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2152629 story

Apple's 3D Desktop Patent Filing Examined 156

Posted by timothy on Friday December 12, 2008 @01:54PM from the tastiest-apples-have-three-dimensions dept.

phantomfive writes "The patent office has released some patent filings by Apple which indicate that the company is working on a 3D desktop of some sort. They call it a multi-dimensional desktop, according to the patent filing." There's also some commentary at ZDNet; both stories link to a detailed run-down at AppleInsider.

1743849 story

The Neurological Basis of Con Games 218

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 18, 2008 @06:01PM from the doubting-thomas dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "If we humans have such big brains, how can we get conned? Neuroeconomist Paul J. Zak has an interesting post on Psychology Today in which he recounts how he was the victim of a classic con called 'The Pigeon Drop' when he was a teenager and explains how con men take advantage of the Human Oxytocin Mediated Attachment System, called THOMAS, a powerful brain circuit that releases the neurochemical oxytocin when we are trusted and induces a desire to reciprocate the trust we have been shown. 'The key to a con is not that you trust the con man, but that he shows he trusts you. Con men ply their trade by appearing fragile or needing help, by seeming vulnerable,' writes Zak. 'Because of THOMAS, the human brain makes us feel good when we help others — this is the basis for attachment to family and friends and cooperation with strangers.' Zak's laboratory studies have shown that two percent of the college students he tested are 'unconditional nonreciprocators' who have learned how to simulate trustworthiness and would make good con men. Watch a video of Skeptics Society founder Michael Shermer running the classic pigeon drop on an unsuspecting victim and see if you wouldn't be taken in by a professional con man yourself."

2230061 comment

Comment A Unified Grand Tour of Theoretical Physics (Score 1) 276

by fperez on Monday July 14, 2008 @09:38PM (#24190399) Attached to: Book Recommendations For Maths To Astrophysics?

By Ian Lawrie:

http://www.amazon.com/review/product/0750306041/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?_encoding=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

is an excellent overview of the key ideas in 20th century physics, with an eye for the unifying mathematical principles that underlie them all.

In your situation I think it would be very useful, because it gives you a big picture of what the main concepts in physics are like, rather than dwelling too much into the details of any one topic. Give it a read first, and then move on to a few more topic-specific books like others recommended here.

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