Ana Nelson

I was born on Groundhog Day and this was a family joke growing...

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:21:00 +0100

I was born on Groundhog Day and this was a family joke growing up.

oh, nice. Amazon is giving book concordances now. :-)

Wed, 28 May 2008 16:48:01 +0100

oh, nice. Amazon is giving book concordances now. :-)

Yes, I’m going to do a randomized factorial trial of the...

Wed, 28 May 2008 16:38:28 +0100

Yes, I’m going to do a randomized factorial trial of the Lynx effect. How did you know?

Luas Construction... it could be worse!

Mon, 26 May 2008 10:42:25 +0100

Luas Construction... it could be worse!

This is genius. From Pundit Kitchen

Wed, 21 May 2008 12:42:41 +0100

This is genius. From Pundit Kitchen

"[This photograph is copyright by Sarah McCarthy and may not be used without her permission. You may..."

Tue, 20 May 2008 11:21:55 +0100

“[This photograph is copyright by Sarah McCarthy and may not be used without her permission. You may not, for example, put it up on a LOL cats site, with the horse on the left captioned I CAN HAZ FOAL? and the horse on the right captioned CALL ME CHEEZBURGER.]”

- Explaining copyright to the LOLCAT generation.

"Nutrition science, in my opinion, is sort of where surgery was in the year 1650. Interesting,..."

Tue, 06 May 2008 15:39:00 +0100

“Nutrition science, in my opinion, is sort of where surgery was in the year 1650. Interesting, fascinating to watch, but do you really want them operating on you yet?”

- Michael Pollan at google

"Instead, the government fashioned an extra-legal solution. The combatants would be held indefinitely..."

Thu, 01 May 2008 20:24:23 +0100

“Instead, the government fashioned an extra-legal solution. The combatants would be held indefinitely as prisoners of war, without trial, at a remote prison site.”

- Sally Jenkins in The Real All Americans on the legal difficulties facing the United States Government in the 1870s.

Where would you like to be 5 years from now?

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:11:14 +0100

“Let me show you how I’ll do the job. If I can pull this off, then hire me. If you prefer instead to ask about my vision for my life, buy me a beer and we’ll talk, then I’ll be moving on to join one of your competitors.”

scratch the CVV code off of your card

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:21:38 +0100

scratch the CVV code off of your card

Wikipedia's Lamest Edit Wars

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:58:27 +0100

Wikipedia's Lamest Edit Wars: If you wanted to explain the Internet to aliens, this one page would do it.

"It’s no problem to apply a 0.2 Newton preload to a patch of gecko adhesive and drag it in a..."

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 10:50:00 +0100

“It’s no problem to apply a 0.2 Newton preload to a patch of gecko adhesive and drag it in a distal direction at one micron per second, but try asking a gecko to do the same thing with its foot. It’ll probably just bite you.”

- Kellar Autumn in a National Geographic article about Biomimetics

"Java is a ceremonious language because it needs you to do several dances to the rain gods to declare..."

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 13:39:02 +0100

“Java is a ceremonious language because it needs you to do several dances to the rain gods to declare even the simplest form of method.”

- Ola Bini on the distinction between essential vs. ceremonious languages.

The Monty Hall Problem

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:56:02 +0100

I had a very hard time accepting the truth of the Monty Hall problem the first time I heard it, but eventually I figured it out. When Monty Hall opens one of the two “other” doors, Monty Hall is INTRODUCING MORE INFORMATION INTO THE SYSTEM. He is not choosing a random door, he is choosing a door which he KNOWS does not have a prize behind it.

"[count] Increments the last number in URL by 1, or by count if given."

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:50:00 +0100

“[count] Increments the last number in URL by 1, or by count if given.”

- Accidentally discovered features are my favourites.

"The guitarist attributed U2’s longevity to a consensus-based approach, which doesn’t appear to have..."

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:22:48 +0100

“The guitarist attributed U2’s longevity to a consensus-based approach, which doesn’t appear to have happened entirely by accident - he cited a book called the Evolution of Cooperation by Robert Axelrod.”

- U2 endorse Agent Based Modelling. Sweet!!

"He told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme that if one of the numerous hold-ups - including..."

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:15:24 +0000

“He told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme that if one of the numerous hold-ups - including staff car-parking problems, staff security screening and baggage delays - had happened “in isolation”, then the resulting travel chaos would not have been so severe.”

- Willie Walsh evidently thinks that you evaluate the robustness of systems based on how they handle problems in isolation.

"When, in our heterogeneous community, a man and a woman decided to live together, and hence felt the..."

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:44:05 +0000

“When, in our heterogeneous community, a man and a woman decided to live together, and hence felt the need for a minimum of utensils to set up house, they went to Cantarella, holding hands. Without asking questions, he set to work, and in little more than an hour, with expert blows of the hammer, bent and twisted the tinplate into the forms that the couple desired. He did not ask for payment, but accepted gifts in kind, such as bread, cheese, eggs. In this manner, the marriage was celebrated, and in this manner Cantarella lived.”

- From The Truce by Primo Levy.

Photo

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:24:55 +0000

Photo

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:01:55 +0000