Category: interesting
-
The Importance of Information Literacy
The future of the Internet as a credible source of information is under threat due to the proliferation of spam and inaccurate information online, suggests Howard Rheingold, proposing that the most efficient way to counter this worrying trend is for “a great many people [to] learn the basics of online crap detection and begin applying…
-
How Congestion Pricing and Traffic Jams Help the Environment
When us laymen think of ways to solve traffic congestion we typically think of two ways: congestion pricing to force those who are most price sensitive off the roads and on to public transport (which should be improved using the funds gained through said pricing), and adding capacity to the roads. But do these solutions…
-
Poor Cyclists Key to Safe Roads
Are poor cyclists and a laissez-faire attitude to enforcing road laws on them the key to safer roads? Are those that cycle on the wrong side of the road, pedal on the pavement and rush along one-way streets the wrong way one of the main reasons why the Netherlands has some of the safest roads in…
-
The Exponential Growth of Death
I was recently reading about supercentenarians–people that have lived to the age of 110 or above–and read the following statistic: [Reaching] the age of 110 years [is] something achieved by only one in a thousand centenarians (based on European data). Furthermore, only 1 in 50 supercentenarians lives to be 115 (1 in 50,000 centenarians). Fascinated…
-
Want Happiness? Buy Memories, Not Objects
In one of my very first posts, I wrote about an article that noted how “money will make you happier, up to a point. After that, it makes no difference. That point is the wonderfully quantitative ‘point of comfort‘. That is, once we have enough money to feed, clothe and house ourselves, extra money makes…
-
Gladwell on Education, Hiring, Journalism
I haven’t read (m)any of Malcolm Gladwell‘s articles in the past 6 months as they’re all, well, a bit homogeneous. Plus, if there are any fascinating revelations that I really should hear about I’ll undoubtedly discover them (in a much-condensed form) in many other places rehashing his content. This interview with Malcolm Gladwellâwhere he discusses…
-
Online Dating Statistics: Ideal First Messages
After looking at race and religion, the online dating site OkCupid turns its statistical eye toward the actual content of the messages sent between participants. It’s worth noting that the average response/reply rate is 32%. First up, what to say in a first message: Be literate. Netspeak, bad grammar, and bad spelling are huge turn-offs. The worst…
-
Online Dating Statistics: Religion and Race
The online dating website OkCupid has a rather fascinating blog, OkTrends, written by two of the four mathematics majors who founded the site. Still in it’s infancy the blog has a few fascinating posts studying data gleamed from their expansive user base. Starting out with a brief look at their matching algorithm and the control group…