Next Einstein: From Africa

Last post, I spoke about the education system. It's great to see people use education as a powerful tool to help transform Africa for the better through scientific leadership. It was super-inspiring to see the video below:

We need a revolution in our Education Systems

We've all felt it. It has crossed all our minds. We thought it was us who were missing something--even when we played the good student and did all the work.

Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?


My favorite quote from this lecture: "If you are not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original." So true. In fact, this is something I'd like to keep in mind in every research paper I write. There is the possibility that my hypothesis is incorrect, and I have to take it into consideration. Also, this is a good point he made, and our "grading system" or assessment needs to also reflect the idea that mistakes are often times how we learn best.

This also cross-references a point along really the same lines by what Milton Friedman says to his student at 3:36-3:55 in the following video about always considering the possibility that your analysis is wrong:

Dynamic vs Static : Why I love Groovy

Steve Yegge hit's the hammer on the nail in why I like Groovy so much in this Tech-Talk about Dynamic Languages vs. traditional Static Languages.



Groovy allows both static and dynamic programming interchangeably. The most compelling argument I see in this video which really hits the point is that there is more information available during runtime. Groovy and the JVM is the future! ;)

ZOMG... The most random video you will ever see

When a friend of mine shared this video with me, here was the chat conversation that ensued:

friend: you're never gonna believe this
me: what?
friend: i just found yo mama's ex-boyfriend on youtube
me: lol
friend: <inserts video>
me: LMAO
that's your stepfather
friend: HAHAHHAHAHAHAHA
me: lol
friend: that's your real father
me: your mom's like a mini-market
friend: yo mama's "just like...she's just like... a mini mall!"
me: yo, this dude's scary
friend: "oh yeah, flea market"
me: Alabama would make a nucca look like a clown
friend: hahahahahahhahahaha
he's the pride of montgomery
the scary thing is, i bet his business has quadrupled after that ad
3+ million views on youtube
if i was anywhere near alabama, i'd drive there just in the hopes of seeing him
me: this must be the edited version... the original had your momma booty dancin on the plastic covered sofa
friend: HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
your mom's one of his many groupies
me: lol
your mom tailored his suit
friend: your mom's his roadie
hahahahahahahhaha
he got his suit at oaktree
me: the most unbelievable part is....
how he agreed to....
...cut off his jerry-curl
friend: hahahhahahaha
you know he's also gotta be a preacher on the side
me: yeah
usin' the money to go watch R-Kelly shows
friend: HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
me: down-lo, down-lo

Does he look like a bitch?

It's been a while since I've blogged. So here's some humor for ya.

What is America?

One of the very touching moments in the Obama campaign. Go Obama!

Developing Apps for Microsoft Surface: Show me the Code!

Surface is Microsoft's touchscreen technology.

This first video literally develops a basic photo viewing application in under two minutes using XML configuration and the C# language.


PDC Day 1 - Developing for Surface from Dan Waters on Vimeo.


In this second video, the guy codes tells Surface how to react to a particular physical object (painter pallet) by telling Surface its shape, position, and what do do, etc. Then uses this painter color pallet to actually paint things on Surface. It's kinda long, but make sure you watch minutes 3:00 - 4:00 and of course the end of the video.


PDC - Using the Surface SDK to "see" objects from Dan Waters on Vimeo.