Graham Glass, etc.

Surrender

Here's another ELO video for a song that I hadn't heard before; Surrender.

Latitude 88 North

Latitude 88 North is another Electric Light Orchestra song that wasn't released until recently as an extra track on Out of the Blue. Here's the video.

Heaven only knows

One of my favorite bands is the Electric Light Orchestra, so imagine my delight when I found this alternative recording for Heaven only knows on Youtube. It's much better than the version on the official release of Balance of Power.

The Meaning of Life

The short animation "Life and Music" by the South Park creators and Alan Watts is a thought provoking piece about the meaning of life. [via think:lab]

Online Education Statistics

Some interesting statistics that make me happy; according to this article in eSchool, about 40% of teachers have used lesson plans they found online, 50% have modified lesson plans they found online, and 30% of students would like to take an online class. There's no doubt that these percentages are going to rise.

Savants gone Wild

Check out this incredible video about some of the world's most amazing savants. It stars Daniel Tammet, who can remember and manipulate numbers in a unique way; for example, he can recite PI to over 20,000 places!

I think the most likely explanation is that his unusual brain maps numbers to his cortex so that his visual processing engine can crunch the numbers and render the result as another image. It's analogous to using a graphics processor to do regular arithmetic; it wasn't designed for that purpose, but it can do awesome parallel processsing.

Great Ron Paul Video

Here's the first in a great series of videos by Ron Paul, the only presidential candidate who wants to lead America back to its original founding values. Parts 7 and 8 are particularly insightful. Recommended viewing for anyone who wants a zero-bullshit presentation about how the USA got into its present mess and what needs to change.

Hero: James Randi

James Randi is one of my heroes. He has tirelessly debunked claims of supernatural powers, and puts his money where his mouth is; his $1,000,000 award for anyone who can demonstrate supernatural powers under scientific conditions has never been won. Here is a classic video which attests to his no-holds-barred approach.

Democracy Quotes

A couple of great quotes about Democracy:

"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."
- Winston Churchill

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch."
- Benjamin Franklin

Both of these quotes came from QuoteDb.com.

Physics Breakthrough?

I know enough Physics to be dangerous, and this article about string-net theory describes an idea that could be huge. The basic idea is that particles such as electrons are really endpoints of strings which can wiggle "like noodles in a soup". The theory explains things like entanglement, and might change the way we understand the universe.