The Importance of the Mets Being Fast - WSJ.com

The Importance of the Mets Being Fast - WSJ.com:

"...according to research performed by Fangraphs.com, there has been minimal correlation over the last 30 years between the number of bases a team steals and the team's winning percentage.

On a scale where zero means there is no correlation between two variables, a team's stolen-base total and its winning percentage score a factor of just 0.12. Put simply, how many bases a team steals says very little about how often it wins."

I would say that speed is probably more important at Citi field than elsewhere.

The Science of Aging Brains - Newsweek

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Good article!

The Science of Aging Brains - Newsweek:

"...in real life, rather than in psych labs, people rely on mental abilities that stand up very well to age and discover work-arounds for the mental skills that do fade. The second is that some mental abilities actually improve with age, and one of them may be the inchoate thing called wisdom, which is not a bad thing to have when running a company. Little of the gloom-and-doom conventional wisdom about what happens to the brain as we age, says Salt-house, 'is based on well-established empirical evidence.' Instead, he says, much of it seems to be 'influenced as much by the authors' preconceptions and attitudes as by systematic evaluation' of solid data...Some of the earlier bad-news findings are being questioned as scientists discover that the differences between today’s 20-year-old brains and 80-year-old brains reflect something other than simple age, and instead have to do with how people live their lives.."

North Koreans Still Waiting to Hear About Glorious World Cup Victory -- Daily Intel

North Koreans Still Waiting to Hear About Glorious World Cup Victory -- Daily Intel:

"North Korea succumbed 7-0, and the result does not appear to have been reported in the North Korean press. No sign of it in North Korea’s main newspaper — accessible by a Japan-based portal — and, so far, the official North Korean news agency has not yet gotten to the story."

Cyclist Raising Money For Cancer Dies - Albuquerque News Story - KOAT Albuquerque

Cyclist Raising Money For Cancer Dies - Albuquerque News Story - KOAT Albuquerque:

"A bicyclist struck by a car this week has died. The cyclist and his friends were cycling across the country raising money for breast cancer.

Friends said John Anczarski came up with the idea to ride bikes from Pennsylvania to California to raise money for breast cancer.

....On Monday, the group was bicycling on the Laguna Pueblo when they said a man driving a red SUV going 55 mph struck Anczarski. Friends said they question how that driver didn't see him."We were wearing yellow jerseys. We had blinking LED lights on our bikes," Bereskie said"

Landon Donovan's Game-Winning World Cup Goal May Have Set Internet Traffic Record | Popular Science

Landon Donovan's Game-Winning World Cup Goal May Have Set Internet Traffic Record | Popular Science:

"Just how breathtakingly, heart-stoppingly awesome was Landon Donovan’s 91st-minute goal in today’s win-or-go-home U.S.-Algeria World Cup game? It was definitely significant enough to temporarily overwhelm Twitter. And it just might have been the single biggest driver of Internet traffic ever."

Sword-Wielding Osama-Hunter Looking in the Right Place? | Danger Room | Wired.com

Crazy story.


Sword-Wielding Osama-Hunter Looking in the Right Place? | Danger Room | Wired.com:

"As for Faulkner himself, it’s difficult to decide whether he’s a campy hero, a loon, or just incredibly stupid. He’s probably all three. Especially given the difficulties the U.S. has had in tracking down Osama bin Laden—super-high resolution imagery of the border region, now on Google Earth, hasn’t shown us where he’s hiding—maybe Faulkner is onto something? Special Forces have a hard enough time finding any Taliban inside Afghanistan, to say nothing of Northwest Pakistan. Maybe Faulkner was our best shot at locating the man behind Al Qaeda."

Your Brain on Computers - Attached to Technology and Paying a Price - NYTimes.com

Your Brain on Computers - Attached to Technology and Paying a Price - NYTimes.com:

"The resulting distractions can have deadly consequences, as when cellphone-wielding drivers and train engineers cause wrecks. And for millions of people like Mr. Campbell, these urges can inflict nicks and cuts on creativity and deep thought, interrupting work and family life.

While many people say multitasking makes them more productive, research shows otherwise. Heavy multitaskers actually have more trouble focusing and shutting out irrelevant information, scientists say, and they experience more stress.

And scientists are discovering that even after the multitasking ends, fractured thinking and lack of focus persist. In other words, this is also your brain off computers.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Does the Internet Make You Smarter? - WSJ.com

Very interesting article:

Does the Internet Make You Smarter? - WSJ.com:

"It is tempting to want PatientsLikeMe without the dumb videos, just as we might want scientific journals without the erotic novels, but that's not how media works. Increased freedom to create means increased freedom to create throwaway material, as well as freedom to indulge in the experimentation that eventually makes the good new stuff possible.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"