Perelman on political relevance:

'Give me an underground laboratory, half a dozen atom-smashers, and a girl in a diaphanous veil waiting to be turned into a chimpanzee, and I care not who writes the nation's laws.' S.J. Perelman (1904-1979)"

Cap allows navigation of virtual worlds by thought | Betterhumans > News

Ah, now maybe we'll finally have something better than a mouse and keyboard as interface. I wonder how much computing power it takes to analyse and use the data from the cap?

Odds of Dying - NSC

hmm, ouch. some blind number crunching yields nasty numbers.

AnimeNation Anime Forums - What does Dattebayo mean?

Cervantes said (ironically enough) that translations were like looking at the wrong side of tapestry. They have many of the same parts in common, but in all the least important ways.

I don't know that I agree with him, having struggled through parts of Don Quixote in spanish, and read several different english translations. but he's certainly right that much in literal translation is useless at best, and obscurantist at worst.

Poor Cervantes, his point may have been valid, but he's likely been read in translation far more times than he has been in spanish. Spanish was outcompeted as the international language by first French then English, and likely again by Chinese, depending on how the next bit of history goes.

I enjoy taking note of the lingual and cultural translations much of the things I watch and read go through before I enjoy them. Some are subtle and likely misunderstood, I have quite a few languages to yet learn, before I'm satisfied.

Perhaps if more works were in something culturally neutral like esperanto.

The Korea Times : Seoul to Build Combat Robot

ah, if only.

CC2005-02-03-Zerjal et al._2003_Genetic Legacy of the Mongols.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Fascinating paper, suggesting that .5% of the ENTIRE WORLD is a male-line descendant of Genghis Khan, making him one of the most definitely reproductively successful humans in recorded history.

PocketMod: The Free Disposable Personal Organizer

my friend tavish pointed this out. looks interesting.

also, I just got a USB drive (as they are now below any reasonable standard of "disposable income" even one so poor as myself might define).

I already carry a book, Moleskin, to be precise, but this may be a decent idea for formatting, or similar. I'm investigating.

Eventually a wearable or pda will be compelling enough, but my past experiments have been tinged with dissapointment. The closest I came to happiness was a Visor Edge, but it developed memory problems, and eventually had to be abandoned.

The Australian: It's a miracle: mice regrow hearts [August 29, 2005]

!!!!!!!!

"And when cells from the test mouse are injected into ordinary mice, they too acquire the ability to regenerate, the US-based researchers say."

That's freaking sweet if it's not total bullshit.