Letters Remain

Author: Lloyd Morgan

  • Losing Your Sense of Balance

    After a hysterectomy, Cheryl contracted a post-operative infection and was given the antibiotic gentamicin; a known side effect of which is a loss of the sense of balance (equilibrioception). When it was overprescribed to her the inevitable happened. The Telegraph follows Cheryl’s story on losing her sense of balance and enlightens us on neuroplasticity in…

  • The World of Web Trolling

    The New York Times goes inside the world of online trolls, who “use the Internet to harass, humiliate and torment strangers”. […] Even if we had the resources to aggressively prosecute trolls, would we want to? Are we ready for an Internet where law enforcement keeps watch over every vituperative blog and backbiting comments section,…

  • Overcoming the Tip-of-the-Tongue Effect

    The hows and whys on helping overcome the Tip-of-the-Tongue effect (PDF): One of the most fascinating things about the tip-of-the-tongue state, is that it demonstrates how sometimes we know that we know something, without actually being able to recall it. This is part of what psychologists call ‘metacognition’, which allows us to realise when we…

  • Minimalist Workouts

    I haven’t had a thorough look through this list of minimalist workouts yet, but it looks like I’ll discover some complimentary exercises to my current regimen (PodRunner and 100 Push Ups). Go calisthenics! via Link Banana

  • Cognition Nutrition

    The Economist has an interesting article on the science behind cognitive nutrition. Some foods […] are like pharmaceutical compounds; their effects are so profound that the mental health of entire countries may be linked to them. Last year, for example, the Lancet published research showing that folic-acid supplements—sometimes taken by pregnant women—can help those between…

  • Social Engineering 101

    Kevin Mitnick and Emmanuel Goldstein are undoubtedly the most widely known names in the black hat community*. In a series of videos from CNET News, they describe and demonstrate social engineering techniques. On the same subject, this video demonstrating how easy it is to social engineer you way into clubs by pretending you’re the DJ…

  • Brief Hiatus

    I’m moments away from starting a week-long vacation in Dijon, France. Posting will temporarily slow down while I’m away, and all comments will be kept for moderation ’til I’m back.

  • Olympic Motivation

    Coming into the 400m semi-final at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Derek Redmond was the favourite to win the gold medal. However 150m into the race, Redmond’s hamstring snapped and his Olympic dream was shattered… but Redmond was determined to finish the race. The Guardian takes us through the emotional race, with commentary from…

  • Commanding Heights

    I recently watched all six hours of Commanding Heights; a great documentary that attempts to trace the rise of free markets during the last century, as well as the process of globalization. It acts almost like a primer on 20th century economics. I have just re-discovered the PBS supplementary website for Commanding Heights and am…

  • Code: Quantity vs. Quality

    Coding Horror on coding quantity vs. quality. It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work – and learning from their mistakes – the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories. […] Stop theorizing. Write…