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Author Archives: F. E. Guerra-Pujol
Happy Daylight Saving Time Day
Not! (Hey, if we can’t get our corrupt and lazy lawmakers to end daylight saving time, then at the very least let’s change the name of Daylight Saving Time Day to “Path Dependence Day.” In the meantime, can you think … Continue reading
Posted in Bayesian Reasoning, History
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Sara Berman’s closet
Among other things, the Metropolitan Museum of Art features 21 period rooms in its American Wing, ranging from a 17th-century colonial interior to an enormous Prairie-style living room by Frank Lloyd Wright, but as Penelope Green reports, “the newest addition … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Culture
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Curious carvings
How do you like them apples? These curious carvings were created by Gaku, an imaginative and inventive Japanese artist whose canvas consists of perishable fruits and vegetables. (Hat tip: Kottke.)
Posted in Art
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Taxing robots (Pigovian beard tax edition)
Microsoft billionaire and quasi-monopolist Bill Gates recently proposed that we should tax robots. But should we really tax robots? Why not impose a tax on every line of computer code instead? Or why not tax computer programmers who sport beards? … Continue reading
Posted in Current Affairs, Economics, Politics, Web/Tech
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Role reversal experiment: what if The Donald were a Donalda?
He would have still won the election! Maria Guadalupe and Joe Salvatore, professors at NYU, conducted an ingenious experiment (see video below) and found some surprising results. Happy International Women’s Day and be sure to check out the video below (hat tip: … Continue reading
Posted in Bayesian Reasoning, Current Affairs, History, Politics
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The longest highway in the world
You can read more about the Pan American Highway here.
Posted in Maps
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Ancient probability
Although modern probability theory dates to the 1600s, our ancestors have been playing games of chance for a very long time. Via the amazing Cliff Pickover, for example, check out this ancient die (circa 2500 B.C.) from the Indus Valley Civilization. (Photo Credit: … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Games, History, Probability
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Class No. 8 (the ghost of Napster)
Have you ever downloaded copyrighted content from the Internet or shared your Netflix password with a friend? We sure have! In our next class, we will debate the law and ethics of copyright infringement and discuss how the law attempts to … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Artist in Chief
Have you seen fugitive war criminal George W. Bush’s collection of oil paintings of veterans? (See fragment below.) These remarkable portraits are assembled in his new book Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief’s Tribute to America’s Warriors. This series … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Bayesian Reasoning, Uncategorized
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Product placement 101
Matt Thomas just brought this beautiful TV ad to our attention via his blog. The ad in question is composed of a series of movie scenes featuring the iconic Rolex watch. (In several of these classic scenes, the actors actually refer to the … Continue reading
Posted in Deception, Ethics, Law
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prior probability 