Humour: mental asylum

During a visit to a mental asylum, a visitor asked the director what the criterion was which defined whether or not a patient should be institutionalized.

“Well,” said Director Epstein, “we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub.”

“Oh, I understand,” said the visitor. “A normal person would use the bucket because it’s bigger than the spoon or the teacup.”

“No.” said the director, “A normal person would pull the plug.”

Fox News geography lesson: Hamid Soryan won gold for Iran in Greco-Roman wrestling. He’s from Iran.

Facepalm.

[gawker]

Residents of Bethel, Alaska recently fell victim to an elaborate hoax at the hands of two of their fellow residents. The ruse claimed Taco Bell was opening an outpost in the town of 6,200 residents. While sky-high hopes crashed down to Earth, the Internets went to work spreading the story, and word eventually reached Taco Bell headquarters.

On Saturday afternoon, Taco Bell tweeted #OperationAlaska had commenced, bringing a temporary Taco Bell to the sleepy town. The relief package consists of 900 pounds of beef, 300 pounds of lettuce, 150 pounds of cheese, 500 pounds of sour cream, and 300 pounds of tomatoes — enough for 10,000 tacos. Enjoy, Bethel!

[foodbeast]

Oldie: the salesman

A young guy from Saskatchewan moves to Vancouver and goes to a big ‘everything under one roof’ department store looking for a job. The Manager says, ‘Do you have any sales experience?’

The kid says ‘Yeah. I was a salesman back in Saskatchewan .’

Well, the boss liked the kid and gave him the job. ‘You start tomorrow. I’ll come down after we close and see how you did.’

His first day on the job was rough, but he got through it. After the store was locked up, the boss came down. How many customers bought something from you today?

‘Just one’ says the kid.

The boss says ‘Just one? Our salespeople average 20 to 30 customers a day.
How much was the sale for?’

The kid says $101,237.65’.

The boss says ‘$101,237.65? What the heck did you sell?’

The kid says, ‘First, I sold him a small fishhook. Then I sold him a medium fishhook. Then I sold him a larger fishhook. Then I sold him a new fishing rod. Then I asked him where he was going fishing and he said down the coast, so I told him he was going to need a boat, so we went down to the
boat department and I sold him a twin engine Chris Craft. Then he said he didn’t think his Honda Civic would pull it, so I took him down to the automotive department and sold him that 4x4 Expedition.’

The boss said ‘A guy came in here to buy a fish hook and you sold him a BOAT and a TRUCK?’

The kid said ‘No, the guy came in here to buy Tampons for his wife’, and I said, ‘Dude, your weekend’s shot. You should go fishing.’

Robot string quintet composes and performs music. By Sandrine Ceurstemont, editor, New Scientist TV

It’s not only humans that can compose and perform music: a new installation created by Wilfried Stoll and a team from engineering firm Festo in Germany can compose a melody all by itself and perform it with five robotic string instruments.

The system writes music by listening to a musician play a tune on a xylophone or MIDI keyboard. By using rules derived from mathematician John Conway’s Game of Life, a computer creates a reinterpretation of the melody, which it breaks down into different parts for each instrument. The processed signal is then transmitted to the robotic strings. “The individual acoustic robots are interlinked in such a way that they can listen to each other,” write the team. “This constantly gives rise to new variations, which differ from the original theme while retaining the essence of the composition.”

Although each robotic instrument only has one string, they mimic the sound of two violins, a cello, a viola and a double bass. An electric actuator moves up and down the string to produce the right pitch, like a human musician’s left hand. The bow is replaced by a pneumatic cylinder that moves a hammer to vibrate the string.

The installation was designed to demonstrate how a manual system can be replaced by a network of autonomous robots. The team is looking at how to automate processes based on evolution theory to transform factories of the future.

Retinal Implants Restore Partial Sight To Three Blind. By Peter Murray

A microchip with 1,500 light sensors sits beneath the retina and stimulates neurons which project to the brain’s visual cortex.

The blind really are beginning to see again. After receiving retinal implants in a trial, two people in the UK and one in China – all blind – regained part of their vision. And more good news could be on the way as results from other participants comes to light. But the chip is a bright ray of hope for the estimated 1.5 million worldwide that have retinitis pigmentosa, if not for the 285 million visually impaired.

All of the trial participants were made blind by retinitis pigmentosa in which the light-sensitive rods and cones of the retina deteriorate. British participants Robin Millar and Chris James, whose retinas had not responded to light in over a decade, were able to see immediately after the chip was turned on. Seeing the first flashes of light, James told the BBC, was a “magic moment.” Before receiving the implant neither participant was capable of detecting any light at all. The chip now allows James to distinguish between curves and straight lines. And Millar’s magic moment came when he began detecting light coming in through the windows. Professor Robert MacLaren, of Oxford Eye Hospital who co-led the study with Tim Jackson of King’s College Hospital, said the regained vision was a first for a completely blind Brit.

China scores its own first with Tsang Wu Suet Yun. Like James and Millar, Mrs. Tsang had lost her sight to retinitis pigmetnosa. She had been legally blind for 15 years, barely able to detect light. After receiving the same implant as James and Millar, she was able to read letters projected onto a screen.

The following is 2010 footage of a Finnish man who had regained partial vision after receiving an implant from Retina.

The implants act as a replacement for the lost retinal cells by detecting light and then stimulating neurons which send the signal to the brain. Developed by the world leader in retinal implants, Retina Implant Ag, the devices are tiny microchips 5 mm on each side and a tenth of a mm thick, which are implanted just below the retina. The chip’s surface is covered by a microphotodiode array containing 1,500 light-sensitive units. The light intensity of each point is translated into electrical impulses used to stimulate the underlying neurons. The chip is powered by a wireless power unit connected via a cable that runs over the ear and then under the skin to reach the eye. Settings on the power unit can be adjusted to modify the light sensitivity of the array and maximize its effectiveness for individual patients.

The brain needs a period of time to learn how to interpret the “unnatural” signals sent from the chip.

The implant has been involved in retinal trials for six years now, and the current encouraging results could be just the beginning. Results from the first two trials were published in 2010 and prompted the expansion of the trial to sites outside of Germany, including the UK and China.

Being able to distinguish between straight and curved lines or detecting light through a window may not sound like much but, as Prof. MacLaren points out, just being able to enter a room and know where the doors and tables would be is incredibly useful to a blind person. The vibrant colors of the world, however, will remain hidden for the moment. As the implants only convey light contrast they only see in black-and-white. But one unexpected development that’s as much a benefit to Millar as it is a neuroscience curiosity, he’s dreaming in color for the first time in 25 years.

It’s hard to tell without a direct comparison, but Retina’s chip has the potential to out-see the Argus II implant that is already commercially available and helping the blind to see. The Argus II chip doesn’t receive light directly, but relays signals from a glasses-mounted camera. And the chip only has about 60 electrodes with which to stimulate optic nerves and transmit the signal to the brain. Retina’s 1,500 adjustable, light sensing/nerve stimulating units could potentially work so much better.

To reiterate, the current results are part of a clinical trial and the chip is not yet available as a treatment. Replacing dead or non-functional cells with new ones through stem cell therapies would be the ideal treatment. While these therapies have shown great promise recently, there’s no telling just when they’ll deliver on restoring full vision to the blind, if ever. But the results from the current trial are just getting underway. Hopefully it will be more of the same.

[image credits: Retina Implant Ag and Proceedings of The Royal Society]
[video credit: Channel 4 News via YouTube]
images: Retina Implant Ag, Royal Society
video: Retinal Implant Ag

Oh no, I can’t hear my music! It’s not loud enough! Better roll down my windows

“

—	@mdvaldosta

Tsunami warning following Indonesia quake »

Google Glasses Competition: Will Powell, an augmented reality developer in the U.K., has beat Google at the future. His version of Google’s glasses is hacked together from Vuzix glasses, HD webcams, and a mic headset powered by a custom-coded Adobe Air app and Dragon voice recognition software. Translation? He built them himself using existing technology and duct tape.

A statement at the end of the video silences naysayers: “All video is recorded in real time and is undoctored.”

[thenextweb]

Creation in the South Pacific

Originally posted in 2006.

Source: http://yacht-maiken.blogspot.com/2006/08/stone-sea-and-volcano.html

Verification: http://www.hoax-slayer.com/new-pacific-island.shtml

A yacht was traveling in the south Pacific when the crew came across a weird sight. Look at these photos and try to imagine the thrill of experiencing this phenomenon.

A beach?

No: this is not a beach.

It is volcanic stones floating on the water.

But where is the volcano?

Unbelievable site, so take pictures to prove it is true else no one would believe it.

The wake of my ship

Stay on the edge of the water then this was spotted: ash and steam rising from the ocean.

And, while we were watching…

…a plume of black ash…huge cloud, covering red even this far away.

Then the sky turns black with ash and the ocean gold with suns reflection.

Out of the ocean mountain peaks arise.

More eruptions ash and clouds.

The mountain peaks rise higher within minutes.

A brand new island formed.

Creation of mountains.

Can you imagine the thrill of being the first and only people to see a new island being created where there was nothing before?

yougottobekidding |http://wp.me/pAvyT-3ux

An animated short set in a post-apocalyptic universe: Wes Ball, a graphic artist best known for his work with HBO and his saward-winning tudent short A Work in Progress, has spent the last two years working with his company, OddBall Animation, on a “passion project” called Ruin.

Words can’t do this stunning feat of CGI justice, which is probably why the entire short is completely dialog free. Good way to spend the next 8 minutes.

[/film.]

Intrusive reporter

(via Tastefully Offensive)

How to Remove Your Google Search History Before Google’s New Privacy Policy Takes Effect. BY Eva Galperin

[UPDATE 2/22/2012] It is important to note that disabling Web History in your Google account will not prevent Google from gathering and storing this information and using it for internal purposes. More information at the end of this post.

On March 1st, Google will implement its new, unified privacy policy, which will affect data Google has collected on you prior to March 1st as well as data it collects on you in the future. Until now, your Google Web History (your Google searches and sites visited) was cordoned off from Google’s other products. This protection was especially important because search data can reveal particularly sensitive information about you, including facts about your location, interests, age, sexual orientation, religion, health concerns, and more. If you want to keep Google from combining your Web History with the data they have gathered about you in their other products, such as YouTube or Google Plus, you may want to remove all items from your Web History and stop your Web History from being recorded in the future.

Here’s how you can do that:

1. Sign into your Google account.

2. Go to https://www.google.com/history

3. Click “remove all Web History.”

4. Click “ok.”

Note that removing your Web History also pauses it. Web History will remain off until you enable it again.

[UPDATE 2/22/2012]: Note that disabling Web History in your Google account will not prevent Google from gathering and storing this information and using it for internal purposes. It also does not change the fact that any information gathered and stored by Google could be sought by law enforcement.

With Web History enabled, Google will keep these records indefinitely; with it disabled, they will be partially anonymized after 18 months, and certain kinds of uses, including sending you customized search results, will be prevented. If you want to do more to reduce the records Google keeps, the advice in EFF’s Six Tips to Protect Your Search Privacy white paper remains relevant.

If you have several Google accounts, you will need to do this for each of them.

Molecules from scratch without the fiendish physics. By Lisa Grossman

A SUITE of artificial intelligence algorithms may become the ultimate chemistry set. Software can now quickly predict a property of molecules from their theoretical structure. Similar advances should allow chemists to design new molecules on computers instead of by lengthy trial-and-error.

Our physical understanding of the macroscopic world is so good that everything from bridges to aircraft can be designed and tested on a computer. There’s no need to make every possible design to figure out which ones work. Microscopic molecules are a different story. “Basically, we are still doing chemistry like Thomas Edison,” says Anatole von Lilienfeld of Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois.

The chief enemy of computer-aided chemical design is the Schrödinger equation. In theory, this mathematical beast can be solved to give the probability that electrons in an atom or molecule will be in certain positions, giving rise to chemical and physical properties.

But because the equation increases in complexity as more electrons and protons are introduced, exact solutions only exist for the simplest systems: the hydrogen atom, composed of one electron and one proton, and the hydrogen molecule, which has two electrons and two protons.

This complexity rules out the possibility of exactly predicting the properties of large molecules that might be useful for engineering or medicine. “It’s out of the question to solve the Schrödinger equation to arbitrary precision for, say, aspirin,” says von Lilienfeld.

So he and his colleagues bypassed the fiendish equation entirely and turned instead to a computer-science technique.

Machine learning is already widely used to find patterns in large data sets with complicated underlying rules, including stock market analysis, ecology and Amazon’s personalised book recommendations. An algorithm is fed examples (other shoppers who bought the book you’re looking at, for instance) and the computer uses them to predict an outcome (other books you might like). “In the same way, we learn from molecules and use them as previous examples to predict properties of new molecules,” says von Lilienfeld.

His team focused on a basic property: the energy tied up in all the bonds holding a molecule together, the atomisation energy. The team built a database of 7165 molecules with known atomisation energies and structures. The computer used 1000 of these to identify structural features that could predict the atomisation energies.

When the researchers tested the resulting algorithm on the remaining 6165 molecules, it produced atomisation energies within 1 per cent of the true value. That is comparable to the accuracy of mathematical approximations of the Schrödinger equation, which work but take longer to calculate as molecules get bigger (Physical Review Letters, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.058301).

The algorithm found solutions in a millisecond that would take these earlier methods an hour. “Instead of having to wait years to screen lots of new molecules, you might have to wait weeks or a month,” says Mark Tuckerman of New York University, who was not involved in the new work.

The algorithm is still mainly a proof of principle. If it can learn to predict something else, such as how well a molecule binds to an enzyme, it could help with designing drugs, fuel cells, batteries or biosensors. “The applications can be as broad as chemistry,” von Lilienfeld says.

A SUITE of artificial intelligence algorithms may become the ultimate chemistry set. Software can now quickly predict a property of molecules from their theoretical structure. Similar advances should allow chemists to design new molecules on computers instead of by lengthy trial-and-error.

From Hamas