barefoot

It looks like we're slowly getting there. See the Luminous engine, for example:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/square-enixs-new-gaming-...

> At the very least, the name of the tool is trademark infringement and the derivative logo is copyright infringement.

I wouldn't say that for sure. I'm not a lawyer but I would guess that the use of the name and logo would pass as a parody.

I wonder how much of the documented improvement is placebo effect?

Even if it didn't directly improve focus it seems like it would be a great placebo. Nine volt batteries are probably commonly perceived as being powerful. They are used in stun guns, for example. You also experience unusual side effects after it's applied, further removing any doubt that something unique is happening to you.

Why doesn't Zynga do behavioral targeting?

Agreed: When I work on a block of code I am quickest at making changes to it within the hour (as I still have it's design and structure loaded into my brain).

I'm slower to make the same changes after a few days or a week, and even more so after six months.

My experience is that I'm not alone. Well structured code, unit tests, and documentation help - but will never eliminate the work of loading the system into your brain again.

Be careful about how you phrase "no". Sometimes an explanation of what's involved, previous times on similar tasks, and a question ("sure, would you like me to go ahead and start now?" after explaining that it will likely take two hours instead of two minutes) goes a lot further.

Neither of those links contain credible information, which is one reason you are receiving downvotes.

The book on Amazon was interesting. I clicked through and had a look at the reviews. Startlingly, it appeared to be rated exceptionally well, with an average of four and a half stars over two hundred votes.

The first comment on the page was a glowing review from someone who claimed to be an electrical engineer with an understanding of science.

Really?

The reviews on Amazon used to be good. Now, it's difficult to trust them. I don't think you can explain the Book rating solely through the scientifically illiterate nodding along.

Maybe I'm in the minority but I like the beach photo.

How about making it a paid subscription service instead? I would subscribe to that.

Developers have their identity confirmed (to avoid anonymous business-bashing) and can freely discuss bad (and possibly good) experiences with businesses.

The membership agreement could explain that no emotional or biased comments would be allowed and would encourage some level of explanation of why the client did not pay along with proof in the form of bounced checks, etc...

At what point does it make sense to involve a lawyer? $5,000? $10,000? Isn't it expensive to legally fight for your payment?

Agreed, I think replacing waitresses with touchscreens removes an important part of the whole dining out experience.

A touchscreen waiter seems very cold and utilitarian. It reminds me of the cheap LCD displays that have replaced gas station attendants. Almost all of the gas stations that I've used recently have them, and they all have very poorly worded prompts that show no regard for the time that I spend interacting with it.

I can't help but feel that we're headed the same route with eating food:

WELCOME. PLEASE SWIPE CARD.

SELECT FOOD.

THANK YOU. DISPENSING FOOD. PRESS ENTER DESERT?

COME AGAIN. SPC. 2 MEAL LOBSTER FRIDAY.

That's not the experience I'm looking for when I want to go out on a friday night. I want a real person to show up at the table and all of the imperfections that comes bundled along with it.

Is that just because it's what I'm used to? Will our kids grow up in a world without waiters and not even care?

Could be, but how do you explain the (nearly) 10% who never used their iPads?

>> The iPad is also mentioned: 9 per cent of respondents claim that they are yet to use their new device because they "haven't gotten round to it" or because "it isn't fully charged".

Scanning the barcode and then doing a lookup of your flight reservation against your ID is far superior than just checking the printed name against your ID.

Can you recommend any books related to the different modes you mentioned?

I think there's a better solution for e-mail. The moment it reaches the server the UI unblocks.

Later, if there is an issue with sending your e-mail it alerts you inside your browser. If you're unreachable through your web browser it sends you a text. What's wrong with that?

This was really well written, thanks.

I ended up clicking over to the (very interesting) wikipedia definition.

Does anyone know what the purpose of the Maple syrup handle is?

I don't think that all expectations are equal. It's possible that I'm in the minority, but I try to be mindful of my expectations and control for them.

When my brain is trying to anticipate what will be the best experience for dinner on Friday night I am aware of a mixture of expectations for each option I consider.

Some of the expectations are rational: The semi-expensive restaurant I like is extremely consistent in quality and I know that the food will be cooked with precision using expensive tools and modern techniques, resulting in a higher quality entree (and better experience).

At the same time, some of my expectations about the restaurant are irrational. For example, I can identify feelings that they food quality will be much better than at similarly rated restaurants that I have not visited. Having visited the restaurant several times I'm now afflicted by mere exposure effect, among other cognitive biases.

I don't think of myself as being a super-rational machine, but I know that just following my intuition alone when it comes to expectations is not going to yield the best future experiences.

Does anyone have a screen shot for those of us without the ability to hover?

Would jQuery still function?

How do I sign up?

This is one of the reasons I love programs like open courseware.

Thanks for sharing this. Do you have any tips for things to look out for?

Thanks for this.

Nice try, Wal-Mart marketing department.

But a lot of companies don't need phone sales representatives anymore. They can do nearly the same thing with Adwords account and a decent landing page. Both of which can be setup for less than a days pay of a phone representative.

Pick another position that scales with production or demand and you'll invariably find similar automation that has been introduced in the past ten years.

Your argument is the common objection to this idea and it's all well and good up to the part where you say that technology only creates frictional unemployment "as people re-train". Here's the problem as I see it. Technology is advancing, rapidly, to the point that humans are not able to compete in a general sense and in a number of fields.

If you're edged out of a job as a human it's getting more and more difficult to re-train. If it were easy to re-train in a lot of cases it would be automated already.

Being a (rational) software developer gives you an interesting edge un understanding this stuff. I've been involved in the automation of a number of things that have directly eliminated the need for human involvement and so it's something I think about often as kind of a modern Loom builder.

It's chilling to think that even if the state of technology would stop today that the level of automation would continue to rise rapidly. Every time I go out of the house I'm struck by the how many humans are not really needed and could be replaced with off the shelf technology that existed several years ago.

I don't think that we need to get to the point of extremely advanced AI before this starts making a dent in the economy.

Unless I'm missing something, I don't think it's been "revealed as a viral marketing campaign". So, Jonathan's company has worked with Starbucks in the past - am I missing something? Is that the extent of what we're working with here? If so, you might as well conclusively claim that I'm a Starbucks employee paid in part to sweep all of this under the rug.

Exactly, and he's talking about the human practice of neuroscience. When we manage to build a sufficiently advanced AI we can set it to work on these types of problems, that's what's exciting to me.

"and that caused Google to back off the research". Do you have an article or other sources for this? It sounds very interesting.