Topic: Links
2008-04-08 22:37 - Links
From classics and sci-fi to poetry, biographies and books that changed the world ... we present the ultimate reading list.
I have half a mind to print this out, and simply start checking off the lines. I've been cuddling up with my DS lite recently on my commute. But I have managed to get quite a lot of reading done on the train, too. And, sad to say, I've read very few of the classics. Discounting things I was forced to read in school, on that list I've only read Lord of the Rings, The Time Machine, Sherlock Holmes, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
2008-04-03 13:34 - Links
eBay has banned the direct sale of purely digital goods from either its auctions or its direct sales offerings. Instead, those who want to sell digital goods need to put up a classified ad on the site, rather than a transactional platform.
Hallelujiah! There's a whole host of reasons to avoid eBay, but nevertheless there are some reasons to still head back. Rare, used, goods in some categories are perfectly good things to buy, and hard to find elsewhere. But the "wholesale list" people and their ilk have clogge dup the system for quite some time. I'm happy to see official pressure to kick them off.
2008-02-06 21:18 - Links
New features: Ability to encrypt a system partition/drive with pre-boot authentication ...
Ironically, I finally investigated laptop drive encryption just around a month ago. With my previous laptop, I had researched quite a bit, and seen TrueCrypt. I liked going with an open source solution, but TrueCrypt didn't handle pre-boot authentication, which I really wanted. I wanted the whole thing, including for example all my cookies and everything else, to be encrypted. I only found one legitimately free piece of software that did whole-drive encryption with pre-boot authentication: FREE CompuSec. Over the christmas break, I took a pre-encryption backup of the whole drive, and fired the software up.
It worked, but the interface was a bit annoying at times. Now that TrueCrypt is free (and since I never got to installing CompuSec on the new laptop), I'm really going to investigate this new version.
2008-02-02 13:48 - Links
"Yahoo has always considered itself a bit of an upstart," says a former Yahoo employee who asked to remain anonymous. "Most Yahoo employees will feel that, A., we lost, and B., there is no way in hell that I am going to work for Microsoft."
I realized shortly after concluding my last job search that Yahoo! would have been a good place to look. Not anymore, if they're Microsoft. I couldn't agree more.
2007-11-18 15:29 - Links
According to twin studies, 50 to 90 percent of variation in head size and brain volume is genetic. And when it comes to IQ, size matters. The old science of head measurements found a 20 percent correlation of head size with IQ. The new science of MRI finds at least a 40 percent correlation of brain size with IQ. One analysis calculates that brain size could easily account for five points of the black-white IQ gap.
It was quite recently that I saw a documentary on TV that was quick to state that head size did not directly affect intelligence. Their example was that men are not inherently more intelligent than women, just because they happen to be larger. This, however, is what might be a relatively controversial article claiming that brain size does in fact play a distinct role in intelligence, as one of the genetic factors that play out in smarts. So what's the truth?
2007-11-07 19:38 - Links
Eight-Year-Old Twins Invent Rip-Away Wedgie-Proof Underwear.
On its own, this is a funny little story. But much more worth mentioning is how in-articulate the inventors are, being only eight, and how the hosts of the show are even worse. This is what apparently passes for news today, and is one of the big reasons I don't watch.
2007-09-25 20:49 - Links
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES ARE LIKE GIRLFRIENDS: THE NEW ONE IS BETTER BECAUSE *YOU* ARE BETTER
This is a good article on PHP vs Rails, in general. But, I had to offer a link for that awesome quote. So, so true.
2007-06-17 14:34 - Links
The only "constant companion" the [church] gives true believers is a constant delusion. It can destroy a person's ability to make quality decisions. This undermining of one's decision making abilities keeps them tied to the church. It trains them to reject any information that is out of their comfort zone of [belief]. It's the key mechanism that keeps people locked in the church.
Straight from a believer's mouth. How true, how true. This is why I once said that I don't want you to pray for me. How about calling an ambulance, instead?
2007-06-15 12:30 - Links
While it's still generally accepted that depressed people can be negatively biased in their interpretation of events and information, depressive realism suggests that they are often merely responding rationally to realities that the average person cheerfully denies.
I like this article. I could try to explain why, but I know it would come out as some sort of serious oxymoron. Perhaps I'll just say it's because I see the article for what it really is.
