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The Stakes Are Low

Usually the stakes are low.

Why pitch a fit if that's the case?

What's the worst that could happen?

Usually the worst case scenario isn't terrible.


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Hanging out with smart people can make you a winner

A team from Ellen's work won the pub quiz at Elephant and Castle last night.

I didn't show up until the 3rd round, and I think I gave as many wrong answers as right answers, so my contribution was minimal. But I still bragged a lot about my correct answers.

The psychology of coming to a consensus when no one knows an answer and different people have different ideas of a best guess is interesting.

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The Hall of Halls

On July 4th I had the privilege to perform Nolan Gasser's "American Festivals" oratorio with the Festival del Sole Chorus at the Lincoln Theatre in Yountville.

Here's a Review from the Napa Valley Register


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Predictive Wedding DJ

First, we need to find a way to get playlists from as many weddings as possible and feed them to the robot.

Then we can calculate the probability that any given song will follow any other song in a wedding playlist.

Finally, we are left with a system that, given the "first dance" song, can probabilistically generate a wedding playlist containing all the songs that are always played at every wedding in a reasonable order.


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Age Factor

Take the factors of your age and think about when you were the same age as the factors.

Larger factors merit more attention (otherwise you'll spend every other year thinking a lot about being two years old - I only have one memory from two. It's a cool memory, but not worth deconstructing every other year)

Prime number factors merit the most attention.

If you are currently a prime number years old, I guess that's rad.


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Flora wants to know if it hurts

Flora is eighteen months old and has a formidable sign-language vocabulary. For example, she knows how to say hurt. She can use it as a statement - "that hurts" - and as a question - "did that hurt?".

She likes to do things to people and then ask them if it hurt. Which is either really cool or really sick. I was floored when she clawed my left eye and then asked me if it hurt.


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James Calder Cassell III

My grandfather, Jim Cassell, died on July 1, 2008.

There's an obituary up at the Daily Breeze.

James C. Cassell III Hulk HandsJames C. Cassell III Hulk Hands


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Drupal-Friendly Markup

As a programmer with absolutely no design skills, and markup skills that haven't quite made it into the web 2.0 era, I always collaborate with others when building a new site from scratch, or when embarking on a redesign or any substantial UI changes. Usually I act as the themer, transforming finished markup into a set of templates.

Getting Drupal friendly markup from the start makes the task of theming much, much easier.

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n of 1

http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=06052008

n of 1 is a powerful tool for understanding the universe badly.

Please let me know if you find any more examples of n of 1 in the wild.


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Customized Mannekin-Pis

In this era of just-in-time manufacturing and instant communication, it's possible to put the face of a loved one on almost any consumer product. Mug. Mousepad. Keychain. Birthday cake. You name it!!

However, to my knowledge, this segment has not been extended to the lucrative historical collectibles market.

And what better monument to inaugurate this opportunity than the Mannekin-Pis, a centuries-old celebration of physical relief.


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