Posts

around the traps

around the traps

  • Michael Kordahi ran a blind search experiment, where users entered a search and got unmarked results back from Google, Yahoo and Bing. Side by side, with a vote button.

    1.8m searches later, unsurprisingly Google won - but not by anywhere near as much as you might expect. Then our Delicate Genius went a step further and had a look at the data - what can you tell from 1.8m anonymous searches?

  • Muslim leader wants elements of sharia in Australia: ELEMENTS of Islamic law - the sharia - should be legally recognised in Australia so that Muslims can live according their faith, a prominent Muslim leader [president of the Australian Islamic Mission, Zachariah Matthews] says. The article goes on to explain that the call is for a law where a divorced husband retains ultimate authority over the children from the marriage, and Matthews also says he doesn't think it "clashes fundamentally with Australian values or the Australian legal system". Well, I respectfully disagree. While 'Australian Values' is an often-abused and poorly-defined term, a law of such extreme patriarchy simply does not mesh with the nation I believe we are (or at least wish to be).
  • Awesome Guy Makes Awesome Entrance is Today's BIG Thing - MAR 09, 2010
  • Watching sport, in a nutshell:

    sinfest comic
  • vanmosel.com/error (NSFW). Therapeutically profane error page.
  • BBC News - Sensors turn skin into gadget control pad: Tapping your forearm or hand with a finger could soon be the way you interact with gadgets.US researchers have found a way to work out where the tap touches and use that to control phones and music players.
  • Do Twilight, Harry Potter open door to the Devil?:

    In Rome, the Vatican is preparing its first official English translation of the rite of exorcism, which was promulgated in 1614 and reissued in 1999. Its chief exorcist, Father Gabriele Amorth, claimed this month to have carried out 70,000 exorcisms.

    Bishop Porteous - who has stood in as exorcist for the Sydney archdiocese over the past five years - warns that yoga, reiki massages and tai chi can lead to people being in the grip of ''demonic forces''.

    Yup, no possible way people could think the Catholic Church is a bit of a throwback.

  • Tim Minchin portrait wins Archibald prize... I'm really surprised actually. I thought there was no way a portrait of a comedian would win.