Who Checks the Spell-Checkers? Microsoft Word's dictionary is old and outdated, says Chris Wilson... more
John "Game of Life" Conway: particles have the same kind of free will that people have
via Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder on 4/17/09
Kevin Kelly linked to a paper "co-authored by mathematician John Conway, inventor of a cellular automata demonstration known as the Game of Life, [who] argues that you can't explain the spin or decay of particles by randomness, nor are they determined, so free will is the only option left."
Some readers may object to our use of the term "free will" to describe the indeterminism of particle responses. Our provocative ascription of free will to elementary particles is deliberate, since our theorem asserts that if experimenters have a certain freedom, then particles have exactly the same kind of freedom. Indeed, it is natural to suppose that this latter freedom is the ultimate explanation of our own. Particles Have Free Will
via Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate
When Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, many Britons thought it was the beginning of the end of their empire. Still, it took a while... more
via Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate on 27 March
The experience of beauty ought to tell us we are at home in the world, argues Roger Scruton, that it is a place fit for the lives of beings like us... more
via Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate on 21 March
It is easy to forget how close we remain to the prehistoric men and women who first found beauty in the world. Our art instinct is theirs... more
via Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate on 2 March
What are the most ancient words still in our vocabulary? Some of the words we use every day derive from a prehistoric tongue we might call "Ice Age"... more
Test Your "Eyeballing" Skills via the How-To Geek by The Geek on 22 January
Have you ever put up a picture and just “eyeballed” it instead of using a level? Chances are you stepped back, and realised it was way off, and then had to fix it. That's the basic idea of this surprisingly fun flash game, which tests your eyeballing skills.
Tips on cannabis being handed out in schools via Telegraph Education on 26 January
Tips on how to best smoke cannabis and the benefits of the drug are being handed out to school children it has emerged.
Security Washout: 9,000 USB Drives Left In Launderettes
With the news stories about loss of crucial information creating headlines every now and then, it comes as a real shocker that as many as 9,000 USB sticks have been found by the dry cleaners during the last year, a recent survey revealed.
via Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate on 15 November
Has our political life really changed very much since Shakespeare's day? Maybe it has regressed back towards it, having moved away only for a century or two... more
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