Tuesday 30 June 2009

The latest non-work-related items

Friday Fun: Frantic via the How-To Geek by Mysticgeek
Frantic may be a good adjective to describe how your work week was and it is the name of the game we look at this Friday to help take the edge off. Frantic is an old school space shooter type game that is a lot of fun.
NB: You may want to turn the sound off so the pointy-haired bosses don't catch you.
Play Frantic at the How-To Geek Arcade

Six Once-Forbidden Foods that Aren’t so Bad for Us
via Gimundo.com on 23/06/09Researchers have found that these foods are less sinful than we thought, and in some cases, can actually provide health benefits. Find out what makes these “bad” foods not so bad after all.

Friday fun via Science, Engineering & Technology Blog by Anne
As we reach the end of the first week of Wimbledon, find out more about the science behind the sport of tennis at the following sites:
Physics of tennis
Tennis sport science
Physics of ball spin in tennis, topspin and backspin
Racquet research

via Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate
Obsession can be genuinely agonizing and disruptive. It can also be highly valued in an artist, a lover, or a doctor... more

Friday Fun: Cargo Bridge via the How-To Geek by mysticgeek
  • You need to build a bridge between the valleys so the workers can finish their jobs. So the first thing to do is survey the terrain, move the mouse cursor to the left side of the screen to scroll further over.
  • Go back into design mode to start sketching your bridge design using wood blocks and connectors. Keep an eye on the funds in the bank while building.
  • During the design process you can go back and test the design with your workers.
    If the test doesn't work you can go back to the design board and start again.
  • A successful design allows you progress to more challenging levels and adds funds to the bank for better materials.
  • Progress is saved automatically which makes it easy to start where you left off.
  • There are a few setting you can change such as the image quality and sound.
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Tetris: an excellent treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder? via Technology blog guardian.co.uk by Charles Arthur
Tetris is good for easing the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), scientists have found. Yes, you read that correctly: the infuriating, mind-swallowing piece-twiddling row-building game actually has a medical value. The research, which was conducted at the department of psychiatry at the University of Oxford, suggests using Tetris as a "cognitive vaccine" against flashbacks from traumatic events. It's published on the open-source science research Public Library of Science (PLoS) website.

via Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate
Setting achievements of Mesopotamia and Greece side by side is a useful exercise, says Roger Sandall. What do we learn from the comparison?... more

via Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate
The beauty, intelligence, grace, complexity, and wit that make Lolita a work of art deepen our well of compassion and sympathy, says Francine Prose, whether we like it or not... more

via Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate
Most of what scholars need for research these days is on the Internet. Oh yeah? So you're trying to trace a judicial duel held before the French King in 1386... more

via Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate
Is religion innate? Would children raised in isolation spontaneously create their own religious beliefs? Paul Bloom says yes.... more

Toward understanding the Middle East
via Doc Searls Weblog by Doc Searls on 5 February
I don't write much about war, mostly because I'd rather write about stuff I can do something about. As a young man I opposed the Vietnam war, wrote about it, protested against it. If I hadn't lucked into a medical deferment, I would have been a conscientious objector, like some of my good friends.
Stephen Lewis was a fellow student at the same Quaker college, a good friend and a fellow protestor. We met when we crashed the same Ku Klux Klan rally, near the ironically named Liberty, NC. I believe we even joined the same picket lines outside one of Ed Cone's family's textile plants. (I'm not sure if Ed was even born back then. We're talking about the '60s here.)
With A Gingerly Step Middle-East-Wards, Steve treads lightly on territory I've been reluctant to write about — but about which I've been glad to learn more. At that Steve helps a lot. The post is short, sobering, and linkful.
There are no easy answers. But we can improve on the questions. This post does that.

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