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Articles Kevin Liked- Mike Bostock's Visualizing Algorithms June 30, 2014I'd seen several of these on Mike's bl.ocks, but this ties it all together [via]
- Slack plays Pokemon June 28, 2014I've fallen in love with Slack, but that shouldn't be too surprising
- "BOB" FIFTY-SIX June 28, 2014Newspaper Discovery Sends Shock Waves Through Subgenius CommunityIvan Stang: "Actually I suspect tha...
- Wavepot June 18, 2014algorave in your browser; related: Yaxu livecodes music
- Calvin and Hobbes' Bill Watterson secretly returns to the comics page June 7, 2014start here
- Mike Bostock's Visualizing Algorithms June 30, 2014
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Star Wars: Episode VII Cast Announced
From StarWars.com:
The Star Wars team is thrilled to announce the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII.
Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film.
Director J.J. Abrams says, “We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud.”
Star Wars: Episode VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, and John Williams returns as the composer. The movie opens worldwide on December 18, 2015.
Posted in Geek
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We need to talk about Kevins
Now this is just sad. From the (fantastic) British TV show QI:
Posted in Amusements
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The Infinite Jukebox
A brilliant music hack using the equally brilliant Echo Nest API:
What is this?
For when your favorite song just isn’t long enough. This web app lets you upload a favorite MP3 and will then generate a never-ending and ever changing version of the song. It does what Infinite Gangnam Style did but for any song.
It never stops?
That’s right. It will play forever.How does it work?
We use the Echo Nest analyzer to break the song into beats. We play the song beat by beat, but at every beat there’s a chance that we will jump to a different part of song that happens to sound very similar to the current beat. For beat similarity we look at pitch, timbre, loudness, duration and the position of the beat within a bar. There’s a nifty visualization that shows all the possible transitions that can occur at any beat.
Posted in Interesting, Music, Tech
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Tales from the Far Side (1994)
Just found this on the Internet Archive:
Finally, I’m able to share this gem with everyone!
This was the first time anyone had seen The Far Side other than in book form and it aired on CBS on October 31, 1994. This is the first, and possibly only?, airing.
When I heard that it was available on VHS though the BBC, I was so excited! I bought it and mailed it to a friend who had it converted from PAL to NTSC for me. I was over the moon about the included Part II (which never aired in North America and I didn’t know existed)…but disappointed in Part I. Gary Larson tinkered with it for the video release (just like he tinkered with many old comics in The Complete Far Side…*sigh*) and I strongly disagreed with just about every change. To me, it totally ruined the mood! He even watered down the ending! (the ‘dead ranch’ sequence with added narration bugs me most, though) The later DVD version is, unsurprisingly, the same as the VHS. (reminds me of Star Wars OT vs. SE)
Needless to say, I’m SO glad my tape survived all these years! Quality is decent considering it’s sourced from an 18-year-old tape that my mother bought. Haha. I’m so glad I taped it in SP mode.
More info on the specials, including the changes made, here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_From_the_Far_Side
Posted in Amusements
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Threes JS
The addicting smartphone game Threes, but in your browser.
Posted in Gaming
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Wolfram Language – one of the coolest demos I’ve ever seen
I’ve been a big fan of WolframAlpha for several years now. The sheer amount of data in the system, as well as the functions that can be applied to the data, is staggering. Well, Stephen Wolfram and his team have outdone themselves with Wolfram Language. This is real next level, game changing tech.
I can’t wait to try this!
Posted in Interesting, Tech
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Update – 20140209
Still not much progress. Last week was a waste – I came down with a cold which lasted all week, resulting in no gym time.
Diet has been OK, but still not tracking daily. What seems to happen is that I start off the day tracking everything, and then by the time I make it home, I eat whatever and don’t go through the effort to enter it on MFP. That needs to stop.
I’ve also noticed that I need a snack at 3:00 every day. Since I don’t have something healthy close at hand, I grab M&Ms from the company’s stash. I need to have something better available.
I also had a few drinks during the week, which is not part of the plan.
What I’ll do (differently) this week:
- I plan to make it to spin class tomorrow AM to kick the week off on the right note, and will work out every day during the week
- Track everything in MFP
- No alcohol during the week
Posted in Lean2014
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Update – 20140130
I’m going nowhere fast. After a month of trying to be good, I’m up 0.2 lbs as of this AM.
Here’s the good and the bad:
GOOD
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Gym – I’ve stepped up the exercise in the past week or two. I’m lifting 3x/week, and the boys have been going with me (which helps motivate me to go after a long day at work). I have also started doing spin class 2-3x/week, which kicks my ass.
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Lunches – mostly lean chicken breast which I bring in from home, along with avocado or green veggies. If I do buy lunch, it’s high protein/fat and low carb.
BAD
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Not tracking diet – it has been 9 days since I last updated MFP, and I know I’ve been going over my limits. I just don’t know by how much. Tracking calories and macros makes you much more aware of how much you’re eating/drinking, as well as the contents of the food.
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Alcohol – the plan was to not drink M-Th, and I haven’t been sticking to the plan. It may only be a drink or two (or three), but my body processes the alcohol before the fat, which is not good.
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Snacking – I’ve been snacking too often, and even worse, I’ve been reaching for the carbs. M&Ms at work, popcorn at home. Not the end of the world, but it’s not helping.
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Dinners – my wife is a great cook, and I’ve been eating what she makes for dinner. Problem is it’s not always what I should be eating. This goes along with tracking – I need to ensure that I’m eating the “correct” number of calories, and that it fits my macros.
Time to correct!
Posted in Lean2014
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