July 2013

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) Some real American history 
Neuro-scientists able to create false memories in mice.
Game over for Zynga? Firm loses 25 percent of daily active users in one quarter 
 Doctor Who actor warns against using social media. It makes you into a phony he says.

Det News critic: Bob Dylan's voice is shot, performances lackluster.  I found this out back in '07 myself. 

"Smart guns" not selling: Who wants one that can be hacked, won't work if the battery is dead, or that can be remotely tracked. disabled? 
More collateral damage from the drug war: Local idiot blows up his house trying to make hash oil via the butane extraction method.
Nate Silver leaving NYT for ESPN: Called Times style political reporting "useless". 
Pentagon discovers that buying weaponry from your enemies is a bad idea, even if it's cheaper.   
Book review: This Town dissects the ecosystem of America's gilded capitol city and its haughty in-crowd
Goodyear to replace its blimps with zeppelins 

 

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NFL athletes really are modern day gladiators - CNN
Especially looking at the brain and nerve damage they suffer. They'd be better off fighting with swords.
Virg Bernero picks up another endorsements from one of the usual suspects - Detroit News
But the outspoken ex-State Rep and current Lansing mayor strikes me as a Geoffrey Fieger-type but with slightly better manners. And we all remember how Fieger's 1998 run ended, eh? The Democrats really aren't offering us much to chose from this year. (Not that they truly ever do.)
How to overthrow the government: tips from 10 scifi revolutionaries - io9
Hmm...maybe.

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A neuroscientist looks into his own heart (and DNA) - NPR

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You are your brain - Reason.com/ (video)
People don't really have free-will or act rationally. We should take that fact into account in our legal system too Baylor University neuro-scientist David Eagleman says; "...free will only exists in philosophy textbooks."

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Behavioral clues that someone is carrying a concealed handgun - BoingBoing

Two galaxies locked in gravitational combat - Astronomy Pic of the Day

Your Post-Apocalyptic Future: Container Trucks Recycled Into Mobile Homes - Gizmodo
Interesting, but ah...why go through all that? Wouldn't using conventional mobile homes, Winnebagos and travel trailers which are already set up to be mobile living units be a better option? Seems so to me.

Sabotage or terrorism? - LA Times

Police cars, city vehicles found torched & booby-trapped in Hemet, California. Attacking property or trying to kill?

Consciousness is one of neuroscience's long-standing mysteries - New Scientist
In First Successful Human Trial, Nanotech Robots Deploy Cancer-Fighting RNA - Popular Science

Okay, now lets see if it works.

It would be a wonderful world if everyone had friends like this - SF Chronicle

Medical marijuana clinics being robbed and attacked reveals the problem with the current "legal but...vs. illegal, period" status of cannabis. - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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A college education may not be worth as much as you think. - Wall Street Journal
A collection of media star's letters to the Unabomber requesting interviews- The Smoking Gun
Are radical environmentalists wackos, terrorists, or prophets? - AlterNet
Lancet retracts 1998 article linking vaccine to autism. - Toronto Globe & Mail
Chomsky as Hugo Chavez's Clown - Anarchist Library (El Libertario #51, 2009)
Whatever Noam Chomsky really is remains unclear, but what he isn't is an anarchist.
Unusual Asteroid Tail Implies Powerful Collision - Astronomy Picture of the Day (02-03-10)
Draw! The neuroscience behind Hollywood shoot-outs - New Scientist
Neurologically, survival-based reaction is faster than a deliberate think-aim-shoot cycle.

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Ex-New Republic, Slate Editor says: Newspaper stories are too long, boring, etc. - The Atlantic
Kill a Communist Official And Become a Local Hero - newser.com
Why Did Air America Fail? - Hot Air
"Listening to Air America was a tedious chore without much payoff..."
NASA's New Space Suit - MIT Technology Review
Getting ready for the return to Luna in 2020.
Secrets of How Meditation Works - Scientific American