Delicious LiveJournal Links for 12-18-2010

[andrewducker]

• Information is beautiful: 30 examples of creative infography
  (tags: infographics design inspiration visualization illustration infographic graphics)
• UK banks only profitable because of government support - and have been for quite a while.
  (tags: banking uk government)
• Living within 300m of a freeway associated with doubling your autism risk.
  (tags: autism pollution)
• Google Body Browser. Very impressive (only works in the latest Chrome Beta though).
  (tags: google body health science visualization anatomy)
• The BBC has a 4 minute 33 second video about the John Cage work. A most unusual experience.
  (tags: silence music bbc video)
• This pretty much sums up my opinion on Predator 2. (I'm the one saying "WHAT?" in the first panel)
  (tags: movies predator comic)
• Ofcom are going to tweak the way that phone numbers work in the UK. Seems like an improvement, especially for mobile users.
  (tags: Telephone phones mobile_phones uk)
• Prisoners serving fewer than four years to get vote
  (tags: law voting)
• Woman With No Fear Intrigues Scientists
  (tags: brain fear research science psychology)
• If you buy a digital file then you're not covered under UK consumer protection legislation.
  (tags: digital music technology)
• Why we need an impact assessment of drugs policy
  (tags: drugs law government uk)
• I hear the past was in Black and White - pairs of photos of the same locations from the past and present. Fascinating.
  (tags: photography scotland history)
• Mobile phone masts correlated with sharp rise in birth rates
  (tags: statistics funny mobile_phones technology science)

Comments

[fub.livejournal.com]

It is refreshing to read an article in mainstream media that explains correlation and causality in such a clear way. More people need to read this -- I've posted it on my twitter and will report in my LJ. Thanks!

[andrewducker]

Yeah, it's a good one. The Guardian's science pages tend to get actual scientists to write stuff, which makes a nice change.

[draconid.livejournal.com]

Just don't read the comments on the article - far too many people are missing the point!

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

True, but there are some gems, like this one:
"Two possibilities

The sight of a mobile phone mast creates associations in women's brains and stimulates their sexual appetite.

It is easier to have sex when talking on a mobile phone, than when talking on a fixed line phone."

[draconid.livejournal.com]

Yes, I did quite like that one. :)

[spacelem.livejournal.com]

Which article was that?

[momentsmusicaux.livejournal.com]

Yes, well written. It exposes the fundamental flaw in the data:

"As the population of an area goes up, so do both the number of mobile phone users and the number people giving birth."

Wha---? The birth rate figure is only meaningful in this context if it's expressed RELATIVE TO THE POPULATION DENSITY!!!!! Otherwise, it's just balls. The number of Tesco Metros is proportional to the birth rate; doesn't mean people are screwing in the aisles!