How trends propagate

Very interesting read about rebutting the ideas of Gladwell and his “tipping point” viral epicenter. Especially this sentence strikes a point with me:

“[...] researchers like anthropologist Pascal Boyer, who studies the psychology of religion, argue that our brains have evolved with an overactive agency-recognition system: We look for—and find—individual intention and design behind any pattern, even when none exists.  After a bad harvest, we wonder how we have angered the gods; after a trend goes viral, we wonder what special person could have made it happen.  This model also has the virtue of simplicity and, perhaps most importantly, that of flattering its target audience.” (emphasis mine)

I’m so very bored with people not appreciating pure chaos as the determinant for events. Nono, it has to be god this and god that, and spiritual mumbojumbo and bloody Elton John.

ok, that was getting off topic

Tipped over: social influence “tipping point” theory debunked

Note to self

Create a feed for monitoring new releases of all my favourite recording artists at Music-Alerts.com. That way I won’t miss out on any new releases for the major artists at least.

Another note to self:  Why use a crappy site like this and don’t get the releases I need? build a feed-builder myself which scrapes information from not just american amazon.com but includes european and swedish sites as well? Bah. Mabe a project for my paternal leave time…

Tag clouds

Tag clouds can be hammered for a certain two-dimensional feel to them – “they’re missing the point!” so to speak.

However, as long as the limitations are understood, I think tag clouds are a seriously cool technique that can add value to many a site. And, in this example, to a speech…

Check it out [Pattern Recognition via BoingBoing]

Sony’s Rootkit scandal

Two scientists, Aaron Perzanowski and Deirdre Mulligan, have created an extensive report on the Sony-BMG rootkit scandal in 2005. Interesting, exhaustive reading with a touch of virginity lost (for us blue-eyed consumers). The Magnificence of the Disaster: Reconstructing the Sony BMG Rootkit Incident. [pdf, via Boing Boing]

In the section of totally gruesome stuff…

you find this story: Minn. Slaughterhouse Workers Fall Ill [Associated Press]. I’ve been thinking of eating less meat for a time now – maybe today is the day I make true of my thoughts…

“The working theory from two Mayo Clinic neurologists treating the workers: Exposure to pig brain tissue scattered by the compressed air triggered the illnesses.”

Makes me want to puke my guts (and brain perhaps) out just reading it.

In related news, check out the yummy recipe Stewed pig brain with Gastrodia tubers.

Awwww..

Give me time. Give me space. Give me the ingredients to make this utterly cool gingerbread house before Xmas is over.

“Structural drawings for living cake houses” (this is the babelfish translation of the original Baupläne für Lebkuchenhäuser)

espresso magic

I saw this espresso maker a few weeks ago on some webshop and noted it looked like something I might like to own (I never gotten around buying a maker – partly because the good ones are expensive and take up an even more valuable commodity – counterspace!). Ran across a coffee geek’s “review” of it today. It doesn’t look quite as good anymore perhaps, but I’ll sure be on the lookout for the mkII, the return of the DIY espresso…

The $109.16 Goshshot Machine [via Boing Boing gadgets]

Religion is almost always funny

Check out the 9 most badass verses in the bible. Hilariously funny stuff. [via Boing Boing]

(Ok, religion isn’t always funny, having bomb-strapped people running around your kids isn’t very funny. Then again, I would argue it has almost nothing to do with religion…)

carbon dioxide emissions & the people walking to the dead end

I’d hate to be on the board of Daimler-Chrysler right now. They haven’t got much going for them it seems – or, as Treehugger puts it << Nothing says “I don’t care” as a shiny new Mercedes >>…

Check out the graphs at Economist.com [via Treehugger]

Proof: Mac users are more stupid

This has to be definitive proof. The fact that Apple has this supportpage up is surely positive proof….

Apple Support