Adriano

"As you'd expect, nobody can hear the difference between a 320kbps CBR audio file and the CD. From the basic summary statistics graph only one audio sample here was discernably different than the rest—the 128kbps CBR. And by different I mean "audibly worse." I've maintained for a long, long time that typical 128kbps MP3s are not acceptable quality. Even for the worst song ever. So I guess we can consider this yet another blind listening test proving that point. Give us VBR at an average bitrate higher than 128kbps, or give us death!" - Adriano

yeah, Cristo, for a zero sampling rate is almost equivalent to a deletion from your song list :-) - Adriano

I wonder how much this has to do with the Loudness War. - Akiva

when range compression is abused to get more peak amplitudes, I run the tunes through normalize-mp3 which helps esp. when a playlist contains different genres. That problem is independent of the sampling bitrate though. Normalization does also help boost older feeble recordings. - Adriano

The last words of painter J.M.W. Turner were "the sun is God," which is surprisingly reflected in almost all mythologies. He painted some of the most magnificent clouds. But the photo set above via http://ff.im/ZaqSs is damn good. - Adriano

"Kasparov told a packed audience that the first chess program in history was written a few years before computers had been invented. It was designed by Alan Turing. Since there was as yet no machine that could execute the instructions he did so himself, acting as a human CPU and requiring more than half an hour per move. Kasparov sketched the historical context of Turing’s involvement in chess and then went on to describe how chess computer experts had reconstructed the paper machine to run on a modern day computer." http://chessbase.com/newsdet... \\ Not sure if Kasparov mentioned his ultimate defeat to Deep Blue :-) - Adriano

Kasparov concluded that Deep Blue's counterintuitive play must be a sign of superior intelligence -- but it was simply a bug !! http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs... - Adriano

"At Google I/O 2012, the Project Glass team took product demoing to a new level." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... \\ Attendees at the I/O conference will be able to pre-order the Explorer Edition glasses for $1500. They will ship early next year. \\ Live https://developers.google.com/events... \\ #io12 \\ http://youtu.be/StfTiXyJ5Xg - Adriano

Adrenaline rush ... awesome feeling :-) - Sepi ⌘ سپی

GoogleDevelopers released the full video of the demo: http://youtu.be/D7TB8b2t3QE - Adriano

Thx Adriano ... :-) - Sepi ⌘ سپی

Google research team, led by the Stanford University computer scientist Andrew Y. Ng and the Google fellow Jeff Dean, used an array of 16,000 processors to create a neural network with more than one billion connections. They then fed it random thumbnails of images, one each extracted from 10 million YouTube videos. "It basically invented the concept of a cat." Got 15.8% accuracy in recognizing 20,000 object categories unsupervised -- 70% relative improvement over state-of-the-art. "Contrary to what appears to be a widely-held intuition, our experimental results reveal that it is possible to train a face detector without having to label images as containing a face or not." - Adriano

"What look like foggy landscapes from alien planets, or maybe even the moody landscapes in some Rococo era painting, are actually carefully planned images of aquariums. Kim Keever takes fishtanks and using plaster and other materials crafts landscapes within. He then fills the tanks with water, sets up lighting and photographs his aquatic set while adding in powders which form clouds and fog. The results are stunningly surreal... and sometimes even very realistic. By their nature Keever’s images are temporal, his simulated clouds and fog only lingering for a short period as it meanders through his artificial landscapes. Because of this, we are actually witnessing an image of his works in motion, flowing towards an ultimately murky future when the clouds mix throughout the aquarium." See many more images: http://kimkeever.wordpress.com - Adriano

Neal Stepheson's book: highly accessible SF explanation of the neo-Platonist multiverse. \\ Marvin Minsky's book: fundamental concept of minds as collections of semi-independent agents is very powerful. \\ Central to Robert Rosen's work (2005) is the idea of a complex system, defined as any system that cannot be fully understood by reducing it to its parts. Complexity refers to the causal impact of organization on the system as a whole. Since both the atom and the organism can be seen to fit that description, Rosen asserts that complex organization is a general feature not just of the biosphere on Earth -- but of the universe itself. - Adriano

"Orbitz Worldwide Inc. has found that people who use Apple Mac computers spend as much as 30% more a night on hotels, so the online travel agency is starting to show them different, and sometimes costlier, travel options than Windows visitors see. The Orbitz effort, which is in its early stages, demonstrates how tracking people's online activities can use even seemingly innocuous information—in this case, the fact that customers are visiting Orbitz.com from a Mac—to start predicting their tastes and spending habits." \\ Avoid getting ripped-off, learn to modify your browser's user_agent variable. - Adriano

Wow. That is not cool. - AJ Batac

Perhaps they are just trying to be helpful and not make more money off their users by limiting their options... but are they completely transparent about it? Can I shut it off? Is it telling me my search has been altered? Will I still have access to the cheaper hotels if that's where I prefer? MUCH prefer a search system goes and finds every match possible for me, then allows me to filter based on my actual preferences rather than their inferred preferences from the little slice of me they feel they know. - SAM

hotel preferences are just an example -- other sites may simply boost their pricing depending on the user_agent, demographic locale of the IP address, or history of previous visits. - Adriano

really, when do you get to see the bottom of a sculpture? \\ "Composed of a 456-foot-long slot constructed on LACMA's campus, over which is placed a 340-ton granite megalith. As with other works by the artist, such as Double Negative (1969), the monumental negative form is key to the experience of the artwork. Levitated Mass speaks to the expanse of art history, from ancient traditions of creating artworks from megalithic stone, to modern forms of abstract geometries and cutting-edge feats of engineering." http://www.lacma.org/art... - Adriano

"The 21 year-old artist from Japan creates drawings that seem to leap out of the sketchbook before your very eyes. It’s amazing to see what can be done with just a pencil and paper and the right angle for capturing a photo. The way he uses lighting, shading, and anamorphosis to create these 3D images is reminiscent of MC Escher but even more mind-blowing." - Adriano

obviously obsessed with accuracy :-) seeking a pattern in the expansion of things. - Adriano

see also Amira's post on Ran Ortner's "Open Water no.24" http://ff.im/ZprtB - Adriano

Beautiful! - Amira

The site contains nearly 3,000 images of letters, photographs, newspaper articles, and unpublished papers by or about Alan Turing. But surprisingly the best 7-minute summary of Turing's 1937 landmark paper "On computable numbers, with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem" occurs in the theatre: see Breaking the Code http://ff.im/Zed2U (what? Zed to you :-) between 28m10s and 34m50s. - Adriano

"Here’s a toast to Alan Turing // born in harsher, darker times // who thought outside the container // and loved outside the lines // and so the code-breaker was broken // and we’re sorry // yes now the s-word has been spoken // the official conscience woken // – very carefully scripted but at least it’s not encrypted – // and the story does suggest // a part 2 to the Turing Test: // 1. can machines behave like humans? // 2. can we?" -- Matt Harvey http://digitaleditions.walswor... - Amira

"Breaking the Code is a 1986 play by Hugh Whitemore about British mathematician Alan TURING, who was a key player in the breaking of the German Enigma code at Bletchley Park during World War II and founder of computer science. The play thematically links Turing's cryptographic activities with his attempts to grapple with his homosexuality. The Broadway production was nominated for three Tony Awards. The play, adapted for television in a 1996 BBC production directed by Herbert Wise starring Derek Jacobi, won a Broadcasting Press Guild Award and was nominated for two BAFTA TV awards, for best single drama and best actor, and for a GLAAD Media Award. It was broadcast in the United States by PBS." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... - Adriano

BTW the Hodges' book is superb -- very readable, and yet highly competent in the technical details. Little known events like meetings with Wittgenstein, von Neumann, and Shannon are documented. - Adriano

Fall of a Genius: Stephen Toulmin on Alan Turing and Andrew Hodges’ book http://www.nybooks.com/article... - Amira

"This inverted the deeply plausible assumption that comprehension is in fact the source of all advanced competence." \\ Turing remarked how a human mathematician makes blunders when trying out new techniques, then wrote, "if a machine is expected to be infallible, it cannot also be intelligent." - Adriano

clearly a labor of love... really impressive details: in full-res: http://payload44.cargocollective.com/1... ... pulls out Jules Winnfield wallet to buy poster :-) ... do I need to add "SPOILER ALERT" ?? - Adriano

"She has 165 residential units (106 apartments, 19 studio apartments, and 40 studios), all owned by the ship's residents. She carries between 100 and 300 residents and their guests. As of 2010, a 328 sq ft (30.5 m2) studio has a list price of USD $600,000; Ocean Residence with 2 bedrooms/2.5 bath USD $2,950,000. The World Suite 1108/1110 list price USD $13,500,000. Monthly homeowner dues range from $20,000 per month (for the smaller units) and up, and cover fuel, crew, maintenance and a meal allowance for the owner." - Adriano

actually cancel The World, I prefer this island vessel: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i... and will pick my own destinations :-) - Adriano

this roofing on the vessel looks like solar batteries.. so cool. :-) - Amira

very interesting design ... like your choice, Adriano :-) - Sepi ⌘ سپی

Clint's is a classic - Aryo

superb transfer to video, really beautiful film -- SEE it before it gets taken down. A novel in photographs... "Working on a shoestring budget," Marker said that only one short scene in La Jetée is of a moving image since he could only borrow a movie camera for one afternoon while working on the film. \\ The scenes in and around the museum are really awesome! - Adriano

moving... - Amira

aaahhh, told ya... 27 July 2012: "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by The Criterion Collection." \\ Ok, some images from Grande Galerie de l'Évolution, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris https://www.google.com/search... - Adriano

Chris MARKER :: Enigmatic Multimedia Artist . [RIP, 1921-2012] - http://ff.im/11Iirh - Adriano

APA Psy Bulletin 133(1):65-94. "Steel's formula, called the Temporal Motivation Theory, factors the person's expectancy for succeeding at a given task (E) or self-confidence; the value of completing the task (V); its immediacy or availability (Gamma); and the person's sensitivity to delay (D) to come up with the desirability of the task (Utility). The equation reads: Utility = E x V / (Gamma) x D. Human behavior is marked by people's judgment of value and their expectancy--whether or not they expect to get something. A person's tolerance for delay also factors in the equation. Most people who procrastinate are impulsive; they value what they can have today more than what they can have tomorrow--and long-term goals don't have motivational force." - Adriano

Prof. Steel presenting his 2011 book _The Procrastination Equation_ http://youtu.be/FYiCwROJKL0 points out the real downside of procrastinating is the subtraction of enjoyment from one's precious leisure time. - Adriano

What are your tricks to avoid procrastinating? - Quora http://www.quora.com/Tips-an... - Amira

Crap, I'm doing it now! - Ken Morley

"I wanted to let you all know that I'll be leaving Facebook later this summer. I'm sad to be leaving, but I'm excited to be starting a company with my friend Kevin Gibbs. I've learned more than I ever imagined in my time at Facebook. I'm also extremely grateful for my relationship with all of the amazing people I've worked with here. I want to give a special thanks to Mark Zuckerberg. You've not only been my boss for the past three years, but my mentor and one of my closest friends. Thanks to all of you at Facebook for the most incredible three years of my life." \\ Congrats, Bret! http://ff.im/YHkhw - Adriano

FF comments: "Looks like it's now down to Benjamin Golub to protect the beloved Friendfeed servers now that Bret Taylor's gone ;-) \\ Sanjeev takes care of them, too." http://ff.im/YN9U9 - Adriano

:-) - Mitchell Tsai

8 June 2012 @64% -- which seems low to me, given the situation in Greece http://ff.im/W6J8E and Spain. See http://www.intrade.com/v4... for 2012 and 2013 year-end markets. \\ “The numbers on Intrade are an incredibly quick and useful way of figuring out what the average expert opinion is on a given subject,” says Justin Wolfers, a visiting professor of economics at Princeton, who has studied Intrade and other prediction markets. While “most political discourse is qualitative — you say, ‘this is likely to happen for these reasons’ — this is quantitative,” he observes. http://www.nytimes.com/2012... \\ Duh, like putting money in your mouth. - Adriano

26 July 2012 @65% but cf. Citi’s chief economist Willem Buiter: "We now believe the probability that Greece will leave EMU in the next 12-18 months is about 90%, up from our previous 50-75% estimate, and believe the most likely date is in the next 2-3 quarters." #grexit http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog... - Adriano

if you *really* like well-produced black humor... "Breaking Bad is an American television drama series, set and produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico, about Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer at the beginning of the series. He turns to a life of crime, producing and selling methamphetamine with a former student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), with the aim of securing his family's financial future before he dies. Breaking Bad has received widespread critical acclaim, particularly for its writing, cinematography, and the acting ability of its cast. The series has won six Emmy Awards—including three consecutive wins for Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Cranston." See also Salon articles: http://www.salon.com/topic... - Adriano

Bryan Cranston answers Fan Questions: "I've never asked Vince [Gilligan] what's going to happen or how it's going to happen. I'm in exactly the same place as the audience will be after Season 5." \\ Q: How do you think Walter White would want to be remembered? http://blogs.amctv.com/breakin... - Adriano

"Will open the Cannes Film Festival in May... Anderson’s seventh feature, set in 1965, takes place on an island off the New England coast. With a cast that includes Bill Murray, Bruce Willis and Frances McDormand, it’s the story of a romance between a pair of precocious 12-year-olds who run away, presumably to somewhere really picturesque. “Moonrise Kingdom” is the writer-director’s first live-action film since “Darjeeling Limited” in 2007 (the animated “Fantastic Mr. Fox” was nominated for an Oscar in 2010). The festival runs May 16-27, with Nanni Moretti, the Italian filmmaker, serving as president of the jury." http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012... - Adriano

this is great... Bill Murray hosts a tour of Moonrise Kingdom http://youtu.be/m-8OOvf1NPY - Adriano

Sam Shakusky to Suzy Bishop (her favorite fictional characters being orphans): "I love you but you have no idea what you are talking about." - Adriano

I've been thinking to see this movie the past couple of weeks ... I guess it is must now ... :-)) - Sepi ⌘ سپی

If you liked the Silvio Dante character in The Sopranos, and the film Fargo, you will really enjoy this black comedy with a Norwegian accent. \\ "After he testifies against a Mafia boss, ex-gangster Frank Tagliano enters the witness protection program and asks to be sent to [Lillehammer, Norway (1994 Winter Olympics)]. Despite the peaceful surroundings, it's not long before Frank strays from the straight and narrow." \\ "The first season premiered on Norwegian NRK1 on 25 January 2012 with a record audience of 998,000 viewers, and premiered on the Netflix stream http://movies.netflix.com/Movie... in the United States, Latin America and Canada on February 6, 2012. It will air on BBC4 in the UK. A second season has already been commissioned." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... - Adriano

Van Zandt interviewed: http://youtu.be/2O6MoG7geJU - Adriano

This looks good, will have to check this out. - Adrian

"The drawings of butterflies done by Vladimir Nabokov were intended for “family use.” He made these on title pages of various editions of his works as a gift to his wife and son and sometimes to other relatives. In Brian Boyd’s words, “in these highly personal and affectionately playful drawings the scientific accuracy Nabokov needed in thousands of illustrations of the specimens he studied under the microscope was no longer relevant, and his imagination could take flight. In the butterflies Nabokov devised and labeled for Vera he mingles fact and fancy even more sportively than in his fiction.” None of these drawings portray real butterflies, both the images and the names he assigns to them are his invention." - Adriano

Love these! - Jenny H.

Beautiful ...!! - Sepi ⌘ سپی

Image retouched and color-corrected (click on it to enlarge). One of my favorite rooms in the world :-) - Adriano

this is a rare treat: Monet photographed painting water lilies on giant canvas, http://ff.im/1dyzVh - Adriano

2012-01-25 Obama 56.5%, Romney 27.9%, Gingrich 8.2%, Paul 2.6%. - Adriano

FINAL: Obama got 332 electoral votes out of 538, thus the observed realization of the probabilistic event resolves to 61.7%. (The Obama binary option paid out 100% at settlement.) Although the popular vote had no bearing on the contract settlement, we note Obama received 51% (62,088,847) of such votes. It was indeed a close race from the polling perspective, but it's noteworthy that the prediction market was not perturbed by the media. - Adriano

currently 22.5%, details https://www.intrade.com/v4... \\ Another indicator is the USDIRR http://finance.yahoo.com/q... NB: "Iran's rial currency has declined 40% to 55% against the dollar on the black market since December. Iranian inflation, meanwhile, now exceeds 20% a month, according to the Central Bank. While the rial has been falling for almost a year, the latest drop appeared to be triggered by a recent U.S. announcement that it would penalize companies that do business with Iran's Central Bank, and a proposed plan to ban Iranian oil purchases in the European Union later this year. The rial was changing hands at 16,000 to 17,000 in recent days, down from 11,000 to 12,000 in December." http://online.wsj.com/article... - Adriano

2 Oct: currently USDIRR in Iran is officially set at 12,260 -- however, the rial is trading between 35,500 to 40,000. "The [Central Bank] announced that people who hold dollar accounts would no longer have access to their money in dollars and the bank would compensate them in rials at the official rate." The official rate is restricted to imports of food and medicine. http://online.wsj.com/article... - Adriano

tabloid version, "The Simulation Argument: Why the Probability that You Are Living in a Matrix is Quite High" http://www.simulation-argument.com/matrix... -- but ad infinitum, "if our universe were one of many being simulated, the simulation argument could therefore be statistically applied to the creators saying they are in a simulation." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... \\ Discuss wormhole: http://www.quora.com/How-wou... -- but the Dream Argument keeps it simple: "the mind's ability to create simulated realities during REM sleep affects the statistical likelihood of our own reality being simulated." - Adriano

good comments on the Beane paper, https://www.quora.com/Physics... "How is the vision of the universe as a computer simulation considered among modern physicists?" - Adriano