Google knows.
This crazy article about how Google builds their maps pretty much blew my mind. And unless you're the only person still using MapQuest (shoutout to Mom, their most loyal customer!) you probably use Google Maps to tell you how to get places, via pretty much any method of transportation save horseback, or what your destination actually looks like in real life, or even how long it will take you to get from A to B. In current traffic.
To achieve this goal of bridging online and offline information, Google uses cameras on cars. (And bikes - I have seen many Google employees in Kendall Square with a camera atop their bike helmet ...and may be caught gawking at them in the street view of this are. Haven't looked; ignorance is bliss.)
Enough of my pro-Google bloggin'. The coolest part of the article speaks for itself:
"Google is up to five million miles driven now. Each drive generates two kinds of really useful data for mapping. One is the actual tracks the cars have taken; these are proof-positive that certain routes can be taken. The other are all the photos. And what's significant about the photographs in Street View is that Google can run algorithms that extract the traffic signs and can even paste them onto the deep map within their Atlas tool."
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
YouTube Win
Mom gets credit for this one. Do not watch when laughter is inappropriate.
But, do watch if you like:
But, do watch if you like:
- Comedy about everyday life
- Accents
- Recounting of awkward moments
- Zippers
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
The Last First Day (...maybe)
Today is potentially the last first day of school for me - bittersweet. It's obviously wicked sweet that I'll get to stop giving BU inordinate amounts of money every few months, after many years of doing so, but I have loved this program and it has absolutely changed me... which makes me thirsty for more education. Dork? Yes.
Anyway, this semester I am taking "Assessment and Planning for Health Promotion" which is required for my concentration. Our pre-assignment was to poke around on the Population Health Forum website, which has been, I'll say it, fun and eye-opening. I won't get into all of the awesome data-hound details, but here are some PHF links to check out if you're interested in public health, inequality, or just data in general:
Anyway, this semester I am taking "Assessment and Planning for Health Promotion" which is required for my concentration. Our pre-assignment was to poke around on the Population Health Forum website, which has been, I'll say it, fun and eye-opening. I won't get into all of the awesome data-hound details, but here are some PHF links to check out if you're interested in public health, inequality, or just data in general:
- The "L curve" site - it's helpful for interpreting all of the huge numbers in the news every day.
- Gapminder for their (really cool!) interactive graphs of income vs. different health outcomes.
- A game! And it's been mentioned in Sex at Dawn, called the Prisoner's Dilemma. Play to see how high you can score... and what the best strategy is.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Go-Go-Gadget, Birth Control! ...and other Akin shenanigans
I'm sure, like most people, that you've heard Todd Akin's remarks surrounding legitimate rape in the news over the past few weeks. If not, catch up and listen to some smart people talk about it in this episode of NPR's On Point. In short, Akin said that in cases of legitimate rape, women's bodies have certain protective ways of preventing pregnancy.
This entire statement is so laughable that, for awhile, I did not want to respond to it. But, while staying out of the fight is oftentimes easier, it is not always better. Women, on the whole, have been silenced for hundreds of years in many realms - economic, political and so on - and I'm happy to start talking back to anyone in any instance of this particular realm, discussions of reproductive rights, because it's the way I know how to try to change people's thought-processes for the better.
If you don't have time to listen to the link above, but want my take on the most interesting points (...and who doesn't, really?), keep reading:
1. Since his ridiculous remarks, Akin has apologized for misspeaking, but not for what he said. He still supports his stance of no abortion for any women, including survivors of rape or incest. And for that matter, so does Romney's VP candidate, Paul Ryan. So apparently, your smaller government has enough room for staffing folks who want to make the lives of women difficult. Fan-freaking-tastic.
2. Anyone who has taken high school biology (or hasn't, but is a sexually active person of reproductive age and beyond) knows that there aren't any mechanisms for women to "activate" their super power of preventing a pregnancy. Hellloooooo - there is a multi-million dollar industry, within the even larger pharmaceutical industry, specifically surrounding birth control. If women could prevent pregnancy on their own, why the heck would they spend their money and time on something they could do themselves?! Go-go-Gadget, Birth Control!
Just for fun, check out this calculator where you can find out how much you will spend on preventing pregnancy in your preferred method from whatever age you are currently until menopause. WARNING: Do not do this when you are feeling poor. It's like a punch in, well, the ovaries... which, although painful, is not an effective form of birth control.
3. If people start to believe that women actually can prevent pregnancy when they are raped, they will be blamed for these pregnancies resulting from rape or accused of making up actually being raped, since it's a fact that you cannot get pregnant from forced sexual intercourse. This is just one more dangerous form of victim-blaming, which we hear and perpetrate all the time - "When you wear a skirt that short, you're asking for it." ...ASKING FOR WHAT?! or "She was walking alone at night, what do you expect?" Well, I expect to be left alone and to walk safely to my destination, no matter the location of the sun in the sky. We all need to stop justifying rape in this way by saying, agreeing with, or even standing by and not disagreeing with words like these.
Todd Akin is just one of the people attacking reproductive rights these days, and the best way to get back at these attacks is to slander his name... and throw rotten tomatoes at him whenever possible.
No, not really - it's to vote, have your voice heard, and think a lot about how involved you want the government in your personal decision making.
This entire statement is so laughable that, for awhile, I did not want to respond to it. But, while staying out of the fight is oftentimes easier, it is not always better. Women, on the whole, have been silenced for hundreds of years in many realms - economic, political and so on - and I'm happy to start talking back to anyone in any instance of this particular realm, discussions of reproductive rights, because it's the way I know how to try to change people's thought-processes for the better.
If you don't have time to listen to the link above, but want my take on the most interesting points (...and who doesn't, really?), keep reading:
1. Since his ridiculous remarks, Akin has apologized for misspeaking, but not for what he said. He still supports his stance of no abortion for any women, including survivors of rape or incest. And for that matter, so does Romney's VP candidate, Paul Ryan. So apparently, your smaller government has enough room for staffing folks who want to make the lives of women difficult. Fan-freaking-tastic.
2. Anyone who has taken high school biology (or hasn't, but is a sexually active person of reproductive age and beyond) knows that there aren't any mechanisms for women to "activate" their super power of preventing a pregnancy. Hellloooooo - there is a multi-million dollar industry, within the even larger pharmaceutical industry, specifically surrounding birth control. If women could prevent pregnancy on their own, why the heck would they spend their money and time on something they could do themselves?! Go-go-Gadget, Birth Control!
Just for fun, check out this calculator where you can find out how much you will spend on preventing pregnancy in your preferred method from whatever age you are currently until menopause. WARNING: Do not do this when you are feeling poor. It's like a punch in, well, the ovaries... which, although painful, is not an effective form of birth control.
3. If people start to believe that women actually can prevent pregnancy when they are raped, they will be blamed for these pregnancies resulting from rape or accused of making up actually being raped, since it's a fact that you cannot get pregnant from forced sexual intercourse. This is just one more dangerous form of victim-blaming, which we hear and perpetrate all the time - "When you wear a skirt that short, you're asking for it." ...ASKING FOR WHAT?! or "She was walking alone at night, what do you expect?" Well, I expect to be left alone and to walk safely to my destination, no matter the location of the sun in the sky. We all need to stop justifying rape in this way by saying, agreeing with, or even standing by and not disagreeing with words like these.
Todd Akin is just one of the people attacking reproductive rights these days, and the best way to get back at these attacks is to slander his name... and throw rotten tomatoes at him whenever possible.
No, not really - it's to vote, have your voice heard, and think a lot about how involved you want the government in your personal decision making.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Polished Piggies
This little piggy went to market,
and this little piggy stayed home.
This little piggy had roast beef,
and this little piggy had none.
This little piggy went wee-wee-wee-wee.....
All the way to get a pedicure for her damn self.
Now, some of you know that I have some beef with a certain Quincy establishment named the Sly Fox, which all people everywhere should boycott always. Being one of the earlier encounters I had with local businesses, it left me skeptical of supporting others nearby. Slowly, the Donut King and Copeland Pizza have become favorites of ours not only because they are walk-able, but also because they are actually delicious and the donuts are actually enormous and actually made on sight. Yes, actually.
Nonetheless, skepticism hath stopped me from trying the PT Nails and Spa, which is equally close to us as the beloved donut and pizza shops. Last night I finally caved; I really needed (wanted) a pedicure. This might get a little gross, but I'm quite sure that dirt from Kenya was still embedded in my feet. Here, have a look for yourself:
Wow, and now we're here. Photos of my feet for the world to see. Okay, moving on.
Before you go thinking that I was particularly unclean, I will hastily correct that thought. Regardless of frequency/intensity of showers, we all had perma-dirt up to mid calf/knee region. (And now I really miss the perma-dirt; it makes me look more tan!)
Anyway, I walked in while she was finishing a manicure on a woman who also walked there and was clearly a regular. They were chatting about their families, the neighbors, what color nails she had last week and what she was planning for next week. I thought, "This is a good sign." Her husband quickly filled the tub, probably spying that perma-dirt, and told me that she would be right over. Attentive customer service - another good sign.
Finally, what happened next was lovely and unprecedented in my pedicure experience, until then. She spent at least 45 minutes scrubbing and cleaning and trimming and exfoliating and moisturizing and finally polishing my piggies and the legs attached to them. She didn't openly gasp when first seeing my feet, carried a good conversation, but not too much - all good signs. Lastly, she graciously accepted Italian food that a woman in the neighborhood brought for her son, who apparently loved Italian food that his mother (she, the pedicurist and shop owner) did not make.
Again, have a look at the finished product for yourself:
and this little piggy stayed home.
This little piggy had roast beef,
and this little piggy had none.
This little piggy went wee-wee-wee-wee.....
All the way to get a pedicure for her damn self.
Now, some of you know that I have some beef with a certain Quincy establishment named the Sly Fox, which all people everywhere should boycott always. Being one of the earlier encounters I had with local businesses, it left me skeptical of supporting others nearby. Slowly, the Donut King and Copeland Pizza have become favorites of ours not only because they are walk-able, but also because they are actually delicious and the donuts are actually enormous and actually made on sight. Yes, actually.
Nonetheless, skepticism hath stopped me from trying the PT Nails and Spa, which is equally close to us as the beloved donut and pizza shops. Last night I finally caved; I really needed (wanted) a pedicure. This might get a little gross, but I'm quite sure that dirt from Kenya was still embedded in my feet. Here, have a look for yourself:
Wow, and now we're here. Photos of my feet for the world to see. Okay, moving on.
Before you go thinking that I was particularly unclean, I will hastily correct that thought. Regardless of frequency/intensity of showers, we all had perma-dirt up to mid calf/knee region. (And now I really miss the perma-dirt; it makes me look more tan!)
Anyway, I walked in while she was finishing a manicure on a woman who also walked there and was clearly a regular. They were chatting about their families, the neighbors, what color nails she had last week and what she was planning for next week. I thought, "This is a good sign." Her husband quickly filled the tub, probably spying that perma-dirt, and told me that she would be right over. Attentive customer service - another good sign.
Finally, what happened next was lovely and unprecedented in my pedicure experience, until then. She spent at least 45 minutes scrubbing and cleaning and trimming and exfoliating and moisturizing and finally polishing my piggies and the legs attached to them. She didn't openly gasp when first seeing my feet, carried a good conversation, but not too much - all good signs. Lastly, she graciously accepted Italian food that a woman in the neighborhood brought for her son, who apparently loved Italian food that his mother (she, the pedicurist and shop owner) did not make.
Again, have a look at the finished product for yourself:
Admittedly, the quality of this picture isn't as good as the first two. It's pretty, trust me. Or don't...
And come get a pedicure for your damn self.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Yum!
Fruit is so tasty this time of year that I'm considering adding this to my bucket list and choosing July/August.
Some of the other items on there are creeping onto my bucket list too...
Some of the other items on there are creeping onto my bucket list too...
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Preach it, Girl
Title credit to blogmate Amanda.
I am reading Sex at Dawn by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha right now and it is ...incredible. I am only on page 85, but so far I love it. I frequently feel rather alone in my questioning of sexual stereotypes but I have found good company with these authors.
What have I learned so far?
Humans are equally and very closely related to both chimps and bonobos. Bonobos are social creatures who more closely resemble humans in terms of their relationships and sexual habits. Turns out they are lesser studied than chimps, mostly because they primarily reside in the DRC - not somewhere most people want to go for an academic excursion. But, imagine if bonobos had been found first! All of the assumptions we hold based on chimps would be totally ludicrous! I'll keep you posted with more about this book, because it is fantastic.
Speaking of sexual stereotypes based on our relatedness to chimps, people are slowly understanding that women, like men, are active and sexual beings with desires of all kinds. *Gasp!* Similarly, more women are publicly proclaiming said desires, and Amanda also gets credit for finding this article about owning them. Sometimes they are career related and sometimes they are sexually related and sometimes they are fashion related, but whatever they are, they are valid and real and yours and that is enough.
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