Wang Yip

"This story is for those who say they are scared of math, who believe they do not have math aptitude, and are mistaken in thinking that they are bad with numbers. Take a look at your dating adventures and see how the magical wand of math has guided your choices. You probably did not realize this was math, but you have applied it joyfully and wisely." - Wang Yip from Bookmarklet

"At six billion plus today, the earth’s human population will reach more than nine billion by 2050, according to estimates. If this many people consume energy at the current rate in the developed world, the planet will need more than double the amount of power it consumes today. But energy is just one issue that humankind will have to tackle to create a sustainable future. The root cause of the looming energy problem—and the key to easing environmental, economic and religious tensions while improving public health—is to address the unending, and unequal, growth of the human population. And the one proven way to reduce fertility rates is to empower young women by educating them." - Wang Yip from Bookmarklet

"The title of Feld’s paper says it all, and here’s a little demonstration you can do to confirm his conclusion. List all of your friends. Then ask each of your friends how many friends they have. No matter who you are, whether you are a man or a woman, where you live, how many (or few) friends you have, and who your friends are, you will very likely discover that your friends on average have more friends than you do. But how can this be? Friendships are bilateral (unless you are a stalker): If X is friends with Y, then Y is friends with X. How can Y and other friends of X have more friends than X does?" - Wang Yip from Bookmarklet

"We are, of course, referring to the flat wing portions with two bones, not the relatively easy-to-eat "drumettes." Chef John of the Food Wishes blog shows off a method here that leaves the eater with a solid strip of meat you can dunk into bleu cheese (or ranch dressing, as mid-westerners might have it). You could probably get away with only removing the tiny bone and using the larger bone as a holding piece, but either way, it's probably a bit more formal and fancy than the normal process of digging in." - Wang Yip from Bookmarklet

"The just-launched Twitter Lists feature is a new way to organize the people you’re following on Twitter, or find new people. In actuality, though, Twitter Lists are Twitter’s long awaited “groups” feature. They offer a way for you to bunch together other users on Twitter into groups so that you can get an overview of what they’re up to. That’s because Lists aren’t just static listings of users, but rather curated Twitter streams of the latest tweets from a specified set of users. In other words, you can create a list that groups together people for whatever reason (the members of your family, for example), and then you can get a snapshot of the things those users are saying by viewing that list’s page, which includes a complete tweet stream for everyone on the list. Lists allow you to organize the people you’re following into groups, and they even allow you to include people you’re not following." - Wang Yip from Bookmarklet

"Consciously inserting your intentions in these very first moments will have a huge effect. Taking charge of those moments it’s like activating some subtle, unconscious triggers which will ultimately determine your whole daily experience, exactly the way you want. Mornings are fundamental. This is why I experimented a lot with my very first moments of the day. Here are at least 33 ways in which you can transform your days by only spending 5 minutes every morning." - Wang Yip from Bookmarklet

"The difference between MOP and many of these state and local contests I participated in was the difference between problem solving and what many people call mathematics. For these people, math is a series of tricks to use on a series of specific problems. Trick A is for Problem A, Trick B for Problem B, and so on. In this vein, school can become a routine of ‘learn tricks for a week – use tricks on a test – forget most tricks quickly.’ The tricks get forgotten quickly primarily because there are so many of them, and also because the students don’t see how these ‘tricks’ are just extensions of a few basic principles. I had painfully learned at MOP that true mathematics is not a process of memorizing formulas and applying them to problems tailor-made for those formulas. Instead, the successful mathematician possesses fewer tools, but knows how to apply them to a much broader range of problems. We use the term “problem solving” to distinguish this approach to mathematics from the ‘memorize-use-forget’ approach." - Wang Yip from Bookmarklet

"You wouldn’t fly on a commercial jet plane unless you were confident that the pilot had logged some serious time in a flight simulator, preparing for every eventuality. Someday it may be just as inconceivable to undergo delicate surgery without assurances that your doctor has taken a few practice runs on a three-dimensional, interactive simulation of your own anatomy. Researchers at Stanford University are hastening that day by developing a training technology that allows doctors to rehearse surgical procedures before the patient reaches the operating room." - Wang Yip from Bookmarklet

"Verizon and Motorola have been pumping scores of hype into the release of the Motorola Droid, yet another smartphone hailed as an iPhone killer. After spec and picture leaks and premature Web site launches, the Droid has finally received the hands-on treatment, and so far the acclaim is near unanimous. PC World gives the Droid a 90 out of 100, saying it's a "powerful new competitor" in the smartphone wars that "certainly lives up to its promises." So what are other reviewers saying?" - Wang Yip from Bookmarklet

The good: Display, Web Browser, Google Navigation, Android 2.0 - Wang Yip

The bad: Physicality - Wang Yip

"Here’s how the new feature will work: Onebox will let users stream songs directly from Google’s search result page, and will also include additional content like tour information and music videos (the actual content shown will vary depending on the partner — more on that later). Enter a query for “Use Somebody”, and you’re going to see a small ‘play’ button in your search result that lets you stream the Kings of Leon song in its entirety, or buy the song. Clicking on the play button will bring up a small browser window that will immediately start streaming your song. If you enter the name of an artist rather than a song title as your search query, Google will present a handful of popular songs by that artist with multiple ‘play’ buttons." - Wang Yip from Bookmarklet