Daily Archives: May 17, 2012

TED Talks didn’t want you to see this video:

Uncategorized,

The Washington Post notes:

Chris Anderson, head honcho at TED, has responded to Nick Hanauer’s claims that his TED talk was censored. TED, Anderson says, tries “to steer clear of talks that are bound to descend into the same dismal partisan head-butting people” and that Hanauer “framed the issue in a way that was explicitly partisan.” The upshot, though, is that he’s letting viewers decide for themselves.

Chris Anderson was abysmally wrong to call this partisan. Who’s funding Ted anyway?1

See Also:

_________________
1AT&T, Autodesk, Blackberry, Cokacola, Delta, GE, IBM, Intel, Johnson&Johnson, Kauffman Foundation, Levis, Pioneer, Rolex, Santander, Shell, Stellcase, J. and J. Knight, Tiffany, Walmart, (Red), Adobe, Akamai, Aljazeera Network, Allianz, AOL, ARUP, Audi, Baille Gifford, bing, Cengage, Cisco, Coffee Common, Datatran Media, T Dewar’s, Direct Brands Inc, Dow, Genantech, GM, 10,000 women, Goldstar, Google, Grameen America, GREY, Gucci, Hyundai, Ideo, Jawbone, Jack Spade, Liberty Mutual, Loncoln, LObard Odier, Lynda.com, Microsoft, Newegg.com, OVI Nokia, Pfizer, Qatar Museums Authority, Benault Nissan, Siemens, Sony, Syfy, Target, Toyota, University of British Columbia, Walt Disney, Wipro, Women at NBCU, Workspring.

Hat tip: 99% Miles.

Links you should visit:

Uncategorized

Fewer White People than Other-Than-White-People are being born in the US, which means eventually there won’t be too many white people. It’s about time.

Almost all societies in the world allow, often encourage, marriage between cousins. There are reasons for this which I shall blog about if you remind me to. But for now, here is a discussion on the topic you will find interesting.

More on those climate change billboards.

Finally, we’ve got enough white people and can now move on to other things!

Uncategorized

From the New York Times:

After years of speculation, estimates and projections, the Census Bureau has made it official: White births are no longer a majority in the United States.

Non-Hispanic whites accounted for 49.6 percent of all births in the 12-month period that ended last July, according to Census Bureau data made public on Thursday, while minorities — including Hispanics, blacks, Asians and those of mixed race — reached 50.4 percent, representing a majority for the first time in the country’s history.

It’s about time. I was getting really tired of all these white people everywhere.

Pigeon Navigation: Just as long suspected, they've got cellular compasses

Uncategorized

At some point, while I was in graduate school, it became apparent that I was going to study the problem of finding one’s way around. Navigation, orientation, mental maps, sense of direction, knowledge of the landscape, and related ideas must be linked to how people who live off the land survive, and I was studying the foraging ecology of Efe Pygmies in the Ituri Forest. One of the things I realized early on is that it is very easy to find something in the rain forest, as long as one simple thing is true: You already know where it is. Otherwise, you are sunk.

Wait, what does this have to do with tiny compasses in bird brains? Click here to find out.

If you are ever being chased by the police …

Uncategorized

There are certain thing you should do and certain things you should not do. But whatever you don, don’t do what Daniel Donno, visiting the Twin Cities from Wales (apparently) did in the wee hours of the morning today.

He had stolen a car (who knows why) and led the police on an extensive chase avoiding stop strips, and generally evading capture. Eventually, he got to the bridge on highway 63 that goes over the river into Wisconsin. The police decided to break of the chase (and, presumably, to call the Wisconsin State Troopers to let them know about the stolen car that just drove into their territory, tough I don’t know this for certain).

Not realizing that he was no longer being chased by the cops, but while the cops were still watching the bridge, Donno stopped the car and jumped into the river.

Annoyed, the police called the other police who rescue people from water. They went down the river in a boat and found him flailing around out in the middle.

Donno then refused to be rescued, so the cops got a bunch of boats around him and corralled him, then pulled him out of the water.

He will be charged with fleeing police, speeding, reckless driving, disobeying a stop sign, and car theft. The Coen brothers have already started negotiation with Donno’s agent to use his character in their next movie.