i hate aristotle. what a dork.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=aristotle-thought-the-brain-was-a-radiator

http://phys.org/news/2013-11-human-stem-cells-functional-lung.html
http://phys.org/news/2013-12-robot-wiper-tackles-solar-panel.html
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=23andme-is-terrifying-but-not-for-reasons-fda

http://news.sciencemag.org/asiapacific/2013/11/new-middle-eastern-virus-found-camels

i'm down with this, and including elephants and dolphins.
http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-animals/2013/12/lawsuits-could-turn-chimpanzees-legal-persons

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2013/nov/27/does-the-positron-excess-really-exist
https://blog.sfgate.com/techchron/2013/11/25/cartesian/
https://phys.org/news/2013-12-scientists-low-cost-open-source-d-metal.html
http://www.nature.com/news/iran-hit-by-drug-shortage-1.14292

nobody is even listening anymore...
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=safe-limit-for-global-warming

In 2011, there were 44 incidents of streets or portions of structures collapsing into the quarries, a number that rose to 77 in 2012 and 83 to date in 2013.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=secret-labyrinth-of-tunnels-under-rome-mapped

http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/12012013/article/scientists-sequence-400-000-year-old-hominin-dna

stop stargazing and get to work in the factory! your fancy contraptions ain't making me no money.  go on, now. get....
http://www.nature.com/news/nasa-funding-shuffle-alarms-planetary-scientists-1.14304

fuck the surface, let's just start over underground.
https://phys.org/news/2013-12-scientists-vast-undersea-freshwater-reserves.html

http://www.nature.com/news/hominin-dna-baffles-experts-1.14294

this is being promoted as important. it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. maybe the genetic factors that lead to autism also lead to stomach issues...which would be a minor discovery....
http://www.cell.com/abstract/S0092-8674%2813%2901473-6

http://blogs.plos.org/onscienceblogs/2013/12/06/ancient-dna-gets-older-and-multiple-births-get-bigger/
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/11/30/berl-n30.html

well, whoever thought protest accomplished anything, anyways? stop protesting and start rebuilding.
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/11/30/spai-n30.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bangladesh-factory-burned-down-by-angry-workers-1.2445170
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/12/02/adiz-d02.html
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/11/29/afghanistan_karzai_bilateral_security

hopefully the wto doesn't go after them...
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/12/02/ontario_to_bring_in_ethical_sourcing_policy_for_clothing.html

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11122
http://truth-out.org/news/item/20372-the-googlization-of-the-far-right-why-is-google-funding-grover-norquist-heritage-action-and-alec

http://complex.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/12/02/if_china_s_airspace_grab_turns_violent

strategically, america correctly finds the idea of democracy in pakistan to be threatening to it's aims in the region.
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/12/02/meet_the_most_powerful_man_in_pakistan

http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/12/02/understanding-egypt-today/
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/12/a-drone-delivery-expert-answers-the-big-questions-about-amazons-plans/281980/

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/12/02/adiz-d02.html
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/12/02/the-karzai-dilemma/
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/12/02/thai-d02.html

tool use is now understood to be widespread, even amongst animals that otherwise show no heightened level of intelligence. our use of tools is not what makes us special, if we wish to hang on to the false idea that we're special.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/12/researchers-discover-the-hot-new-technology-throwing-javelins/281976/

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11084
http://earthfirstjournal.org/newswire/2013/12/03/keystone-xls-southern-leg-to-be-operational-on-jan-3/

when i saw her speak in ottawa, it was very clear to me that she was not an independent agent. she's being prepped for a powerful role in the region.
http://truth-out.org/progressivepicks/item/20396-a-daughter-is-born-in-the-swat-valley-of-pakistan-and-set-free-by-knowledge

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/12/03/mps_reform_bill_would_strike_a_blow_for_democracy.html

um, er, uh, see, contracting out makes it so we all benefit from higher costs: both me and my buddies.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/12/03/tony_clement_defends_contracting_out_government_services.html

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/12/03/pers-d03.html
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/12/03/sale-d03.html

well, we already know what it looks like. it's fox news. nor do the major media outlets really follow any serious objectivity, it's all lip service. but actually openly dropping the fantasy? fox.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/12/a-news-organization-that-rejects-the-view-from-nowhere/281979/

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-12-03/why-canadas-oil-sands-look-like-a-shaky-investment
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/20412-the-facts-are-in-austerity-politics-doesnt-work

there are some valid points made here about slacktivism, but technology is not going to change to accommodate the left - and marx would have ripped this guy apart as a naive utopian for suggesting as much. rather, the left needs to adapt to technology. there will be some aspects of the left that won't, but we'll have to leave them in the 20th century as we move forwards. to be honest? for the most part, i'll bid good riddance to it.
http://jacobinmag.com/2013/12/cyberlibertarians-digital-deletion-of-the-left/

i can't believe that he lacked the spine to call for a reversal of the ridiculous corporate tax breaks that the state has implemented.
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/12/4/detroit_bankruptcy_wall_street_lost_revenues

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/12/04/bide-d04.html
http://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2013/11/wildcat-strikes-push-china-write-new-labor-laws
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11136
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/12/04/the-economic-and-political-context-of-student-debt/
http://truth-out.org/news/item/20404-syrias-criminal-rebels

i haven't even heard anybody talk about a possible bail out.
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/12/04/bank-d04.html

http://libcom.org/blog/argentinian-police-go-strike-people-go-shopping-04122013
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/12/04/unpaid_interns_what_the_new_rules_would_cover.html

http://complex.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/12/04/team_obama_changes_course_appears_to_accept_china_air_defense_zone

right. because we're just property - just input variables. here's a novel solution to the problem of charles kenny - feed him to alligators on live television.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/12/04/linked_out_send_americas_unemployed_abroad

http://fpif.org/chinas-struggle-air-sea/

all credit rating is political. it's made no sense for years.
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/20446-frances-ideological-downgrade

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11128
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/12/04/the_linchpin_why_india_needs_to_be_center_us_asia_pivot
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/12/05/adiz-d05.html
http://www.salon.com/2013/12/05/global_elites_anxious_about_income_disparity_doing_nothing_to_fix_it_partner/

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11134
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/12/06/bide-d06.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/harper-wynne-agree-ring-of-fire-funding-must-be-of-public-benefit-1.2452230
http://truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18352-mr-president-economic-injustice-will-not-end-without-systemic-economic-change

http://truth-out.org/news/item/20405-california-ships-prisoners-out-of-state-to-reduce-its-prison-population
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/12/06/did-iran-have-to-give-up-so-much-to-get-so-little/
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11154
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/12/06/pers-d06.html
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/12/07/nzaz-d07.html
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/12/07/bide-d07.html

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/20496-operation-enduring-occupation

http://www.economist.com/news/21589156-moose-loses-its-shades-uncool-canada

this is funny math. MLEs. probability theory. ugh. i sort of hate it. worse, you don't want to start letting programmers do the math because the flat reality is that they're going to do it wrong.

...but i realize that there's a huge class of relatively simple practical problems that are NP and that require complete rethinks to approach.

to put it another way, the algorithm is going to have very, very bad results from time to time. so, you write in a time-out operation and start again. it's random, so you could get 100 bad results in a row. that's extreme, but it will happen from time to time. when you do get a good result, though, the guessing is often going to be faster than a systematic approach.

but, it's all guessing and working with probabilities.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131202121546.htm

well, they sucked. they rode a wave of leftist indignation to a second place showing, then elected a fucking liberal. actually, that's not fair - mulcair has demonstrated that he's opposed to ideology, in general, and merely seeks power. so, they elected a megalomaniac masquerading as a fucking liberal.

suck. sorry.

http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2013/12/beyond-politics-origins-and-future-ndp%E2%80%99s-orange-wave

the denisovans hadn't been discovered yet when i was working this out (neither had the "hobbit"), but i can sort of work them in. this, i'm having trouble making meaning of. it's easy to make sense of, but i don't see it shedding light on anything.

except, maybe, this: basque is a language isolate, sometimes connected to caucasian languages and north american languages that are ultimately siberian. 400 000 years ago is clearly too early to be talking about any existing languages. however, if continuity can be developed until fairly recently it is a possible diffusion point.

https://phys.org/news/2013-12-oldest-hominin-dna-sequenced.html

this was bound to happen eventually. it's not that macs and linux machines are inherently safer. well, maybe they're a little harder to hack into, but you shouldn't be worried about somebody hacking into your machine. you should be worried about getting something in your email, or running a compromised program or opening the wrong website.

see, here's the thing: windows had something like 95% market share at one point. i know it's gone down a lot, but it's still dominant. you're an 31337 hax0r. why bother with the machine with 8% or 13% market share? no, you want the high probability option. so you write your 1337 scripts to go after windows. or, windoze, as you'd call it.

that's the only reason that macs and linux boxes have less viruses targeted towards them. it's just a smaller market. and, again, most viruses spread nowadays through user behaviour. the weakest link is not your operating system, it's you.

macs are growing steadily but slowly. they might maybe hit 15% soon if the current rate continues, and 20% by 2020. with those kinds of numbers, it's not likely that virus makers will bother targeting mac users any time soon.

android, though, is dominating the market. 81% market share in q3. and these are the devices that people are using to connect directly to their bank accounts, credit card companies...

https://phys.org/news/2013-12-symantec-worm-linuxthreat-devices.html