links for 2009-07-29

"Intricate wax models of humans – and their internal organs – helped educate medical students during the 19th Century. But they also offered the general public an unusual afternoon's entertainment." Very cool slideshow.

"Members of the government panel reviewing NASA’s human spaceflight program said Tuesday that the life of the International Space Station should be extended past its planned demise in 2016." In a no duh moment.

Officially exploited.

"I couldn't help but love Chris Yeh's Outline of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions. It's a fascinating look into the surprisingly predictable psychology that powers human actions and reactions, and I think there are some definitive lessons we can take away from the piece and apply to web marketing." Fun stuff.

The more I read about this, the more Wikipedia is in the right.

"The rejections of apps by Apple could dim the halo that has encircled the iPhone since it first became a lucrative platform for outside developers. The lengthy and opaque approval process required to get anything into the App Store has long been a source of frustration for iPhone developers and users alike."

"The first lady, her mother and her children did stay in Europe for a private vacation after the president completed an overseas trip on official business. However, no taxpayer money was used for the first family's personal expenses." I'm not sure why this even a story.

"Wikia measures exit rate – the percentage of users that leave the site from a given page. Here they show that exit rate drops as pages get faster. The exit rate goes from ~15% for a 2 second page to ~10% for a 1 second page. This is another data point to add to the list of stats from Velocity that show that faster pages is not only better for users, it’s better for business."

"After previously denying that the market is a proper "indicator" of President Obama's performance handling the economy, Sean Hannity stated that "as the president's job approval rating crumbles, well, the Dow has been on the rise."" Only on Fox News, logic missing.

"About 140 Iranians detained during protests against last month's disputed election result have been released from Evin prison, officials say. About 200 others, accused of more serious crimes, remain in the prison." Good and bad news.

"Well, so much for my speculation. A reliable little birdie has informed me that it was indeed AT&T that objected to Google Voice apps for the iPhone. It’s that simple." Here's to hoping AT&T get's sued and loses horribly.

"Commanders of the Multi-National Force-Iraq, as the American-led coalition is formally called, have a looming nomenclature problem. Two days from now, there will no longer be any other nations with troops in Iraq — no “multi” in the Multi-National Force. As Iraqi forces have increasingly taken the lead, the United States is the last of the “coalition of the willing” that the Bush administration first brought together in 2003."

"I mostly really like mine. But I've got to say there are a couple things about it that really bug me. Right up there after the fact there's no one-gesture way of switching between different email inboxes is the way the little red notifications circles work with the phone." This makes so much sense and would drive me insane.

"The federal government will not lend $2 billion to USEC, the sole American-owned uranium enrichment company, the Energy Department said on Tuesday. The move casts doubt on the company’s ability to commercialize its new technology, and probably leaves the market for making reactor fuel in the hands of European companies now building in the United States. Energy Department officials said that they could not lend the $2 billion USEC had requested because it was not clear that was enough to finish the project and there was no definite additional source of financing. They invited USEC to reapply in 18 months."

"A Sudanese woman who is due to appear in court in Khartoum says she faces up to 40 lashes for wearing trousers. The woman, Lubna Hussein – a former journalist who now works for the United Nations – has invited journalists and observers to the trial."

"Defining a "tweet" for the uninitiated and explaining how to create an account doesn't resonate with everyone. "Why would I want to do that?" is a common reaction. However, demonstrating the power of Twitter as a discovery engine for what is happening right now through our Search and Trends often awakens a sense of wonder which inevitably leads to a much more compelling question, "How do I get involved?"" I agree Twitter is doing the right thing.

I am totally not mature enough to sign a lease.

"Not but a few short days ago I had the distinct pleasure of being included on a list of 51 of the world's top Search Marketers. Alas, for this great honor I did not receive an award statue or a shiny plaque, not even an ornate certificate. What I received was an email. A horribly executed email that would result in one of the most amusing email threads I've ever read, from some of the smartest minds in our industry." Awesome.

"In a move expected to revolutionize the mobile device industry, Apple launched its fastest and most powerful iPhone to date Tuesday, an innovative new model that can only be seen by the company's hippest and most dedicated customers." The Onion so get's Apple.

Wesley Crusher kicks a lot of things.

"Most of the savings are being made in social services – with deep cuts in child welfare programmes, health care for the poor, and HIV/Aids initiatives."

"Horizon’s Jeffrey Michael is quoted in the Sun-Times as saying “The statements are obviously false, and it’s our intention to prove that”, adding that Horizon has a good reputation to protect. Bonnen wasn’t contacted before the suit was filed or asked to remove the Tweet, he said: “We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization”." That's a crappy organization.

"So how can a game that sold 45 copies, have 1114 players? That does not make any sense? I have no reason to believe that Apple's sales reports are faulty, so the answer is piracy. Very quickly after the release of 'the little tank that could' the game got cracked, and distributed via torrents. Those crackers are a weird bunch, even taking pride in their work. Proudly tagging my game with 'cracked by Hexhammer'. Well screw you Hexhammer. If you had any talents yourself, you would make your own game. Cracking one is petty." That would kill my desire to build the game as well.

JRuby is no longer being officially supported by Sun Microsystems / Oracle.