For GUIs, Just the Right Degree of Realism 256
mr crypto writes "User interfaces make copious use of pictures and symbols, but how abstract should images be? Lukas Mathis has an interesting blog entry on where to draw the line."
Police Called Over 11-Year-Old's Science Project 687
garg0yle writes "Police in San Diego were called to investigate an 11-year-old's science project, consisting of 'a motion detector made out of an empty Gatorade bottle and some electronics,' after the vice-principal came to the conclusion that it was a bomb. Charges aren't being laid against the youth, but it's being recommended that he and his family 'get counseling.' Apparently, the student violated school policies — I'm assuming these are policies against having any kind of independent thought?"
Comment First evidence of tool use in invertebrates (Score 1) 205
> the researchers believe is the first evidence of tool use in an invertebrate animal.
Well, granted the article notes that there are different definitions of tool use, but consider ants: e.g., Tool use by the forest ant Aphaenogaster rudis: Ecology and task allocation (http://www.springerlink.com/content/u0176rl71k572870/).
Well, granted the article notes that there are different definitions of tool use, but consider ants: e.g., Tool use by the forest ant Aphaenogaster rudis: Ecology and task allocation (http://www.springerlink.com/content/u0176rl71k572870/).
Comment Re:improbable (Score 1) 319
I agree with the parent post. The likelihood that this result comes from people manually making up results is nil, IMHO. By suggesting this, it just seems like Nate Silver has an ax to grind. That doesn't mean that there isn't a bias -- but the bias probably is an artifact of the survey designs and polling methodologies, not something completely nefarious.
Nate stresses that there is a lot of data -- "well over 100 polls, each of which asked an average of about 15-20 questions." However, the amount of data alone is only relevant if the data is random with respect to what is being measured (the frequency of the last digit of a response, in this case). It seems to me that this is not necessarily the case, since many of the polls ask sets of very similar questions which generate very similar answers, e.g.:
From http://strategicvision.biz/political/georgia_poll_092309.htm (800 likely voters in Georgia, aged 18+, and conducted September 18-20, 2009 by telephone)
4. Do you approve or disapprove of President Barack Obama's overall job performance?
Approve 35%
Disapprove 58%
Undecided 7%
5. Do you approve or disapprove of President Obama's handling of the economy?
Approve 34%
Disapprove 58%
Undecided 8%
6. Do you approve or disapprove of President Obama's handling of health care?
Approve 33%
Disapprove 58%
Undecided 9%
In this example, what would seem to be a preponderance of 8's (the last digit of 58%), which would support Nate's bias argument, is actually just a single 8, repeated twice more in essentially identical questions.
Nate stresses that there is a lot of data -- "well over 100 polls, each of which asked an average of about 15-20 questions." However, the amount of data alone is only relevant if the data is random with respect to what is being measured (the frequency of the last digit of a response, in this case). It seems to me that this is not necessarily the case, since many of the polls ask sets of very similar questions which generate very similar answers, e.g.:
From http://strategicvision.biz/political/georgia_poll_092309.htm (800 likely voters in Georgia, aged 18+, and conducted September 18-20, 2009 by telephone)
4. Do you approve or disapprove of President Barack Obama's overall job performance?
Approve 35%
Disapprove 58%
Undecided 7%
5. Do you approve or disapprove of President Obama's handling of the economy?
Approve 34%
Disapprove 58%
Undecided 8%
6. Do you approve or disapprove of President Obama's handling of health care?
Approve 33%
Disapprove 58%
Undecided 9%
In this example, what would seem to be a preponderance of 8's (the last digit of 58%), which would support Nate's bias argument, is actually just a single 8, repeated twice more in essentially identical questions.
Comment Strategic Vision, LLC, not Strategic Vision, Inc (Score 1) 319
A quick google will point to the wrong company.... Unfortunately, TFA sometimes just specifies "Strategic Vision."
Comment Beyond transparency... (Score 1) 384
Beyond the lack of transparency, we should be wondering about the competence and integrity of the evaluators who awarded this to a company that doesn't know that Section 508 is not part of the ADA (see http://documents.propublica.org/recovery-gov-contract-documents#p=72), but is actually part of Rehabilitation Act (http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=12)
Comment Re:Three words... (Score 2, Funny) 492
It's not the money. It's Jerry Taylor finally getting his revenge after CentOS attacked his website.
http://www.centos.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=127
Your Browser History Is Showing 174
tiffanydanica writes "For a lot of us our browser history is something we consider private, or at least not something we want to expose to every website we visit. Web2.0collage is showing just how easy it is (with code!) for sites to determine what sites you visit. When you visit the site it sniffs your browser history, and creates a collage of the (safe for work) sites that you visit. It is an interesting application of potentially scary technology (imagine a job application site using this to screen candidates). You can jump right into having your history sniffed if you so desire. While the collages are cool on their own merit, they also serve as an illustration of the privacy implications of browser history sniffing."
