mssv

  • Earth and Beyond

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    1–2 minutes

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    A good example of mini-story events in mmoe – in its review of Earth and Beyond Online, Gamespot talks about a scripted event controlled by a game employee in the guise of an NPC. Clever stuff.

  • 1000th post

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    1–2 minutes

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    New Mars forums reaches the 1000 post mark! We’ve come a long way, baby…

  • Writing

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    1–2 minutes

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    Something popped into my head today as I was scribbling down some notes during a supervision: does the fact that I write with a pencil (as opposed to a pen or biro) affect my writing style, and on a higher level, my method of thinking? Pencils provide a much less constrained and linear way of…

  • MGS

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    1–2 minutes

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    Getting a stereo view of Mars – the boys at NASA are pretty damn clever; they’re planning to obtain 3D images of areas the Mars Global Surveyor has already covered by pointing the spacecraft off-nadir (so it doesn’t point directly down).

  • Emotions

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    1–2 minutes

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    While I have some issues with neurobiology lectures, I definitely don’t with our supervisions. They’re usually a great mixture of brainstorming and learning of interesting facts. Take, for example, today, when I learned that when cats are hostile to each other and their hair stands on end, it’s because their hair makes them look much…

  • Futurama

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    1–2 minutes

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    Matt Groening stands up for Futurama (and some stuff about the Simpsons).

  • Neuro and Psych

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    2–3 minutes

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    There were two things that caught my attention today in lectures. The first was a list of symptoms of mania (an abnormal emotional state, the opposite of depression): i. Unfounded elation ii. Hyperactivity iii. Talkativeness and “flight of ideas” iv. Distractivility v. Impractical, grandiose plans vi. Inflated self-esteem vii. Reduced sleep …and I thought, ‘I…

  • I Wish I knew

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    1–2 minutes

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    Correction to an earlier post: It seems I made a common mistake when I said that the Barry Norman film night tune (I Wish I Knew) was first written by Nina Simone. It was in fact first written and performed by the Bill Taylor Trio. Thanks to Tom for pointing this out.

  • Heart transplant

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    1–2 minutes

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    Gift of life for heart girl – exactly how do you donate a heart? They say that a donor came forward, but presumably the heart has to come from a deceased person of the same age.

  • Ninjas

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    1–2 minutes

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    I normally don’t participate in web memes, but dammit, when they’re this funny there is no other choice. The whole ‘Pirates vs. Ninjas’ debate first originated from the Real Ultimate Power ninja site, and quickly spread through the web like wildfire (because, let’s face it, the site is cool, and by cool I mean totally…