Awesome

Nicely done site.

in reference to: http://www.rpgnexus.org/ (view on Google Sidewiki)

Microsoft Has Lost Its Way

This is exactly why Microsoft is so far behind these days. They focus on trying to "beat Google" in terms of the time to release features, instead of simply focusing on the user.

In fact, the recent zero-day flaw in Internet Explorer was known by Microsoft since September of 2009 and the patch for this security vulnerability was only released yesterday.

So, for four months the majority of the world was vulnerable to computer attacks while Microsoft spent three months feverishly trying to beat Google in implementing Twitter into their search engine. Really, Microsoft?

in reference to: http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14242473 (view on Google Sidewiki)

We Are At War With Warmongers

Cheney is just a warmonger. He is essentially saying, "We are at war with bad people." Well, I'm sorry Cheney, but bad people are going to continue to be here forever in some form or another. So, as long as you focus on intangible things such as "terrorism", you will think we are forever at war. You might as well set the threat level to RED and toss out all of the other colors for eternity. What way of life is that, really? Cheney wants the terrorists to win because he wants us to be terrified. Terrorists only win when we change our way of life to accommodate their actions.

Cheney considers us to be at war with intangible ideas such as "terrorism". Obama understands that we are at war with tangible groups such as Al Qaeda.

in reference to: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/31054.html (view on Google Sidewiki)

Bias is Fun

Under the Obama administration, one al-Qaeda terrorist gets onto a plane and tries (but fails) to blow up his underwear. Due to this, Obama gets an "F" for protecting Americans. Number of Americans who died in that incident: 0.

Under the Bush administration, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. Due to this, which grade should Bush get for protecting Americans? Number of Americans who died in that incident: 2,973.

It seems to me this guy is grading on an extremely skewed curve. It looks like everyone gets an "F".

in reference to: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/100020934/barack-obama-gets-an-f-for-protecting-americans/ (view on Google Sidewiki)

Delayed Perception

This ignores the fact that the economy is dynamic and often slow moving. Actions taken today might not be felt for generations.

So, do you have models which prove that actions taken from 1920-1950 were not that which was responsible for the economic climate felt from 1950-1980? Perhaps actions taken from 1950-1980 are directly responsible for what we are feeling today? And, perhaps actions taken today will be felt 20 or 30 years from now by future generations.

in reference to: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/reagan-reagan-reagan/ (view on Google Sidewiki)

Bad Analogies

What Google is doing with Google Books would NOT be like if you or I went into a library and scanned a million books. Just because someone can make a bad analogy doesn't make their analogy fact. Google got the permission of the libraries.

If you or I got the same permission from the libraries to scan a million books... not for personal use, but to make it possible for others to find these books and know which libraries these books are available in... we would not be put into handcuffs. However, I'm sure that people would use bad analogies to make us look like criminals.

in reference to:

"“Imagine if you or I went into a library and scanned a million books. You’d be taken out in handcuffs,” said Edelman. “For Google to get this unique right and for it to be able to continue to use the fruits of this unauthorised scanning, that rubbed people up the wrong way. It’s like a school bully stealing your ice cream and then, when the teacher catches him, he gets to eat it anyway. It doesn’t feel fair, does it?”"
- http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article6898010.ece (view on Google Sidewiki)

Missing Money

The point that Daniel is missing here is that if the $150 billion were simply handed out to individuals, sure you could pay twice as many people for a year... or the same number of people twice as much... but to when end? And, why only a year. The 650,000 jobs saved are presumably for more than just one year. These are jobs that (as long as the stimulus work keeps doing its job) will last for many years.

Furthermore, the $150 billion did not go into only "salaries"... but into resources to, for instance, repair roads or repair schools. So, you can't simply divide the money by the number of jobs and determine whether it was worth it or not. Sure, it makes the math simple, but the problem itself is not simple. We have gained value not only in the jobs saved, but the infrastructure which was rebuilt.

in reference to: http://business.theatlantic.com/2009/10/should_the_stimulus_saving_or_creating_650000_jobs_impress_us.php (view on Google Sidewiki)

Google Voice Blog: What is that number again?

One of Google's top priorities for the automated transcription feature in Google Voice is trascribing numbers.

Google Voice Blog: What is that number again?

Google has been testing a new feature with Google Maps recently.  Now, search results contain a "star" icon.  Clicking this icon "stars" the location within your account.  By visiting My Maps and scrolling to the bottom of the list, you can see your "Starred Items".

Google has announced a new API for YouTube today, letting anyone write code that will upload, modify, and stream videos from YouTube without ever leaving the developer's site. One service to use this soon will be TiVo.

http://apiblog.youtube.com/2008/03/something-to-write-home-about.html

Yet another article about how a prominent blogger is worried about Google adding another useful feature.

http://digg.com/tech_news/New_Google_Checkout_Promo_New_Google_Trust_Worries

Google Maps Now Allows Multiple Destinations

For those who have been waiting for this feature, the wait is now over. Now, driving directions using Google Maps allows multiple destinations. This will either allow you to plot a more complex trip, or allow you to force certain paths for longer trips for which you might have a better route in mind.

read more | digg story

CONFIRMED! Xbox 360 Will Sell for $100 on Amazon next Week

Xbox 360 Will Sell for $100 on Amazon next Week

read more | digg story

Finally, a New Spiderman 3 Trailer

Initially, there existed only a "teaser" trailer for the upcoming Spiderman 3 movie. Later, for a short while, an unofficial and incomplete Spiderman 3 trailer was floating around the web. Now, the latest Spiderman 3 trailer has been released. This looks like it will be a great one.

read more | digg story

Nice Collection of Optical Illusion

Have you ever entered a movie theater on a sunny afternoon? The room probably appeared completely dark but as your visual system adjusted to the reduced level of light you were able to see better after a few moments.

Over forty examples of the illusion, viewable as static images (with mouse rollover) or Flash video.

read more | digg story

Scary Evil Priest - Optical Illusion from StareClips.com

This optical illusion relies on a principle called "Chromatic Adaptation". An object may be viewed under various conditions. For example, it may be illuminated by the sunlight, the light of a fire, or a harsh electric light. In all of these situations, the visual system indicates that the object has the same color: an apple always appears red, whether viewed at night or during the day. This feature of the visual system is called chromatic adaptation. Have you ever entered a movie theater on a sunny afternoon? The room probably appeared completely dark but as your visual system adjusted to the reduced level of light you were able to see better after a few moments. This "adaptation mechanism" allows our eyes to recover from an oversensitivity to a particular stimuli. "Chromatic adaptation" occurs when our eyes adjust to certain color stimuli. Chromatic adaptation is one of the more easily fooled aspects of vision, and is prone to some of the most spectacular optical illusions. Original at: http://www.StareClips.com/Scary_Evil_Priest.asp More at: http://www.StareClips.com

Why did the fool cross the road? To get hit on the other side.

Sperm Cells.

Firefox "Whee"

Funny fan-made commercial for the FireFox web browser.

I think the founder of Wikipedia didn't get the memo. Google.com is not censored in China. Google created an alternative version, Google.cn, which merely removes the links from results that are blocked by China's Great Firewall. In other words, they merely created a less buggy version of Google.com and host it at Google.cn. Google.com is still uncensored and still available in China. For those in China who just want to be able to use a search engine and not get surprised by constant errors every other time they click a link, Google has made the alternative version available.

In fact, if the founder of Wikipedia just continues to fight, China is likely to keep ALL of Wikipedia blocked. In other words, the founder of Wikipedia is essentially censoring ALL of Wikipedia's information from the Chinese citizens by deciding to battle with the government of China in order to have some good PR in other countries that don't quite fully get the situation at hand.