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Hasnain says:

This is a good analysis of how gambling odds can be used as a predictor for the excitement during a game.

"What are the most exciting matchups in sports? What’s the most exciting sport? What if a computer could tell us which games are hot right now—like an NFL RedZone channel, not just for NFL football, but for basketball, soccer, hockey, and baseball?

Introducing Gambletron2000.com, a tool that uses live in-game gambling data to quantify excitement in sports, write automated game recaps, finally settle the debate about whether the first half of NBA games is even worth watching—and much, much more. It might even make you rich."

Posted on 2014-03-13T17:33:31+0000

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The Oath of the Burrnesha: Women Living as Men in the Albanian Alps

It began hundreds of years ago, deep in the Albanian Alps—an unusual tradition where women, with limited options in life, took the oath of the burrnesha. A pledge to live as a man. To dress like a man, to work like a man, to assume the burdens and the liberties of a man. But these freedoms came with...

Click to view the original at gq.com

Hasnain says:

"It began hundreds of years ago, deep in the Albanian Alps—an unusual tradition where women, with limited options in life, took the oath of the burrnesha. A pledge to live as a man. To dress like a man, to work like a man, to assume the burdens and the liberties of a man. But these freedoms came with a price: The burrneshas also made a pledge of lifelong celibacy. Today these sworn virgins live on, but their numbers have dwindled. Many Albanians don't even know they exist. What happens when the society that created you no longer needs you? And how do you live in the meantime?"

Posted on 2014-03-12T20:40:42+0000

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Silicon Valley’s Youth Problem

In start-up land, the young barely talk to the old (and vice versa). That makes for a lot of cool apps. But great technology? Not so much.

Click to view the original at nytimes.com

Hasnain says:

I'm not sure what to quote here. It's long and presents a very good view of technology, start-up culture, ageism, and life in the valley.

Posted on 2014-03-12T18:39:11+0000

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Hasnain says:

"After visits to several doctors, we first heard the word “autism.” Later, it would be fine-tuned to “regressive autism,” now affecting roughly a third of children with the disorder. Unlike the kids born with it, this group seems typical until somewhere between 18 and 36 months — then they vanish. Some never get their speech back. Families stop watching those early videos, their child waving to the camera. Too painful. That child’s gone."

Posted on 2014-03-11T21:57:05+0000

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Hasnain says:

"By early February, the weight of everything – the scrutiny, the relentless criticism and accusations – felt crushing. He couldn't sleep, couldn't focus, didn't want to go outdoors. His parents, he says, "worried about my well-being." His tweets became darker and more cryptic. "I can call 'Flappy Bird' is a success of mine," read one. "But it also ruins my simple life. So now I hate it." He realized there was one thing to do: Pull the game. After tweeting that he was taking it down, 10 million people downloaded it in 22 hours. Then he hit a button, and Flappy Bird disappeared. When I ask him why he did it, he answers with the same conviction that led him to create the game. "I'm master of my own fate," he says. "Independent thinker.""

Posted on 2014-03-11T20:32:56+0000

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Investors prefer entrepreneurial ventures pitched by attractive men

Edited* by Nancy Hopkins, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, and approved February 20, 2014 (received for review November 11, 2013)

Click to view the original at pnas.org

Hasnain says:

"Entrepreneurship is a central path to job creation, economic growth, and prosperity. In the earliest stages of start-up business creation, the matching of entrepreneurial ventures to investors is critically important. The entrepreneur’s business proposition and previous experience are regarded as the main criteria for investment decisions. Our research, however, documents other critical criteria that investors use to make these decisions: the gender and physical attractiveness of the entrepreneurs themselves.

Across a field setting (three entrepreneurial pitch competitions in the United States) and two experiments, we identify a profound and consistent gender gap in entrepreneur persuasiveness. Investors prefer pitches presented by male entrepreneurs compared with pitches made by female entrepreneurs, even when the content of the pitch is the same. This effect is moderated by male physical attractiveness: attractive males were particularly persuasive, whereas physical attractiveness did not matter among female entrepreneurs."

Posted on 2014-03-11T18:06:09+0000

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Stanford bioengineer develops a 50-cent paper microscope

When Manu Prakash, PhD, wants to impress lab visitors with the durability of his Origami-based paper microscope, he throws it off a three-story balcony, stomps on it with his foot and dunks it into a water-filled beaker. Miraculously, it still works.

Click to view the original at scopeblog.stanford.edu

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You Suck at Intro Etiquette

An intro is worth its weight in gold. Don’t waste one by saying the wrong thing, or worse, not replying at all. Here are some notes on how to maximize your success in either sending or receiving...

Click to view the original at startupped.me

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Steal WhatsApp database (PoC) | Bas Bosschert

Steal WhatsApp database (PoC)“Is it possible to upload and read the WhatsApp chats from another Android application?”With this question my brother and I started an interesting conversation which ended in underneath proof of concept. The tldr answer is: “Yes, that is possible”.The WhatsApp database i...

Click to view the original at bas.bosschert.nl

Hasnain says:

Let's hope some of that $19B goes towards securing user data, at least.

(the same AES key for every user? tsk tsk tsk...)

Posted on 2014-03-11T17:28:42+0000