From the category archives:

General

Shoutout/Halloween’s History

31 October 2011
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Before I get on to Halloween, I’d like to thank the readers of this blog for your time and attention to my nattering.
Have you ever wondered how Halloween began? What is truth? What is fiction? The video below from National Geographic provides a quick history of the holiday.
Some Halloween statistics are listed after the [...]

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Short Hiatus…

16 May 2011
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I will be taking a short hiatus from writing in this blog while I work on my literature reviews in preparation for my Comprehensive Exams later this year.
While I may still post occasionally, I will not be posting my usual two or more times a week.
I hope you have a wonderful summer.

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Social Paranoia and Graduate School

3 May 2011

Are you paranoid about your social standing and what others’ think of you? Instead of Taming Data, are you Taming Fear?
Then you must be a graduate student, according to Don Troop’s recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, “Paranoid? You Must Be a Grad Student“.

Source: PhD Comics via The Chronicle.
Have I had my moments? [...]

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Language is Data, Too — Don’t Mind It Too Much

25 April 2011

RogersCreations has created this delightful animation of Stephen Fry’s essay, “Don’t Mind Your Language“, called “Stephen Fry Kinetic Typography“. Fry decries pedants in this essay.

I enjoyed this video. As an academic, I both wish my grammar were better, yet at the same time know that language is a fluid and living beast. Ah! the [...]

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What Religion Are You?

21 April 2011
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We are told that religion and politics are the two topics that one should avoid discussing. I’m going to ignore that advice today — sort of.
When religion and politics travel in the same cart, the riders believe nothing can stand in their way. Their movement becomes headlong – faster and faster and faster. They put [...]

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Being a Google Autocompleter

4 April 2011

Can you type 34,000 words a minute? Are you psychic?
If so, you may wish to apply for a job with Google as an Autocompleter. The video below details some of the requirements of the position.

Yes, this is another one of Google’s jokes for April Fools’ Day 2011.
Happy Monday!
[Via TechCrunch.]

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GMail Motion and the Top 5 Viral Pictures of 1911

1 April 2011

Google writes: “Now you can control Gmail with your body. Learn more at http://gmail.com/motion“.

YouTube writes: “One hundred years ago on April 1, these moving pictures were the finest in the land. Hooray!”

Happy April Fools’ Day 2011!

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Shoutout to TamingData Readers/Gratitude

31 March 2011
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I would like to thank the readers of this blog for your time and comments.
This month, TamingData received almost 4,000 “page impressions“. That is an almost 189% increase over February 2011 (if I did that math correctly). Yes, I went from slightly under 2,000 page impressions in February to over 3,800 page impressions in March! [...]

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Earthquakes — Animation of Cause and Effect

18 March 2011
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What causes an earthquake?
We are told by the media in the aftermath of an earthquake that the ground moved and major “faults” shifted and collided because the earth’s “plates” are adjusting.
But what does that mean in layman’s terms?
Podders79 created this “Animation-Earthquake Guide” based on BBC archives to explain the how and what behind [...]

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A Moment to Remember the Victims of Japan’s Earthquake and Tsunami on 11 March 2011

14 March 2011

“The Great Wave at Kanagawa” by Hokusai.
I’d like to take a moment to remember the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that occurred in Japan on 11 March 2011.
[Pause.]
If you would like to help the victims of this disaster, or find out more about it, Google has created this page of resources related to the [...]

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