Archive for the ‘boredom killer’ Category

Bad at Sports Podcast : Jim Campbell

: Listen to more podcasts here :

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Art of R by Norman Matloff

Image source

Free download from the Three-Toed Sloth, buy the current book, here.

R is the world’s most popular programming language for statistical computing. Drug developers use it to evaluate clinical trials and determine which medications are safe and effective; archaeologists use it to sift through mounds of artifacts and track the spread of ancient civilizations; and actuaries use it to assess financial risks and keep economies running smoothly. In The Art of R Programming, veteran author Norman Matloff takes readers on a guided tour of this powerful language, from basic object types and data structures to graphing, parallel processing, and much more. Along the way, readers learn about topics including functional and object-oriented programming, low-level code optimization, and interfacing R with C++ and Python. Whether readers are doing academic research, designing aircraft, or forecasting the weather, R is the tool of choice for statistical application development, and The Art of R Programming is the definitive guide to learning R.

Life Lessons from Star Trek

Expressing your emotions is a healthy thing. Sure, McCoy seemed angry all the time when exclaiming, "Dammit, Jim! I’m a doctor not a mechanic/bricklayer/soothsayer," but he knew that by expressing his anger and frustration it wouldn’t get the best of him and he could then perform at his peak capacity. (Read Full List at HuffPo)

World’s Top Ten Most Tweeted

Check out this slideshow of the world’s top-ten most tweeted moments.  You will be surprised, unsurprised, inspired, and disgusted.

Built Festival, Chi Town

A major new art Initiative; BUILT;festival, is a city being created out of shipping containers this summer in Chicago’s Wicker Park Neighborhood. The shipping containers will be given over to Chicago’s contemporary artists and curators to transform into alternative or ‘ guerrilla’ venues.

10,000 Hour Myth?

Image source

Continue reading here.

Is There a New Geek Anti-intellectualism?

Image source

: Click here :

Evisceration (in full)

SO if you’re the last person to watch O’Reilly get murdered by Jon Stewart, well then I feel bad for you. Basically, the "selective outrage machine" that is FOX news - and O’Reilly in particular - decided that it had a problem with Common being a performer at a poetry slam at the White House. O’Reilly seems to suggest that he’s a dodgy character with whom the president should be ashamed to associate. In the clip below, Jon explains to O’Reilly why he’s wrong, basically doing to him what Obama did to Trump, except to his face (and complete with a "BOOYA").

I both love Common and also find myself in position to be artistically aware of almost the entire breadth of his portfolio (meaning that I listened to him before ‘Like Water For Chocolate,’ and way before Kanye single-handedly made him a commercial emcee). Especially in the old school, Common (Sense) had some really raw lyrics. I mean, the guy was a pimp, supposedly, before being a musician.

Interestingly, you can see how Common changes throughout his musical career, eventually releasing some of the more heartfelt and poetic (read: soft) verses in the rap game to date. Don’t get it twisted, he will eat 99% of y’all still. Anyway, to me this raises larger, more important questions. In my opinion those questions are: how much artistic freedom should we give rappers credit for? How closely associated do you have to be to a public figure to be considered lending them credibility? How could somebody watch this clip and still believe any of Bill’s bullcrap?

Hipster Fort Win?