October 2012
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Deep Sea Mystery Circle →
Underwater crop circles? No, just the work of a little fish.
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Cheating in Chess →
On the evolution of cheating in chess:
In the late 18th century, for example, a Hungarian engineer named Wolfgang von Kempelen toured Europe with a machine called The Turk, which he promoted as a mechanical chess master. Legend holds that Napoleon and Ben Franklin are among the chess aficionados who lost to Kempelen’s brainchild. Decades after those big wins, word got out that The Turk,...
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Visualization of Swimming World Records →
From the Washington Post, a visualization of world records versus performance-enhancing swimsuits. It’s interesting to compare the trends in different events. For one thing, it looks like the suits are particularly helpful for the butterfly and IM events and less so for breaststroke.
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The Economist: The decline of the car →
Perhaps most basic, though, is that in terms of urban living the car has become a victim of its own success. In 1994 the physicist Cesare Marchetti argued that people budget an average travel time of around one hour getting to work; they are unwilling to spend more. For decades cars allowed this budget to go farther. But as suburbs grow and congestion increases most cities eventually hit a...
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September 2012
12 posts
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Atul Gawande on health-care chains →
Atul Gawande compares the Cheesecake Factory to healthcare chains.
The theory the country is about to test is that chains will make us better and more efficient. The question is how. To most of us who work in health care, throwing a bunch of administrators and accountants into the mix seems unlikely to help. Good medicine can’t be reduced to a recipe.
Then again neither can good food: every...
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United's PetSafe program isn't very safe →
United Airlines killed someone’s pet dog.
You know, in general I’m pretty forgiving of airline problems, and will defend them even during major mishaps. But killing someone’s pet, even in an accident, is pretty terrible, and you could at least show a little remorse and compassion.
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Temporary hiatus
My laptop was stolen a few weeks ago, so until I receive my new one next week this blog will be on temporary hiatus.
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August 2012
31 posts
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