Pomme::TAB

In April I posted here about Life expressed as a series of pie-charts.

Many metrics were probably missing but Xkcd.org has contributing to one:

A compilation of alternative accommodation, trendy because labelled as “green”.
I actually like the Loft Cube (too easy to mispronounce as ‘Love Cube’) , and if installed on the rooftop of a London building, the views from all side must be amazing and I quite see myself in such dwelling. It’s not expensive, especially compared to London prices.
It also happens that the first Loft Cube has been installed in London, on the 8th storey of a building near Tate Britain …
Now, if only the cube could come with an instruction manual on how to approach local authorities and building management companies …


read more | digg story

At lunchtime today, we were discussing about the trouble a colleague had to get a builder to install/repair a sceptic tank in a house in France, troubles due to language barrier. The colleague was advised to ask me … to be a translator.
For one moment I thought it was for my expertise in “toilets” , so I said.
Therefore, to be true to my reputation, here is another blog post on the subject found today:

Woman falls six stories into pile of crap: “David Pescovitz:
A woman in Nanjing, China fell off a sixth floor balcony and survived thanks to a pile of poop on the ground below. From Sky News:

‘She landed in a 20cm thick heap of excrement,’ the Kuaibao tabloid newspaper gleefully reported.

‘Workers happened to be emptying the building’s septic tank, which had not been tended for a long time, and had regularly blocked sewage pipes.

Link (Thanks, Vann Hall!)

Previously on BB:
• Sewer sprays blood on maintenance worker Link

“

(Via Boing Boing.)

Everybody knows that a picture is worth a thousand words, but this guy is pushing the concept to a whole new dimension: his life.

Also it’s been awhile since last time I’ve posted pie charts

Life expressed as a series of pie-charts: “Cory Doctorow:

Craig Robinson has drawn up a page of pie-charts expressing facts about his life to date, such as portion of his life that his father was alive, percentage of countries visited, percentage of life supporting the Liverpool Football Club. Love the juxtaposition of the banal and the profound.

Link

(via Kottke)

“

(Via Boing Boing.)

Be scared

On Tattum’s blog, there are a collection of video clips filmed in Madagascar as part of the Other Places project by Tsuyoshi Tokunaga.
The aim of the project is to portray through video the city life in various places (so far visited: Sri Lanka, East Turkestan, Madagascar).

I was born in Madagascar, so it was with the emotion that I’ve enjoyed each of these videos. Their artistic quality helped too.

It is like watching a slideshow of superb photso in which each shot decided to cross the boundary of still image and to have a life of its own.

Few months ago, I posted an article about the misunderstandings and confusion that often occur when communicating by e-mail.

Because a picture is worth thousands words, here is a pie chart resulting from research done in the sixties:

The percentages describe the importance of the effect an attribute has on a the receiver of the communication (in a work environment). Because body language (non-verbal) and tone of voice are definitely not conveyed in an e-mail, it easy to see why e-mails are easily misunderstood (SMS is worst, but that’s another story). As a byproduct it also justify the existence of smileys.

So, are we all mutants?

Breakthrough in Human Genetics: “Many readers have submitted this story about a breakthrough in our understanding of human DNA. In particular how much variation can exist between peoples genes and how genes are involved with certain diseases. ‘One person’s DNA code can be as much as 10 percent different from another’s, researchers said on Wednesday in a finding that questions the idea that everyone on Earth is 99.9 percent identical genetically. They said their new version of the human genetic map, or ‘book of life,’ fills in many missing pages and chapters to explain how genes are involved in common diseases. The Human Genome Project mapped the billions of letters that make up the human genetic code. Scientists later refined the map by looking for single variations called SNPs or single nucleotide polymorphisms. The CNV map gives researchers a different way to look for genes linked to diseases by identifying gains, losses and alterations in the genome.’

(Via Slashdot.)

• Peaceful launch for the Wii

PS3: bad boys, again

Looks like you’d better stay away from the game system of from the owners for that matter:

• Store robbed of five PS3s
• Violence ensues during PS3 launch
• US$89m for a PS3 on ebay
• Man shot in PS3 queue