Youtube Direktfrequency

Großartige neue Doku von Marije Meerman, deren Film „Quants – The Alchemists of Wall Street“ ich vor grob drei Jahren hier gebloggt hatte. Damals hatte sie Hintergründe über die Quants, die Coder der High-Frequency-Trading-Algorithmen recherchiert, diesmal verfilmt sie das Buch Dark Pools: The rise of A.I. trading machines and the looming threat to Wall Street, dessen zentrale Figur Haim Bodek nach dem Bankrott der HFT-Firma Trading Machines über die Methoden und die geheimen Algorithmen an der Wallstreet ausgepackt hatte.

Genau diese „geheimen Algorithmen“ hatten vor ein paar Monaten dafür gesorgt, dass Wissenschaftler im High Frequency Trading eine Art künstliches „AI-Ökosystem“ ausmachen, in dem es sowas wie „Raub-Algorithmen“ gibt. Extrem interessant, alles und das Dark Pools-Buch hab’ ich grade auf meinen Kindle geladen.

Bodek, a so-called quant (or quantitative analyst) who has held key positions at Hull Trading, Goldman Sachs and UBS, is famous among traders for having broken the Street’s omertà and complained to the Securities Exchange Commission in 2011 — after his own HFT firm, Trading Machines, crashed and burned — about the secret “order types” that allowed rival algorithms to jump the queue and push him out of business.

Bodek is the lead character in Scott Patterson’s 2012 Dark Pools: High-Speed Traders, A.I. Bandits, and the Threat to the Global Financial System. And his scalper metaphor is the centerpiece of The Wall Street Code, Part 2 of Dutch director Marije Meerman’s excellent video series for VPRO Backlight about the effects of HFT “bots” (artificially intelligent trading algorithms) on the electronic stock and options markets.

Fortune: Video: The Wall Street Code

Vorher auf Nerdcore:
DataVisualized SloMo High Frequency-Trading
High Frequency Trading-Predators in the new Machine Ecology
Trading Sign Language explained: Blowjobs, Joints and Hitlers Mustache
High Frequency Trading in Super Slow Audio
High Frequency Trading GIF’d
Inside the Algorithms of Wall Street

Eu trabalho em uma biblioteca, vocês sabem como é: prateleiras cheias de livros disponíveis para empréstimos, etc. Muito simples. Acontece que perto da biblioteca fica o setor de odontologia. Até aí nada demais. Afinal de contas dentista e biblioteca são duas coisas muito distintas, certo? Certo.

Aqui faço uma pausa para analisar rapidamente um problema que as pessoas têm: a falta de pensar por um segundo antes de fazer uma pergunta idiota. Aquele segundo em que você podia ter prestado atenção e visto o que está acontecendo ao seu redor. Claro, todo mundo já fez às vezes de tonto, mas tem situações que OLHA.

E tudo isso para dizer que eu estou ali sentadinha na biblioteca e de repente chega alguém e me pergunta se é ali que arrancam dentes, e melhor ainda, se distribuem dentaduras. E segue a série de respostas que eu adoraria dar, mas não posso:

- Isso moço, só abrir esse livro e você encontra uma dentadura dentro dele.

- Arrancamos dente sim, pega esse exemplar de capa dura e chega aqui, vai ser rapidinho.

- Na verdade isso aqui é um açougue, senhor. Não sei se você percebeu.

- Somos dançarinas burlescas da Tanzânia e excepcionalmente hoje o atendimento odontológico será feito por dentistas.

Obviamente (e infelizmente) eu não posso dizer nada disso. O que me resta é sorrir, acenar e apontar a odontologia que fica em frente à biblioteca.

Sofro.

submitted by preacher37 [link] [694 comments]

Mark Dingemanse,  Francisco Torreira, and N.J. Enfield, “Is ‘Huh?’ a universal word? Conversational infrastructure and the convergent evolution of linguistic items", PLOS ONE 2013:

A word like Huh?–used as a repair initiator when, for example, one has not clearly heard what someone just said– is found in roughly the same form and function in spoken languages across the globe. We investigate it in naturally occurring conversations in ten languages and present evidence and arguments for two distinct claims: that Huh? is universal, and that it is a word. In support of the first, we show that the similarities in form and function of this interjection across languages are much greater than expected by chance. In support of the second claim we show that it is a lexical, conventionalised form that has to be learnt, unlike grunts or emotional cries. We discuss possible reasons for the cross-linguistic similarity and propose an account in terms of convergent evolution. Huh? is a universal word not because it is innate but because it is shaped by selective pressures in an interactional environment that all languages share: that of other-initiated repair. Our proposal enhances evolutionary models of language change by suggesting that conversational infrastructure can drive the convergent cultural evolution of linguistic items.

The paper is quite accessible, but there's also a web site ("Is 'Huh?' a universal word?") and a YouTube video:

The Danbochhi is a soundproof cardboard studio being pre-sold in Japan. According to the official site, the studio is portable, easy to assemble and relatively soundproof, reducing noise by 30 decibels while inside the studio. All of this is very good for those who have a love for karaoke and very thin walls, or for those who really just want to be alone.

images via Danbochhi

via The Japanalyst, Oddity Central

Earlier this week, Marty posted about the increasingly huge share of income going to the richest Americans. And as we’ve seen in the past, Americans tend to way — way — underestimate how unequal the U.S. is.

This video (via Upworthy) does a great job illustrating the distribution of wealth, and how it compares to Americans’ perceptions of both the real and ideal distribution. Even if you know all this stuff, and can recite the statistics, the visual representation of exactly what that means is still jarring.

Gwen Sharp is an associate professor of sociology at Nevada State College. You can follow her on Twitter at @gwensharpnv.

(View original at http://thesocietypages.org/socimages)

Unlike just about every other developing country’s carbon print, Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions are falling—fast.

    Joint post with Andrew Miller, University of Maryland.

Bitcoin is broken, claims a new paper by Cornell researchers Ittay Eyal and Emin Gun Sirer. No it isn’t, respond Bitcoiners. Yes it is, say the authors. Our own Ed Felten weighed in with a detailed analysis, refuting the paper’s claim that a coalition of “selfish miners” will grow in size until it controls the whole currency. But this has been disputed as well.

In other words, the jury is still out. But something has been lost in all the noise about the grandiose statements — on their way to getting to their strong claim, the authors make a weaker and much more defensible argument, namely that selfish miners can earn more than their fair share of mining revenue. This is in fact a novel and interesting result, with potentially serious consequences.

The well-known argument — never proven, but taken on intuitive faith — that a minority of miners can’t control the network is a special case of a more general assumption: that a coalition of miners with X% of the network’s hash power can make no more than X% of total mining revenues. Eyal and Sirer argue that this is false [1].

If X% is more than 1/3, the authors’ argument is self-contained and relatively easily verifiable, and we believe that it will hold up to scrutiny [2]. This is already a concern, but maybe it’s hard for deviant mining coalitions of such size to materialize. Things get more interesting when X% is less than a third. Here the argument for the deviant strategy relies on the attacker having a good “network position:” running a large number of Bitcoin nodes that flood the peer-to-peer messaging layer and manage to fool honest nodes about what the attacker is trying to do.

Here’s the thing: this is the first time a serious issue with Bitcoin’s consensus mechanism has exploited the peer-to-peer aspect of the system. This is a problem for our ability to reason about Bitcoin. The cryptography in Bitcoin is considered solid. We also have some ability to model and write equations about miners’ incentives and behavior. Based on this, we thought we had strong reasons to believe that “X% of miners can earn no more than X% of mining revenue.”

But if network position can make a difference to the attacker’s prospects, all such bets are off. Weaknesses that depend on the attacker creating “sybil” nodes in the network are in a very different category. Bitcoin’s P2P network is “open to the public.” Nodes can come and go as they please, and are not expected to identify themselves. Running a Bitcoin node means being willing to accept connections from strangers. This makes it problematic to apply existing theoretical models to analyze the security of Bitcoin.

It is definitely possible to make the messaging layer of the network more resistant to Sybil attacks. First, Bitcoin allows users to declare other nodes as trusted, effectively forming a “friendnet“, if they were willing to take the effort to do so. Another possibility is to require that potential peer nodes solve a puzzle, similar to the proof-of-work mechanism used for mining rewards [3]. The Bitcoin developers have been taking this issue seriously, and it is likely that they will quickly deploy defenses to shore up the P2P layer against attacks.

The security of Bitcoin is frequently portrayed as cryptographic in nature, and economic arguments are sometimes invoked. But so far, a third factor has proven to be at least as important: the responsiveness of the developer community. Perhaps in the future, the theoretical underpinnings will be much more clearly understood, diminishing the need for frequent software and protocol updates in response to potential crises. Alternately, perhaps “Bitcoin will require the emergence of governance structures … to cope with longer-term structural challenges” as Kroll, Davey and Felten argued in a recent paper.

In summary, here is the current state of our knowledge:

• The assumption that X% of the hashpower cannot earn more than X% of the revenue is almost certainly not true, once X% exceeds 33.3%.

• Network vulnerabilities could potentially make this threshold much smaller. We don’t know for sure yet.

• Even with an optimal network, and for mining coalitions between 0 and 1/3 of hashpower, we have no proof that honest mining is the most profitable strategy. Even if the paper’s “selfish mining” strategy turns out not to work in this case, it is possible that another strategy exists.

• Given an adversarial mining strategy, can a coalition form around it? This is an orthogonal question that awaits a definitive answer.

• Regardless of its other merits, it is likely that this paper will necessitate stronger sybil defenses, and this will further underscore the degree to which Bitcoin’s security currently depends on the actions of its volunteer custodians.

[1] There is another assumption necessary for the standard Bitcoin security argument: no investment of X% of the money spent on mining can achieve more than X% of the hashpower. The paper does not challenge this assumption, however.

[2] Members of the Bitcoin community have already created simulations that seem to confirm this aspect of the paper’s claims https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=326559.0.

[3] Bitcoin developer Greg Maxwell has proposed an efficient “proof-of-storage” puzzle suitable for this purpose https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=310323.0.

In this closeup is an adorable group of baby veiled chameleons. Along with the six upfront you can also see more lurking in the background!

Source: facebook.com  /  via: reddit.com

Segundo um estudo da Tendências Consultoria para a Aliança Bike – associação que reúne os fabricantes de bicicletas – o veículo de duas rodas e sem motor paga mais imposto no Brasil que os automóveis. O relatório indicou carga tributária de 40,5% para os produtores do setor, enquanto as montadoras recolhem em torno de 32% em tributos para o governo.

Em relação ao IPI, a discrepância entre bicicletas e carros fica ainda maior. Um automóvel popular recolhe em média 3,5%, enquanto a popular “magrela” paga 10% se feita fora de Manaus, onde a Zona Franca possui isenção fiscal, embora representando apenas 21% da produção nacional.

Assim como o automóvel, o brasileiro também paga por uma das bicicletas mais caras do mundo, custando em média R$ 400 para um modelo mountain bike com rodas aro 26 e câmbio de 21 marchas. Nos EUA, um modelo similar sai por R$ 259. Do tipo dobrável, o brasileiro paga R$ 640, enquanto o alemão precisa desembolsar R$ 477.

Sem poluir, o veículo oferece exercício físico e tem baixo custo de produção. Assim, deveria também custar menos, especialmente no Brasil, onde motos e automóveis têm preços superiores aos de mercados emergentes, contribuindo para locação da população de baixa renda. Se a carga tributária das bikes caísse 10%, as vendas teriam aumento de 14%.

Fora de Manaus, uma bicicleta chega a ter 44,5% de seu preço em impostos, representando assim uma elevação de 80,3% no valor do produto. Segundo a Ciclocidade, associação dos ciclistas de São Paulo, 50% das vendas se destinam ao transporte, enquanto 37% são para crianças, 17% para lazer e 1% para competição.

Atualmente existem 53 empresas afiliadas à Aliança Bike e outros 235 fabricantes informais. A redução nos impostos ajudaria a tornar formal esse segundo grupo de montadores, que representam 40% do mercado nacional. Em 2011, foram vendidas 5 milhões de unidades no país e espera-se 5,9 milhões em 2018. Com tributos menores, o setor “emplacaria” 9,3 milhões por ano.

[Fonte: Jornal O Globo]

Agradecimentos ao Eduardo Pruvinelli pela dica.

A noticia Bicicleta paga mais imposto que automóvel no Brasil foi publicada no site Notícias Automotivas - Carros.

[Scott] sent in this tantalizing view of the what could be the future of bread boarding. His day job is at EquipCodes, where he’s working on augmented reality systems for the industrial sector. Most of EquipCodes augmented reality demos involve large electric motors and power transmission systems. When someone suggested a breadboard demo, [Scott] was able to create a simple 555 led blinker circuit as a proof of concept. The results are stunning. An AR glyph tells the software what circuit it is currently viewing. The software then shows a layout of the circuit. Each component can be selected to bring up further information.

The system also acts as a tutor for first time circuit builders – showing  them where each component and wire should go. We couldn’t help but think of our old Radio Shack 150 in 1 circuit kit while watching [Scott] assemble the 555 blinker. A breadboard would be a lot more fun than all those old springs! The “virtual” layout can even be overlayed on real one. Any misplaced components would show up before power is turned on (and the magic smoke escapes).

Now we realize this is just a technology demonstrator. Any circuit to be built would have to exist in the software’s database. Simple editing software like Fritzing could be helpful in this case. We’re also not sure how easy it would be working with a tablet between you and your circuit. A pair of CastAR glasses would definitely come in handy here. Even so, we’re excited by this video and hope that some of this augmented reality technology makes its way into our hands.

Filed under: Virtual Reality

planning > calculating > failing

Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Calum Marsh writes in The Atlantic that when Paul Verhoeven's Starship Troopers hit theaters 16 years ago today, American critics slammed it as a 'crazed, lurid spectacle' featuring 'raunchiness tailor-made for teen-age boys' and 'a nonstop splatterfest so devoid of taste and logic that it makes even the most brainless summer blockbuster look intelligent.' But now the reputation of the movie based on Robert Heinlein's Hugo award winning novel is beginning to improve as critics begin to recognize the film as a critique of the military-industrial complex, the jingoism of American foreign policy, and a culture that privileges reactionary violence over sensitivity and reason. 'Starship Troopers is satire, a ruthlessly funny and keenly self-aware sendup of right-wing militarism,' writes Marsh. 'The fact that it was and continues to be taken at face value speaks to the very vapidity the movie skewers.' The movie has rightfully come to be appreciated by some as an unsung masterpiece. Coming in at number 20 on Slant Magazine's list of the 100 best films of the 1990s last year, the site's Phil Coldiron described it as 'one of the greatest of all anti-imperialist films,' a parody of Hollywood form whose superficial 'badness' is central to its critique. 'That concept is stiob, which I'll crudely define as a form of parody requiring such a degree of over-identification with the subject being parodied that it becomes impossible to tell where the love for that subject ends and the parody begins,' writes Coldiron. 'If you're prepared for the rigor and intensity of Verhoeven's approach—you'll get the joke Starship Troopers is telling,' says Marsh. 'And you'll laugh.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Floppy disk and son

French photographer Alain Delorme seemingly captures a rare and extraordinary moment in the natural..(Read...)

“Yes, false rape accusations happen. Run the protocol anyway. I’ve heard that perhaps the military has the highest number of ‘em. True or not, RUN THE PROTOCOL ANYWAY. Because in 15 years of investigating rape accusations, I can count those that panned out as false on one hand. Meanwhile, the one time I almost skipped the protocol, the one time I almost didn’t believe a petty officer, because I was naive as an investigator and a young woman, because her commanding officer described her as “a party girl, always late, always out drinking, don’t bother with this one”, she turned out to be the victim of one of the most brutal assaults I’ve ever investigated. She shouldn’t have still been -alive-, let alone up and making the accusation. So let me repeat: five false accounts in fifteen years. And one time I almost failed a woman ‘cause of the bullshit way it’s normal to talk about us. Take your shipmates’ word, and then run the protocol. Every. Single. Time.”

-  - JAG lawyer, speaking to my husband’s plant during Sexual Assault Prevention Month. (via circusbones)

lovesthesmarty:

emilyyaksitout:

I have been giggling about this twitter exchange for at least an hour now

And now I’m going to giggle about it for the rest of the day.

Imaginem um programa social que diminui o índice de internação de crianças doentes em 90%, aumenta a sua frequência escolar em 92% e praticamente dobra a renda familiar dos seus pais. Pois foi isso que três pesquisadores da Universidade de Georgetown encontraram aqui no Brasil, quando decidiram estudar os efeitos a médio e longo prazo do Saúde Criança, uma ONG carioca especializada em transformar miseráveis em pobres, na perfeita definição da sua fundadora. 

Parece um jogo de palavras espirituoso, mas fala de dois universos onde o tudo e o nada seguem rumos separados. A diferença entre a miséria e a pobreza é praticamente intransponível para quem está na miséria; não há horizontes ou esperança nesse mundo. Na pobreza, contudo, já se permitem sonhos e, eventualmente, realizações. Na pobreza há luz no fim do túnel; na miséria, só trens vindos em direção contrária.

Vera Cordeiro descobriu essa fronteira quando trabalhava no Hospital da Lagoa. Crianças eram internadas, tinham alta, iam para casa — e logo estavam de volta ao hospital, em condições ainda piores, num ciclo vicioso que, quase sempre, só terminava com a morte dos pequenos pacientes. Claro: ir para casa significa voltar para as condições insalubres que os tinham feito adoecer. Significava falta de medicação, de cuidados, de comida. Ela chegou à conclusão de que era virtualmente impossível tratar das crianças sem tratar das suas famílias e do seu entorno. E foi à luta.

Trabalhando com voluntárias, correndo atrás de donativos e de parceiros, ela traçou um plano de ação e passou a atacar a miséria em várias frentes: dando remédios e alimento para as crianças, mas também reformando os seus barracos infectos, ensinando um ofício às mães e, muitas vezes, obtendo documentos para famílias inteiras que não existiam oficialmente.

Deu tão certo que hoje o Saúde Criança — que começou como Renascer, mas mudou de nome no meio do caminho para não ser confundido com a famigerada igreja — virou franquia social, e está presente em sete estados brasileiros, sendo que, em Minas Gerais, virou política de governo. A organização ganhou todos os prêmios mundiais do setor, é exemplo no mundo inteiro e chamou a atenção de Muhammad Yunus, o banqueiro bengali que ganhou o Prêmio Nobel da Paz pela concepção do conceito de microcrédito.

Dentro deste quadro de sucesso, faltava calcular, em números concretos, o efeito a longo prazo da atuação do Saúde Criança. Não é segredo para ninguém que a metodologia funciona; afinal, as voluntárias e voluntários ficam ligados às famílias que atendem, e volta e meia têm notícias delas mesmo depois que se desligam do programa. Mas haveria como medir o seu impacto?

Sim, havia. Há três anos, os pesquisadores Daniel Ortega Nieto, James Habyarimana e Jennifer Tobin, da Universidade de Georgetown, nos Estados Unidos, passaram a acompanhar e comparar 127 famílias assistidas pelo SC com outras tantas que não foram beneficiadas. O resultado do seu trabalho, divulgado no mês passado, foi surpreendente. O tempo médio de internação hospitalar das crianças caiu de 62 dias por ano para nove. A renda familiar per capita passou de R$ 566 para R$ 1.087. Houve também um aumento notável na porcentagem de adultos empregados, de 54 por cento na entrada para 70 por cento até cinco anos após a participação no programa. Esse índice é atribuído aos cursos profissionalizantes promovidos pelo Saúde Criança.

A percepção de bem-estar das famílias é eloquente: ao entrar no programa, 56 por cento definiam a sua situação como ruim ou muito ruim. Passados três anos, esse índice caiu para pouco mais de 15 por cento — enquanto 51,2 por cento passaram a se achar em situação boa ou muito boa, contra os 9,6 anteriores.

Como disse uma das mães atendidas:

“Quando você chega aqui você está triste, abatida, sem esperança. Aqui eles ensinam a gente a andar com a cabeça erguida.”

Pois é.

Isso também é Brasil, mas no meio de tantas notícias ruins protagonizadas por elementos torpes, nem sempre nos lembramos dos pequenos milagres que acontecem todos os dias, promovidos por brasileiros que honram o seu país.

o O o

E agora, os nossos comerciais: o Saúde Criança está participando do “Skoll Foundation social entrepreneurs challenge”, um desafio internacional para arrecadação de recursos online promovido pela Fundação Skoll, que investe em empreendedores sociais ao redor do mundo.

Entre as 57 instituições escolhidas, há apenas duas brasileiras (a outra é o CDI, o Comitê para Democratização da Informática, muito bem colocado graças à doação de um trabalho do Vik Muniz). O Saúde Criança está em sétimo lugar, e precisa melhorar a posição para garantir uma parte no prêmio de 250 mil dólares que será repartido entre as ONGs que mais arrecadarem.

O desafio termina no próximo dia 22 de novembro. Até lá, é só ir ao site, que fica em crowdrise.com/SaudeCrianca, e fazer a sua doação. Doe o valor de uma manicure, por exemplo, ou de um jantar: não vai fazer falta a você, e vai ajudar muito a uma causa que é nobre e digna de apoio.
(O Globo, Segundo Caderno, 7.11.2013)

Not sure what to watch? Here's a sortable list of every Netflix TV series, ranked by IMDB ratings. [via GigaOm]

ofmusesandsins:

sandandglass:

Not even John McCain has time for their shit. 

when John McCain has to call you out on your shit something has gone hideously wrong with your life

It isn’t chocolate. It isn’t even Facebook friends with real chocolate. It isn’t even a LinkedIn 3rd connection with real chocolate.

White chocolate doesn't contain any chocolate.

saveur.com

Its main ingredient is cocoa butter, a pale yellow vegetable fat that comes from a cocoa bean but isn't chocolate.

earthybotanicals.com

Flickr: 26489838@N03

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View Entire List ›

For five years, researchers have toiled over an obscure bit of fundamental internet infrastructure that promises to make the connections to our mobile devices faster and more reliable than ever, and if you’ve already downloaded Apple’s iOS 7 to your iPhone or iPad, you could be using it already.

It’s called multi-path TCP, and here’s why it matters and how it works: At present, if your phone or tablet is connected to Wi-Fi and a cellular network at the same time, it can only use one or the other connection to transmit data. But what if your Wi-Fi connection or your 3G connection drops? Whatever data was being transmitted—data for an app, a webpage, an iMessage—will fail to arrive, and you have to try again, usually after getting a frustrating error message or a blank page. Just as importantly, if one of your connections to the internet slows down, or speeds up, your phone has no ability to use its other connections to its advantage, leading to a poorer and slower experience overall.

Activate Siri to feel the power of the future

Multi-path TCP allows your phone to send data by whatever way it’s connected to the internet, whether that’s Wi-Fi, 3G or ethernet (say, if it were running on a laptop connected to the internet via a cable). And if you want to activate it, says one of the researchers who built multi-path TCP, you have only to use Apple’s voice command software, Siri.

This is the first time that this new means of connecting to the internet has appeared in a commercial product. That it showed up in Apple’s software and not Google’s shows that Apple’s technical chops are substantial, even when the company isn’t highlighting what it’s up to.

What this means for the internet as a whole

The ability to connect and maintain a continuous connection to the internet over multiple wired and wireless connections might sound like a nice-to-have feature rather than one that’s all that important, but there’s a reason researchers worked on this problem for five years before coming up with a standard that could be widely implemented: Multi-path TCP is the future. It’s arguably the first and most important change to the low-level architecture of the internet to reflect the fact that our connections to it are more mobile and wireless than ever.

In a September 2013 presentation (pdf) to the Australian Network Operations Group, computer scientist Mark Smith suggested that Multi-path TCP was the beginning of a larger change in how the internet is built, in which individual devices decide how they will communicate with one another, rather than simply relying on the protocols that have already been built into the computers that pass along all our traffic to and from the internet. Such a “dumb” network connected to “smart” hosts—the smart hosts being our phones, tablets and PCs—would allow for rapid experimentation and evolution of the fundamental language of the data devices are passing back and forth.

This will be especially important as the internet—and our airwaves—become ever more congested. Already, the protocol that handles most requests for web pages and data for apps, plain old TCP, is being crowded out on some networks by another, less well-behaved protocol designed to stream video and audio. In some ways, multi-path TCP is an effort to address this competition: If your phone sees that your Wi-Fi network is begin strained by that episode of Breaking Bad you’re streaming or pirating, it can switch to your 3G connection to maintain a reliable connection.

So far, the only way that Apple’s devices appear to be using this protocol is to communicate with Siri, which makes sense: Understanding speech is a difficult enough problem that Apple, like Google, probably sends recordings of our voice into the cloud, where powerful servers can parse our speech, rather than processing it on our relatively wimpy mobile devices. For an application like this, speed is of the essence, and having as many paths to get data to and from Apple’s servers is critical.

Piraro makes the point that he is allowed to publish a cartoon showing a street prostitute holding up a sign saying "GLUTEN FREE" (see it here), but he was censored when he came out with a cartoon showing a deadbeat vampire loiterer holding up a sign saying "WILL SUCK FOR BLOOD". Both clearly suggest the possibilty that oral sex is being referred to, if you have a dirty mind, but the second explicitly contains a word (suck) commonly recognized by the relevant prudish authorities as colloquial sex talk, wheras the first doesn't. The prostitute cartoon would doubtless also have been banned if it had incorporated the word eat, instead of just implying it through the reference to a potentially allergenic food ingredient. Piraro's comment on the situation is: "Americans (and maybe all humans, I'm not sure) are more obsessed with words than with their meanings."

He goes on:

I will never understand this as long as I live. Under FCC rules, in broadcast TV you can talk about any kind of depraved sex act you wish, as long as you do not use the word "fuck." And the word itself is so mysteriously magical that it cannot be used in any way whether the topic is sex or not. "What the fuck?" is a crime that carries a stiff fine — "I'm going to rape your 8-year-old daughter with a trained monkey," is completely legal. In my opinion, today's "gluten-free" cartoon is far more suggestive in an unsavory way than the vampire cartoon, but it doesn't have a "naughty" word so it’s okay.

Are we a nation permanently locked in preschool? The answer, in the case of language, is yes.

He makes a very good point, IMHO.

It’s easy to forget that we have access to a virtually limitless resource of information, i.e. the Internet. For a lot of us, this is even true at our fingertips, thanks to the ubiquity of smartphones and an ever-increasing push for online greatness by tech engineers all over the world.

As a result, there are countless websites out there that are geared to make you smarter and more brilliant for either a low or no cost. Here are just 25 such sites that may just make you more clever than ever before.

1. Duolingo

This isn’t the first time I’ve recommended this language-teaching website (and app), and it certainly won’t be the last. Duolingo is a free version of Rosetta-Stone that delivers the same results: teaching you another language. Regular use of the site can have you speaking and writing Spanish, English, German, French, Portuguese and Italian in a matter of months depending on the diligence you put into it. Hopefully, even more languages will become available soon.

2. Khan Academy

Have you ever wanted to pick up a subject you’re not well-versed in, but you didn’t have the money to invest in a college course? Khan Academy aims to provide education at the collegiate level for anyone who wants it. They provide resources for learning pretty much every subject out there, including math, science, history and more. As you learn, the platform will even assess your progress and help you gauge what you’ve learned.

3. Justin Guitar

Guitar is one of the few instruments out there that’s actually pretty easy to learn if you’re a little older, making it one of the most accessible instruments. Still, learning how to play still takes some direction, at least for most people, so a guy named Justin decided he was going to help out. His website provides hundreds of free guitar lessons that range in different styles, depending on how you want to play. His schedule for learning is pretty easy to follow, and the site is a great stepping stone for people wanting to pick the instrument up.

4. Cooking for Engineers

Founded by Michael Chu, Cooking for Engineers goes further than just providing recipes. The site is a blog that is geared toward making your food taste good. Additionally, his analytical take on ingredients and cooking recipes is interesting and will likely change the way you approach cuisine.

5. The Dating Specialist

Or Nick the Dating Specialist is a website that wants to help guys be better dates. The site is full of advice on how to approach social situations and flirt successfully with different types of people. Nick even offers personal coaching at your request, so he can help your specific situation or hurdle to successful dating.

6. Nerd Fitness

When we think of exercising and gym techniques, we typically think of bodybuilders and jocks from high school. Nerd Fitness aims to provide resources for getting in shape from a nerd’s point of view. All of the guides, blogs and fitness tips on this site have a geek flavor that is intended to make anyone who feels uncomfortable at the gym feel right at home here.

7. MIT Open Courseware

As much as I would love an education at MIT, that isn’t really in the cards. Thankfully, the educators at the Massachusetts Institue of Technology decided to give out information for tons of courses online through Open Courseware. Hundreds of millions of people have benefitted from the information that they can learn from these courses, starting a trend for other sites to offer free courses as well.

8. Investopedia

I don’t like to admit it, but my lack of a business degree tends to make me feel easily intimidated when a conversation starts taking a turn for the financial. To solve this, Investopedia was born to provide a news blog that makes it easy to digest and really understand the financial markets. There are tons of resources like tutorials and videos that will help you keep up with the ever-changing world of money, and the news stories will keep you coming back for more.

9. Quora

Have you ever wanted to ask someone famous a question, but you suffer from never having the chance? Thanks to Quora, you can read the opinions and answers of fascinating (and varied) questions from the leading experts in pretty much everything. You can answer questions too and get feedback from numerous others who share your love for a given topic.

10. Information is Beautiful

I love reading, but sometimes a visual demonstration just makes information come alive. Hence, Information is Beautiful is a platform that uses gorgeous visuals to impart data. For example, if you want to find out how much money individual organizations have lost from data breaches, you can view an action visual that shows bubbles that are labeled and sized accordingly, giving you an in-depth, but easy to digest overview of the data.

11. Spreeder

According to Spreeder, a lot of us have trouble reading quickly because we can only read as fast as our “inner voice” can. Spreeder’s solution is to teach you to read without an inner voice, boosting reading speed and comprehension immensely. The best part? It’s totally free.

12. Project Gutenberg

Imagine a library with tons of free books that you can keep for the rest of your life. Actually, you don’t have to imagine that because Project Gutenberg gives you the ability to download thousands of free e-books, and it’s completely legal.

13. Codeacademy

If you haven’t noticed by now, the Internet has pretty much taken over everything, which means the skill of coding and developing websites is in higher demand than ever, and that’s not likely to change. With Codeacademy, you can use free tutorials that teach you the basics of coding with interactive and handy tools for helping you become an expert.

14. GeographyIQ

Imagine if Google Earth and Wikipedia decided to make it official and have a child. That would be GeographyIQ. Using the world map, you can select any country and access virtually every facet of useful information there is about that country, including history, currency, population and more.

15. Anki

It’s no secret that the key to memorizing information is mastering recall. With flashcards, you can recall things faster, making Anki an ideal resource for using flashcards online. Unlike other sites that use flashcards, Anki allows you embed more than just text. You can use video, audio and images to help you start studying faster and smarter.

16. Lumosity

Using games to learn is something I’ve treasured since Kindergarten, making Lumosity a trusted resource for me and countless others. Using a daily schedule of games, Lumosity is literally designed to make you more clever. As you progress, the software figures out what your strengths and weaknesses (such as memory or math skills) and assigns you games accordingly. The best part is that the games are actually addicting and fun to look forward to!

17. CliffsNotes

Ideal for high school and college students, Cliffsnotes provides valuable resources like study guides and test prep for standard books and subjects you’ll have to read anyway. The site also provides resources for math and science, giving you the chance to finally master the dark arts of homework.

18. TED

For years, people have been benefitting from TED talks that provide free insights from the world’s smartest people. TED provides the value and learning growth of a seminar, but without the exorbitant costs and travel expenses, by providing visitors with tons of free video lectures. The app is also great for catching up on the latest talks, and you can even download some on iTunes.

19. Pinfruit

Need to memorize a lengthy number? Pinfruit analyzes the number and provides all of the options you could want as a mnemonic device. That’s all there is to it, since (unfortunately) they only provide this for numbers and not words.

20. Mindtools

There are countless blogs that you can enjoy for being interesting and mildly useful, but how many of them actually help you with your career? Mindtools is a blog that teaches you what they call “practical career skills” that you can apply at your job. This is a great daily read for entry-level workers who want to make a great impression, and the variety of topics and advice provided make this is a fantastic bookmark for anyone wanting to excel.

21. Learn Street

Want to take your coding skills to the next level? Learn Street helps teach you how to use advanced coding scripts such as JavaScript, Python and Ruby without making your head explode. It even provides a service for helping you teach advanced code to others.

22. HowStuffWorks

There are things we want to know about, and then there are things we didn’t know we wanted to know about. HowStuffWorks addresses the latter by providing information on a variety of topics and eye-opening facts that will broaden your horizons.

23. OneLook

Finding a great dictionary is not a difficult task in a world full of search engines, but it can be tricky to define more complicated words and phrases that most dictionaries (besides UrbanDictionary) don’t attempt to define. With OneLook, you can find multiple definitions from numerous dictionaries in one place, even if you’re looking up a phrase that is obscure or too specific for normal dictionaries to help you out with.

24. The World Factbook

Did you know that the CIA has information on pretty much everything in the world? Okay, but did you know that they make a ton of this information open to the public? The World Factbook is your godsend for research, allowing you to cite facts and details that pertain to a seemingly endless amount of information from reputable sources.

25. Couchsurfing

Don’t let the name fool you, as Couchsurfing is far from a website that will make you lazy. Couchsurfing lets you connect with travelers all over the world and is the ultimate resource for experiencing other cultures. Put simply, you can use the social network to meet locals in a new community you are visiting. You can also open up your home to fellow couchsurfers, giving you the chance to make new experiences and memories with fascinating people from all over the globe.

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lickystickypickyshe:

The All in One is the brainchild of designer Chris Godfrey, who said he wanted to give the working man or woman the ‘chance to dine like royalty without the washing up’.

‘Gimmicks often diminish their products to turn a profit; downgrading on the content but selling you something that’s “50 per cent more”. The All in One 12 course meal offers the average Joe; the chance to dine like royalty without the washing up.’

The full ingredients of the 12-course meal in a can are:

-A selection of local cheeses with sourdough bread
-Pickled Kobe beef with charred strawberry
-Ricotta ravioli with a soft egg yolk
-Shitake mushroom topped with filled peppers
-Halibut poached in truffle butter in a coconut crepe
-Risotto foraged ramps, prosciutto and fresh parmesan
-French onion soup with fresh thyme and gruyere cheese
-Roast pork belly and celeriac root puree
-Palate cleanser, pear ginger juice
-Rib eye steak with grilled mustard greens
-Crack pie with milk ice cream on a vanilla tuile
-French canele with a malt barley and hazelnut latte

Find out more at chrisgodfrey.me