5 Intriguing Things
1. User-centered design... for animals.
Although animals have been involved in machine interactions for a long time, their perspective has seldom driven the design of interactive technology intended for them and animal-computer interaction is yet to enter mainstream user-computer interaction research. ACI aims to fill this gap and, in so doing, expand the boundaries of user-computer interaction research. Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI) aims to: study the interaction between animals and computing technology within the animals’ habitual contexts; design interactive technology that can support animals in their habitual tasks or daily lives, and that can foster the relationship between humans and animals; develop a user-centred approach to the design of technology that is intended for animal use."
2. We hear so much about China's polluted cities, but what about Delhi?
"The recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report on Ambient Air Pollution for 2014 showcases a variety of alarming results: across 1600 cities from 91 countries, and covering the period from 2008 to 2013, the cities with the lowest levels of urban air quality in the world lie in India. Delhi ranks as the worst globally for the highest measurement of fine particulate matter, PM 2.5 (smaller than 2.5 microns) of 153 micrograms (one-millionth of a gram) per cubic meter of air. For particulate matter with less than a 10 micron-meter aerodynamic diameter, PM 10, the cities of Gwalior, Raipur and Delhi rank amongst the highest in the world."
3. Maybe sci-fi has gotten too dystopian.
"A few years ago, Stephenson was on a panel discussion with Arizona State University President Michael Crow, and Stephenson started complaining that there were no big scientific projects to inspire people these days. Crow shot back, 'You’re the ones slacking off!' In Crow’s view, it was the writers who weren’t pulling their weight, supplying the motivating visions for science and technology. From that discussion, Crow and Stephenson have collaborated on The Center for Science and the Imagination at ASU. And Stephenson founded a group called Project Hieroglyph, which recruits science fiction authors to write more optimistically about the future."
4. Another health condition I am grateful not to have.
"María’s official diagnosis was sialolithiasis, a fancy word for the formation of stones in the salivary gland. María’s stone had worked its way into her salivary duct, and now it was wedged. These stones, called sialoliths, aren’t as nearly as common as those that form in the kidney or gallbladder, but they do occur. And no one knows exactly why. Dehydration has been blamed, as well as certain medications; the pH of the saliva may also play a role. How they form is something of a mystery too. Some suspect that these calcified pebbles grow around mucus, free-floating cells, or even bacteria. Sometimes the stones form around debris that has worked its way into the salivary gland. A paper in the rather obscure journal of Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology, and Endodontology describes a 66-year-old man whose small sialolith contained a facial hair. Doctors have unearthed other foreign bodies too: a shrimp limb, a fish bone, a thorn."
5. Roofing seems like a really terrifying hobby, but the pictures are great.
"We have tried to get the most of Hong Kong, in terms of roofing. The only places we have missed are 'the new territories' – the sleeping areas of the city. Nevertheless, it is not as interesting, as the central part. Below you can see the most interesting photos from our trips to Hong Kong. Vadim Makhorov is standing on the roof of one of the skyscrapers next to the famous Victoria Peak. Perhaps, this is the point with the best city view. It is much better, than the view from the Victoria Peak itself."
Today's 1957 American English Language Tip
carven for carved is a REVIVAL, not having been used between the 16th & 18th cc. Carved is usually better.
A Shrimp Limb, A Fish Bone, A Thorn