Blog
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From UC Berkeley: The study had the participants in an MRI machine for hours at a time watching YouTube videos. The data gathered by the MRI machine was used to create a computer model that matched the features of the video like colors, shapes, and movements with the brain activity. http://cdnapi.kaltura.com/index.php/kwidget/wid/1_e79508cp/uiconf_id/5590821
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WineChannelTV presents “Enjoy the Detour” with Brian Mayer of Midventures from WineChannelTV on Vimeo.
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Stable societies are breeding grounds for interest groups. Over time, these interest groups use government to establish sinecures for themselves, which gradually strangle the economy they are built on — like parasitic vines around a tree. – David Brooks
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After about a month of development and testing, I am really excited to launch Shame Alarm in the iTunes store. It’s an alarm clock that not only wakes you up, but if you fail to turn it off in time it will send a message to your Facebook and Twitter friends telling them you couldn’t…
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I was reading recently about a peculiar custom in Israel of not performing Richard Wagner. Although the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that enforcement of this custom isn’t legal, it still continues to be an ongoing, rampant phenomenon in a country that has an established tradition of free speech. In recent years, Israeli musicians planning to…
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I choose the title of this post carefully. The point is not to elucidate a position on Israel: actually, I rather believe here I criticize that very concept. But I seek to address what my main issues are with the Israel Discourse and (perhaps) arrive at a satisfactory end point. It is my position that…
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It’s happening in France today as it has happened across Europe. The steady declination of individual liberty and the overstepping authority of the state. It is not just an isolated incident anymore, but a pattern of invasion. The latest outrage is a new ban in France which went into effect today. Anyone caught wearing a…
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You’ll never hear anyone happy about yesterday’s shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), who was the victim of a targeted attack that has claimed the lives of 6 people so far, including a federal judge. But the response to the tragedy has been overwhelming, and a reminder to Americans that our bitter partisanship, no matter…
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I had an interesting conversation today. I was waiting for a friend to meet me in Wrigleyville, and not wanting to pay for a seat in a restaurant I sat down outside on a public ledge next to the sidewalk and started to answer some work emails. I struck up a conversation with a man…
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From Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (1994): From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of particular interest. But for us, it’s different. Consider again that dot. That’s here, that’s home, that’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard…
brian mayer 