Author: AMH

Don’t discount the crossword puzzle in all this

By AMH

Maybe the most interesting thing about this summary of responses to questions about the future of newspapers by a variety of newspaper and media experts is that they all urge newspapers to be very hesitant about reducing their number of print days per week, but they also concur that in ten years we will no longer have daily print newspapers. Common wisdom is that, at some point in the not too distant future, newspapers are going to have to leave their bulky physical form behind, but it seems that these experts think it is more important now to start reshaping … Continue reading Don’t discount the crossword puzzle in all this

But can I trade my morning coffee for a dinner glass of wine?

By AMH

I find this visualization of how the choices we make can reduce water consumption odd, if not downright problematic in places. The graphic seems to be an odd mix of “here are some things that you might do” with a tinge of “here is your complete usage in a day” – if it was the former, why would they include flushing the toilet and washing your hands twice. But if it is the later, well, they are suggesting you need only do those things twice in an entire day – this seems improbable and/or unhygienic. But it is the assessment … Continue reading But can I trade my morning coffee for a dinner glass of wine?

Getting this weblog back on track…

By AMH

I love Dinosaur Comics – I find it similar to xkcd (also written by a computer scientist/computational linguist!), and I have to resist the temptation to link to every single one. But anybody who took my intersession course on figurative language has got to check out the March 9th one on conceptual metaphor; trust me if you remember the Lakoff and Turner readings this one will crack you up. For everybody else, try the comic about plagiarism, which makes me laugh out loud every time I read it. If you read both you might notice they look similar – which, … Continue reading Getting this weblog back on track…

Who doesn’t love a little Zapf Chancery sometimes?

By AMH

I like the discussion here about an article finding that font choice influences how likely someone is to act on material they are reading. It is pointed out in the comments that the appropriate interpretation is not that Arial is the best font, but that cutesy fonts that get used to add interest or make documents look more “friendly” may actually be reducing the impact of the document. I have seen studies about reading comprehension based on font choice, but this is the first I have seen that talks about how likely a person is to take a particular action … Continue reading Who doesn’t love a little Zapf Chancery sometimes?

Where is my bus?

By AMH

RouteShout is a new service being piloted in Pittsburgh (but available for purchase to any city) that lets riders text a number posted on a bus stop and get texted back the arrival time of the next buses scheduled to reach that stop. [via Pittsburgh Metblogs] I love how simple and yet useful this idea seems. They don’t seem to be trying to solve the entire “where is my bus” question – you can’t go to a website and see maps of all the buses, you can’t send complex queries about fares or what transfers are needed to get from … Continue reading Where is my bus?

I want allllll my apps

By AMH

From earlier this week, a report that Windows is producing a limited version of Windows 7 that will be cheaper and faster for netbooks to run. The big difference being discussed? You can run a maximum of three applications at a time…. The company claims most users wouldn’t be affected by the three-app limit. “We ran a study which suggested that the average consumer has open just over two applications [at any time],” Painell claims. “We would expect the limit of three applications wouldn’t affect very many people.” However, Microsoft told journalists at last year’s Professional Developers Conference that 70% … Continue reading I want allllll my apps

Google has some self-esteem issues

By AMH

It seems that either Google has been hacked or its security settings have been upgraded to be excessively paranoid. It will be interesting to hear what ended up happening to produce these results….

Bored at work?

By AMH

Make yourself hallucinate, chemical free! I just have two questions? Who was laying around taping half ping pong balls over their eyes while listening to static? And, on the more science-y side, I wonder if, even if these are chemical-free ways too mess with your brain, there could be lasting side effects of doing these types of things repeatedly? How often would you have to rub a friend’s nose before you permanently felt like your own nose was super long?

I am equally mathematically and pop-culturally prominent!

By AMH

I think everybody knows about Bacon numbers (distance between people in the six degrees of Kevin Bacon game) and if you hang in math circles you know about Erdos numbers (publication distance from the prolific Paul Erdos) but I just found out that people have started computing Erdős–Bacon numbers (via ALOTT5MA). Traditionally one only counts credited movie appearances towards one’s Bacon number, but for this, a relaxed set of rules is adopted which gives me a Bacon-Erdos number! I get an Erdos number of 4 through a paper with my PhD advisor and I get a Bacon number of 4 … Continue reading I am equally mathematically and pop-culturally prominent!