Friday List

28: emails sent thus far today.
70: emails received thus far today.
1: snarky email sent thus far today.
2: emails referencing milk enema pornography sent thus far today.

I need.

Texas

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/texas_a_perplexing_and_complex.php

Obama knows how to party!

scientific celebrity face analysis

the site strongly matched me with:

and while looking for another picture of my match, i found this in google images.


SERIOUSLY.

IMPORTANT note: I'M FEMALE.

Live blogging the Oscars: Fug Style

I didn't write it, I'm just sharing it. Don't click here if you don't want to.

Good-bye, cruel blog!

Martinoz movie reviews: Travellers and Magicians

Ok, so let's recap:

Young woman = Kind-hearted, innocent, pure, the ideal, the object of affection
Mature woman = Mean, manipulative, back-stabbing, dangerous

Furthermore:

Young woman = unaware of her sexuality = good!
Mature woman = in control of her sexuality = potential power = bad witch!

Thus it is straightforward to derive:

Old dude + young woman = m, m, good!
Old dude + young woman who in addition forgoes an education to take care of her aging father = m, m, good + 20 dB!

The proof is left as an exercise to the reader. See also, The Complete Patriarch's Guide to Calculus.

Oh, but, you'll say, the cinematography! The lush landscapes! The serene simple life! The wisdom of faraway peoples! To which I have to say, do the math.

who can it be, now, quasi?

UPDATE: And now you know. Game Over: congrats, Nick and Snoopy!

Can you correctly name this Martinoz Center child? Leave a comment with your guess, but note: you cannot leave a real name, because that'd be against the blog rules. So be creative when you leave a quasi-name. And by that I don't mean that you should suggest quasimodo as the correct name. Despite the startling resemblance to Patrick Swayze, "Quasimodo" is not the correct answer!

It detects conscious thoughts, expressions and non-conscious emotions

The first commercial Brain Computer Interface

February 22, 2008 The Computer-Human Interface has a new contender technology. Though we’d like to think we’ve come a long way with computers, the keyboard and mouse remain the predominant way we interface with them. We’ve had the unfulfilled promise of handwriting and voice recognition and hope that something better will come along sooner or later. Perhaps this is it - brain computer interface technology pioneer Emotiv Systems will have its EPOC neuroheadset to market before Christmas 2008. The lightweight US$300 EPOC is, worn on the head but does not restrict movement in any way as it is wireless. The set detects conscious thoughts, expressions and non-conscious emotions based on electrical signals around the brain. It opens up a plethora of new applications which can be controlled with our thoughts, expressions and emotions.

The Emotiv EPOC will be the first high-fidelity brain computer interface (BCI) device for the video gaming market when it becomes available to consumers via Emotiv’s Web site and through selected retailers in late 2008 for a recommended retail price of $299.

The company is also opening its Application Programming Interface (API) and providing a range of development tools to enable developers to integrate neurotechnology into their applications. The initiative will spur the adoption of brain computer interface technology in video gaming and other industries, enabling consumers to experience an entirely new form of human-machine interaction.

The Emotiv EPOC detects and processes human conscious thoughts and expressions and non-conscious emotions. By integrating the Emotiv EPOC into their games or other applications, developers can dramatically enhance interactivity, gameplay and player enjoyment by, for example, enabling characters to respond to a player’s smile, laugh or frown; by adjusting the game dynamically in response to player emotions such as frustration or excitement; and enabling players to manipulate objects in a game or even make them disappear using the power of their thoughts.

Yet another direction enabled by the EPOC is that of live animation using the unit’s facial recognition sensors to mimic the wearer’s facial expressions in an animated avatar.

We look forward to exploring this one further. Very exciting possibilities.

Snow Day

I've just been informed that it's my responsibility to let everyone reading this that they've been deemed “Non-Essential,” and as such that they should leave work ASAP to reduce the threat of gridlock & avalanche. I've also been asked to tell you to remain sober (both in constitution and BAL-wise) until your normal departure time, as it is the discretion of your manager as to whether to pay the non-essential employee for the entire scheduled shift and as your manager is “Essential” they are rightly a bit grumpy about having to stay.

Olsen twin

apparently, according to scientifical face recognition technology, i look(ed) like ashley olsen.

lefties for Obama

All these Presidents were left-handed:

James Garfield (20th) 1881
Herbert Hoover (31st) 1929 – 1933
Harry Truman (33rd) 1945 – 1953
Gerald Ford (38th) 1974 – 1977
Ronald Reagan (40th) 1981 – 1989
George Bush (41st)1989 – 1993
Bill Clinton (42nd) 1993 – 2001

Obama and McCain: both left-handed!

(Looks like they won't be participating in any Tesla Town studies, then.)

what? no one liveblogging the Austin debate?

The spice will flow.

Finally, a simple explanation of how the U.S. electoral process works. Click to zoom in!

SCIENCE TATTOOS

This used to be a flickr site, but Carl Zimmer finally compiled them into a website dedicated to people's tattoos related to science.
WARNING:Some of them are great, but some of them are pretty awful.

Carl Zimmer's Science Tattoo Emporium

one of the more interesting ones:

Deathmatch: Celery vs Pineapple (vs Squirble)

vs

Winner???
	Celery
	Pineapple
	Squirble
pollcode.com free polls

Daily Doodad

The best doodad I saw today was a small porcelain barbecue with a fish on it. Carefully crafted entirely in Limoges, France and bearing the unique insignia of the artist, it measures 4" in width, 2 1/4" in height and 1 3/4" in depth. This unparalleled Limoges box portrays a realistic rectangular barbecue grill on wheels, complete with hot coals. The tiny fork, knife, ladle, pot and fish are included! On the inner lid is an original painting of an idyllic though scarcely attended picnic in the woods. This breathtaking Limoges box was artfully hand-painted with utmost attention to detail and has been fired repeatedly to achieve its vivid colors. It is adorned with ornate metalwork and a rare match stick clasp. A riveting little small porcelain barbecue with a fish on it, and an all-around appetite-suppressing doodad.

Deeper Thoughts, by Jack Handey

IF YOU'RE a blacksmith, probably
the proudest day of your life is
when you get your first anvil.
How innocent you are, little
blacksmith.