Advogato blog for fozbaca

Facebook Users Spend More Money And Have Lower Credit Scores: Study

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 14:04:14 GMT

The researchers found that more time spent on Facebook means higher credit card debt. Just five minutes of Facebook usage a day was proven to lower a user's self-control

(Facebook Users Spend More Money And Have Lower Credit Scores)[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/12/facebook-users-spend-more-money-2012n2116990.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003&ir=Technology]

Apple iPhone turns into invisible keyboard

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 14:04:14 GMT

A student at Goldsmiths, University of London has been able to create an invisible, virtual keyboard for iPhones by using the device's built-in accelerometer to pick up vibrations caused by tapping or typing on a surrounding surface area. As you can see from the video demonstration above, the "Virbrative" software developed by Florian Kraeutli (on a jailbroken iPhone 4) allows him to measure the strength and frequency of vibrations and then map them to iOS' onscreen keyboard.

Fact-checkers: Talking crap in Holland v America

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:04:17 GMT

In the Dutch electoral system, this can't happen. Two months before the elections, every political party is expected to submit a detailed budget plan to a non-partisan agency called the Central Plan Bureau (CPB), which plays a role similar to the Congressional Budget Office in America. The CPB produces an analysis of the economic consequences of those budget plans. The effects are assessed in detail for 2013-2017, and there's also a prognosis for 2040 to discourage parties from larding up their budgets with short-term candy that leads to negative long-term consequences.

What the comparison with the American example points out, though, is that, for all the current media scepticism, the mechanism of the CPB evaluation dramatically raises the caliber of the electoral debate in the Netherlands.

The point is, it is simply impossible, in the Netherlands, for a political party to end up systematically ignoring math and accounting the way the Republicans have at least since George Bush's campaign in 2000.

Don't expect to ever see anything like this in the US but we should have official independent analysis of what candidates claim.

Talking crap in Holland v America

Election Day

Tue, 6 Nov 2012 21:04:16 GMT

Election day in the US. If you are registered go out and vote. Not sure where Where's My Fucking Polling Place. If you are not registered then go out and register for the next one.

On Halloween, US military forces train for zombie apocalypse

Fri, 2 Nov 2012 14:04:17 GMT

The scenario is part of a counterterrorism summit held this week. A zombie invasion would have characteristics similar to other catastrophic events and would be 'a federal incident,' a summit organizer says.

via Yahoo News

LEGO Milling Machines

Fri, 2 Nov 2012 14:04:16 GMT

LEGO 3D Milling Machine - "3D Printer"

LEGO 360° Milling Machine

Don't Buy Something Unless You've Wanted it Three Times -- Product Design -- Medium

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 14:04:13 GMT

>"I think the the biggest mistake people make is latching onto the first idea that comes to them and trying to do that. It really comes to a thing that my folks taught me about money. Don't buy something unless you've wanted it three times. Similarly, don't throw in a feature when you first think of it. Think if there's a way to generalize it, think if it should be generalized. Sometimes you can generalize things too much. I think like the things in Scheme were generalized too much. There is a level of abstraction beyond which people don't want to go. Take a good look at what you want to do, and try to come up with the long-term lazy way, not the short-term lazy way." - [Larry Wall](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Wall) [Don't Buy Something Unless You've Wanted it Three Times -- Product Design -- Medium](https://medium.com/product-design/87c254033e2c)

The rapidly increasing ideology of the US Republican Party

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 20:04:17 GMT

The graph shows that while both parties have always been distinct in their ideology, since about World War 1 there's at least been some slight overlap. All that changed in the early 70's though, as successive Republican congresses became increasingly more conservative in their voting records, while Democratic congresses remained much the same. Today, there's no ideological overlap between members of the two parties.

The rapidly increasing ideology of the US Republican Party

Suicide is cheaper

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 20:04:14 GMT

One of the many things wrong with insurance based medical care system.

You're probably having a heart attack. This could kill you. You need to come with us.

"No. It's too expensive. I can't."

He's got kids, and grandkids, and too much debt already. That's what he tells you. And you try to tell him that life is worth a hell of a lot more than money. Grandkids, right? You want to play with your grandkids.

"I don't want them to pay my bills."

Suicide is cheaper

The marshmallow test, revisited

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:04:15 GMT

"The results of our study indicate that young children's performance on sustained delay-of-gratification tasks can be strongly influenced by rational decision-making processes," the researchers conclude.

Something to think on next time you why a person on social assistance buys something extravagant.

The marshmallow test, revisited