80% of US college admissions departments check your Facebook Profile

A recent Kaplan survey found that admissions departments at 80% of US top colleges “visit potential students’ online Facebook profiles during their recruiting process.” The obvious advice is to keep your Facebook profile private.

Read more here: Report: 80% of College Admissions Departments Check Applicants’ Facebook Pages | Geekosystem

How to beat the IBM Watson supercomputer

How to beat our new computer overlord Watson:

Found on: 

Geekolinks: 2/24 | Geekosystem

Geek Hierarchy Chart

Funny geek hierarchy chart: Which geeks consider themselves less geeky than other geeks.

You might also be interested in the Geek Maslow pyramid of needs and the Evolution of Geek.

NY Times Geek Flowchart (Click to Enlarge)

Geek Diagram

[Source: BCO | Via Geeks are Sexy]

Map of the Fantasy Worlds

Cartoonist Dan Meth has completed what he regards as the complete map of the Fantasy Universe. I wonder how Dan Meth decided that Wonderland shares borders with Middle earth.
Found here: Map of the Fantasy World | Geekosystem

Geek Maslow Pyramid of Needs

(by loulouk)

Robots Share Knowledge to Learn from Experience

Dr. Markus Waibel of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) believes that what’s holding robots back is their inability to send and receive new information over the internet like humans do. To combat this problem, and hopefully propel robot development in the process, the Swiss team are developing RoboEarth — a repository of data that robots can use to learn new tasks and expand through their own experiences. At its core, RoboEarth is a World Wide Web for robots: a giant network and database repository where robots can share information and learn from each other about their behavior and their environment. RoboEarth is part of the Cognitive Systems and Robotics Initiative from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme.

Read more here: Robots Share Knowledge On Robot Wikipedia RoboEarth | Geekosystem

The Human Radio Bubble in the Milky Way

The first AM radio broadcast was on Christmas Eve, 1906, and the opening ceremony of the 1936 Olympics is regarded as the first video signal powerful enough to be carried into space.


How far did human-generated radio and video signals travel since then? Our radio bubble is about 200 light years (the diameter of the small blue dot in the enlarged section below). Compared to the vast size of the Milky Way (which is just one of many galaxies in the universe), our own presence seems rather insignificant. 


[Click on picture to see it full size.]

Read more here: The Extent of Human Radio Broadcasts in the Milky Way | Geekosystem

Indian Supreme Court declares Astrology a Science

According to The Times of India, an Indian NGO called Janhit Manch filed the public interest litigation. But as the Supreme Court of India has already ruled that astrology is a science, the Mumbai High Court dismissed the case on February 3rd 2011. So far as prayer related to astrology is concerned, the Supreme Court has already considered the issue and ruled that astrology is a science. The Court had in 2004 also directed the universities to consider if astrology science can be added to the syllabus. The decision of the apex court is binding on this court.

This incidence reflects the struggle India finds itself in: Establishing India as an urban technology and science power, while large parts of the population are strongly religious and believe in astrology (including Supreme Court judges).

Read more here: Short Sharp Science: Indian court considers astrology a science

Does the Internet make children more gullible?

Professor Donald Leu, University of Connecticut, and colleagues showed teenagers a fictional website about a "tree octopus" and many took it for fact. The authors of the study conclude that schools need to teach students how to critically evaluate the trustworthiness of internet ressources.

The question arises how do you effectively judge the trustworthiness of a website? Do you trust information because it's being presented by a major website (for example the New York Times or BBC)? Do you trust a site that has a professional layout? To what degree can you trust information on Wikipedia? How do you find out about hidden agendas behind certain websites (for example pharmaceutical companies which host medical information websites)?

Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com