Wednesday, May 30, 2012

House ended

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and I lost some sleep.

In some ways, TV series are like start-ups... a group of creatives and builders trying to survive the scrutiny and at the mercy of network execs (i.e. VC's, angel sponsors or whatever funding sources a start-up can get).

In other ways, they're unlike most start-ups... i.e. the crew has access to the fancy gadgets and equipment (might be similar to a start-up that somehow leverages the manufacturing capability of an established company).

And also, many of them get axed after one or two seasons (i.e. like a start-up runs out of funding). In House's case, it's almost like the start-up grew and grew and then a profitable buyout. I think it's a good thing that Hugh Laurie decided to end the series before it becomes overripe. FOX network does have a tendency to make some controversial decisions...

By the way, I see a parallel between the House stunt and the Sherlock stunt toward the end of the series finale...

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Capitalism and Psychopathy

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Ha. Ha. Ha.

The ultimate behavioral economics dissertation topic: Capitalism and Psychopathy
     Chapter 1: Motivation
     Chapter 2: History and philosophy of capitalism
     Chapter 3: Psychopathy in history
     Chapter 4: Evolutionary origins and the neuroscience of psychopathy 
     Chapter 5: Psychopathy and (the rampant) capitalism (that is contemporary America)
     Chapter 6: Where to go from here?

In a culture that idolizes Steve Jobs but not Bill Gates, anyone who dares publish that thesis will never get a job in the United Freaking States and therefore must move to Canada or Scandinavia.

Poetic connections to quantum physics

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        THE LOCKLESS DOOR

        by: Robert Frost (1874-1963)


        It went many years,
        But at last came a knock,
        And I thought of the door
        With no lock to lock.
        
        I blew out the light,
        I tip-toed the floor,
        And raised both hands
        In prayer to the door.
        
        But the knock came again
        My window was wide;
        I climbed on the sill
        And descended outside.
        
        Back over the sill
        I bade a “Come in”
        To whoever the knock
        At the door may have been.
        
        So at a knock
        I emptied my cage
        To hide in the world
        And alter with age.

Sublime description of two eigenstates superimposing on each other (I read it as a metaphor of life/death, of being/non-being, or just two different perspectives...) and the observation paradox of Schrödinger's cat :-P

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Brain Pickings is the most intriguing and illuminating website I've visited in a while

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io9.com is a close second. Together this makes for my shortest blog entry with the most number of tags.

I particularly should check out these collections of books... on the left panel on the main page. I already read a few of them and heard about a few more, but hmm... haven't read real books in a while. Too many things are happening lately...

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

What the Hex?

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I came across this color guessing game via this blog. Most curious. I was able to get like five correct in a row for Level 10, but definitely failing at Level 48 ROFL. 

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Sherlock (BBC TV series) is making me an insomniac

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I could theoretically go on and on about the character analyses... will have to leave that for another day. Right now I can't get these tunes out of my head... anyway, Fruity Loops (FL Studios) is too much fun...



Monday, February 13, 2012

Just a check-up on my state of the mind...

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The "Creator" part has been pretty consistent since a few years back. The adjective, however, varies depending on how I generally feel about life over the past month...

Terms explained:
Confidence
How confident you are about expressing your opinions and accomplishing things.
Openness
Your degree of openness to new experiences.
Extroversion
How outgoing you are. High means you are extroverted. Low means you are introverted.
Empathy
How much you understand (and experience) the emotions and thoughts of others.
Trust in Others
The general faith you have in other people; how much you think people are good at heart.
Authoritarianism
Your adherence to the social order and how much you favor obedience.
Masculinity
The degree of your stereotypically-male traits.
Femininity
The degree of your stereotypically-female traits.
Spontaneity
How comfortable you are with making plans at the last minute.
Attention to Style
How aware you are of fashion trends. How much effort you put in to your own style.
Agency
How much you believe you determine your own outcomes. High means you believe that you have control over your life. Low means you believe that other factors—such as chance, fate, and powerful others—influence your life.
Imaginative/Earthy
Your prefererence for concrete or abstract things. Low means you prefer abstract, theoretical things. High means you prefer detail-oriented, practical things.
Functional/Aesthetic
Your prefererence for beauty or form. Low means you care more about how something works. High means you care more about how something looks.