Category Archives: data

History Sticks Around

Posted on May 18, 2015 by mutecypher

I used to co-host a call in radio show about computers on the local community radio station. I posted the audio (along with images of various fauna from my yard) on Vimeo. I see that it’s still there. Check it … Continue reading →

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Friends are Just Cousins You Didn’t Know You Had

Posted on July 16, 2014 by mutecypher

This study suggests that the people we choose as friends are, on average, as genetically like us as fourth cousins. I need to think about this. A friend of mine believes in reincarnation and thinks that we tend to be … Continue reading →

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Hey, Teacher, Leave Those Chimps Alone…

Posted on July 12, 2014 by mutecypher

You can lead a chimp to Aristotle…. Or any of Jane Goodall’s books. From this article we learn that chimps raised by humans aren’t any smarter than those raised in the wild. An argument for Simian Homeschooling, perhaps. Could we … Continue reading →

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Streaming Music versus Buying It.

Posted on March 31, 2013 by mutecypher

I’ve been considering purchasing one of the paid plans for Spotify, and as part of my decision-making process I was curious about how the musicians are paid. According to this letter from the president of a small label, Spotify pays … Continue reading →

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Gifted and Talented Education

Posted on June 1, 2010 by mutecypher

A month back I made a post on Facebook about funding for Gifted and Talented Students as compared to funding for Special Education. Here is the paper I was writing at the time. ******* Gifted and Talented Students: Equality’s Stepchildren … Continue reading →

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Dyslexia and Testosterone

Posted on May 23, 2010 by mutecypher

The ever-interesting folks at Gene Expression have a short post on some recent findings regarding the deformations in the brain that result in some forms of dyslexia. Testosterone also plays a role due to its influence on neuroplasticity.

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Glaciers in the Himalayas, not set to vanish in 25 years after all.

Posted on January 24, 2010 by mutecypher

The often quoted alarm that glaciers in the Himalayas will vanish by 2035 turns out to be based on math errors (obtaining a rate of glacial retreat by dividing meters lost by 21 years, instead of the actual period of … Continue reading →

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Google, Rockin’ the Casbah

Posted on December 4, 2009 by mutecypher

So Google just announced a new DNS resolution service. I followed their instructions to reset my DNS server to theirs, and pages are loading lightning fast. I don’t know if this is just an early adopters benefit and will fade … Continue reading →

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All The Experts I Know Agree

Posted on November 19, 2009 by mutecypher

I don’t like Appeals to Authority arguments, even when they support my opinions. So, I’ll point to this WSJ article by the Dean of Harvard’s Medical School and say that, although I agree with his conclusions, I wish he had … Continue reading →

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Back It Up, Buttercup

Posted on October 24, 2009 by mutecypher

This article about the T-Mobile/Microsoft Sidekick debacle from Edgelings.com comes as a reminder that you need to back up your data. As does this article on a similar topic. Trusting some third party, even a big respectable company like Microsoft, … Continue reading →

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