5 Intriguing Things
1. Modeling the ebola outbreak with a "live" scientific paper.
"We have developed in the past week a modeling approach aimed at assessing the progression of the epidemic in West Africa and its international spread under the assumption that the EVD outbreak continues to evolve at the current pace. Our results have been published in PLOS Currents Outbreaks. However, our modeling work has been motivated by the need for a rapid assessment of the EVD outbreak trends and the obtained results may change as more information becomes available from the EVD affected region and more refined sensitivity analysis can be implemented computationally. For this reason, the paper on PLOS Current Outbreaks shall be considered as a live paper that is constantly updated with new data, projections and analysis." (mobs-lab.org)
2. The Pixel Sorter bot makes beautiful things.
"Counted among Twitter’s 271 million active users are an untold number of bots. These accounts were created by people with a pulse but tweet without human intervention. Some are handy, others beautiful, many peculiar. Bots, it should be said, are some of the most productive members of Twitter’s society. But while humans are showered with praise for their tweets, bots have not traditionally received the same love. Never again! We have compiled a list of Twitter’s best bots." (qz.com)
3. How to digitize a daguerreotype.
"Daguerreotypes present several challenges in digitization, mainly due to their inherent physical characteristics. Above all else, daguerreotypes are by their very nature incredibly reflective. In this nineteenth century process, the actual photographic image is formed on a silver-coated copper plate that is polished to a mirror-like sheen. Depending on the lighting and viewing angle, even just hand-holding the daguerreotype may provide you with a clear image of the subject, or you may just be staring back at yourself. Additionally, daguerreotypes are often encased behind glass to protect the fragile image resting on the surface of the silver – helpful in maintaining image integrity, but adding another layer of reflection. In order to view the daguerreotypes (as well as digitize them) with any degree of success, you must control the lighting that strikes the object, and completely block out any object that would cause a reflection. Because lighter objects are always more visible in this type of reflective image, photographing a daguerreotype of any size requires surrounding the object with black foam, paper, or cloth that will help offset its reflective properties." (brown.edu)
"Because Sun Ra would be a visionary either way. Combining Afrocentric science fiction, esoteric and occult philosophy, Egyptology, and, with his 'Arkestra,' his own brand of free jazz-futurism that has no equal on earth, the man is truly sui generis. In 1971, he served as artist-in-residence at UC Berkeley and offered a spring semester lecture, African-American Studies 198, also known as 'Sun Ra 171,' 'The Black Man in the Universe,' or “The Black man in the Cosmos.' The course featured readings from—to name just a few—theosophist Madame Blavatsky, French philosopher Constantin Francois de Chasseboeuf, black American writer and poet Henry Dumas, and 'God,' whom the cosmic jazz theorist reportedly listed as the author of The Source Book of Man’s Life and Death (otherwise known as the King James Bible)." (openculture.com)
5. Pete Warden, genuine nerd, on why nerd culture must die.
"And that’s where the problem lies. We’re still behaving like the rebel alliance, but now we’re the Empire. We got where we are by ignoring outsiders and believing in ourselves even when nobody else would. The decades have proved that our way was largely right and the critics were wrong, so our habit of not listening has become deeply entrenched. It even became a bit of a bonding ritual to attack critics of the culture because they usually didn’t understand what we were doing beyond a surface level. It didn’t used to matter because nobody except a handful of forum readers would see the rants. The same reflex becomes a massive problem now that nerds wield real power." (petewarden.com)
Today's 1957 American English Language Tip
complex. (Psych.): A mental abnormality resulting from a repressed & unconscious system of desires & memories that in disguised form exerts a dominating influence on personality. Now loosely used as a VOGUE WORD. If a person is cautious about inflammables, he explains he has a complex about fire. If he prefers travel by train rather than by air, he has a height complex. If he decides not to try to publish a story he has just written, he undoubtedly has an inferiority complex. In fact if he is afraid of anything, from mice to hydrogen bombs, he should immediately see his psychiatrist; he promptly admits, and his friends all agree that he is suffering from a complex.
+ Remember the subconscious?
Whom the Cosmic Jazz Theorist Reportedly Listed