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I think it’s safe to say that the iPhone 4S feature that has received the most attention is the virtual personal assistant Siri. Just in case you haven’t heard, Siri uses voice-recognition technology to interpret requests and retrieve the best response. In some cases, the response may be an answer to a question such as “how much is five pounds in kilograms” (answer: about 2.27 kilograms). In others, Siri might launch an appropriate app or initiate a Web search to get the answer you need. And a lot of time has been spent asking Siri silly questions to see what sort of answers might pop up.
In a couple of weeks, TechStuff is going to cover the story of Nintendo in a two-part special. The company is over 100 years old and managed to succeed in an industry that, after a disastrous crash in 1983, most people thought was finished. But this same company, which many considered to be an unstoppable [...]
Your brain might not know much about art, but it knows what it likes. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Julie and I examine the neurological side of your trip to the art museum. What happens when we lose ourselves in Mona Lisa’s smile or the nightmare worlds of Hieronymus Bosch? And were artists truly the first neuroscientists? Plus, here’s a breakdown of the specific art and artists discussed in this podcast.
Holly says she thinks I’m a witty and insightful person. I think the same of her! She also makes some really amazing costumes (which you can see on the Web site if you know where to look). But is that why we’re friends? Why are any of us friends, really? We talk about the question of why people can — or can’t — be friends, in a variety of scenarios, from pop culture to politics.
Listener Anne Marie recommended this site and once Rachel and I got a look at a picture, we could see why. Located in northern Thailand, Wat Rong Khun is unlike any other Buddhist temple. You walk over a white bridge to the main building surrounded on either side by a massive sculpture of grasping hands. [...]
Cute Animal Friday: Bat-eared Fox
by Amanda Arnold | November 4, 2011
This is the bat-eared fox and it can hear larvae chewing.
It’s no wonder it can hear larvae chewing when its ears are almost half as tall as its little body. Ears = 5.3 inches (13.4 centimeters). Body up to the shoulders = 11 to 15 inches (28 to 28 centimeters).
I don’t really have much to add to the post that was published on the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest blog, but the study they wrote about bears more than just simply passing along the link, I think. The post, “How walking through a doorway increases forgetting,” concerns a study out of Notre Dame that sought to get to the bottom of how the mind carves experience up into episodic memory.
Jet lag! Not at all the subject of the podcast, but definitely one of the influences for this episode. Really it’s about spoilers. Who likes them? Who hates them? Who thinks they make everything better? Who thinks they RUIN EVERYTHING?
If you listened to the not too terrible Do you lose the right to privacy after you die? episode, then you are one step ahead of everyone else who reads this post, as you are already familiar with Malin Masterton. I cited her PhD thesis on repatriating remains held in museum collections. Masterton’s position is [...]
The airlines have been hurting something awful for, like, seven years. And naturally that pain has been transferred to you, the consumer. Here are some tips from travel guru Pauline Frommer (that I picked up from her talk at the Atlanta Travel and Adventure Show) on how to fly cheap:
Recent Postings by Category
BrainStuff
- Thank You and Best Wishes to Marshall Brain
- Contest – Design a $300 house and win $25,000
- How the Philtrum works – the place under your nose where your face comes together
The Coolest Stuff on the Planet
- Have a Coke and a Smile
- The Latest in Frugal Lodging: Camping in Somebody Else’s Backyard
- The Painted Beauties of Bucovina
Keep Asking
- Why can a 5 foot 8 inch man dunk a basketball on a 10 foot rim while some people of taller stature can’t?
- What happens to our sun once it runs out of fuel?
- How do we know the age of the universe?
Stuff Mom Never Told You
- Who invented the Christmas card?
- How the Kinsey Report Fueled Whiskey Sales
- How to Get Your Wedding Announcement into The New York Times
Stuff to Blow Your Mind
- Space Music: DJ Food and ‘The Search Engine’
- Stuff to Blow Your Mind: Hug it Out
- Space Music: Jay-Z and Beyoncé to Film Music Video in Orbit
Stuff You Should Know
- The Southern Death Cult, the Maya and Georgia
- Deformed Baby Spider Brains
- Amazing Medical Conditions: Maple Syrup Urine Disorder
The Stuff of Genius
CarStuff
- Why is NASA studying car safety?
- Tips for in-car Navigation Systems
- Tips for Using Bluetooth in the Car
How-to Stuff
- How to Swim with Dolphins (When Deep Water Terrifies You)
- How to Cure a Homemade Cookie Craving Without Turning on the Oven
- How to Know When It’s Time for a New Pet
PopStuff
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 36: Now Available in 3-D
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 35: Let’s do brunch!
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 34: Play it again, Sam
Stuff They Don't Want You To Know
Stuff to Change the World
- Who will own the Arctic?
- Obesity: The New Global Crisis
- Bill Gates Makes For A Pretty Decent Cartoon
Stuff You Missed in History Class
- Butch Cassidy: Should we read between the lines?
- Are we rooting for D.B. Cooper?
- Party Time: A Look at Unconventional Politics
