Link Dump 2015-05-31

2015-05-31

Ecuador faked a trip to Costa Rica for some travelers. I personally think the prank is fantastic, although I also understand why Costa Rica would be upset.
Where do the physical atoms go when you lose weight? You breathe (and urinate) them out.
People 60 years ago moralized sex and were apathetic about food. People now moralize food (like how organic is better) and are apathetic about sex (or at least, who others have sex with). Is food the new sex?
A professor wrote an open letter to his freshmen, telling them that they are responsible for their education. He suggests that lectures being "an ineffective strategy" for teaching is "hogwash", and that students should learn to listen and focus for long periods of time. I don't exactly disagree with the latter, but I also think there's a number of other reasons that lecture is ineffective, including the fact that we learn better by doing than by watching. I do wonder, if he thinks he has "no obligation whatsoever to make sure that [students] pass or make any particular grade at all", but if he still "harbors the traditional view that universities are about education", how he would suggest evaluating his own success.
On that note, computer science education needs to be evidence based. I would love to see a survey of pedagogy research methodologies.
A Harry Potter dark mark tattoo done in UV ink - so it doesn't show up except under a black light.
Dean Potter, inventor of "free-basing" - climbing with no rope, then using a parachute if you fall - has died in a BASE jumping accident. A morbid fact: Potter was previously married to Steph Davis, who later married Mario Richards... who also died in a BASE jumping accident in 2013.
Two live-streaming apps, Meerkat and Periscope, launched recently, and there are already legal issues. Apparently broadcasting live events is legal as long as the event is not choreographed, but then I wonder if private broadcasts (as is possible with Periscope) falls under the same rules. Part of me is also surprised that YouTube, which is also capable of live-streaming, has not run into this issue already. Or, for that matter, screen sharing software.
A motorcyclist died during a protest against motorcycle helmet laws by losing control and, you guessed it, landing head first.
Nice to see people being friendly on Twitter, like this Clinton guy welcoming @POTUS to the social network.
IBM's Jeopardy-playing Watson is now used to create recipes. It's apparently really good at suggesting food combinations, but very vague on how to actually prepare the food.
An album (and a book) of fathers and daughters at their purity ball.
I'm in the middle of (literally) writing my PhD thesis, and I can't help but wonder if spending two months on this document is really the best use of my time. More and more departments are moving to the "staple some papers together" approach. This is understandably not without debate. I think it would be nice if students have to choice of not writing a thesis, although for my work in particular, my publications don't give any sense of the bigger picture of the problem I'm trying to solve.
I agree with this article's statement that in general we cannot be the best at more than one thing (say, the best employee and the best partner/parent), but otherwise the article irks me. It's weird (and arguable incorrect) explanation of existentialism aside, work-life balance has always been about striking a middle ground between work and life, not about being the best you can be in both. It's not an "illusion", you're just misconstruing what it means.
This is why you should not trust science journalism, particularly for generally non-scientific sources.
A great take on how online social networks have changed the way we date. And no, it's not even about online dating.