hisnameis jimmy

soupsoup:

makingofmovies:

Explaining Inception

youmightfindyourself:

Forced to wait for fifteen minutes at the airport luggage carousel leaves many of us miserable and irritated. Yet if we’d spent the same waiting time walking to the carousel we’d be far happier. That’s according to Christopher Hsee and colleagues, who say we’re happier when busy but that unfortunately our instinct is for idleness. Unless we have a reason for being active we choose to do nothing - an evolutionary vestige that ensures we conserve energy.

Consider Hsee’s first study. His team offered 98 students a choice between delivering a completed questionnaire to a location that was a 15-minute round-trip walk away, or delivering it just outside the room and then waiting 15 minutes. A twist was that either the same or different types of chocolate snack bar were offered as a reward at the two locations.

If the same snack bar was offered at both locations then the majority (68 per cent) of students chose the lazy option, delivering the questionnaire just outside the room. By contrast, if a different (black vs. white) bar was offered at each location then the majority (59 per cent) chose the far away ‘busy’ option. This was the case even though earlier research showed both snack bar options were equally appealing, and even though the location of the two snack bar types was counterbalanced across participants. In other words, Hsee said, the students’ instinct was for idleness, but when they were given a specious excuse for walking further, most of them took the busy option. Crucially, when asked afterwards, the students who’d taken the walk reported feeling significantly happier than the idle students, consistent with Hsee’s theory that we’re happier when busy (a repeat of the study in which students were allocated without choice to the idle or busy condition led to the same outcome - the busier students felt happier).

In a variant of this first study, students asked to evaluate a bracelet had the option of either spending fifteen minutes waiting time sitting idle or spending the same time disassembling the bracelet and rebuilding it. Those given the option of rebuilding it into its original configuration largely chose to sit idle - consistent with our having an instinct for idleness. By contrast, those told they could re-assemble the bracelet into a second, equally attractive and useful design tended to take up the challenge - again, an excuse, however superficial, for activity seems to be all it takes to spur us on. As before, those who spent the fifteen minutes busy subsequently reported feeling happier than those who sat idle.

Given that being busy makes us happier but that our instinct is for idleness, Hsee’s team say there is a case for encouraging what they call ‘futile busyness,’ that is: ‘busyness serving no purpose other than to prevent idleness. Such activity is more realistic than constructive busyness and less evil than destructive busyness.’

The researchers proceed to argue that, unfortunately, most people will not be tempted by futile busyness, so there’s a paternalistic case for governments and organisations tricking us into more activity: ‘housekeepers may increase the happiness of their idle housekeepers by letting in some mice and prompting the housekeepers to clean up. Governments may increase the happiness of idle citizens by having them build bridges that are actually useless.’ In fact, according to Hsee’s team, such interventions already exist, with some airports having deliberately increased the walk to the luggage carousel so as to reduce the time passengers spend waiting idly for luggage to arrive.

The Muppets: Pöpcørn (via MuppetsStudio)

This is great

This is a pretty fun, almost dreamy little game.  Pretty short, give it a shot

BIG BANG BIG BOOM - the new wall-painted animation by BLU (by blu)

Takes a minute, but as always worth the watch

youmightfindyourself:

Kevin Spacey, impersonations

youmightfindyourself:

mikehudack:

fullcredit:

In a significant step toward an AIDS vaccine, U.S. government scientists have discovered three powerful antibodies, the strongest of which neutralizes 91% of HIV strains, more than any AIDS antibody yet discovered.

Looking closely at the strongest antibody, they have detailed exactly what part of the virus it targets and how it attacks that site.

The antibodies were discovered in the cells of a 60-year-old African-American gay man, known in the scientific literature as Donor 45, whose body made the antibodies naturally. Researchers screened 25 million of his cells to find 12 that produced the antibodies. Now the trick will be for scientists to develop a vaccine or other methods to make anyone’s body produce them.

Holy shit.

Yes.

Blind Spot (by Cécile Dubois-Herry)

Well this is brilliant

Kanye West, Power (New Album “Good Ass Job” 2010) (by allfingers)

molls:

gregrutter:

New Old Spice ad. Yep.

This go.

AT-AT day afternoon (by Patrick Boivin)

Blockhead - The Music Scene (via ninja000)

If you watch one video today, make it this one.  This is mindblowing.

soupsoup:

brooklynmutt:

Obama Responds to Gen. McChrystal’s Quotes in Rolling Stone Magazine

This is crazy.  I can’t understand how McChrystal could have felt doing that article was a good decision.

This video illustrates real-time MRI of vocal performance. It includes examples from a soprano and an emcee/beatboxer. This video was featured at the Sounds and Visions Session, of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Scientific Sessions, May 2006, Seattle.

the diva and the emcee by Krishna Nayak

Kanye West - Power

808s and Heartbreak was crap, if this is any indication of his new work, it’ll be pretty epic. 

RSA Animate - Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us (via theRSAorg)

This is amazing, and highly entertaining to watch.

Jonathan’s Cochlear Implant Activation 8 mo., Rt Ear cont’d (via beancounterbb)

This is adorable.

SRS Demolishes Massive Cooling Tower (via NNSANews)

Smashy Smashy

(via youmightfindyourself)

I’m a huge fan of Cole Haan’s fancy leather Kindle case, so when I got an iPad and quickly realized it needed a case for convenient carrying outside of the home, I was disappointed to see that nobody had made a great leather case. Every other folio-style case I saw looked like a cheap cellphone…

I wish this had the functionality of the Incase Convertible Book Jacket: http://www.goincase.com/products/detail/convertible-book-jacket-cl57512

I have one, and it’s totally sweet and I use all of it’s “convertible” positions.  If there were a leather option as nice as this one that Marco goes over, I would be all-in.

youmightfindyourself:

noob

I’ve posted this before, i’m sure, but it’s always good

Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st and 2nd, 2010 (by Sean Stiegemeier)

Full on High Resolution 3D viewing in flash, legitimately remarkable

Octopus Kills Shark (via NationalGeographic)

Portal is Free (via Valve)

Erica and her war wounds after catching a uromastyx lizard (via aloetom)

The advice of etiquette experts on dealing with unwanted invitations, or overly demanding requests for favours, has always been the same: just say no. That may have been a useless mantra in the war on drugs, but in the war on relatives who want to stay for a fortnight, or colleagues trying to get you to do their work, the manners guru Emily Post’s formulation – “I’m afraid that won’t be possible” – remains the gold standard. Excuses merely invite negotiation. The comic retort has its place (Peter Cook: “Oh dear, I find I’m watching television that night”), and I’m fond of the tautological non-explanation (“I can’t, because I’m unable to”). But these are variations on a theme: the best way to say no is to say no. Then shut up.

This is a lesson we’re unable to learn, however, judging by the scores of books promising to help us. The Power Of A Positive No, How To Say No Without Feeling Guilty, The Book Of No… Publishers, certainly, seem unable to refuse. (Two recent books addressing the topic are Marshall Goldsmith’s Mojo, and Womenomics, by Claire Shipman and Katty Kay.) This is the “disease to please” – a phrase that doesn’t make grammatical sense, but rhymes, giving it instant pop-psychology cachet. There are certainly profound issues here, of self-esteem, guilt etcetera. But it’s also worth considering whether part of the problem doesn’t originate in a simple misunderstanding between two types of people: Askers and Guessers.

This terminology comes from a brilliant web posting by Andrea Donderi that’s achieved minor cult status online. We are raised, the theory runs, in one of two cultures. In Ask culture, people grow up believing they can ask for anything – a favour, a pay rise– fully realising the answer may be no. In Guess culture, by contrast, you avoid “putting a request into words unless you’re pretty sure the answer will be yes… A key skill is putting out delicate feelers. If you do this with enough subtlety, you won’t have to make the request directly; you’ll get an offer. Even then, the offer may be genuine or pro forma; it takes yet more skill and delicacy to discern whether you should accept.”

Neither’s “wrong”, but when an Asker meets a Guesser, unpleasantness results. An Asker won’t think it’s rude to request two weeks in your spare room, but a Guess culture person will hear it as presumptuous and resent the agony involved in saying no. Your boss, asking for a project to be finished early, may be an overdemanding boor – or just an Asker, who’s assuming you might decline. If you’re a Guesser, you’ll hear it as an expectation. This is a spectrum, not a dichotomy, and it explains cross-cultural awkwardnesses, too: Brits and Americans get discombobulated doing business in Japan, because it’s a Guess culture, yet experience Russians as rude, because they’re diehard Askers.

Self-help seeks to make us all Askers, training us to both ask and refuse with relish; the mediation expert William Ury recommends memorising “anchor phrases” such as “that doesn’t work for me”. But Guessers can take solace in logic: in many social situations (though perhaps not at work) the very fact that you’re receiving an anxiety-inducing request is proof the person asking is an Asker. He or she is half-expecting you’ll say no, and has no inkling of the torture you’re experiencing. So say no, and see what happens. Nothing will.

I’m totally a guesser by nature, but after a year on the phones asking people to buy stuff, I’ve become a pretty hardcore asker and I have almost no qualms about asking people to do anything.

Are you an Asker or a Guesser?

This is glorious.

@Google & YouTube present A Conversation with Conan O’Brien (via AtGoogleTalks)

Google Chrome Speed Tests (via googlechrome)

Holy god.  The potato gun.  So good.

Making the Google Chrome Speed Tests (via googlechrome)

One type of mercury vapor electric rectifier consists of an evacuated glass bulb, with a pool of liquid mercury sitting in the bottom as the cathode.[2] Over it curves the glass bulb, which condenses mercury evaporated in the course of operation of the device. The glass envelope has one or more arms with graphite rods as anodes. Their number depends on the application. If direct current is to be produced from single-phase alternating current, then two anodes are used, each connected to the outer ends of a centre-tapped transformer secondary winding. With three-phase alternating current three or six anodes are used, to provide a smoother direct current. Six-phase operation can improve the efficiency of the transformer as well as providing smoother DC, by enabling two anodes to conduct simultaneously. During operation, the arc transfers to the anodes at the highest positive potential (with respect to the cathode). Design of the arms and envelope is intended to prevent an arc from forming between the anodes; such a condition is called “backfire” and is a critical factor in the design of mercury arc rectifiers.

Hewittic Mercury-arc Rectifier of Manx Electric Railway (via threelegsoman)

Apollo 11 Saturn V Launch (HD) Camera E-8 (by Mark Gray)

This is in slow motion, a 30 second launch brought out to 8 minutes 43 seconds, and thus, is fucking awesome.  Watch in awe.

Now that’s just tacky. | PassiveAggressiveNotes.com — funny (if not necessarily “passive-aggressive”) notes from pissed-off people

Standing Cat - Mon chat se tient debout tout seul (via DaisYannou)

superamit:

I’m calling it now: The laptop starts dying tomorrow.

IT’S HAPPENED BEFORE

As someone in both the photo and the tech world, I’ve seen (and spoken about) the point and shoot camera’s declining relevance.

Ten years ago, they couldn’t make those thing fast enough. Then one day someone put a camera into a phone.

It took a while, but the cameraphone has slowly, quietly, and almost completely replaced the point and shoot for many people. Cameraphones are simpler, more convenient (smaller) and, for 99% of situations, they are good enough.

When you need a really great photograph you use an SLR. The rest of the time, you use a phone. The point and shoot is dying, relegated to a niche middle ground.

IT’S ABOUT TO HAPPEN AGAIN

The same’s about to start happening in the computer hardware market. Laptops have always been a compromise solution. They’re awkward and unergonomic, slow compared to their desktop counterparts, have poor battery life, and are just as complex and confusing to operate as their larger brethren.

Enter the iPad. Simpler, more convenient, and for 99% of uses, good enough. See a pattern?

Yes, the first version will be flawed. Yes, it will be hard to tear your beloved laptop out of your hands. Yes, it won’t live up to all of its promises. Yes, it will take time. Maybe years.

And, like your cameraphone, it’s going to sneak up on you. But one day, pretty soon, you’ll realize that you haven’t used your laptop in days. That you tend to grab your iPad first whenever you need to visit a website or answer email. That your laptop never leaves your desk anymore.

It starts tomorrow.

Trololo Cat

Win.

Watch this trailer, you will not be disappointed

SXSW 2010: Program or be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age

Kranked Revolve - End 

Holy good god.  This is wonderful to watch.

Poincaré’s conjecture, elucidated in 1904, is fundamental to topology. It essentially says that any three-dimension space without holes in it is a sphere. Many distinguished mathematicians had grappled with the problem.

Dr. Perelman, then a researcher at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics at St. Petersburg, posted three papers on the Internet sketching out a solution in 2003, and they attracted fevered interest. After a whirlwind tour of the United States, Dr. Perelman went back to Russia and gradually stopped answering e-mail messages and even resigned his post at Steklov.

Several teams of mathematicians, using Dr. Perelman’s papers as a guide, completed a full proof of the conjecture in manuscripts hundreds of pages long, showing that Dr. Perelman was right.

Full Article

Old Tjikko This ancient, 16-foot tall Norway spruce lives in the scrubby Fulufjället Mountains in Sweden. At 9,550 years, Old Tjikko is the oldest single-stemmed clonal tree, and took root not long after the glaciers receded from Scandinavia after the last ice age. To figure out the hardy spruce’s age, scientists carbon-dated its roots. For thousands of years, the forbidding tundra-climate kept Old Tjikko in shrub form. But as weather warmed over the last century, the shrub has grown into a full-fledged tree. The spruce’s discoverer, geologist Leif Kullman, named the tree after his dead dog.

The Oldest Trees on the Planet | Wired Science | Wired.com

Origami In the Pursuit of Perfection on Vimeo (via Vimeo)

Jamie Oliver’s TED award speech. (via JamieOliver)

Australian animal mating rituals - camel seduction in the outback - BBC wildlife (via BBCWorldwide)

Tree Branch Falls On Power Lines

Holy ballsack