The Pierian Puddle

Relatively true?

2009-03-10T11:03:00.001+11:00

If truth is relative, then the relativity of truth must be relative, otherwise it wouldn't be true that truth is relative.

But if truth is relative, and the relativity of truth is relative, then the truth of the relativity of truth must be relative.

But if the truth is relative, and the relativity of the relativity of truth is relative, then the truth of the relativity of the relativity of truth must be relative...

True? Relatively?

The Obameter

2009-02-01T10:02:00.001+11:00

Politifact.com has something they call an 'Obameter'. They've compiled of 500 of Obama's campaign promises and are keeping track of how many he has kept, compromised, broken, stalled, or hasn't got around to yet.

I'd love to see a Ruddmeter.

Misc Tennis Photos

2009-01-29T21:41:00.001+11:00

You know it's sunny when there's no motion blur even with my shaky hands.

(click for enlargements)

The psychology of air conditioners

2009-01-29T16:48:00.001+11:00

Certain people (you know who you are) have a weird approach to heating and cooling their homes.

On a cold day, they'll heat the room to, let's say, 21 degrees; then on a hot day, they'll cool the room to 16 degrees.

I don't get it.

Tennis in Slow-mo

2009-01-25T20:42:00.002+11:00

Australian Open Tennis Slow-mo Montage from Mark Brown on Vimeo.

The 300fps mode on my camera is still a novelty.

Ducks

2009-01-21T20:56:00.001+11:00

A duck and her ducklings that were loitering outside the house the other day.

High tech space nappy

2009-01-09T20:20:00.003+11:00

via Universe Today

The International Space Station's toilet has had its troubles, and Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has decided they want to "eliminate" this problem for future astronauts and procure a new way to deal with human waste in space. They formed a space toilet research group and came up with an idea that is sure to revolutionize space travel. The wearable toilet. "Clean and easy to use, the envisioned space toilet is designed to be worn like a diaper around the astronaut’s waist at all times," says an article on Pink Tentacle. Engineers hope to have this next-generation space toilet available to use in space within the next five years.
How does it work?

"Sensors detect when the user relieves him or herself, automatically activating a rear-mounted suction unit that draws the waste away from the body through tubes into a separate container," the article says. It's also a full feature toilet/shower almost like a bidet, as well as eliminating potential embarrassing situations in space. "In addition to washing and drying the wearer after each use, the next-generation space toilet will incorporate features that eliminate unwanted sound and odor."

I bet there's a lot of terrestrial couch potatos hoping this will become commercially available.

When you read the words "card credit" and "you thank" in this sentence, you'll probably think you read "credit card" and "thank you", but you didn't.

2008-12-30T10:00:00.001+11:00

Isn't that cool?

Star Wars Musical

2008-12-25T20:40:00.002+11:00

From Yahoo news:

Los Angeles (E! Online) – A long time from now, in a galaxy far, far away...the Star Wars money machine will still be cranking.

Not content with seven feature films or myriad TV spinoffs ranging from the current Clone Wars cartoon series to the dreaded Star Wars Holiday Special, the Jedi masterminds are readying a stage show.

George Lucas has signed off on Star Wars: A Musical Journey, a two-hour live musical event featuring John Williams' Oscar-winning score.

I've long been calling for a Star Wars arena spectacular...on ice!

The cake is not a lie!

2008-12-08T17:49:00.002+11:00

My attempt at the cake from Portal. It's a bit wonky and is hemorrhaging its internal frosting, but I'm pleased with it.

Haven't tried any yet. Here's hoping it is delicious and moist.

MPs on the meaning of Christmas

2008-12-07T18:39:00.001+11:00

From the House of Reps Hansard for December 4, 2008:

Kevin Rudd (Prime Minister): As we approach the Christmas season, there are often debates about Christmas being a Christian festival or a non-Christian festival in various parts of the world. I think the truth is this: whether we are of faith or not of faith, this is an important season for us all. For those of us who are of faith, it celebrates the birth of the Christ child. For those beyond faith it is a celebration for all families, and all therefore enjoy this season which lies ahead.

Beyond faith? As in, grown out of it, or as in a lost cause?

Malcolm Turnbull (Leader of the Oposition): This is, of course, the season of Christmas and we are celebrating the birth of Jesus, the birth of the man—the son of God—who established a faith that is as inspiring as it is mysterious, a faith that is based on love. This is truly, then, the season of love, and that is why families come together. It is why we come together to eat, for Christmas feasts, for lunches and dinners. We remember, too, that there is nothing more human than families coming together to share a meal. Indeed, the Eucharist is at the centre of our own faith, of our own liturgy—that sacred meal.

We should also remember that not all of the members of this House are members of the Christian faith. Indeed, I think it is important today to remember that a number of our colleagues around this time of year--around the Christmas season, if you like—-will be celebrating the feast of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival. That is a festival of lights and it celebrates the indomitable nature of the Jewish people.

Christianity, Judaism...yep, I think that's all of 'em.

Warren Truss (Leader of the Nationals): Christmas is a special time of the year. It is a time when families can gather together and enjoy one another’s company. From a parliamentary perspective, it is a time when we are able to have a break and perhaps live slightly more normal lives. But Christmas is more than just decorations, gifts and parties—although a special part of my Christmas is always decorating the family home with Christmas lights so that I can demonstrate what a special time Christmas is for me in my neighbourhood. The celebrations and symbols of Christmas highlight the joyous reason for our festivities—namely, the birth of Jesus Christ, who brought salvation and the message of peace and goodwill to all. Those who seek to take Christmas out of the holidays or Christ out of the Christmas certainly lose the central reason for our celebrations and their meaning and purpose.

Mmmmmmmm.

Apple's 1987 'Knowledge Navigator' video depicts my dream nerd lifestyle

2008-11-24T14:10:00.001+11:00

And we're nearly there...nearly...the iPhone just needs a bowtie.

Hillary as Secretary of State?

2008-11-17T15:09:00.004+11:00

I didn't believe it at first, but it's seeming more and more likely that Hillary will be Secretary of State.

Here's my little theory. On the night that Obama and her met after he'd won the primaries they did a clever little deal. He knew that she wouldn't want a crap job like Vice President, one because it's a crap job, two because if he lost the election she'd be untainted and the presumptive nominee for 2012. So he promised to offer her Secretary of State if she played nice during the presidential campaign. If he won, which he did, she gets the option of a great job. If he loses, she's a shoe-in for 2012.

We all assumed he didn't want her as VP because then he'd have Bill hanging around all the time. But it's probably that SHE didn't want to be VP! She wanted a real job! NoDramaObama probably feels like he can handle Bill now that the election is over.

No one as irish as Barack O'Bama

2008-11-17T10:05:00.002+11:00

It's fascinating how affectionate the satire surrounding Obama is. And yes, I admit it, I too have turned into an irrational Obama fanboy.

The Death Penalty

2008-11-09T20:18:00.003+11:00

I'm not a blood thirsty person. But if someone I knew and loved was murdered in a terrorist attack, there's a very good chance I'd want my revenge. I'd probably want them killed. I might even want to do it myself.

My hope is that my family, friends, and government would always prevent me from doing so. I certainly hope they would never enact revenge on my behalf.

Congratulations Mr President Elect

2008-11-06T08:52:00.001+11:00

Congratulations Barack.

Where in Chadstone Shopping Center is Carmen Sandiego?

2008-10-26T19:57:00.005+11:00

I sometimes have ideas that I wish I could send back in time to the days when I was a media major.

There's an iPhone game coming out in a week called Parallel Kingdom. It's an 'agumented reality' game. It shows you a map of wherever you are and overlays various monsters and treasures and other RPG type things for you to interact with. To navigate this world you have to walk (or drive, swim, fly) to the corresponding real world location. It uses the iphones GPS to discern your location. It's also multiplayer. Think World of Warcraft meets The Amazing Race.

I wish this kind of technology had been around back in my days of making bad student films. How cool would it be to do an interactive iPhone film where you have to walk to different locations to unlock scenes filmed at that location. You could have a murder mystery filmed at various locations around Melbourne; in each scene there'd be some clue as to where you need to go to unlock more of the story. Or maybe you could choose different paths (literally) to determine the outcome of the story -- a choose your own adventure format.

Or what about an iPhone version of Where In The World is Carmen Sandiago!? Ay!? Ay!?

If only I had the time, motivation, and talent.

Sarah Palin, Parah Salin

2008-10-18T10:12:00.001+11:00

I'm not sure why this is amusing. But it is.

Sarah Palin can't say 'nuclear' either

2008-10-16T09:37:00.000+11:00

The Psychology of Music Preferences

2008-09-13T15:38:00.003+10:00

Apple has just released a version of iTunes with a new feature called Genius. Genius makes custom playlists (of either music you own or music you might want to by) based on a secret algorithm. If you opt-in, iTunes sends all of your listening history data (e.g., track names, artist names, playcounts, skipcounts) to a central server. The algorithm then looks for patterns in worldwide listening trends. To use Genius you right-click a particular song, choose 'start Genius', and BANG you've got a list of 'similar' songs. I'm loving it. It's helped me rediscover some music that Dan had given me but that I hadn't listened to much.

This got me thinking about how one might statistically look for trends in music preferences. I wondered if there'd ever been a factor analysis of music preferences. A factor analysis is a statical technique for finding trends amongst different variables. It's often used in personality research. You ask a large sample of volunteers a whole stack of questions (e.g., "On a scale of 1 to 10 how much do you like parties?", "How much do you like being the center of attention?" etc.) and look for shared variance in the responses. I've written about factor analyses of personality related data before here.

Anyway, a quick literature search turned up this article in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology:

Rentfrow, P.J., Gosling, S.D. (2003). The Do Re Mi’s of Everyday Life: The Structure and Personality Correlates of Music Preferences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(6), 136-1256.

Among the studies reported is a factor analytic study of music preferences. 1,704 students from the University of Texas were asked to rate each of 14 music genres on a scale from 1 ('I don't like it at all') to 7 ('I like it a great deal'). The genres were: alternative, blues, classical, country, electronica/dance, folk, heavy metal, rap/hip-hop, jazz, pop, religious, rock, soul/funk, and sound tracks.

The analysis revealed 4 main dimensions (factors) that captured 59% of the total variance. The names given to these factors and the genres associated with them are as follows:

- Reflective and complex (blues, jazz, classical, and folk)
- Intense and rebellious (rock, alternative, heavy metal)
- Upbeat and Conventional (country, sound track, religious, and pop)
- Energetic and Rhytmic (rap/hip-hop, soul/funk, and electronica/dance)

These dimensions are reasonably independent of each other (1). People who like reflective and complex music are just as likely to enjoy intense and rebellious music as they are to not. What these factors mean is that if someone likes a genre related to a particular dimension (e.g., blues) then they'll probably also like the other genres on that dimension (e.g., jazz). The same goes for disliking a genre.

One limitation of this study is that peoples' understanding of genre terms may vary. I might think that I don't like folk music and yet like many songs that others would categorise as folk. It would be great to see an analysis done on song by song ratings, rather than just genres.

Another analysis, which was really interesting, involved looking for relationships between e musical preferences and differences in personality and cognitive ability. They found all sorts of relationships, although most of them were quite small (.2ish). The largest one (.4ish) was between a preference for Reflective and Complex music and the personality characteristic Openness to Experience. Interestingly, there was a small (.2ish) relationship between verbal IQ and liking of Reflective and Complex, Intense and Rebellious, or Upbeat and Conventional music (2).

Very interesting stuff.

I'd love to see these researchers team up with Apple and analyse the iTunes Genius data.

---------

(1) Upbeat and Conventional and Energetic and Rythmic correlate .5 if allowed to covary.

(2) And no, I don't think this is evidence that music makes you smarter (can you guess why?).

Mark on Science

2008-09-11T10:12:00.000+10:00

Science is a special kind of magic, practiced by people called 'nerds'. No body knows how it works for sure, but it probably has something to do with computer machines.

Be careful, science is dangerous. Nerds get so lazy from all their science making that they only have enough strength to stare into space, talk to the internet, or drive their electric wheelchairs.

Sometimes nerds get angry. If too many nerds are angry at one time, electricity stops working and nuclear bombs go off. Damn you nerds! (but don't tell them i said that)

Luckily, normal people can reap the rewards of science without having to risk their own sanity, because nerds are happy to do science for you. They will accept monetary compensation, but are also happy to work for social approval.

One final note. Logic tells us that all nerds wear glasses, but that not all people who wear glasses are nerds. You may not agree with this opinion, but you'll have a hard time convincing me otherwise, as there are two sides to every fact.

The Google Habit

2008-09-04T09:15:00.001+10:00

I have to remind myself to google the small stuff.

It occurred to be a while back that with the Internet being as it is, there's really no reason to ever NOT look stuff up. The time it takes to Google a quick answer is so small that it's more efficient to Google than waste any time wondering.

Even for the silly questions that float through one's head. What is the gestational period of an elephant? What is an 'aptronym'? How old is the universe? You can have a preliminary answer in seconds.
But I have to remind myself to Google. It's a habit I'm trying to cultivate.

Google should launch a TV add campaign. Each add should be only 5 seconds and should just ask a question for you to Google:
"Do lead pencils have lead in them? Google it!"
"How many light years to the nearest star? Google it!"

Won't a reliance on Google lead to cognitive atrophy? I'm not sure that it will. Maybe it will free up the mind to think about the hard questions, the big questions, the questions that apply only to me. Of course, this too is a habit I need to cultivate.

(Cross posted at the Subjects of Interest blog. Go there.)

10 iPhone improvement suggestions (SOI cross-post)

2008-08-05T11:00:00.000+10:00

I love my iPhone. I really do. But it's because I love it so much that I want it to be even better. Here's 10 small things I'd love to see the iPhone do:

1. Preferencing the 2.5G signal over the 3G when the 3G signal is there but so weak as to be slower than 2.5G. Ditto for preferencing 2.5G or 3G over wifi when the wifi is so weak as to be useless.

2. Automatically turning on the VPN when the only wifi connection available requires it (as is the case when I'm on campus). Or at least some way of programming the phone to do this.

3. Google Street View on the maps application

4. An indication of how much data I've used visible on the home screen, not buried in the menus.

5. For updated applications to remain in the same spot on the home screen that they started at.

6. Allow video recording through the camera.

7. Cut and paste.

8. Allow you to put a custom data feed into the screen saver holding screen.

9. Haptic feedback.

10. Sync video playlists like a regular iPod.

The story of Charlie (cross-post from SOI)

2008-07-28T14:28:00.002+10:00

Cross-post from the Subjects of Interest blog

A year or so ago, a friend and I set out to create the ultimate chain email. We wanted it to have all those essential elements: pathos, wish-granting, guilt tripping, and rhyming.

---
This is the saddest email I have ever read ever! Serious guys, I'm not joking on this one. If you don't burst into tears after reading this, you're an awful person.

POOR CHARLIE

Saturday is a busy day
It's time for the football game
So Charlie raced out of the door
His father did the same

He rushed towards the family car
And sat down on the seat
And impatiently waited for his dad
While wiggling his feet

Too busy to have breakfast
Too busy to comb his hair
Too busy to check the computer
And the email that waited there

So Charlie played his football
And kicked ten thousand points
Although he hurt his kicking foot
And other assorted joints

But for all his youthful vigour
And his cheeky boyish grin
Little did poor Charlie know
That fate was coming for him

He checked his computer once more
But off to the living room he went
Because 'Idol' was on the tv
And the email remained unsent

Had he taken notice
Had he read it to the end
He would have understood the sad email
Sent to him by his friend

He didn't read the story
He didn't send it on
And slowly, very slowly
All his good luck shall be gone

For chain emails are a powerful thing
As Charlie did find out
The bad luck that awaited him
Was enough to make you shout...

"Oh no, not poor young Charlie
He's such a brave little guy
He's such a little trooper
Why did he have to die?"

That's right, poor Charlie carked it
He got cancer in his bowel
Then got a bout of syphilis
- please don't ask us how

And then he tripped down the stairs
And broke his upper left thigh
And as he lay there in agony
He wished he had replied-

-To that simple little message
"Had I only passed it on
I wouldn't be here dying
With chille stains on my shirt

I must have hit my head" he said
"I've clearly got concussion.
No longer am I rhyming well
Or speaking in correct pies"

As little Charlie passed away
Ducks nibbling at his spleen
And rats sneaking into his bowels for warmth
His toes were turning green

And from his foaming trembling lips
These last words did he moan
"if you don't reply to chain emails
you'll die horribly and alone... probably down some stairs or something."

SEND THIS TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU! PLEASE! THIS COULD CHANGE THE WORLD! THE MORE PEOPLE THE BETTER.

50 - Send this email to over 50 people, and Charlie will come to life again. You and he shall go on a magical journey to some far off land, and then have cake. Then of course he will have to die again to make room for the next person to send 50 emails.

20 - Send this on to 20 people and not only shall you be immune to cancer, but you'll also receive four billion dollars within seven seconds of sending it. Also, that huge crush that you once had will turn up to your door and immediately propose to you.

10 - Send this on to 10 people and you will develop duck repellent qualities. Furthermore to that, you will never ever spill chille on your favourite shirt. Your crush will come to your door and say something to do with avacados, but you were too busy staring in awe at them that you weren't really listening. You'll find a fifty dollar note on the street, but then you'll probably just spend it on food or something, which makes it a kind of waste, because it all ends up in the toilet in the end anyway.

5 - Send this to 5 people and you will have an erotic dream about your crush that night. At least you think it's them, because the person's face isn't quite the same and they change gender from time to time. Nevertheless it will be a happy dream. You will also find an empty bottle on the street while you walk to work which you can cash in for about twenty cents and the recycling shop. You'll see a rat around the corner, but then you'll keep walking and forget about it about four seconds later.

4 - Send this email to 4 people and we'll give you a free upsize to 5, THIS WEEK ONLY!!

< 4 - Send this email to less than 4 people and you'll most likely trip over some hobo on the way to work and have to clean bodily fluids off your favorite suit for the rest of the day.

0 - If you refuse to send this email to anyone, because you're lazy, or insensitive or just don't have any fingers, then you will die a horrible, horrible death.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't believe us? Check out these fantastic testimonials:

"Hi, My name is Fred Tompson. I read this email and was so moved by the story of Charlie that I immediately forwarded it to 24 people. The next day I became the richest man in the world by selling immitation sardines over the internet. I'm also married to the most beautiful woman in the world, and we make sweet love once every seven minutes. I owe it all to clicking my mouse button a few times and thinking of Charlie."

***

"Tootles! Jeanette Winterbottom's the name. I am a teacher of Information Technology at Darbishire Elementary College. We recently had one of our students die from witholding Chain emails from the community. Among the symptons included a broken pancreas, dislocated brain, a bit of a backache after dinner, and the distinct smell of duck poo. I now use this email as a criteria for all my student's gradings and have found it successful in reducing the ammount of rat-related deaths in the college by 37% Since implementing the program, all unexpected in-class fatalities were the result of other phenomenon and not this email. Thank you Charlie!"

***

"Hi, I'm Brett. I received this email, and deleted it. now I'm dead."

***

"I'm Ted Lowry. I received this email, and sent it to only 7 people. As I was walking to work the next day, I found an old CD on the road. I tried to play it, but it was really too scratched to get any real melodies. I kept it around the office for a few more days, but then I threw it out and bought a sandwich. God bless you Charlie!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can see, the power of this email is astronomical. So prove to yourself and to your friends that you are a good person, and not a selfish one. Send this to as many people as you can. And if you don't have enough friends to send this email to, then you're probably an awful person and deserve all the bad luck coming to you.

But now here's the best bit. Before you press send, think of Charlie, count to five and make a wish.

>
>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>> 5!
>>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>> 4!
>>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>> 3!
>>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>> 3!
>>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>> 1!
>>>>
>>>
>>
>

Ooops, it must have got wet. But perhaps if you wait a little while, then your wish is 46% certain to be absolutely GUARANTEED to come true!

The rock-off fairness fallacy (SOI cross-post)

2008-07-21T10:02:00.006+10:00

I have a new blog! Dan and I are doing a joint blog over at thesubjectsofinterest.blogspot.com

Here's my latest post from over there.

-------------
I've noticed that there is an increasing trend for people to resolve disputes or allocate resources using the game of Rock Paper Scissors. The procedure is sometimes called a 'rock-off', as in "let's rock-off for the last slice of pizza"

This procedure is fine in a two person game (assuming no one cheats), but I often see people happily submitting to three-way rock-offs. In these arrangements two people rock-off, then the third person plays the winner, and the winner of that second rock-off is declared the overall winner.

But this procedure is inherently unfair!

Imagine that John, Fred, and Mary are rocking-off for a slice of pizza. John and Fred play first. Mary plays the winner.

For John to win overall he has to win the first encounter against Fred and then a subsequent encounter against Mary. John has a .5 probability of winning the first time and .5 probability of winning the second time. .5 x .5 = .25, so he has a 25% chance of winning the pizza.

The same applies for Fred. He has to win first against John and then against Mary. Both times he has a .5 probability of winning, .5 x .5 = .25, so he too has a 25% chance of winning the pizza.

But Mary, she gets it easy. No matter what happens she only has to play once. Regardless of whether she's playing John or Fred she has a .5 probability of winning that rock off. So her chance of winning the pizza is 50%.

Mary has double the chance of winning overall because she only plays the winner. Great if you're Mary, bad if you're John or Fred.

Better to just draw straws.