Saturday, December 19, 2009

Southern States Are the Happiest

Southern States Are the Happiest:
"New York ranked dead last at number 51"
While likely dominated by NYC, the results are still surprising given they showed such a weak link with income at least at first glance.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Bathroom scale tweets your weight - Holy Kaw!

Talk about a Nudge (or should I say a Pudge?)

Bathroom scale tweets your weight - Holy Kaw!:
"...motivation to back away from the gingerbread men and brandy-spiked eggnog this food-filled holiday season? How about public humiliation? A French company developed a wifi-equipped bathroom scale that sends out your weight and body fat info directly to your blog, iPhone and Twitter account."

Everything you always wanted to know about: WPA - Big League Stew - MLB Blog - Yahoo! Sports

Everything you always wanted to know about: WPA - Big League Stew - MLB Blog - Yahoo! Sports:
"What it stands for: Win Probability Added. As Hardball Times's Dave Studeman has written, it's gone by a lot of different names. 'Player Win Averages,' 'Player Game Percentage,' 'Win Expectancy,' 'Player's Win Value,' etc. But WPA is the the most common name for it these days.

How they calculate WPA: Though the arithmetic can be a mother, Win Probability Added is one of the easiest of all the advanced stats to explain. Put simply, it's a measure of how much any game event contributes to the eventual outcome of the game, win or loss."

BBC News - Pro-Iranian hackers hit Twitter and opposition websites

BBC News - Pro-Iranian hackers hit Twitter and opposition websites:
"Reporting on the hack, technology website techcruch.com recommended that Twitter users who have the same password for other websites like Facebook or their email should change them.

Twitter posted a blog on their website saying the micro-blogging service had been restored an hour and a quarter after the hack was first noticed.

The post said the hackers had gained access to the inner workings of the site and redirected visitors to their own website"

Monday, December 14, 2009

Friday, December 11, 2009

Personalities accurately judged by physical appearance alone

So you can judge a book by its cover?

Personalities accurately judged by physical appearance alone:
"Observers were able to accurately judge some aspects of a stranger's personality from looking at photographs, according to a study in the current issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (PSBP), the official monthly journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Self-esteem, ratings of extraversion and religiosity were correctly judged from physical appearance."

Thursday, December 10, 2009

YouTube - Applying Economics to American History

YouTube - Applying Economics to American History: "Presented by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. at the 'Economics for High School Students' seminar. Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama; 20 November 2009."

history podcast directory, Historical podcast, Alexander the great, Napoleon - ABRAHAM LINCOLN

history podcast directory, Historical podcast, Alexander the great, Napoleon - ABRAHAM LINCOLN:
"On this page you can find historical podcasts about Abraham Lincoln"

Brain Doctor has stroke and lives to tell.

I bought the book about a month ago, but confess I have not yet read it, after watching this, it just moved up my "to read" list!

From Denny Coates' blog:
http://www.buildingpersonalstrength.com/2009/12/jill-bolte-taylors-stroke-of-insight.html:
"I urge you to listen to Dr. Taylor's personal account of what it feels like to have a stroke,. Because she's a brain scientist, you'll probably never again hear a story quite like hers. Her presentation was for TED, which shares videos of enlightening speakers online, so the talk lasts about 20 minutes. If you take the time to watch it all the way through, you'll be glad you did."


Saturday, December 05, 2009

Deloitte 2009 Education Survey | Barry Salzberg | Secondary Education Reform

It is done by a Big Four accounting firm, but interesting:

Deloitte 2009 Education Survey | Barry Salzberg | Secondary Education Reform:
"The results revealed a major disconnect on the role of high school and that the current education system does not do enough to encourage teachers and administrators to take a long-term view of student achievement.

When asked to identify the most important mission of high school, only nine percent of teachers chose preparing students for college. But low-income parents and students overwhelmingly rank preparing students for college as the most important purpose of high school."

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

No PM tobacco contracts for Georgia, Florida

No PM tobacco contracts for Georgia, Florida:
"Growers were informed of the decision by Philip Morris USA to “no longer offer contracts for the purchase of tobacco in Georgia after the 2009 season.”"

No PM tobacco contracts for Georgia, Florida

No PM tobacco contracts for Georgia, Florida:
"Growers were informed of the decision by Philip Morris USA to “no longer offer contracts for the purchase of tobacco in Georgia after the 2009 season.”"

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

USC Draws Inspiration From No. 1 Fan - ESPN Video - ESPN

USC Draws Inspiration From No. 1 Fan - ESPN Video - ESPN:
"USC fan Jake Olson, who lost his eyesight to cancer, has become an inspirational figure for the USC football team"