Todd Suomela

"Jaroslav Flegr is no kook. And yet, for years, he suspected his mind had been taken over by parasites that had invaded his brain. So the prolific biologist took his science-fiction hunch into the lab. What he’s now discovering will startle you. Could tiny organisms carried by house cats be creeping into our brains, causing everything from car wrecks to schizophrenia? A biologist’s science- fiction hunch is gaining credence and shaping the emerging science of mind- controlling parasites." - Todd Suomela

"I could, of course, put this more crudely. Economics is performative when it serves the interest of the powerful, and not performative when it doesn’t. In this sense, the problem is not with economics, but with a class structure that causes the “real world” to be a corrupted and perverted form of a market economy." - Todd Suomela

Annotated link http://www.diigo.com/bookmar... - Todd Suomela

"Imagine that economists were surveyed and had to choose how they’d best like to describe economic policy recommendations, as: Morals – Arguing for the morality of actions, Deals – Helping groups find and make deals, or Showing Off – Academics do hard things in order to be certified by other academics as impressive, so that students, patrons, and readers can gain status by affiliating with them. Economic policy analysis is such a hard thing. I’d bet that at least 25% would choose option #2, and even more among those whose style leans sci/tech. And #2 seems to me a better public face for economists to present to the world – economists will prosper more overall if they say this is what they are doing." - Todd Suomela

"Stories need conflict. For stories about soldiers, detectives, politicians, artists, doctors, lawyers, and teachers, we know of socially acceptable types of conflict, which do not challenge key ideals. But stories about conflicts in ordinary jobs more easily violate key ideals, and trigger moral outrage." - Todd Suomela

"Bank bosses have played a trick which countless ordinary workers do. The IT support guy who introduces lots of “security features” to his firm’s IT systems, or the secretary who has an incomprehensible filing system, make themselves indispensable by inconveniencing others." - Todd Suomela

Slidevana is the ultimate presentation toolkit. With over 130 beautifully rendered slides, Slidevana gives you the tools you need to quickly create presentations that impress and inspire your audience. - Todd Suomela

Why do they call it meteorology if it's the study of the atmosphere and not the study of space rocks? Because 'meteor' refers to things in the atmosphere called hydrometeors (water vapor, ice, hail) and lithometeors (non-water things - dust, ash, sand) and how they change forms and interact in different ways to rain on your golf game. It's an ungodly communistic Frankenstein-like amalgamation of math, chemistry, physics, geography, intuition, experience, and gut feelings. - Todd Suomela

At MASS MoCA the artist has applied her atmospheric veils of paint to four mounds of soil which seem to spill from the upper balcony into the enormous space below. Stacks of Styrofoam shards rise out of the seductive mountains of color, mirroring the white of the gallery walls -- the metaphorical canvas of Grosse's tremendous painting. While the sprawling installation provokes associations with a psychedelic, glacial landscape, Grosse's work is not representational. - Todd Suomela

Increasing regulation is not the way to make sure doctors and other health professionals behave well, the dean of the University of Otago's law school, Prof Mark Henaghan, says. Instead, too much regulation could be counter-productive, undermining the trust that should underpin the patient-health professional relationship. In a recently published book Health Professionals and Trust: The Cure for Healthcare Law and Policy, Prof Henaghan says external regulation and surveillance may lead to compliance but such behaviour is not likely to be as enduring as a professional commitment to act in trustworthy ways. - Todd Suomela

The US financial markets have suffered over 18,000 extreme price changes caused by ultrafast trading, according to a new study of market data between 2006 and 2011 - Todd Suomela

"User Interface Design patterns are recurring solutions that solve common design problems. Design patterns are standard reference points for the experienced user interface designer. " - Todd Suomela