http://www.jacksofscience.com Puttin' the Tron in Electron Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:40:12 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Now that I'm finally The Dread Zoologist Roberts, I feel a need to help the people. The confused people. People confused about wives tales, folk taxonomy and poorly researched news stories. People confused about whether the appropriate short form of Charles Darwin's name is Chas D, Char Dar, or Chuck ... http://www.jacksofscience.com/biology/zoological-misconceptions/?&owa_from=feed&owa_sid= Last year I did a co-op placement working on some medical imaging software. Looking back, I definitely needed more C++ knowledge, but I ended up walking away with from the job with many crucial linux development, programming, and pasta boiling skills. Wait, pasta boiling? You heard me correctly. Here's a short video ... http://www.jacksofscience.com/biology/imaging-pasta-with-magnetic-resonance/?&owa_from=feed&owa_sid= Sure, Improbable Research has a Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists, but what about those of us normal people with luxurious beards? If the Smithsonian Institute's Flickr gallery can teach us anything, it's that todays scientists can learn a lot from the fine beardsmanship of our forefathers. We cater to ... http://www.jacksofscience.com/lol/great-beards-of-science-or-standing-on-the-beards-of-giants/?&owa_from=feed&owa_sid= Here's an unedited transcript of my difficult interview with George, the Jabberwacky AI chat bot, on the topic of artificial intelligence. I chose George because he learns entirely by human interaction as opposed to a chat bot like A.L.I.C.E. which just uses specific pattern matching conversation rules. Even then, it was ... http://www.jacksofscience.com/math/interview-with-ai-chatbot-about-ai/?&owa_from=feed&owa_sid= WNYC's Radiolab is a masterpiece of radio science. I'm a late joiner to the "Jad and Rob" party but I've finally caught up on season 4 during my bike rides to and from the lab. The whole series is free to download on their website and I highly recommend listening ... http://www.jacksofscience.com/review/17-things-i-learned-from-radiolab/?&owa_from=feed&owa_sid= The Gonzo Scientist, in this weeks Science, describes the gruesome tale which occurred on May 11th during the conference "Convergence of the Real and Virtual" held in the World of Warcraft MMORPG: As we made our way south into the Barrens, we tried to clear away the more aggressive beasts, particularly ... http://www.jacksofscience.com/gaming/computer-scientist-killed-by-pack-of-hyenas/?&owa_from=feed&owa_sid= http://www.jacksofscience.com/lol/i-think-ill-pass-on-this-one-amazon/?&owa_from=feed&owa_sid= Most people agree that owning a poofy kitty or a slobbery poochie can be extremely rewarding. Companionship, pre-warmed furniture, a lap-full of shedded fur...the list of pet benefits is both long and heart-warming. However, it is really moral to keep animals locked in our houses, mostly for our own enjoyment? Furthermore, ... http://www.jacksofscience.com/biology/jacks-of-science-ethics-pets-animal-cruelty/?&owa_from=feed&owa_sid= Lost is over until 2009 and Battlestar Galactica followed suit last Friday. So what the heck am I going to watch on TV for the rest of the year? Most likely J.J. Abrams new Sci-fi series: Fringe. The 2 hour premier, leaked 2 months ahead of time, with a 2 x 5 million ... http://www.jacksofscience.com/review/fringe-a-ten-million-dollar-remake-of-x-files/?&owa_from=feed&owa_sid= Taking Control of Mathematica was posted on the Wolfram blog about 10 months ago. That just shows you how how far behind I am on the blog schedule because I finally got a chance to try it out. Mathematica 6 has built in support for input devices with the Manipulate function. So, ... http://www.jacksofscience.com/math/motion-sensor-manipulated-mathematics/?&owa_from=feed&owa_sid=