NYTimes: Computers That See You and Keep Watch Over You

Computers that detect your facial expressions while you shop, read ads, or consider picking a fight are becoming ubiquitous. "The future of law enforcement, national security, and military operations will most likely rely on observant machines. "
As far as analyzing shoppers, "“You can see and analyze how people are reacting in real time, not what they are saying later, when they are often trying to be polite,” he said. The technology, he added, is more scientific and less costly than having humans look at store surveillance videos, which some retailers do."
The article describes a movie studio distributing a movie to volunteers' laptop computers with webcams as a means of screen-testing movies, scene by scene, using software to analyze each volunteer's facial response to the movie they're watching.
Google 'goggles,' which searches whatever you photograph, decided not to include facial-recognition software for privacy reasons.
Your heart rate can be detected from cameras detecting subtle changes in the color of your face as blood vessels swell with each heartbeat.
Computers That See You and Keep Watch Over You
Computerized surveillance systems can protect hospital patients, watch for criminals — or invade your privacy.
http://nyti.ms/eqRY4u

NYTimes: The Happy Marriage Is the ‘Me’ Marriage

"How much has your being with your partner resulted in your learning new things?"

SUSTAINABLE LOVE: The Happy Marriage Is the 'Me' Marriage

For a long, fulfilling partnership: give your partner a chance to e-x-p-a-n-d.

http://nyti.ms/fcOlqU

NYTimes: Giving Alzheimer’s Patients Their Way, Even Chocolate

Give alzheimers patients the chocolate or doll or indulgence they want, and mood and care improves.
A German nursing home installed fake bus stops to prevent patients from leaving - they stand awaiting a bus that never comes, then give up or forget why they went outside. Saves a lot of difficult city-wide searches for dementia patients off on bus rides.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2071319/Fake-bus-stop-keeps-Alzheimers-patients-from-wandering-off.html
THE VANISHING MIND: Giving Alzheimer's Patients Their Way, Even Chocolate
A Phoenix nursing home has found that unlimited chocolate, and other comforts, go a long way in reducing patients' distress.
http://nyti.ms/fE99vr

NYTimes: Disney Tackles Major Theme Park Problem: Lines

Fine-tuning the experience for the "entertain-me-right-this-second generation" takes a lot of technology, manpower, and work.

Disney Tackles Major Theme Park Problem: Lines

An underground high-tech nerve center at Disney World addresses the most low-tech of problems: long waits.

http://nyti.ms/gvNsmz

NYTimes: Scholars Recruit Public for Project

This reminds me of the stardust@home project, recruiting the public to whittle away at a mammoth task. In the stardust project it's to scan massive numbers of photomicrographs of a filter that traveled through space collecting dust for eventual analysis. In this article about the Bentham project, the public is being recruited to painstakingly interpret and copy handwritten manuscripts so they're available digitally. Here is a sample page of the manuscript and it's interpretation by the project. TE
Scholars Recruit Public for Project
A project in London is using crowd-sourcing to transcribe 40,000 unpublished manuscripts of the Enlightenment philosopher Jeremy Bentham.
http://nyti.ms/hymPWG

32 inches of snow in 40 seconds

Watch the tree branches sag as they're laden with snow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy0P5vuCntc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

NYTimes: In 500 Billion Words, New Window on Culture

At ngrams.googlelabs.com, you can search the history of any word's prevalence if usage over 200 years. Most interesting for words that have changed their meaning ("gay") or come into usage ("evolution") or gained acceptance ("suffrage") or had a transient fad ("flapper"). TE
In 500 Billion Words, New Window on Culture
A Google-backed project allows the frequency of specific words and phrases to be tracked in centuries of books.
http://nyti.ms/eMacup

Search word frequency over time

http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/

Marie Laurencin.

This painting, in the Orangerie Museum next to the Louvre in Paris, has a fascinating expression - wistful, languorous, effete. It's by a lesser known impressionist/cubist, Marie Laurencin, a contemporary of Picasso.

NYTimes: Airport Apps Put You First in Line

Apps like gateguru help you find airport amenities, and TSA has an app that predicts security wait times. TE

PRACTICAL TRAVELER: Airport Apps Put You First in Line

From finding parking to giving you early gate information, 10 travel apps that can save your vacation.

http://nyti.ms/hZtXXw

Get The New York Times on your iPhone for free by visiting http://itunes.com/apps/nytimes

Sent from my iPhone

NYTimes: Is Going to an Elite College Worth the Cost? State schools may be best value.

Elite schools cost more, may lead to more prestigious post-secondary offerings, but the connections of a huge state school may be more fertile or employment. It depends. TE
Is Going to an Elite College Worth the Cost?
The sluggish economy and rising costs of college have only intensified questions about whether expensive, prestigious colleges make any difference.
http://nyti.ms/fPFl3k

amazing joke no reflection in the Mirror

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoyAZSlvAQE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Sent from my iPhone

NYTimes: Deal Reached to Recover $7.2 Billion for Madoff Victims

The Bernie Madoff pay-back: "the settlement constituted the largest single forfeiture in American judicial history"

DEALBOOK: Deal Reached to Recover $7.2 Billion for Madoff Victims

The trustee charged with recovering assets in the Bernie Madoff bankruptcy and federal prosecutors have obtained a civil settlement with the estate of one of Madoff's investors.

http://nyti.ms/g22JPF

Very cool animated graph of demographics

This animated graph is explained so clearly. A tremendous amount of data made simple.

track flight prices automatically

www.yapta.com
Yapta lets you track changes in flight prices and helps you find refunds on airline tickets.
Yapta helps you save money on airline tickets by letting you track the flights you want, notifying you of price drops on those flights, and getting you refunds or travel ...


Also see bing travel, which incorporated farecast.com that predicts which direction flight prices are going and whether it's time to buy or not.