Clipmarks | Kore7's Comments

French Atomic Bomb Test Photos from 1968

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 03:28:58 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks: Never-before-seen 40-year-old pictures of French atomic bomb tests have surfaced on the internet and they are simultaneously beautiful and terrifying. The epitome of historical human achievement and wanton destruction combined in one split-second.

These are four scanned pictures of hardcopies I possess of the French nuclear test codenamed Canopus, which was fired on 24th August 1968 in the Fangataufa Atoll. The French army had those pictures taken on site.

Full-size links: 1, 2, 3, 4.

Clip Source: flickr.com

This shot was taken in 1968 by the French army in the Fangataufa atoll. Codenamed Canopus, it yielded 2600 kt.

Although this picture, like many of the series, is a work of the French Army (as far as I know) this is an original scan from a hardcopy I posess, and processed to remove dust and scratches.

A strange view on such paradise-like landscapes.

Clip Source: flickr.com

Tags: bomb, atomic, nuclear, blast, mushroom, cloud, 1968, french, france, photos

Mark Foley not a pedophile

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 03:07:35 GMT

clipped by: jklugman

Clip Source: glenngreenwald.blogspot.com

For now, I will just note what seems to be the bizarre and incoherent contradiction in the law, noted by Atrios yesterday, that in-person, actual sex between Foley and a 16-year-old page would be perfectly legal in D.C. and in most places in the U.S. (see UPDATE below), but it seems that it is a criminal act for Foley to discuss or solicit sexual acts with the same page over the Internet. Despite all the irritatingly righteous (and overheated) "pedophile" language being tossed around, in the overwhelming majority of states, and in Washington DC, the legal age of consent for sex is 16 years old. That means that actual, in-person sex between Foley and a 16-year-old page in D.C. would not be criminal at all (though it likely could have other legal implications).

But under the so-called "Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006" (of which Foley was a co-sponsor), along with 18 U.S.C. 2251, discussion or solicitation of sexual acts between Foley and any "minor" under the age of 18 would appear to be a criminal offense (see Adam Walsh Act, Sec. 111(14) ("MINOR.--The term 'minor' means an individual who has not attained the age of 18 years") and 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2256 (1) (“'minor' means any person under the age of eighteen years").

Tags: mark foley, sex, law

Does your mind live in different worlds?

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 01:40:01 GMT

clipped by: adamc
clipper's remarks: Woah. I think I'm becoming more decoherent the more I try to make sense of this.

Clip Source: hanson.gmu.edu

Many times each day, your mind permanently splits into different versions that live in different worlds.

The startling prediction of the "many worlds" interpretation of quantum mechanics is that when systems like your mind interact with small quantum systems, every possible quantum outcome actually happens in a different "world." Quantum mechanics is our most basic theory of physics, and surveys of prominent physicists reportedly find majorities favoring this interpretation. (More here.)

Clip Source: www.hedweb.com

Loosely speaking a "world" is a complex, causally connected, partially or completely closed set of interacting sub-systems which don't significantly interfere with other, more remote, elements in the superposition. Any complex system and its coupled environment, with a large number of internal degrees of freedom, qualifies as a world. An observer, with internal irreversible processes, counts as a complex system. In terms of the wavefunction, a world is a decohered branch of the universal wavefunction, which represents a single macrostate. (See "What is decoherence?") The worlds all exist simultaneously in a non- interacting linear superposition.

Worlds, or branches of the universal wavefunction, split when different components of a quantum superposition "decohere" from each other [7a], [7b], [10]. Decoherence refers to the loss of coherency or absence of interference effects between the elements of the superposition. For two branches or worlds to interfere with each other all the atoms, subatomic particles, photons and other degrees of freedom in each world have to be in the same state, which usually means they all must be in the same place or significantly overlap in both worlds, simultaneously.

Tags: mind, worlds, many worlds, quantum mechanics, science, interesting

QUIZ: What American Accent Do You Have?

Sun, 20 May 2007 17:30:27 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks: If you think you don't have an accent, think again. This short quiz is a way to find out which dialect of American English you speak.

Different regional accents become more prevalent in countries at different times throughout the years for various socio-economic and geographical reasons. These accents come to be perceived as "neutral" or "accent-less" by the majority during these times. For a while, the American dialect sometimes called "Standard Midwestern" has dominated but, like accents themselves, this "standard" constantly evolves.

Recently, the spoken aspects of American English have trended westward along with the population center of America. Many features distinct to Northeastern accents (think NYC, Boston) are being replaced in popularity with those from Western accents (think LA) across America. This shift tends to be more prominent the younger the speaker is.

Clip Source: www.gotoquiz.com

What American accent do you have?

To most Americans, an accent is something that only other people have, those other people usually being in New York, Boston, and the South. And of those other people, half of the ones you meet will swear they "don't have an accent."

Well, strictly speaking, the only way to not have an accent is to not speak. If you're from anywhere in the USA you have an accent (which may or may not be the accent of the place you're from). Go through this short quiz and you'll find out just which accent that is.

Tags: america, speech, accent, dialect, linguistics, quiz, fun, northeast, west, vowels

The joy of taking some time out

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:22:40 GMT

clipped by: haraya
clipper's remarks:

Embrace the faff. Stare out of the window. Bend paperclips. Stand in the middle of the room trying to remember what you came downstairs for. Pace. Drum your fingertips. Move papers around. Hum. Look at the garden.Go to the shed with the intention of tidying up and instead fall asleep. Make mental notes. Read every single word of the newspaper - even the job ads - before getting down to work. Lose yourself in erotic reveries. Pat your pockets. Resolve to be more organised in future. Be useless.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

A new report says that we waste three hours a day faffing around, doing nothing in particular

The survey was carried out by the Learning and Skills Council, who, not surprisingly, argued we should instead use those three hours to Learn some Skills.

I beg to differ.

Faffing is when we disconnect from the matrix and idle for a while, like a car. Our body and spirit know deep down that human beings were not made for constant toil so subconsciously creates space through the mechanism of faffing.

Faffing of course does not fit the programme. We are supposed to be busy, productive citizens.

Clearly these sorts of ideals are designed to make us faffers feel bad. Well, don't.

Faffing is completely harmless, whereas its opposite - dynamic, purposeful activity - is often very harmful. Faffers do not tend to kill people or make them work 12-hour days or sell them shoddy merchandise or lend them vast sums of money that they cannot pay back.

Tags: self, time, well-being, health, body, work, survey, opinion, advice, rest

Will Smith solving the Rubik's cube on French TV

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 15:57:23 GMT

clipped by: betong
clipper's remarks: He learned to solve it before filming Pursuit of Happyness from a Speedcubing champ. He also solved it live on Oprah.
But the 55sec on the top right of the screen is wrong. The clock started when he was already solving the last layer. Still, below 2mins is a good solve.

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: rubik's cube, will smith

Have you met Tan Hong Ming?

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:57:14 GMT

clipped by: haraya
clipper's remarks: He's so cute.

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: commercial, television, children, perception, malaysia, video, cute, love, race, interview

The Electric Sheep Screen-Saver: A Case Study in Aesthetic Evolution (paper)

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:29:29 GMT

clipped by: Djiezes
clipper's remarks: Thanks to Kore7's comment on invictus' clip, I discovered there's a working linux version now.

2 minutes later, I found this paper on the Electric Sheep Project and simply had to share it.

Clip Source: draves.org

The Electric Sheep Screen-Saver: A Case Study in Aesthetic Evolution

Scott Draves

Spotworks, San Francisco CA, USA

Electric Sheep is a distributed screen-saver that harnesses idle computers into a render farm with the purpose of animating and evolving artificial life-forms known as sheep. The votes of the users form the basis for the fitness function for a genetic algorithm on a space of fractal animations. Users also may design sheep by hand for inclusion in the gene pool. This paper describes the system and its algorithms, and reports statistics from 11 weeks of operation. The data indicate that Electric Sheep functions more as an amplifier of its human collaborators' creativity rather than as a traditional genetic algorithm that optimizes a fitness function.

Full paper as PDF (c) Springer-Verlag

Electric Sheep Home Page

Tags: pdf, paper, sheep, electric sheep, screensaver, free, evolution, art

How to make a woman happy

Sat, 09 Sep 2006 16:31:22 GMT

clipped by: Djiezes
clipper's remarks:

Clip Source: www.boreme.com

HOW TO MAKE A WOMAN HAPPY

It's not difficult to make a woman happy.

A man only needs to be:

1. a friend
2. a companion
3. a lover
4. a brother
5. a father
6. a master
7. a chef
8. an electrician
9. a carpenter
10. a plumber
11. a mechanic
12. a decorator
13. a stylist
14. a sexologist
15. a gynecologist
16. a psychologist
17. a pest exterminator
18. a psychiatrist
19. a healer
20. a good listener
21. an organizer
22. a good father
23. very clean
24. sympathetic
25. athletic
26. warm
27. attentive
28. gallant
29. intelligent
30. funny
31. creative
32. tender
33. strong
34. understanding
35. tolerant
36. prudent
37. ambitious
38. capable
39. courageous
40. determined
41. true
42. dependable
43. passionate
44. compassionate

WITHOUT FORGETTING TO:
45. give her compliments regularly
46. love shopping
47. be honest
48. be very rich
49. not stress her out
50. not look at other girls

AND AT THE SAME TIME, YOU MUST ALSO:
51. give her lots of attention, but expect little yourself
52. give her lots of time, especially time for herself
53. give her lots of space, never worrying about where she goes

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT:
54. Never to forget:
* birthdays
* anniversaries
* arrangements she makes

HOW TO MAKE A MAN HAPPY

1. Show up naked
2. Bring food

Tags: woman, women, man, men, happy, happiness, humor, fun, funny, list

Clipmarks + Frappr = Show us where you are!

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 04:11:04 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks: You know it had to happen sooner or later! Visit

http://www.frappr.com/clipmarks

and represent your city on the worldwide Clipmarks map. It's fun!

Clip Source: www.frappr.com

ClipMarks
(link) http://www.frappr.com/clipmarks

Map

Satellite

Hybrid

Tags: clipmarks, clipper, clippers, frappr, map, town, hometown, location, world

In Search of Clippers

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 07:40:23 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator
clipper's remarks: Has anyone else seen any of these people lately?