In other words, some birthdays are more probable than others!
Is this art or science? Check out this cool Russian Space Agency video of what the sky would look like if the Sun were replaced by some other stars. It starts off with the binary star system of Alpha Centuri and ends with Polaris, which has a radius 46 times that of the Sun. Via kottke.
Via reddit, this Chinese map depicts the best sea routes between China and the ports of New York City and Rotterdam.
Is Apple liable in tort for last fall’s hack of celebrity iCloud accounts? What about Google? Check out this in-depth essay by Issie Lapowsky, published in Wired Magazine last September, addressing some of these questions. According to one source cited in Lapowsky’s report — David Vladeck, the former director of the U.S. Bureau of Consumer Protection and a professor of law at Georgetown University — Apple will likely be sued after hackers stole nude photos that many Hollywood celebrities had stored on the company’s iCloud service. Although such suits have had little success in the past, “he and other legal and cybersecurity experts also say that a lawsuit over the high-profile hack may be just the thing to push Apple and other online companies to more aggressively protect the people using their services.” This particular prediction came true, but what probability of success would you assign to this lawsuit?
According to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, “Brady told someone close to him that he works on the footballs all week, then has no idea what happens to them on gameday.” Yeah right … We are still awaiting the results of the NFL’s investigation into “Deflate Gate.” In the meantime, congrats to all you suspected cheaters out there! Your team won the big game.
Check out this disturbing essay by Daniel Lazare comparing people’s reverence for the U.S. Constitution to our reverence for holy texts. He also identifies a fundamental contradiction in our Constitution to boot:
Sealed in moisture-controlled, bullet-proof glass containers that are on display in a special rotunda at the National Archives Museum in Washington DC by day and lowered into a multi-ton bomb-proof vault by night, the Constitution is to the US what the Bible was to medieval Europe or the Qur’an to today’s Islamic State, albeit with certain differences … On one hand, the Preamble seems to establish ‘we the people’ as the all-powerful makers and breakers of constitutions. On the other, the rest of the document outlines a system that gives them almost no power at all. So which is it?
So, what is the optimal level of constitutional change? Isn’t there a trade-off between stability and flexibility, between the risk of political fossilization and the risk of revolutionary turmoil?
Via reddit: “The flags of five countries are ‘hidden’ in the flag of Norway. Norwegian Airlines used this to good effect and came up with this clever print ad to promote their low airfares.” If the Super Bowl had print ads, this would be one of them.
“The Spirit rover drove 4.8 miles over the course of 5 years, 3 months, and 27 days. This video covers its entire journey across the Martian surface.”
Hopefully It’s Interesting.
In Conversation with Legal and Moral Philosophers
PhD, Jagiellonian University
Books, papers, and other jurisprudential things
Ramblings of a retiree in France
BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH
Natalia's space
hoping we know we're living the dream
Lover of math. Bad at drawing.
We hike, bike, and discover Central Florida and beyond
Making it big in business after age 40
Reasoning about reasoning, mathematically.
I don't mean to sound critical, but I am; so that's how it comes across
remember the good old days...
"Let me live, love and say it well in good sentences." - Sylvia Plath
a personal view of the theory of computation
Submitted For Your Perusal is a weblog wherein Matt Thomas shares and writes about things he thinks are interesting.
Logic at Columbia University
Just like the Thesis Whisperer - but with more money
the sky is no longer the limit
Technology, Culture, and Ethics
Just like the horse whisperer - but with more pages
Poetry, Other Words, and Cats
prior probability 