10 non-work-related items that I found fun or interesting

10 Really Pointless Sites To Have Fun With Numbers via MakeUseOf by Tina Sieber
The other day someone asked what they could do on the Internet other than Facebook or blogging. Well, as someone else put it quite bluntly, what can’t you do? However, the key question is, what is the best thing you can do? And while you’re busy figuring that out, how about killing some time?
Below is a list of ten really pointless sites that all deal with numbers in one way or another. All these pages were taken from the Pointless Numbers sub-category of PointlessSites, a website dedicated to pointless websites. Some pages are not exactly pointless, yet entertaining and fun in a pointless way.
Read the list
And do tell me, please, if I include, in my list of 10 things, an item which is a list of 10 things have I got 10 things or 19?

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Secularism is an achievement, but is it also a predicament? Are non-believers condemned to lead desperate lives devoid of meaning? James Wood wonders...more

Japan caretaker robot kneels to lift people off floor via PC Advisor News Jay Alabaster
A caretaker robot developed in Japan has been equipped with powerful motors in its hips and advanced feedback sensors so that it can bend over and gently lift infirm patients from the ground. Read More

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Shoplifting is an expression of vanity and need, not ideology. Filching razors from Rite-Aid isn't political. It’s pathetic...more

Batman logo in equation form via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
A Redditor called "i_luv_ur_mom" posted this math teacher’s amusement, an equation that draws a lovely Bat-signal.
Do you like Batman? Do you like math? My math teacher is REALLY cool
Have a look at it now
My maths is too rusty for me to actually work out the equation – I used to think calculus was fun but haven’t had any need to use it in real life since college.

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
War in the desert, like war at sea, takes place over a vast, often inhospitable landscape, where flanks can be turned indefinitely; intelligence and agility are essential. T.E. Lawrence knew this...more
A “lecture” on the demise of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of nationalism throughout its holdings in the dying years of its existence. Lots of relevance for today.

The Human Spirograph Visits the National Academy of Sciences via The Scholarly Kitchen by Kent Anderson
Patterns drawn by a man on his stomach. Only by seeing and listening did I realize how inspired his approach truly is.
I agree, wholeheartedly, as I am sure you will when you've watched this.

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
In Russian, chairs are masculine and beds are feminine. So do Russians think of chairs as being more like men and beds as more like women in some way? Yes, says Lara Boroditsky...more
When I saw this story sitting, glaring at me from the pile of draft items I could have sworn that I’d already used it. Five minutes later I gave up looking for where and when and decided that twice was better than not at all. Hazel

Designing and evaluating UbiBall: a ubiquitous computing game for children
an article by Douglas Easterly and Angela Blachnitzky in International Journal of Arts and Technology (Volume 4 Number 3 (2011))
Abstract
This paper provides an overview of a recent project called UbiBall – a ubiquitous exergame game developed by researchers at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. We survey the emerging field of exergaming, cover the design goals and processes and summarise the results obtained from our initial user testing. UbiBall features a ubiquitous computing ball outfitted with a microcontroller. The microcontroller emits sound and light in accordance with the various ways it is interacted with. It also data logs the play activity to a file, which then acts as a bridge between two modes of gameplay, one that is physical and active, and another that is a screen-based game. Ultimately, the game provided a fun and particularly active example of mobile exergaming for the children participants who tested the system.
Ever curious I had to go and look up exergaming in general and UbiBall in particular.
Wikipedia not only tells us that exergaming is a portmanteau of exercise and gaming (we could have guessed that bit) but tracks the history of the genre from as long ago as the late 80s (which I did not know).
Of UbiBall I found no trace – as a game! You can, of course, look for yourself and end up with the Janpo Precision Tools Company.

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Biblionecrophilia: The conversation about print’s demise has been consumed by nostalgia. As if Amazon will forgo e-profits after recalling the tactile thrill of curling up with a musty paperback...more

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