Letters Remain

Month: September 2009

  • Unconscious Plagiarism

    Cryptomnesia, according to Wikipedia, is “a memory bias whereby a person falsely recalls generating a thought, an idea, a song, or a joke, when the thought was actually generated by someone else”. Newsweek has an article discussing this phenomenon; including what appear to be genuine cases of cryptomnesia and the novel tests being conducted by…

  • 18 Factors of Risk Perception

    In Dan Gardner’s excellent Risk, he lists psychologist Paul Slovic‘s list of 18 factors that influence how we judge the severity of risk: Catastrophic Potential If fatalities would occur in large numbers in a single event — instead of in small numbers dispersed over time — our perception of risk rises. Familiarity Unfamiliar or novel risks…

  • Guest Posts (2) – Thanks

    Still on vacation, Dan Zambonini has been your host here on Lone Gunman for the past week. While here, Dan published six items: Image Compression and the Origins Of Life Modern America: Designed by a Frenchman My GeoPolitical Memberships Want to be a millionaire pop star? You’re better off buying ÂŁ64 of lottery tickets than entering…

  • The Association of the Dead

    An old (but still current) news story from India never gained much attention outside of the country, but seems worth sharing. For over thirty years, corruption and bribery have allowed people to declare others ‘dead’ – without formal evidence – thus allowing the claimant to take ownership of the deceased’s farming land. The newly ‘dead’…

  • DNA R/W+ 12 Speed

    The speed at which Synthetic Biology is evolving (pun intended) is mind-blowing, especially to someone who has just stumbled upon the science (inspired by Tuur Van Balen’s presentation at Interesting 2009). In his words, it “will make most of us wonder why we ever got so excited about the Internet”. You can tell a technology…

  • Want to be a millionaire pop star? You’re better off buying ÂŁ64 of lottery tickets than entering the X-Factor.

    Let’s assume that if you had a few million pounds, you could probably buy yourself some hit songs from a songwriter, some studio and musician time, plenty of marketing, and almost certainly get yourself a pop career. The question is; is it easier to get yourself into this position (a millionaire pop star) via pure…

  • My GeoPolitical Memberships

    My choice of home means I am implicitly a member of numerous geopolitical groups, including those shown here.

  • Modern America: Designed by a Frenchman

    “As an American citizen who still loves his native country, France, it is heartwarming to see that this country appreciates the beauty and taste that all Frenchmen prize.” Raymond Loewy (1893-1986) What are the classic designs that define America? If you compiled a list, it may include: The large American refrigerator, as popularised by the…

  • Image Compression and The Origins Of Life

    Human life on Earth is the result of an extremely fortunate environment. This includes our temperate position near a stable star, in a stable area of the galaxy, with neighbouring bodies of the right size and distance to protect us. It is a Rare Earth. As we evolved, this environment continued (and continues) to influence…

  • Guest Posts (2)

    I’m away on vacation, and last week Alex J. Mann took over Lone Gunman for the week and produced five thoughtful posts: To Invest is to Aim Seeing with Tongues In Defense of Sampling: Why Stealing is Inspiring New Literacy Strategies Your Job as an Artist This coming week, your host is Dan Zambonini—a true…