capability and a tripod), the technique can be applied to single JPG images shot with a point-and-shoot digital camera. I have included some sample images (courtesy stuckincustoms.com), but I would encourage you to go to that site or to the author’s HDR gallery on Flickr to see some truly amazing images.
Images courtesy stuckincustoms.com
Sphere: Related ContentI have often wondered about the many “opt out” registries I have heard about on TV and online. The World Privacy Forum has compiled their list of 10 most important “opt outs”. This list has been scrubbed of scams and scammers.
As privacy experts, we are frequently asked about “opting out,” and which opt outs we think are the most important. This list is a distillation of ideas for opting out that the World Privacy Forum has developed over the years from responding to those questions. The list below does not contain all opt outs that are available. Rather, it contains the opt outs that we believe are the most important and will be the most useful to the most consumers.
Here are there top ten:
1. National Do Not Call Registry
2. Prescreened offers of credit and insurance
3. DMA opt outs
4. Financial institution opt outs
5. CAN SPAM
6. Credit freeze
7. FERPA
8. Data broker opt outs
9. Internet portal opt outs
10. NAI opt out
At the WPF blog is the complete list with instructions and more information about each.
Sphere: Related Content
Alexander Rose from the Long Now Foundation write about a recent visit to the LDS Geneology vaults at Granite Mountain outside of Salt Lake City. Wired Magazine did an extensive article on this in 1999.
Sphere: Related ContentSince I began working on the 10,000 Year Clock project, and associated Library projects here at Long Now almost a decade ago, I have heard cryptic references to this archive. We have visited the nuclear waste repositories, historical sites, and many other long term structures to look for inspiration. However we had never found a way to see this facility. This is the underground bunker where the Mormons keep their genealogical backup data, deep in the solid granite cliffs of Little Cottonwood Canyon, outside Salt Lake City. UT.
The Church has been collecting genealogical data from all the sources it can get its hands on, from all over the world, for over 100 years. They have become the largest such repository, and the data itself is open to anyone who uses their website, or comes to their buildings in downtown Salt Lake City.
THE Right Brain vs Left Brain test … do you see the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise?
If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa.
Most of us would see the dancer turning anti-clockwise though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it.
LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe
RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling
“big picture” oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images
present and future
philosophy & religion
can “get it” (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking
Doesn’t this just seems like a very bad idea in today’s litigious society? RottenNeighbors is a basic Google mashup allowing users to post comments about their “rotten” neighbors. Check it out and see if you have made the list.
From the rottenneighbor.com website:
We are the first real estate search engine of its kind that helps you find bad neighbors before you move so you don’t regret the purchase of your new house, home, condo or apartment.
Our goal is to be an exceptionally smart assistant when you are looking to move into a new neighborhood. We hope that you will be able to find your dream home in your dream neighborhood by using our data and information provided by other users such as yourself. We then hope you will return the favor to other home buyers by adding to our database.
It doesn’t matter if you are moving down the street or all the way across the county, we are here to help you find and discover bad neighbors no matter where you are thinking about relocating. When you are going to make one of the biggest decisions in your life we are here to help you make a choice you won’t regret later when you might discover a bad neighbor living right next door. We show you detailed maps of states, counties, cities and neighborhoods all searchable by ZIP code.
We depend on users like you to submit bad neighbors to our maps. By doing so you will be adding to our real estate search engine and improving the home buying experience for thousands of people.
http://www.rottenneighbor.com/
Sphere: Related Content
