"...in the end, culture is a more powerful tool in dealing with drinking than medicine, economics, or the law."

"With Whitehouse, the way you get around the 'noise issue', if we can call it that, is through the use of language. There I'd apply the same principles linguistically, where you're overloading the brain with very complex linguistic structures very fast - too fast for the brain to cope with. ... I remember there was one concert in Vienna, and there was this barrage of abuse and loud abrasive noise, for an entire hour, but at the end it was extraordinary - the entire audience had these huge, silly grins on their faces, and their hands were in the air like some sort of exaltation."

"Procrastination has nothing to do with disciplining yourself or 'just doing it' This is the most common misconception about procrastination and will instead achieve exactly the opposite of what you want. Let me explain:"

"So, just a suggestion: if you want a relationship that lasts, don't rely on god, lawyers, and social pressure to force it to work. Love and reciprocal trust are the only chains that last, and the only ones that make you feel happy while wearing them."

"By allowing kids to explore activities on their own, parents not only help children pinpoint the pursuit that fits them best, but they can also prevent young minds from obsessing over an activity, a new study finds."

"Daniel Dennett on secular ecstasy."

"The trick is to figure out which details help users identify the UI element, and which details distract from its intended meaning. Some details help users figure out what they’re looking at and how they can interact with it; other details distract from the idea you’re trying to convey. They turn your interface element from a concept into a specific thing. Thus, if an interface element is too distinct from its real-life counterpart, it becomes too hard to recognize. On the other hand, if it is too realistic, people are unable to figure out that you’re trying to communicate an idea, and what idea that might be."

"In the past year, researchers have developed new robots to tackle a variety of tasks: helping with medical rehabilitation, aiding military manoeuvres, mimicking social skills, and grasping the unknown. Here are the highlights."

"People who read the nonsensical story checked off more letter strings –– clearly they were motivated to find structure," said Proulx. "But what's more important is that they were actually more accurate than those who read the more normal version of the story. They really did learn the pattern better than the other participants did."

"Last year, sports psychologists at the University of Münster, Germany, showed video clips of bouts to 42 experienced referees. They then played the same clips again, digitally manipulated so that the clothing colours were swapped round. The result? In close matches, the scoring swapped round too, with red competitors awarded an average of 13 per cent more points than when they were dressed in blue (Psychological Science, vol 19, p 769). "If one competitor is strong and the other weak, it won't change the outcome of the fight," says Norbert Hagemann, who led the study. "But the closer the levels, the easier it is for the colour to tip the scale.""

"We analyzed over 500,000 first contacts on our dating site, OkCupid. Our program looked at keywords and phrases, how they affected reply rates, and what trends were statistically significant. The result: a set of rules for what you should and shouldn’t say when introducing yourself online. This is the second post of our statistical investigation into the optimal online dating message; a note about how we protected user privacy is here."

"It is the liking system that Berridge believes is the brain's reward center. When we experience pleasure, it is our own opioid system, rather than our dopamine system, that is being stimulated. This is why the opiate drugs induce a kind of blissful stupor so different from the animating effect of cocaine and amphetamines. Wanting and liking are complementary. The former catalyzes us to action; the latter brings us to a satisfied pause. Seeking needs to be turned off, if even for a little while, so that the system does not run in an endless loop."

"I wonder if it ever occurred to these people that the reason the music of these interesting and alternative bands is being recruited is because their fans are now the ones calling the shots. In other words, we have arrived! Of course the ad is trying to sell you something and by using a band you like, attempting to gain your confidence by exploiting the band's integrity for a commercial end. So what? You're not a fuckin' moron are ya? You see through that, don't ya?"

"In a series of tests, owners were sometimes given accurate and sometimes false information about whether their dog had stolen the treat. But the research, published in Behavioural Processes, found that owners' interpretations of whether their dog looked guilty bore no reliable link with whether the dog had really stolen the treat. "

"It asks: "Honestly, don't the Bavarians annoy us all?" and then proceeds to list all these annoyances, such as the "senseless jabbering," and sense of superiority as well as all those "pointless mountains and boring lakes." The site says that Bavaria never really belonged to Germany and "is better suited to Austria than us." The tract ends with the rallying cry: "Whoever finally wants to kick Bavaria out of the Federal Republic of Germany, simply needs to give their vote to the BP -- in all of Germany."

"Just as I was withdrawing money in a bank lobby, my 5-year-old daughter chose to throw a temper tantrum, screaming and writhing on the floor while a couple of elderly ladies looked on in disgust. (Their children, apparently, had been perfect.) I gave Dorothy a disappointed look and said, 'That argument won’t work, sweetheart. It isn’t pathetic enough.' She blinked a couple of times and picked herself up off the floor, pouting but quiet. "

"The best way to respond to what-aboutery is to state a simple truth. Say it slowly: there can be more than one bad thing in the world. You can oppose American atrocities, and Chinese atrocities. You can be critical of Israel, and of Islamism. You can condemn Dubai's system of slavery, and the fact people are detained without trial in Britain. You can stand independent of governments - including your own - and criticize anyone who chooses to abuse human rights. The world is not divided into a Block of Light, and a Block of Darkness; you don't have to pick a tribe and defend its every action. "

"No, it’s increasingly clear that socialism’s newfound popularity comes from the Mitch McConnells, John Boehners, Rush Limbaughs, Sean Hannitys, and Glenn Becks of the world, whose repeated invocations of the term have pushed a previously DOA political movement to new heights of popularity."

"The tweenbot, a cardboard-bodied, cheerful little bugger, is equipped with a flag stating its intended destination. Since it can only move forward, it depends on the kindness of strangers to guide it and remove obstacles."

"Even though all of the students were being paid upon completion, those who thought about the questions abstractly were much more likely to procrastinate--and in fact some never got around to the assignment at all. By contrast, those who were focused on the how, when and where of doing the task e-mailed their responses much sooner, suggesting that they hopped right on the assignment rather than delaying it."

"Much of what we think of as being out there actually comes from in here, and is a byproduct of how the brain processes sensation. In recent years scientists have come up with a number of simple tricks that expose the artifice of our senses, so that we end up perceiving what we know isn't real - tweaking the cortex to produce something uncannily like hallucinations. Perhaps we hear the voice of someone who is no longer alive, or feel as if our nose is suddenly 3 feet long."

"The approximately 800 million mostly middle class adults and children act as a massive epidemiological experiment that allows hypotheses that faith in a creator or disbelief in evolution improves or degrades societal conditions to be tested on an international scale. ... the data examined in this study demonstrates that only the more secular, pro-evolution democracies have, for the first time in history, come closest to achieving practical “cultures of life” that feature low rates of lethal crime, juvenile-adult mortality, sex related dysfunction, and even abortion. The least theistic secular developed democracies such as Japan, France, and Scandinavia have been most successful in these regards."

"They found fans of films such as Runaway Bride and Notting Hill often fail to communicate with their partner. Many held the view if someone is meant to be with you, then they should know what you want without you telling them."

"The watered-down evolutionary psychology prevalent in pop culture enables some men to rationalize sexist double standards about relationships."

"Looking to spur wiki adoption? Applying patterns that help coordinate people's efforts and guide the growth of content, and recognizing anti-patterns that might hinder growth - can give your wiki the greatest chance of success."

An attack/search on/for identity.

"Giving your house a weekly clean could be enough to give you asthma, according to research." - Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

"An Australian performer who has had an ear grafted onto his forearm ... The ear does not function, but he hopes to have a microphone implanted to allow others to listen to what his extra ear picks up."

"A population of 1,000 random pictures, created in October 2007. You allow the fittest pictures to survive. The higher your rating for a pic the more mutated offspring it produces."

"In the battle to tame 'neighbours from hell', one scheme is at the cutting edge of government strategy. Amelia Hill was granted unprecedented access to see how violence-prone families are helped and given hope."

"And this particular form of sexual dimorphism is apparently not shared with our relatives the chimps and gorillas, so it must have evolved during the same period that human speech and language did."

"It seems to me that the purpose of this show is to effect a morbid and depressing display of dysfunctional people whose lives are in turmoil." He added that it was "human bear-baiting which goes under the guise of entertainment".

Ooold and rather sad.

"Lead researcher Dr Georg Northoff added: "Our results may thus be seen as the first step towards establishing a neurobiology of paedophilia which ultimately may contribute to the development of new and effective means of therapies for this debilitating d

"To research my new book, Elephants on Acid, I scoured scientific archives searching for the most bizarre experiments of all time — the kind that are mind-twistingly, jaw-droppingly strange... the kind that make you wonder, "How did anyone ever conceive

"After Meyer caused the disturbance, two officers who'd been standing to the side of the room moved closer to him, Antar said. At that point, Antar told me, Meyer began taunting the officers. "He turned to the cops and said, 'What, are you going to Taser

"I just can't get enought Encouragement Kitten!"

"Maybe he'll learn in the future that Freedom of speech doesn't mean you can just take over someone else's venue. UF lacks freedom of speech? Hardly, the video poster lacks understanding of the law. Next time kiddo, argue with the Judge not the cops!"

"Researchers from St Andrews University have shown that the animals intentionally modify or repeat their signals to get their messages across."

"Blind love is not the way to choose a spouse. Here are practical tools for keeping your eyes wide open."

"Natalie Portman is best known for her roles in Hollywood movies like Star Wars, Cold Mountain and V for Vendetta. What is less known is that she was co-author of a scientific paper on the neuroscience of child development. This is about her research."

"When you have a teenager on the rampage, who are you going to turn to? In America, parents send their troubled offspring to Jamaica's Tranquility Bay - a 'behaviour-modification centre' which charges $40,000 a year to 'cure' them." A rather upsetting art

Article on Alexander Shulgin, druggie.

"By the age of three, children from disadvantaged homes are up to a year behind in their learning than those from more privileged backgrounds"

A history and taxonomy of cat and other macros.

An interesting example of what can be done with the power of Photoshop.

Some comments on psychology in virtual worlds.

"Helvetica's message is this: you are going to get to your destination on time; your plane will not crash; your money is safe in our vault; we will not break the package; the paperwork has been filled in; everything is going to be OK."

"You need to lose twenty or gain thirty because where you are right now, I can't do anything with you."

"Thousands of volunteers have been out on the streets trying to persuade people to wait in line in order to present a better image to visitors. The campaign was launched under the slogan: 'It's civilised to queue, it's glorious to be polite.'"

"By comparing modern man with our ancestors of 37,000 years ago, the Chicago team discovered big changes in two genes linked to brain size. One of the new variants emerged only 5,800 years ago yet is present in 30% of today's humans, they believe."

"You say you can't deal with all this stuff? My reply is that you can't afford not to. Why choose - yes, choose - to create a painful life? Why work so hard...to get so little? You deserve so very much more..."

"It's actually pretty sad that people would even have to question the legality of removing a logo from a product... that the thought would even enter our brains. The way corporations use their weight to twist moral principles seeds our thoughts with doubt

"The absurd (and unfounded) criminalization of Berdovsky and Stevens is part of an über moral tale with a discernible target: General deterrence, as rationale and goal."

"5. Act friendly. We think we act because of the way we feel, but often we feel because of the way we act. So act the way you want to feel. This is uncannily effective—just try it." Existential!

"At the end of the show, I concluded with this remark: 'The weirdest thing about weird people may be how normal they are.'"

Info on blogging and all that jazz.

Brief article on "The legacy of Robert Anton Wilson."

"Twenty-five percent of psychiatrists sexually abuse their patients. Psychiatrists deliberately kill about 10,000 people a year ... psychiatrists were responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks..."

Software trickery fools users into thinking they are walking in a straight line in a virtual environment; a step towards real-life holodecks?

"The books that I savor are full of brilliance and wit and wonder. Why people don't read science fiction and fantasy continues to baffle me."

"Me: Oh, did you think that was my wake-up alarm? It’s actually my snuggle alarm."

A very simple yet addictive flash game based on a theory of gaming usability.

A basic list of tips on how to live.

Blog on building online communities and related matters.

"These soft, oversized anti-psychotics and anti-depressants provide a different kind of comfort than their prescription counterparts."

Well duh.

Playground tactics.

On why Lost sucks (atm?).

"While girls are allowed to dress up as male and female characters, boys are discouraged from taking on female roles."

Superheroes and their possible political affiliations.

"Then something happened. My brain remapped. My speech returned."

Thoughts on WoW from an ex-player.

Combining the Margaret Thatcher effect and the McGurk effect to make the McThatcher effect.

Cyclists who wear protective helmets are more likely to be knocked down by passing vehicles, new research from Bath University suggests.

An article describing common cult characteristics.

In other words, our constant exposure to artificial light is leaving our bodies out of sync with the light rhythms of the natural world. One way to get the body's natural rhythms back in sync is to rough it, Czeisler said. "People who camp report they sle

Basic info on polyamory.

How to make me happy.

This “wisdom of crowds” model is getting Digg into some trouble with bloggers.