Evan Parker › Likes

Graphics research is amazing. This project: sketch and label something you want a photo of, then the system finds photos on the web, cuts out the parts that it wants, and composes everything together. Watch the video too. - Amit Patel from Bookmarklet

I downloaded the client, but it doesn't appear to work and has an expiration date of "1 Jan 2011" :(. - Private Sanjeev

"These causality problems would be solved without any change to the mathematical formalism of GR, but only to its interpretation, if gravity is once again taken to be a propagating force of nature in flat space-time with the propagation speed indicated by observational evidence and experiments: not less than 2x10^10 c...The most amazing thing I was taught as a graduate student of celestial mechanics at Yale in the 1960s was that all gravitational interactions between bodies in all dynamical systems had to be taken as instantaneous. This seemed unacceptable on two counts. In the first place, it seemed to be a form of “action at a distance”. Perhaps no one has so elegantly expressed the objection to such a concept better than Sir Isaac Newton: “That one body may act upon another at a distance through a vacuum, without the mediation of any thing else, by and through which their action and force may be conveyed from one to the other, is to me so great an absurdity, that I believe no man... more... - bob from Bookmarklet

I was entranced until I came upon this bit of tautology: "How can black holes have gravity when nothing can get out because escape speed is greater than the speed of light?" - Kevin Fox

finally.. Halleluya! - Chris Myles

Eric for president! - Evan Parker

I can't wait to see the backpedaling. Already seeing it with the $999 price (that it was planted). I love the "two dock connectors!" and "facial recognition for families" features. - Mark Trapp

Well, I'd say by being 9 years off your prediction was maybe not so good. Otoh, if they'd come out with this 9 years ago, it would have whelmed. - j1m

It's interesting that we're only now seen balanced responses to Google in China (vs the old "Google is evil for cooperating" stories) - Paul Buchheit

More at: http://www.google.com/search... - Michael Leggett

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technol... - Tim Tyler

Hmm, I don't actually see more at cnn.com yet... - Ruchira S. Datta

Aww, she's got Bret's blankie that our great grandma made! - Shannon Jiménez

Great photo, soooo happy :) - Susan Beebe

"The operation, as Tom calls it, is not anything special. It is not one of a kind event. It's just a normal practice, and the process is pretty simple: The manager will instruct all employees to stay at their desks, telling them what to do and what to expect at any given time. The Apple Gestapo never handles the communication. They are there, present, supervising the supervisors, making sure everything goes as planned. All cellphones are then taken. Usually, they collect them all at the same time, which means that the process could take a long time. If you need to contact the exterior during the time your cellphone is under examination, you will have to ask for permission, and your call will be monitored. They don't ask for cameras because there are no cameras at Apple: Employees are not allowed to get into the campus with them. If the cellphone is an iPhone, it gets backed up onto a laptop. "In fact, at the beginning they used to say that the iPhones were really their property, since... more... - bob from Bookmarklet

I dunno. Knowing how much pure drivel the tech "media" publish, I have trouble believing this is true. - EricaJoy

"This win means that Californians will be the first in the nation to decide whether they believe marijuana ought be taxed and regulated for all adults over 21, much the same way alcohol is. ... Support for marijuana legalization is at an all-time high, with polls ranging from 44 to 52 percent national support. In California, where marijuana has been legalized for medical use since 1996, 56 percent support legalization." - Paul Buchheit from Bookmarklet

Oh man, I'll finally be able to use my wizard bong on the bus. - Noah Belson

"Too much UV penetrating the skin (too pale-skinned under intense sunlight) increases Vitamin D but reduces folate. Lack of folate causes neural tube defects in the fetus, causing such congenital abnormalities as craniorachischisis, anencephalus, and spina bifida, leading to many miscarriages. On the other hand, too little UV penetrating the skin (too dark-skinned under dim sunlight) increases folate but reduces vitamin D. Lack of vitamin D causes skeletal neonatal abnormalities (skull, chest, and leg malformations), rickets being the best known. Again, this causes miscarriages. And so, humans adapt very quickly to solar UV. Prehistoric groups that migrated towards the equator got darker. Prehistoric groups that migrated away from the equator got lighter. But this explanation fails for Europe. Northern Europeans are lighter than everyone to the south (Mediterraneans), to the east (Mongols and east-Asians), to the west (Native Americans across the Atlantic), and to the North (Inuit,... more... - bob from Bookmarklet

I found this article very interesting, and well written to boot. - Will Higgins™

Heh heh. Smart guy, that Bezos. - Piaw Na

I really want a Kindle or Nook, but am, like so many others, really irritated by the inability to lend books, and the lack of portability of books from one system to the other. I know it's early days, but it's going to be a real loss if they don't find a way to open things up a bit. - Joel Webber

"In a movement that seems ripped from the pages of Comedy Channel writers, John Marcotte wants to put a measure on the ballot next year to ban divorce in California. The effort is meant to be a satirical statement after California voters outlawed gay marriage in 2008, largely on the argument that a ban is needed to protect the sanctity of traditional marriage. If that's the case, then Marcotte reasons voters should have no problem banning divorce." - Shannon Jiménez from Bookmarklet

I like it...from a satirical standpoint... - Rob Michael (Atmos Trio)

Who wants some Sheep?! *throws Sheep* - Kamilah Reed (K. Gill)

I first read this as catatonic marathon. - Mark Krynsky

wow, so this is the sort of lolcat that amuses ⓞnor - j1m

kitteh is the only one *not* amused. - Friendfeed's Francisco

"Researchers from the School of Medicine at the University of California have shown that the more germs a child is exposed to, the better their immune system in later life. Their study found that keeping a child's skin too clean impaired the skin's ability to heal itself. From the article: "'These germs are actually good for us,' said Professor Richard Gallo, who led the research. Common bacterial species, known as staphylococci, which can cause inflammation when under the skin, are 'good bacteria' when on the surface, where they can reduce inflammation."" - AJ Batac :) from Bookmarklet

So my dirty mind protects from mental illness? - RAPatton from iPhone

Maybe not that dirty. - John (bird whisperer)

"By mimicking how a butterfly's wings shimmer, or how a peacock's tail is so iridescent, engineers at Qualcomm came up with mirasol technology. As Qualcomm notes, "Qualcomm's mirasol display technology is based on a reflective technology called IMOD (Interferometric MODulation), with MEMS structures at its core. This MEMS-based innovation is both bistable, meaning it is both extremely low power, and highly reflective, meaning the display itself can be seen even in direct sunlight." Here's a video explaining more and giving a rundown of how it is used in the e-reader. The battery sipping capabilities of the device (the form factor details of which haven't been divulged yet..what you see in the photo above is only a mock up of one design being considered) will exceed that of even the Kindle, which touts a long battery life, thanks to the mirasol technology. Slashdot notes, "As the mirasol team explained... once you start pushing traditional e-ink panel refresh rates, up to the point you... more... - Jason Wehmhoener from Bookmarklet

yep - Jason Wehmhoener

Server-side Javascript framework to build servers. Uses non-blocking calls and lots of callbacks. - Amit Patel

Best bug ever/math is fun: http://www.google.com/search... - Mihai Parparita

24.5 days ~= 2^21 seconds - Steve and 3 other people

Turns out it's actually 2^32 milliseconds, I guess. - Steve and 3 other people

"I did have another job at one point, as a computer programmer, but I kept up with my other work because it was so much more enjoyable." -- Dr Brooke Magnanti, aka blogger call girl Belle de Jour - Peter Norvig from Bookmarklet

Hmm, I wonder how many people are qualified to answer that question. - Laura Norvig

Wait. WashU? Like St Louis? Go there! And bring everybody with you. ;-) I'm being totally selfish, but seriously, congrats on another acceptance. - Mandi