{"id":3041,"date":"2012-05-10T23:30:17","date_gmt":"2012-05-11T03:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=3041"},"modified":"2013-01-09T11:26:29","modified_gmt":"2013-01-09T16:26:29","slug":"7-quick-takes-51112","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/05\/7-quick-takes-51112.html","title":{"rendered":"7 Quick Takes (5\/11\/12)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>\u2014 1 \u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Ideological Turing Test for Religion<\/a> is gearing up for another go round. \u00a0It\u2019s a contest where Atheists and Christians test how well they understand each other. \u00a0Contestants try to write from the perspective of the other side, and the readers see if they can tell true from false. \u00a0We\u2019re finalizing the list of questions<\/a> this weekend, so please do weigh in on what kinds of prompts would elicit very different responses from atheists and Christians.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u2014 2 \u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t blog about work here, but luckily all the context you need for the next take is that I do a lot of statistical analysis, some of it related to bank reform, and I\u2019m pretty tough. \u00a0You see, when I mentioned to a friend I was listening to Sweeney Todd<\/em> at work, a\u00a0collaborative\u00a0relyricization was born.<\/p>\n

LEAH LEANS ON THE OFFICE WALL,
\nLEAH WAITS ON THE WASHINGTON MALL.
\nNO ONE CAN HELP, NOTHING CAN HIDE YOU \u2013
\nISN\u2019T THAT LEAH THERE BESIDE YOU?<\/p>\n

LIFT YOUR DATA HIGH, LEAH,
\nSHOW IT TO THE PRESS!
\nDEATH TO CARDS AND BANKS THAT SHOULD CHARGE
\nCLIENTS LESS!<\/p>\n

SHE\u2019D SENT OUT SURVEYS NEAR AND FAR
\nAND RUN THE NUMBERS TWICE IN R
\nAND IF YOU ARGUED WITH DATA SHE MINED
\nIT WAS HIGHLY PROBABLE YOU WOULD FIND
\nYOU\u2019D EXPERIENCE RIGOR OF A DIFFERENT KIND
\nYOUR EPITAPH SIGNED:
\nTHE DEMON STATISTICIAN OF DC<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Look, it\u2019s not for nothing that the picture at the top of this take was my favorite birthday present last year.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u2014 3 \u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, as you can tell, I\u2019m pretty cool, but this guy who makes fractal pancakes<\/a> is way cooler.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u2014 4 \u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

The internet has made it easy to put hire humans for weird tasks, and I love the way Matt Richardson has put this to use. \u00a0He\u2019s created what he calls a \u201cdescriptive camera<\/a>.\u201d \u00a0Instead of recording an image, it outputs a text description of the scene you just shot. \u00a0He\u2019s using Amazon\u2019s Mechanical Turk program to farm out the work. \u00a0Humans\u00a0receive\u00a0the image and type up a description, which the camera then prints out. \u00a0Here\u2019s one \u2018descriptive image\u2019 generated so far:<\/p>\n

Looks like a cupboard which is ugly and old having name plates on it with a study lamp attached to it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/a>\u2014 5 \u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The last take linked to descriptions of pictures and this project collects pictures that all match one description: What would you take out of a fire?<\/a> <\/em>My favorite is above.<\/p>\n

I wonder if, as more data moves to the cloud, computers will drop out of these shots. \u00a0I wouldn\u2019t like to lose something expensive<\/em>, but I\u2019d really run back in for my external hard drive at least because I don\u2019t want to lose something irreplaceable<\/em>.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u2014 6 \u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Via io9<\/a>, the cool-looking trailer for Argo<\/em>, Ben Afflect\u2019s new too-weird-to be-fictional movie about the U.S. faking a science fiction movie as cover to smuggle out six American hostages in Iran (they got out and hid themselves before all the other embassy workers were rounded up).<\/p>\n