I really do not get Wired Magazine’s subscription policy. They are supposed to target smart geeks, yet make really stupid moves.
I used to be a subscriber. But I got annoyed by a large number of ads, deliberate and unnecessary foul language and subscription inserts advertising $8 new subscriptions. So, I did not renew early.
Renewal notices [...]
Continue reading about Weird Wired Magazine (or maybe just stupid)
No, I am not complaining about food. I love food. And I love it different and - sometimes even - adventurous. Which is where Sour Grapes come in.
We have been walking around the neighborhood and have discovered Middle Eastern shop with some unusual but recognizable foods and some not-quite-recognizable ones. Our strategy with [...]
Watching the 21 Accents video (via Neatorama) made me think that different languages/accents seemed to require different mouth positions. Is it possible that some phonemes are only achievable with the mouth wide-stretched in a smile? Then loading a language with such phonemes would be one way to ensure people appear friendly to strangers whatever the [...]
While reading weka Data Mining book, I have come across this impressive example of using machine learning to confirm person’s authorship (p. 358).
In 19th century, there lived a famous rabbinic scholar Ben Ish Chai, who among other writings had two collections of letters. Ben Ish Chai claimed that only one collection was his and that [...]
Continue reading about On uselessness of pretending to be somebody else
What could be common between Computational Linguistics and Aerobics? Quite a lot, as it turns out to be.
Dance descriptions, while not really in English do have a regular structure and can be thought of as a sub-language with full set of syntactic, semantic and pragmatic levels.
There are basic words of the language (move names), correct [...]
I just found my own oldest webpage (handcoded) and my oldest public source code (Java) at once. Archive.org - that has hosted this long-dead memory since 1999 - is just so great.
Looking back at it, I realise that I was right in the thick of Internet development:
When I just started working with Java, we had [...]
I want to get my parents a digital picture frame. But at the moment I cannot. That’s because I don’t want my somewhat less-technical parents to have to fiddle with memory cards, choosing and transferring photographs or running Vista.
My ideal digital picture frame for them would be one sitting in a living room or a [...]
Continue reading about Chumby: Digital picture frame for parents and much more
I have seen plenty of visual illusions - both static and moving - but I have never seen a rotating human figure as an optical illusion. Took a while to even convince myself it was not a joke.
I did work it out in the end (after a hint). The secret - at least for me [...]
Continue reading about Amazing animated visual illusion - rotating female figure
I have tried Tamarind before as an ingredient in dishes, but I have never actually seen the real fruit. I wasn’t even sure it was edible uncooked. So, when I saw it sold in the shop, I had to try it. It turned out to be a very educational experience. The fruit is layered with [...]
I don’t swear! I find that if I use up the swear words in day-to-day situations, I will have nothing to use in the critical moments when I actually need to let the steam out. Interestingly, when I do get those moments, I still do not really swear. But I need to know that such [...]