Silver Touch

One interesting detail lost in the election coverage yesterday (outside the fantastic tales of voter resurrection and mid-labor ballot casting), is how analyst Nate Silver went 50 for 50 on calling all the state projections.  Data, kids, data...

The Fivethirtyeight.com (by-way-of-NYT) blogger and his political calculus had been targeted by pundits leading up to the election, but his relentless crunching of voter and polling data gave him a 100% success rate.  Rather than "going with his gut" as most talking heads have done, Silver and his algorithms spewed out the results, cold and unbiased.  Back in 2008, his model correctly called 49 out of 50 states - his only misstep was on Indiana, which went to Obama by 0.1%.  Best of all, Silver's mathmagical prowess have earned him many followers who extol his virtue on par with other living legends as Chuck Norris and Mr. T.  Here are just some of his amazing abilities:

• When Alexander Bell invented the telephone he had 3 missed calls from Nate Silver.

• Nate Silver threw a grenade and killed 50 people, then it exploded.

• Nate Silver can delete the Recycling Bin.

• Nate Silver once got bit by a rattle snake. After three days of pain and agony... the rattle snake died.

• Nate Silver doesn't use pickup lines, he simply says, "Now."

• Nate Silver can suffocate a pillow with a man.

• Nate Silver once had a heart attack; his heart lost.

• Nate Silver doesn't call the wrong number. You answer the wrong phone.

• Nate Silver can speak French... In Russian.

• When a zombie apocalypses starts, Nate Silver doesn't try to survive. The zombies do. 

• Ghosts sit around campfires and tell Nate Silver stories.

• Nate Silver lost his virginity before his dad did.

• Nate Silver can unscramble an egg.

• Some magicians can walk on water, Nate Silver can swim through land.

• Nate Silver can set ants on fire with a magnifying glass. At night.

•  There used to be a street named after Nate Silver, but it was changed because nobody crosses Nate Silver and lives.

•  Fear of spiders is arachnophobia, fear of tight spaces is claustrophobia, fear of Nate Silver is called Logic

•  Nate Silver's computer has no "backspace" button; Nate silver doesn't make mistakes.

• Nate Silver can build a snowman out of rain.

• Nate Silver has already been to Mars; that's why there's no life there anymore.

• Nate Silver can hear sign language.

• Nate Silver can light a fire by rubbing two ice-cubes together.

• Nate Silver can slam a revolving door.

So Go The Redskins...

If you believe in tradition, superstition  or pigskin, tomorrow's election results have already been prognosticated.

When the Carolina Panthers beat the Washington Redskins 21-13 yesterday, according to the "Redskins Rule", Mitt Romney will be the next president. When the Redskins won their last home game prior to the presidential election, the incumbent party retained the White House (and by converse, if the Redskins lost their last home game prior to the election, the out-of-power party won the election).

For 15 presidential elections from 1940 (when the team arrived from Boston) through 1996, the rule held fast, and in 2000, when the Tennessee Titans beat the Redskins, it  would mean a victory for the party not previously elected - the Republicans. Though Al Gore won the popular vote, George W. Bush defeated Al Gore in the election.  This played a factor in the 2004 election, as a Redskins loss to the Green Bay Packers would have meant a Democratic party president, but since Gore technically won the vote, it would still (arguably) hold true.

It was eventually rejiggered as Redskins Rule 2.0, saying that when the popular vote winner does not win the election, on the subsequent presidential election gets flipped.  So if you buy into that, Romney will either win outright tomorrow, or Obama will lose the popular vote but still take the Electoral College.  Given the awful first few games with the replacement referees at the start of the season, I'm already putting an asterisk on the NFL this year...(but I hope Black Jesus wins over Magic Pants).

Touchin' And Takin' With The TSA

The Quick And The Rich

They can't make the deal official until July 1, but the LA Kings - pardon me, the 2012 Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings have agreed to contract terms with goaltender stud Jonathan Quick.  Fuck. Yes!

GM Machiavelli Dean Lombardi announced the 10 year contract extension today, which will kick in after the upcoming season, and will be a generous pay raise from the $1.8 he's currently making - reportedly worth $58 million.  Quick won the Conn Smythe (playoff MVP) this year, and basically carried the team to and through the playoffs.  Not bad for the 26-year-old who was the 72nd overall (third round) draft pick in 2005.  His 2011-2012 season was record setting for the team, and he dominated the NHL: a league leading 10 shutouts, second in goals-against average with 1.95 - or first among goalies who played more than 40 games, tied for fifth with 35 wins and a .929 save percentage (.929) - quite a feat for playing 69 games.

Quick was even better during the 2012 Playoffs - in 20 games Quick compiled 16 wins while leading all playoff goaltenders with a 1.41 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage (3rd best all-time for goalies with at least 10 games played), and a trio of shutouts.  After surviving the awful Cechmanek / Cloutier era, knowing Quick is locked up until 2023 is comforting.  This also means backup goaltender Jonathan Bernier is not long for this world team and will likely be tradebait as he too has a year left on his contract, though it is uncertain when he could be moved.

Now, enjoy the franchise records set by Quick:

ALL-TIME KINGS RECORDS:

• GAA (2.30)

• Save Percentage (.916)

• Win Streak (nine, Jan. 21-Feb. 6, 2010)

• Shutout Streak (three, Oct. 18-22, 2011)

• Scoreless Streak (202:11 third period Oct. 15, 2011 through first period Oct. 22, 2011)

SINGLE-SEASON KINGS RECORDS

• Games Played (72 in 2009-10)

• Wins (39 in 2009-10) GAA (1.95 in 2011-12)

• Save Percentage (.929 in 2011-12)

• Minutes Played (4,258 in 2009-10)

• Shutouts (10 in 2011-12)

• Home Shutouts (seven in 2011-12)

• Road Shutouts (four in 2008-09 and 2010-11)

• Rookie GAA (2.48 in 2008-09 – tied by Jonathan Bernier in 2010-11)

• Rookie Shutouts (four in 2008-09 – tied with Jamie Storr in 1998-99, Mario Lessard in 1978-79 and Gerry Desjardins in 1968-69)

• Shootout Wins (10 in 2010-11)

• Shootout Save Percentage (.818 in 2010-11)

• Shootout Win Percentage (1.000 in 2010-11: 10-0)

OTHER KINGS GOALTENDING RECORDS

• First with 30 wins three straight seasons (2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12)

• First with three road shutouts in one month (Dec. 2010)

• Most saves in a shutout (51, Dec. 13, 2010 at DET, 5-0 Win)

• Fastest to 20 wins in one season (36th team game in 2009-10)

• Fastest to 30 wins in one season (54th team game in 2009-10)

• Fastest to 100 wins (185th career game)

ALL-TIME KINGS PLAYOFF RECORDS:

• GAA (2.12)

• Save Percentage (.926)

• Shutouts (4)

• Win Streak (eight, April 22-May 17, 2012)

• Road Win Streak – cumulative (12, April 16, 2011 – June 2, 2012 – NHL record)

ALL-TIME KINGS PLAYOFF SINGLE-SEASON RECORDS

• Games Played (20 in 2012 – tied with Kelly Hrudey in 1993)

• Wins (16 in 2012) GAA (1.41 in 2012)

• Save Percentage (.946 in 2012 – tied NHL record for goalies with at least 10GP)

• Shutouts (3 in 2012)

• Road Wins (10 – tied NHL record)

• Home Win Streak (3, May 3-May 17, 2012 – tied club record)

• Road Win Streak – one year (10, April 11-June 2, 2012 – NHL record)

OTHER KINGS PLAYOFF GOALTENDING RECORDS:

• Most shots faced, regulation game (52, April 23, 2011 at SJ, 3-1 Win)

• Most saves, regulation game (51, April 23, 2011 at SJ, 3-1 Win)

• Most shots faced, one period (23, April 13, 2012 at VAN, 4-2 Win) Most saves, one period (22, Apr. 13, 2012 at VAN, 4-2 Win)

NHL AWARDS/ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Conn Smythe Trophy in 2012 NHL

• Second-Team All-Star in 2012 NHL All-Star in 2012

• Vezina Trophy Finalist in 2012

• NHL Star of the Week (Eight Times: No. 1 three times, No. 2 two times, No. 3 three times)

KINGS AWARDS/ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Kings MVP (Bill Libby Memorial Award) in 2011-12

• Kings Best Defensive Player in 2011-12

• Kings Most Inspirational Player (Ace Bailey Memorial Award) in 2011-12

• Most Popular Player in 2011-12

Data, By The Minute

(click to gigantify)

Murderquake

Researchers believe they have discovered a link between the behavior of serial killers and the same mathematical patterns obeyed by sporadic events like earthquakes, avalanches, stock market crashes.  You mean it was an equation and not Satan talking to them through a dog that is to blame?

Mikhail Simkin and Vwani Roychowdhury are electrical engineers at UCLA, and they modeled the behavior of Andrei Chikatilo, aka the "Rostov Ripper", who murdered 53 people in Rostov, Russia between 1978 and 1990.  Sometimes Chikatilo went years without a killing, other times just days - and the researchers found that the seemingly random spacing of his murders followed a mathematical distribution known as a power law.

When the number of days between Chikatilo's murders was plotted against the number of times he waited that number of days, the results form a near-straight line on a type of graph called a log-log plot, which is the same if you plot the magnitude of earthquakes against the number of times each magnitude has occurred.  Simkin and Roychowdhury hypothesize this effect causes epileptics to have seizures or serial killers to commit murder - a simultaneous firing of large number of neurons in the brain.

A single neuron firing in the brain can potentially trigger the firing of thousands of others, each of which can in turn trigger thousands more. This mostly dies down, but sometimes, at time intervals determined by the power law, neuronal activity surpasses a threshold. Following their theory, it would cause the expected result in nature or people. Of course, a study would need to look at larger set of cases to determine whether the data holds or it was merely a chance correlation.

The Elite Apple Juice And Graham Cracker Institution

Here's a giant fuck you to the Trinity School in New York, which is more difficult to get into than Harvard. Because trust fund babies and aristocratic little snot-noses need to start somewhere, right? The Week has this sickening statistical comparison:

• Number of kindergarten seats at the Trinity School, "one of New York's most competitive schools": 62

• Number of applicants for those 62 seats: 762

• Number of kindergarten seats automatically filled by siblings of Trinity students: 33

• Number of kindergarten seats that automatically went to children of alumni, "who also get a leg up": 11

• Number of kindergarten seats that automatically went to the child of a Trinity staff member: 1

• Number of spaces remaining for the 711 prospective kindergarteners from families with no previous ties to Trinity: 17

• Percentage chance that each of those prospective kindergarteners would secure one of the 17 remaining seats: 2.4

• Percentage acceptance rate at Harvard University: 6.4

• Number of freshmen admitted into Harvard's fall class: 2,158

• Number of applicants for that class: 34,950

• Cost of yearly tuition at Trinity School: $36,870

• Cost of yearly tuition at Harvard University: $36,305

How The Girl Scout Cookie Sales Crumble

Saving You 16 Hours Of Movie Watching

(click pic to enlarge)

The National Post made this awesome infographic showing how each of Jason’s victims died, from Friday the 13th Part II through Freddy vs. Jason.

Must Be A Hell Of A Read

Interested in Peter Lawrence's The Making of a Fly?  Published in 1992, it's currently out of print and beneficial to developmental biologists. And if you've got $23,698,655.93, you can pick up a new copy!

A used copy sells for only $35, but brand new, you'll get raped in the pocketbook. It was the work of an algorithmic pricing strategy between two companies, Bordeebook and Profnath.

Michael Eisen, who tracked this price escalation, first noted the Bordeebook was 1.270589 times the price of the copy offered by Profnath. Shortly after another price increase, the Bordeebook copy was 1.270589 times Profnath again. Basically, Profnath set their price to be 0.9983 times Bordeebook's price once a day. The prices would be fairly close for hours, until Bordeebook "noticed" Profnath's change and raised their price to 1.270589 times Profnath's higher price. The pattern continued perfectly for the next week of his observation.

Everybody is worried that Skynet is going to take out the human race, but it could be Amazon and a program that kills it with over the top prices first.

Cars And Effect

Nearly six in seven U.S. adults now wear seat belts. And the seventh? They're dead.

This increase in driver safety has helped cut motor vehicle deaths and injuries, according to the Center for Disease Control. Wow, I though the CDC just worried about ebola and bird flu, not traffic accidents. About 85% of adults in a 2008 survey said they wear seat belts, up from under 81% in 2002. Only 11% wore them in 1982, before the first state law requiring seat belt use.

The slow growing use of belts has lead to a decline of more than 15% in non-fatal vehicle crash injuries from 2001 to 2009. Traffic fatalities also fell in 2009 to 33,808, the lowest number since 1950. But don't worry my blood thirsty friends, there will always be some morons who have trouble with the simple task of clicking a belt - it's thinning the herd from the inside, one car at a time.

G.I. Don't Know

Give us your tired, your poor huddled masses...and then give machine guns to the stupid - because nearly one-fourth of the students who try to join the military fail their entrance exam. Perhaps we should ask ourselves if we want our well-honed killing machines to be able to answer basic math, science and reading questions...

The report by The Education Trust found that 23% of recent high school graduates don't get the minimum score needed on the enlistment test to join any branch of the military. Since when did cannon fodder need to pass a test? Isn't the military one of the last havens for the truly stupid to have a career? It's not like there's thousands of positions at McDonalds opening each year because fry cooks are stepping on IEDs.

To make matters worse, Pentagon data that shows 75% of applicants for the armed services aged 17 to 24 don't qualify for the military because they are physically unfit, have a criminal record or didn't graduate high school. The Department of Defense says it is still meeting its recruitment goals, but worry it could change as the economy improves. There must be something about not getting shot while working for Best Buy that is appealing.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said, "I am deeply troubled by the national security burden created by America's under performing education system," and while that also means he's not doing his job correctly, is it the failing of the system or just stupid kids? Kenneth Jackson (19) a recent enlistee says passing the entrance exam is easy for those who paid attention in school, and blamed the education system for why more recruits aren't able to pass the test. Settle down, showoff! "The classes need to be tougher because people aren't learning enough," he said.

So G.I. Genius thinks that the classes are too easy and that's why applicants are failing? If the result from what's currently administered is nearly 1/4 failing, how can you think making the curriculum more difficult is going to benefit test takers positively? And this guy passed the test? We all know there are some serious shortcomings with the school system, but making school harder for dumb motherfuckers isn't going boost the entry scores.

The Education Trust study shows wide disparities in scores among white and minority students (close to 40% of black students and 30% of Hispanics, compared to 16% of whites), so everybody can jump to all the socio-economic conclusions they want, but if that was the case, why does Wyoming have the lowest passage rate (13%) - not quite the Latino and African American hotbed like other states. On the test, the average score for blacks is 38 and for Hispanics is 44, compared to whites' average score of 55, which according to reports reflect similar racial gaps on other standardized exams.

I am trying to avoid those elements for sake of discussion, because my real point is that stupid people are stupid. You can fault a poor educational system, but is that really to blame? Even the best mechanic can't repair a shitty engine. There are great opportunities in the military, and having an educated defense is desirable, but the smarter kids are going to go to college and careers - places they're less likely to get killed by an enemy. Besides, why do you think the entry level soldiers are called "grunts"?

...And On The Seventh Day, We Were Still Stupid

A new Gallup poll has confirmed what I have known for quite some time - Americans are stupid lot who contaminate society with their irreparably damaged gene pool, and should be kept from breeding.

A poll released December 17 reveals that 40% of Americans still believe that humans were created by God within the last 10,000 years. That means four out of 10 people should not be allowed to reproduce. Can we even take comfort that the number is down from a previous high of 47% in both 1993 and 1999?

Another 38% believe that humans have "evolved from more basic organisms but with God playing a role in the process", while 16% of the respondents feel that humans have evolved with no divine guidance ("secular evolution"). However, this number has nearly doubled from nine percent of respondents in a poll from 1982.

Aside from driving me crazy, the poll also revealed confirmed the long known notion that beliefs in creationism and evolution are strongly related to levels of education attained. When looking at respondents with college degrees, only 37% maintained belief in creationism, while belief in evolution without the aid of God rose to 21%. Wow, there are a lot of shitty colleges out there that are not doing their job if they have that many graduates buying into creationism.

And to no one's surprise, Republicans (52%) outweigh Democrats and Independents (34%) in buying into the Bible and not biology. Those who attend church on a weekly basis believed in creationism far more than "secular evolution" - 60% to a mere 2% (those must be the boyfriends dragged there). For those who rarely or never attend religious services, the numbers are practically the reverse.

It's just like last year's poll on Darwin - terrifying data about how this country is barely clinging to the intelligence to keep if functional.

The Hurt Locker

Maybe the NFL is on to something trying to curb helmet-to-helmet hits...

In yesterday's games, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers left with a concussion, and both Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Heath Miller and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Derek Anderson sat out entirely due to of head injuries.  That's just a snapshot of the trouble the league is having with concussions, and their data does them no favors either. The number of concussions being reported this season is up more than 20% from 2009, and more than 30% from 2008.  Brain damage - it's America's game!

The NFL's data shows 154 concussions (from practices or games) reported from the start of the preseason through the eighth week of the 2010 regular season. Datahounds will note a 21% the same point in the 2009 season (127), or 34% from 2008 (115). Dr. Hunt Batjer (you never considered changing that the whole time you were getting your credientials?), co-chairman of the NFL's head, neck and spine medical committee, called the numbers "a great sign." Thanks, ambulance chaser!

The spin is that the higher numbers mean more atheletes are reporting their issues. "We're trying to make sure that players have the message: Playing through pain is good; playing through pain is what sports are about. But that's leg pain. That's arm pain. Not brain injury." Sure, but even your players don't know what is an accepatable hit and which brain-mashing ones are going to cost them games and fines.  And they know the risks going into it:

“I think ever since we were young playing this game, we’re taught to be violent. A lot of things need to be corrected if players’ health and safety is such an issue. You look at some of the hits, and they were legal hits. They weren’t even helmet-to-helmet. I think this is just the way the game is evolving. Guys are getting bigger, guys are getting stronger, faster, and hits are going to get more violent. Hopefully, it doesn’t take away from the game of football, though. That’s the one concern I have. I’ve seen guys who have just hit someone so hard that ref thinks it has to be a penalty. It’s one of those things that as a defensive player, you go for the big hit, you look for the big hit, you look forward to it... It’s a very wishy-washy situation. Here’s another situation, too. You’re going to get guys avoiding the head and then they’re going to start going for the knees and then you’re going to start seeing more ACL tears than ever before. Then you’re going to have six-month injuries instead of 2-3-week concussions. I don’t know what you’re going to do. It’s a violent game. It’s a game that people love to watch because it is violent. There’s big hits and there’s big collisions and just a lot of activity. That’s something for the NFL to decide, how they’re going to correct it.” - Linebacker Brian Cushing

“I really don’t care about that [the potential of increased enforcement]. My biggest thing is to get the guy on the ground, get the guy on the ground. I could care less what happens with that, but the NFL’s going to do what they have to do. I think we can’t worry about any of that. We have to worry about ourselves. We have to do what we have to do to tell a team to stop throwing the ball over the middle. This game is built around offensive players. It really is. This game is built for offensive players. But I think me as a defensive player, I’m smart enough, I can adjust the way I hit and adjust the way I’m doing things, and I will.” - Strong safety Bernard Pollard

“I always approached it like you might as well catch it because you’re going to get hit, anyway. When you look at it, it’s hard for both sides, I think, because when you see most receivers go up for a ball in the air, after they catch the ball, most of the times the first thing they do is tuck their head and try to ball up and protect themselves. You look at a defensive guy, you see a guy jumping at him, the first thing they do try to tuck their head, too, to try to protect themselves. I think that’s what kind of leads to a lot of helmet-to-helmet hits. I don’t know; it’s tough because the sport is violent. I wouldn’t say guys are trying to intentionally hurt you on purpose, but a lot of the times, guys are just out there playing, man. They just go and hit you. I don’t really think they’re thinking about the helmet-to helmet contact.” - Wide receiver Andre Johnson

“It’s good to protect the players, I guess. You don’t want to take the aggression out of the game at all. I think some of it’s been taken away. But I think when it’s blatant and they’re going for the head, then you’ve got to address those issues. I don’t know if it’ll affect our mindset going across the middle at all. You’re still going to get hit, it’s still probably going to hurt. (That won’t change) just because they’re trying to protect us. I think most guys aren’t aiming for the head out there. They’re probably just trying to dislodge the ball and trying to be fair and trying to play the game clean. Most of those guys are just playing hard and trying to make good hits. So I don’t think it’ll change much.” - tight end Owen Daniels

“I don’t have nothing against it [a potential new policy]. I don’t want to take those licks. You can’t really fault those guys because they’re being football players, and you don’t want to take anything away from them being physical. They're just playing football. You can’t be mad at them.” - wide receiver Jacoby Jones

That was a painful amount of blockquote, but it does illustrate the reality of the situation.  The sport is not designed to maim players, but this generation are animals, and even with the advanced protective gear, there are still going to be injuries.  The race is to keep the technology and improvements in safety in step with the ever growing strength and toughness of the players.  There were plenty of guys getting jacked in the leather helmet days of the game, and tough as they were, they'd look like Pop Warner kids against the curent football players - even with new gear..

The Murderous Spirit Of St. Louis

St. Louis overtook Camden, N.J., as the nation's most dangerous city in 2009. Great...now what's Camden going to be known for?

The study found St. Louis had 2,070.1 violent crimes per 100,000 residents - nearly five times the national average of 429.4! Camden, who topped the list the previous year, had hoped to make another back-to-back title, like they accomplished in 2003 and 2004. Michigan proudly filled in the next two spots with Detroit and Flint, with Oakland filling out the top five. On the opposite end of the rankings, Colonie, N.Y. was the safest city with more than 75,000 residents for a second straight year, mostly due to the fact that nobody knows where the fuck Colonie, N.Y. is.

The rankings are based on population figures and crime data compiled by the FBI annually, though some criminologists question the findings, mainly because they don't like data and statistics compiled for these types of rankings. Boo-hoo, babies!

A Spokeswoman for the St. Louis Mayor's office was quick to point out the city has been getting safer over the last few years, with crime decreasing each year since 2007, and down 7% from last year. Which makes you think about what a dangerous murdertrap it used to be.

There's Bucks In Pucks

Forbes, when not advising old white men how to horde their riches or give tips on finding bargain summer mansions, delves into the realm of sports and checks out the depth of the pockets of the team owners.

Hockey may not get a podium spot among North American sports, but it still has plenty of big bank accounts.  The NHL counts eight billionaires among its ownership ranks - three more than MLB and just two less than the NBA, which is interesting since the median franchise value for basketball is about 67% higher.  It should be noted that the NHL and NBA also share two billionaire owners.

Topping the list is my very own Los Angeles Kings owner Philip Anschutz.  , the sports and entertainment maven who also owns the NBA Lakers with Jerry Buss and stakes in seven other teams. With a net worth of $7 billion, Anschutz (through his company AEG), also owns the Lakers and has a piece of seven other pro teams, plus several sports venues -  including the Staples Center and the $2.5 billion LA Live complex.

Pittsburgh Penguins owner and food industry magnate Ron Burkle is next.  Having bought the team in 1999, he swung a deal that has him paying just $4 million annually over 30 years in financing for the $320 million arena, which he also got Consol Energy to commit to a 21-year naming rights deal in 2008.

Philip Falcone leveraged his $2.8 billion fortune in the hedge fund business into ownership of the Minnesota Wild.  I'm sure it didn't hurt that his partner Craig Leipold, is a former owner of the Nashville Predators, and is married to billionaire Helen Johnson-Leipold (yes, of Johnson & Johnson money).

Other hockey billionaires are: Colorado’s Stan Kroenke, who also owns the NBA Nuggets; Boston’s Jeremy Jacobs, a sports concession king who’s owned the Bruins since 1975; and Detroit’s Mike Ilitch, the pizza maven who owns the Red Wings and Tigers (and may also add the Pistons to his holdings).

Not So Fab Four

The Glee cast has surpassed the Beatles for the most appearances on the Billboard Hot 100 chart by a non-solo act. Finally, a real musical legacy has been established!

The cast of the series added six debuts to the chart this week, making a total of 75 songs on the chart to the Beatles' 71.  The show's soundtrack got a boost after this week's episode featuring the music of Britney Spears. Elvis Presley still leads overall with 108 songs, followed by James Brown with 91, and then Glee. The Beatles are now sixth, behind Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin. Songs from Elton John, Lil Wayne, Stevie Wonder and Jay-Z round out the Top 10.

Warming Glow nailed it with both their photoshop and commentary:

Just pay attention to the eye-catching headline, people. No need for context.

So there you have it: irrefutable evidence that a television show that makes covers of hit songs is more influential and successful than the band that defined a generation and changed rock and roll. Again, there’s no need to give this any kind of analysis or critical thought. “Glee’s” bigger than the Beatles. End of discussion. Move along now.

Amen.

Lying Pants

Esquire, the hip younger brother to GQ, is more prone to misses ("the color quotient" of how much of any given color should appear in your closet in any given time - 0% brown, really?) as they are to hits, but they did address how pant manufacturers are stretching the sizing truths of their goods.

Being in the rag trade, I know that garments have a "tolerance": the +/- for any particular item to determine if the construction and size matches the design specs, and you may have anywhere from 1/2" to an inch on a waist, bust, or sleeve measurement. But this is far beyond that. The term is called "vanity sizing," and pants manufacturers are trying to flatter you. You can see from their chart that there's up to five extra inches on a size 36 pant, and I'll add that I'm not surprised that Dockers and Old Navy are at the biggest end, given the type of guy I usually see in them. Same goes for the waifs in H+M (where I'll add that I could barely find an XL dress shirt one time; 17 1/2", 34-35 should be common). Anyhow, try before you buy, since there are still some places that make pants in the correct size.

God's Number Is 20

A few years ago, Slashdot reported that a Rubik's Cube could be solved in 23 moves. That's hardly impressive, now that the number has been whittled down to just 20. Of course to prove that, it took 35 years of computer time (donated by Google, who had the juice to get it done)

Boastfully, Cube20.org states:

Every solver of the Cube uses an algorithm, which is a sequence of steps for solving the Cube. One algorithm might use a sequence of moves to solve the top face, then another sequence of moves to position the middle edges, and so on. There are many different algorithms, varying in complexity and number of moves required, but those that can be memorized by a mortal typically require more than forty moves.

One may suppose God would use a much more efficient algorithm, one that always uses the shortest sequence of moves; this is known as God's Algorithm. The number of moves this algorithm would take in the worst case is called God's Number. At long last, God's Number has been shown to be 20.

It took fifteen years after the introduction of the Cube to find the first position that provably requires twenty moves to solve; it is appropriate that fifteen years after that, we prove that twenty moves suffice for all positions.

What is interesting is how the number has dwindled over time. By 1981, an upper boundary of 52 moves had been confirmed, but the next jump took over a decade, where the gap closed by 10 moves. By 1995, the upper limit was just below thirty, but it would take another decade before they could confirm movement down to 28. And since then they made incredible progress to lock in 20.

Still wondering how they solved all 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 positions of the Cube? Check it out in nerdglorious detail.

That's Why Alcatraz Was So Close

Doug McClure made crime fun to look at. Using 2009 data, he's moved into 3D representations, and a full dataset can be downloaded from the city’s DataSF website. His version is better.