The most probable origin of the term
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Author: Aditya
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[LinkBlog] Paul Saffo: Strong Opinions weakly held
The most probable origin of the term
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X-Mouse
The X-Men world turned upside down:
When the researchers put the gene for Magneto in zebrafish, a model organism for brain development, they found that the hybrid could alter complex behaviors. Using a genetic switch, the researchers made Magneto active in the zebrafish nerve cells that are involved in sensing touch. And, when they added a magnetic field, the fish upped the amount of time they coiled their tails, a touch-induced escape response.
Source: Magnetic mind control works in live animals, makes mice happy | Ars Technica
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The inhumanity of birds
Next time people talk about the humanity of animals, show them this:
Most wading birds tend to spawn far more chicks than they can fit in one nest. So adult birds toss extra chicks out into the swampy waters below for the alligators to enjoy.
Source: The ugly truth behind those “cute baby bird” Internet memes | Ars Technica
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Retirement savings plan post Budget 2016
Looks like the best retirement planning that salaried employees can do given the intentions of the government to tax the EPF (or interest on EPF), is to shut down the PF before the new rules come into effect and move the balance to a tax free account in a Swiss Bank. Then all you have to do is open up a Swiss or EU company and invest in a made in India food business back home. Given some of the entrepreneurial friendly policies being introduced of late, this can only mean a secure future post retirement.
Jokes apart, it seems that this EPF taxation plan is the first step of a bigger plan that is not going to get discussed till the uproar over the issue dies down. This policy pretty much ensures that voluntary PF contributions are going to stop and that can only mean more disposable income in the hands of the salaried.
So, not only does this increase the funds for the Swachh Bharat and Agriculture schemes, but also for the increased service taxes. In the long term, this means that government has lesser interest to pay out due the lower voluntary PF contributions, plus some of that interest goes back to their kitty thanks to the taxes.
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Shooting with expired film in the digital age
Some things Instagram filters can’t buy:
A box of super-expired E-6 and C-41 35mm film has been sitting in a box in my closet for years slowly filling up with random rolls collected from friends, found in old camera bags leftover from internships, and the like. This isn’t film that expired just last year. This is film expired with dates like: March 1996. November 1975. April 2004. January 1992. October 2006. Expiration dates that are probably older than some of you reading this blog post. This was before having flares and crazy-whack color shifts became an app on an iPhone. Some of this film was around when Zack Morris had a brick phone on Saved by the Bell and Kurt Cobain was still thrashing around with Anarchist cheerleaders in a gym.
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[LinkBlog] Weasley Clock
If this goes on Kickstarter…
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[LinkBlog] What Paul Graham Is Missing About Inequality — Tim O’Reilly
A pretty thoughtful response
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[LinkBlog] The Refragmentation
A very succinct summary of the evolution of the US economy after the World War to present. There are quite a few parallels to be drawn to the Indian economy as well, albeit with a time lag.
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