“Let’s go burn down the observatory so this’ll never happen again!”
Have you thanked a modeling and simulation engineer today? Check out the NASA/JPL video showing the most recent trajectory simulation for Apophis 99942 asteroid.
On April 13, 2029, Earth has a 1 in 250,000 chance of having a very bad day.
Instead of freaking out, maybe we should catch it?
Dude, Where’s My Null Hypothesis?
WWJD?
The indisputable evidence box was a conceptual mind-exercise I came up with a while back to test one’s ability to maintain justifiable skepticism. It’s like a pregnancy test for logic, except you don’t have to pee on anything.
In a nutshell, the test is to imagine a set of hypothetical evidence that is so overwhelmingly AGAINST your own belief system that you’d have no choice but to accept that you are undeniably wrong. The question is then: presented with this indisputable evidence box, would you abandon your beliefs?
I like this exercise because it’s naturally polarizing. For those with a strong scientific background, it’s a layup; the scientific method flourishes in this sort of situation where new evidence presents itself against a commonly accepted theory. But when the user’s response is fuddled, ambiguous, or even hostile toward the test, it’s quite clear that skepticism and rationality are not frequently-used tools in their personal bag of tricks.
NoTigers.com Holiday Special!
Fact: Tigers hate Christmas
The good people at NoTigers.com, the creators of the famous Tiger Attack Prevention Rock™ are having a holiday sale!
Now, get 5 Tiger Attack Prevention Rocks™ for only $19.95!
That’s right! Spare your entire family the horribly grusome ordeal of being attacked by tigers for only $19.95! It pays for itself!
Tiger Attack Prevention Rocks™ have been proven using science. I can also personally endorse this product, as I’ve had a TAPR for almost 3 years now without a single tiger attack!
So get your Tiger Attack Prevention Rocks™ at NoTigers.com today! Before it’s too late!
2009 Sprocket Awards
The "Sprockie"
It’s time for the 2009 year-end review. And to make this a little easier to digest, I’m giving out fictitious awards to celebrate the best and worst in the world of technology, science and entertainment.
We had some highlights. Twitter somehow became popular, giving rise to yet another way to procrastinate via the Internet. The LHC appears to be moving closer to destroying the universe or giving some scientists new physics to play with. And Saturday Night Live, after almost a decade under the radar, has finally figured out how to be funny again.
Also we have our first black president or something.
We’re also closing out the decade — a decade of nostalgia. Unsure what to actually call the years 2000 to 2009 (the “naughts”? the “zeros”?), we instead looked backwards to reminisce about decades we could actually pronounce. While this will make for some awkward future nostalgia (“Remember how we used to remember about Ninja Turtles?”), we surely welcome 2010. At last we have the “teens”. And yes, I am officially declaring 2010 – 2012 the “teens” as well. I’m not dealing with this crap for another 3 years.
Anyway, without further post padding, the 2009 Sprocket Awards.
The Google Fade — Stop Complaining
Google Fade
I don’t understand people sometimes.
Google recently unveiled a new minor design change to its famously conservative and minimalist homepage. In fact, it is so minor, many people fail to catch it the first time. Go to www.google.com to see what I’m talking about.
Did you blink? The logo and search bar appear on the page load, but the menus and links fade in once the mouse moves.
Okay, fine. Kinda gimmicky, but I applaud any excuse to flex some HTML5 (check out the source!). But god all mighty are some people pissed.
The forums over at the Google Web Search Forum are crawling with pitch-fork armies.
Like this monster. With over 600 replies, this thread is full of “annoyed” peeps, most of whom are demanding an option to disable the fade. And then there’s this poor fellow, who reformatted his computer TWICE, thinking he had a virus.
Reader Challenge: 50 Ways To Close A Window
X
A while back I was using a spawn of Linux for some work-related task. I went to close a window — and failed miserably. Having been raised in a strict Microsoft Windows household, I was momentarily displaced. Apparently my preferred window closing method, double-clicking the upper-left icon, wasn’t included in this particular distro.
It was then that I realized just how many freakin’ ways there were to close a Window’s window. So…
Reader Challenge: To my staggeringly few loyal readers, let’s come up with 50 ways to close a window in Windows (any/all versions). I’ll get us started with 10 easy ones.
- Left-click the upper-right X.
- Left-click the upper-left icon, click “Close” or “Exit”.
- Right-click the upper-left icon, click “Close”.
- Left-click “File”, click “Close” or “Exit”.
- Double-click the upper-left icon.
- Right-click the titlebar, click “Close”.
- With the window active, hit ALT+F4.
- Right-click the item in the taskbar, click “Close”.
- Hit CTRL+ALT+DEL, choose item from “Applications”, click “End Task”.
- Hit CTRL+ALT+DEL, choose “explorer.exe” from “Processes”, click “End Process”.
Post your methods in the comments and I will update this list as they come. And a million Sprocket Points to the most outside-the-box method.
The 2009 Google Zeitgeist Is Here! Hooray For Data!
If you say the name three times, Michael Keaton will appear.
Tell Your Friends
