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"People frequently resist information that contradicts their views, such as corrective information— for example, by bringing to mind reasons to maintain their belief — and in some cases actually end up believing it more strongly as a result."

from "Vaccine Opponents Can Be Immune to Education," NY Times.

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I'd wondered how Amazon would respond to people having too much fun reviewing random items - looks like a fab example of engagement.

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I've lived in England since 2004 but this is my first fish finger sandwich!

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Summer fruit at the greengrocers! (Day 4)

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Spotting a field full of plane spotters on the descent into Heathrow

(Day 3)

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Amalienbad swimming pool, Vienna. There are no lanes and there are lots of people. A stunning place for an evening's swim (next time I will try to be brave enough to go to the sauna!) "the Jugendstilstyle Amalienbad (1923—6) is a fine example of a far-sighted municipal authority providing essential public facilities for the local working population, and doing so with style and panache. Named after one of the councillors, Amalie Polzer, the baths were designed by Otto Nadel and Karl Schmalhofer, employees of the city’s architectural department. The magnificent main pool, overlooked by galleries, is covered by a glass roof that can be opened in minutes. There are saunas, smaller baths and therapeutic pools. When first opened, the baths were one of the largest of their kind in Europe. The interior is enlivened by fabulous Secession tile decorations. The baths were damaged in World War II but have been impeccably restored" (Source for info and photo -I think it's ill advised to pull out the camera phone at a swimming pool- http://ds-lands.com/places/amalienbad.html) (Still day 2)

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Gate 20, Heathrow Terminal 1. Came with fake gras, a golden postbox, and messages left by departing Olympians. (Day 2)

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Flying over London in the sunshine on the kind of day that makes you appreciate being stuck in a holding pattern (day 1).

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delightful things turned 3 today!

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Experiencing the Super Bowl

"While stadiums have boosted cellular and Wi-Fi infrastructure to keep fans connected during games, there's always the possibility that there won't be enough bandwidth for everyone. That's why on Super Bowl Sunday, the NFL is planning to block live streams of the game inside the stadium."

From Ars Tecnica, NFL to Block Mobile Streaming Video in Super Bowl Stadium

Interesting, especially with regard to Kahneman's distinction between the experiencing self and the remembering self. The NFL (and bandwidth/economic/commercial considerations) is forcing the experiential.

(for more, see the superb This is You on Smiles - We All Have Photographic Memories Now)

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Anna McNuff on Cycling Through All 50 States

I could have been attacked by a bear. Or a man. (Or a half man, half bear.) I could have been run over by a truck. Then again, at home, I could slip and smack my head on a work surface in the kitchen. I could get knocked down by the 281 as I cross the road in Teddington Town. The truth is we don’t like doing things beyond our usual remit, because they expose cracks in our character. Weaknesses. Parts that we try to keep hidden from others to ensure we maintain a perception of us as a high functioning member of society. It’s only natural. I do it too. Yet nothing frustrates me more than hearing “I’d love to do that" To which, nowadays, I tend to go into bitch mode and reply: "So do it then." It’s probably actually that you a) don’t want to do it badly enough (which is totally cool), b) it’s not a priority right now (again, totally cool) or c) that you’ve given yourself a hundred reasons why you shouldn’t. And what’s more, convinced yourself that those reasons are valid ones. The only difference between me having spent the past 7 months blowing my mind, and having… not, was deciding that my excuses were just that. --Anna McNuff, at the end of her Big 5-0 cycling adventure

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Take that, bacteria!

A White Blood Cell chasing and consuming a Bacterial Organism through a process called Phagocytosis.

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Last thing. We live in an amazing time. It is often a very upsetting time, and often I want nothing more than to yell OH FUCK THIS, go back to bed, and wake up in the Middle Ages with nothing to worry about but plague and famine and ancient pagan bear cults. But then there are the times when you realize that you can be in your pajamas with a cup of tea, cozy in your own home in front of your own computer monitor, and watch a Canadian astronaut (who looks like he really should be a New Jersey firefighter) wring out a washcloth in space. That should make you glad enough to live in crazy internet world. Add a few kitten videos and you’ll be all set.

—mimi smartypants, space oddity.

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Secret Cinema is looking to create a more romantic, adventurous and secret world. We are fuelled by a desire for serendipity, experience and beautiful random happenings to fill in the gap created by the rise of digital culture. We are fuelled by both ambition and optimism: we believe in change and the creation of a world whose inhabitants are passionate about action. We are becoming an engaged and powerful creative community. Be prepared to disrupt. Be prepared to act. Be prepared to play.

-Mission Statement, Secret Cinema 020

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"Let's say you're in the park, with a couple of friends, and you feel like playing a game. You didn't pack a Frisbee or a pack of cards - but you have the Tiny Games app on your phone. You fire it up, enter some simple info, and then - plucked from a library of hundreds of different games, for different situations and personality types and moods - you get the game that's right for you, here, now. The app guides you smoothly through the rules, and helps you keep track during play. All you need to do is have fun..."

  These guys are awesome, have been awesome for years, the app looks like it'll be incredible, and they could really use your support!

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...what Siracusa's piece demontrates is one of the things that's problematic about data: there are important things about business and success that you can't measure. And I would go so far as to say that these unmeasurables are the most important things, the stuff that makes or breaks a business or product or, hell, even a relationship, stuff that you just can't measure quantitatively, no matter how Big your Data is.

-Jason Kottke, commenting on John Siracusa's "The Case for a True Mac Pro Successor"

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Our successes have been so great and so rapid that within 20 years we’ve gotten a third of the world’s population online, shrunk our computers to the size of our hands, and connected each to each. The magic, the generosity of spirit, the kindness, the art and the song that we’ve put into this technology and into this medium are in evidence all around us, every day. But with all the glories, many defeats. We make our human mistakes. Connected to so many, we are intimate with fewer and fewer. We squander our days in amusements. Instead of truth, triviality. We are exhorted to sate the urges of the millions, their sloth, greed, pride or lust. We are told that this is what will make us a success. This is a deadly cynicism, which we must fight. Because the internet is a medium, it doesn’t care whether it transmits love or hate. It is what we build and who we are that make it what it is. We can build things that diminish our humanity or build things that bring us to human flourishing.

-excerpted from Caterina Fake's acceptance speech for an award from the National Center for Women and information Technology