I want to post it again, and again... I've got stacks and stacks of these videos piled up all over my PC ;)
Friday, December 11, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Developer Banned From iTunes App Store
Apple has expelled Chinese software developer Molinker and it's approximately 1000 applications from the iTunes App Store. Molinker, who's applications where described as mostly knock-offs of other developers apps, is accused of gaming the rating system to entice downloads.
According to Wired "iPhoneography wrote a long letter to Apple's marketing boss, Phil Schiller, and posited that Molinker was giving out promotional codes -- essentially free copies of the applications -- in return for these 5-star reviews."
By all accounts the majority of reviews on Molinker products were 5 star with the remainder in the 1 star range, which probably more accurately reflected the true value of the software.
More commentary in the Wired article here.
According to Wired "iPhoneography wrote a long letter to Apple's marketing boss, Phil Schiller, and posited that Molinker was giving out promotional codes -- essentially free copies of the applications -- in return for these 5-star reviews."
By all accounts the majority of reviews on Molinker products were 5 star with the remainder in the 1 star range, which probably more accurately reflected the true value of the software.
More commentary in the Wired article here.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Coin Toss Not Completely Random
Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) have conducted a study to determine whether or not the toss of a coin results in a completely random outcome, 50% heads or tails. The study involved 13 students who where observed tossing a coin 300 times each and recording of the results of each toss. Prior to starting each participant was given some instruction on coin toss technique and time to practice. The results showed that on average heads came up 57% of the time with one participant achieving a whopping 68%.
I know a few curlers who'd love to get there hands on those instructions! In fact I've heard that former Canadian Champion Colleen Jones was known to have practiced the toss of a coin hundreds of times trying to gain an edge, if ever so slightly. Perhaps she was onto something?
Btw, there was no mention of the denomination of the coins or whether or not the same coin, or same series (year) of coin was used.
Source: CBC News
I know a few curlers who'd love to get there hands on those instructions! In fact I've heard that former Canadian Champion Colleen Jones was known to have practiced the toss of a coin hundreds of times trying to gain an edge, if ever so slightly. Perhaps she was onto something?
Btw, there was no mention of the denomination of the coins or whether or not the same coin, or same series (year) of coin was used.
Source: CBC News
Monday, December 7, 2009
Astrology Explained By Bill Nye The Science Guy
When I was younger Bill Nye helped to explain all sorts of geeky sciencey stuff, now through the magic that is YouTube, I can enjoy Bill in all of his geeky glory. Here's the secret to the sign that you were born under, otherwise known as astrology. For the record, I'm a Scorpio but according to Bill I might really be a Libra... huh!
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