Interesting Links for 20-06-2012

[andrewducker]

• Labour is changing its attitude towards disabled people.
  (tags: disabilities uk welfare labour )
• 7 things never to say to anyone, and why
  (tags: advice communication language )
• City of Ruins: A recreation of what Warsaw looked like after it was bombed flat.
  (tags: video history war poland )
• Sorry, Young Man, You're Not the Most Important Demographic in Tech
  (tags: Technology demographics men women )
• Cookies: Categorically bigger than God.
  (tags: funny god food )
• KITTEN TANK!
  (tags: funny military cat )
• Erdos-Bacon-Sabbath Numbers: The People at the Center of the Universe
  (tags: KevinBacon BlackSabbath PaulErdos )
• Scientists block excess aggression in mice
  (tags: emotion anger mice )
• Washington's 5 Worst Arguments for Keeping Secrets From You
  (tags: secrecy government usa )

Comments

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

My sister in law actually has a Bacon number.

[spacelem.livejournal.com]

I will have an Erdos number pretty soon (something disappointing like 4/5 I suspect), but I also have a Higgs number of 3/4, in that my supervisor's supervisor's supervisor was Peter Higgs. You know, that guy who has one of the most elementary parts of the universe named after him :D

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EDIT (or delete and repost because now Livejournal won't allow you to preview your posts, WTF is up with that?)
I have no idea if these numbers are counting from 0 or 1. Generally I prefer to index from 1 (cardinality and ordinality are different, damn it!), but I'd be happy to regard this as a distance, thus making the Erdos number 4, and the Higgs number 3.

[johncoxon.livejournal.com]

Do uncredited roles count, or is it only credited ones?

[johncoxon.livejournal.com]

I think it's necessary to define 0 as being Kevin Bacon/Paul Erdos/Black Sabbath, or the mathematics would break. That means that, if you publish with them, your number is 1.

[ggreig]

I have an Erdős number of 3. For the one paper with my name on it!

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

There's a website which works out of one's Bacon role based on the Interment Movie Database.

My SIL had a couple of credited roles in small indie Aussie films by some guy who went on to work in movies properly - hence having a Bacon number

I'd say you had to have a credit but I don't think it's a Thing with Rules.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

I had always heard examples where being an extra counted, but I'm not sure if there's official rules. Presumably the vast majority of links are by credited actors simply because they're easier to track.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

(Obviously being credited in a film is more impressive, although I would assume the majority of people who've been in a film even as an extra have a Bacon number.)

[channelpenguin.livejournal.com]

Given Jon (our bassist) filled in for Geezer Butler in 2 weeks of dress rehearsals, do I get a Sabbath number of 2?

[channelpenguin.livejournal.com]

it was looking for a time like I might get a Sabbath number of 1 this summer, but that now seems unlikely :-(

[andrewducker]

Definitely!

[channelpenguin.livejournal.com]

wheeee!!!!

[inamac.livejournal.com]

Practically every South of England child who went to drama school in the early 2000s has a fairly high Bacon number by virtue of having been in the Potter movies. Some of them are bound to earn Erdos/Sabbath numbers too.

And reading through the comments on that women in tech article has made me want to castrate the next male techie salesman I meet with a blunt spoon. (Having spent 20 minutes this morning hanging on for T-Mobile support did not help).

[andrewducker]

Reading almost any article about women in tech, women in gaming, or women in any kind of geeky circles tends to make me want to punch people in the nuts.

Which is a shame, as I know numerous lovely men in tech, and numerous well treated women. I just seem to living in a bubble!