The British Psychological Society reports that 15 minutes of low frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, can cause enhanced counting abilities similar to Dustin Hoffman counting the toothpicks in Rainman.
Original publication: Snyder, A., Bahramali, H., Hawker, T. & Mitchell, D.J. (2006). Savant-like numerosity skills revealed in normal people by magnetic pulses. Perception, 35, 837-845.
Technorati Tags: brain, psychology, research
Technorati Tags: photography
A YouTube video (18:08) that narrates the history of the "Amen Break," a six-second drum sample from the b-side of a chart-topping single from 1969. This sample was used extensively in early hiphop and sample-based music, and became the basis for drum-and-bass and jungle music -- a six-second clip that spawned several entire subcultures...
watch the video | digg story
I love Digg, but it's depressing how frequently readers get off topic. Digg thought this was saying hip-hop made the beat famous, and digressed into a discussion of the authenticity of hip-hop versus the artistry that came before.
Even the blurb calls this a "video" missing the point that you're listening to an acetate, a transient pressing of an original work likely to last only about 50 plays in the analog world.
If you're interested in his "point", skip to 14:45, and listen to something often discussed on Digg but rarely illustrated so artistically.
Digg says, "A simple little tutorial shows you how you can format ANY harddrive using good ole' Notepad!" -- [ originally dugg article | digg story ]
Well, 1's and 0's in notepad do not binary make. So, for the community at large, here's something that's actually helpful.
CNET very quietly launched a simple new photo uploading site called AllYouCanUpload last week. At first glance it doesn't appear to be very special or disruptive. But it is.
Via TechCrunch.com -- [ read more | digg story ]
Naysayers are asking, "What's the business model?"
Louis Savain thinks the past hundred years of software development have gone down the wrong path. In his abstract, he writes:
Contrary to conventional wisdom, unreliability is not an essential characteristic of complex software programs. In this article, I will propose a silver bullet solution to the software reliability and productivity crisis. The solution will require a radical change in the way we program our computers. I will argue that the main reason that software is so unreliable and so hard to develop has to do with a custom that is as old as the computer: the practice of using the algorithm as the basis of software construction.
Louis says that to solve the crisis, we must adopt a synchronous, signal-based software model. Have a look and see if you can poke holes in his argument.
Technorati Tags: development
Sick and tired of game reviewers going gaga over their personal preferences in gaming? Old Man Murray proposes a completely objective solution for game reviews:
Game developers have known the answer to the first question since the early 1980's: ammo and health can be hidden inside crates or sometimes barrels. As often happens, the answer to the second question was hidden in plain sight within the answer to the first. All games contain crates, therefore all games can be judged empirically on those crates.
Simply measure seconds from the start of the game till you find the first crate, and you have a completely unbiased quality metric. The Crate Review System results are a riot.
Technorati Tags: humor, videogames
After exposing the images of improper police behavior in his investigative piece, Mike Kirsch of Broward County Florida's CBS4 found his own personal information was being flashed on the Broward Police Benevolent Association website.
Original story here, along with video.
Technorati Tags: journalism, freedom