Month: January 2008
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Working backwards
[A magician does the table cloth trick backwards](http://www.boingboing.net/2007/12/19/old-table-cloth-tric.html). The whole act is pretty funny, watch the whole thing.
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Distorted perceptions
[Caricatures are better than realistic sketches for identifying people](http://www.boingboing.net/2007/11/26/caricatures-are-more.html). Memory is a pretty strange thing – this study suggests that adapting to the way it works rather than simply forcing people to remember the ‘right’ way might be the most effective way to go.
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Rational economics
I was listening this morning to a [recent episode](http://media.libsyn.com/media/skepticality/069_skepticality.mp3) of the great podcast [Skepticality](http://www.skepticality.com/index.php), and I was very struck by a question host Swoopy asked of interview-ee Michael Shermer, talking about his [new book](http://www.amazon.com/Mind-Market-Compassionate-Competitive-Evolutionary/dp/0805078320) on economics and psychology: > What do we do […] to make better rational choices and fewer emotional ones. Dr Shermer…
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More free reading
[*Repbulic*, by Charles Sheehan-Miles](http://www.sheehanmiles.com/blogid/2970). Haven’t read it yet, so don’t know if it’s any good. But I like the genre, so I’m optimistic.
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My next coffee machine
[The $US 20,000 halogen-powered siphon bar coffee machine](http://gizmodo.com/347967/the-siphon-bar-pours-20000-cup-of-coffee). No one could possibly think that’s excessive for the public service, right? It would definitely be productivity enhancing.
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Quickest toast in the west
[A jet powered toaster that can toast bread in 50 seconds](http://gizmodo.com/335843/turbo-toaster-prototype-jet-engines-your-toast). I believe I agree with Homer Simpson when i say: 50 seconds? But I want it now!.
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Brilliance in design
[Pen fork and spoon attachments for your pen](http://gizmodo.com/347964/pen+top-utensils-shut-down-humanity-its-reached-its-peak). I agree with Gizmodo – the peak of all human achievement has now been reached.
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Broad based investment
[Buy a share of the future income of a baseball player](http://www.realsportsinvestments.com/Player_Profile.html). Given the direction of the stock market lately, this seems like a really good idea to me. But I’d love to see it expanded – why not have a market for the graduates in the department? (I’d personally like a bit more information on…
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The problem of hope
So, there’s a movie of [Watchmen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen) coming out. Probably the greatest graphic novel of all time. Now, it’s a film based on Alan Moore comics, [so it’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Hell) [going to](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Extraordinary_Gentlemen) [suck](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta). But… Every time I see something from [the director’s](http://rss.warnerbros.com/watchmen/) blog I start to get a little hope that it might be OK. [Like these story…
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Great moments in policy
[A dispute over whether something is a cake or biscuit could cost 3.5m pounds](http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/dec/14/marksspencer.europe?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront). This is *exactly* what euro-skeptics think of the EU in the UK. How on earth could you say that those are cakes?