Average Faces From Around The World

Cryptographers chosen to duke it out in final fight - physics-math - 13 December 2010 A competition to find a replacement for one of the gold-standard computer security algorithms used in almost all secure, online transactions just heated up. The list of possibilities for Secure Hash Algorithm-3, or SHA-3, has been narrowed down to five finalists. They now face the onslaught of an international community of "cryptanalysts" – who will analyse the algorithms for weaknesses – before just one is due to be selected as the winner in 2012. The competition, which is being run by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland, is a huge deal for cryptographers and cryptanalysts alike. "These are incredibly competitive people. They just love this," says William Burr of NIST.

This is What Happens When You Give Thousands of Stickers to Thousands of Kids This December, in a surprisingly simple yet ridiculously amazing installation for the Queensland Gallery of Modern Ar, artist Yayoi Kusama constructed a large domestic environment, painting every wall, chair, table, piano, and household decoration a brilliant white, effectively serving as a giant white canvas. Over the course of two weeks, the museum’s smallest visitors were given thousands upon thousands of colored dot stickers and were invited to collaborate in the transformation of the space, turning the house into a vibrantly mottled explosion of color. How great is this? Given the opportunity my son could probably cover the entire piano alone in about fifteen minutes. The installation, entitled The Obliteration Room, is part of Kusama’s Look Now, See Forever exhibition that runs through March 12. If you liked this you’ll also enjoy Roman Ondak’s Room of Heights and Karina Smigla-Bobinski’s helium-filled kinetic drawing sculpture.

75 Books Every Writer Should Read Whether you want to make writing your career or just want to know how to improve your writing so that you can pass your college courses, there is plenty of reading material out there to help you get inspired and hone your skills. Here’s a collection of titles that will instruct you on just about every aspect of writing, from the basics of grammar to marketing your completed novel, with some incredibly helpful tips from well-known writers themselves as well. Writing Basics These books address things like structure, plot, descriptions and other basic elements of any story. The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers: You can improve the quality of your writing by adding a mythical quality to them with advice and insight from this book. Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler: Whether you agree with the ideas in this book or not, you’ll find it a useful and informative read for writing.

Religion no excuse for promoting scientific ignorance - science-in-society - 08 February 2011 The US constitution allows people to believe what they want. However, it does not require universities to promote ignorance LAST month, the University of Kentucky in Lexington paid $125,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by astrophysicist Martin Gaskell. A Helium-filled Kinetic Drawing Sculpture by Karina Smigla-Bobinski ADA – Analog Interactive Installation, is a kinetic sculpture by German-based artist Karina Smigla-Bobinski. The installation is made form an enormous helium-inflated sphere trapped inside a small room that’s spiked with dozens of protruding charcoal pieces which scrape the edges of the gallery wall as participants push, toss, and otherwise manipulate it. Most recently it was on display at the Electronic Language International Festival in São Paulo this Summer that took place in São Paulo. It’s fascinating to me that given the constraints of the sphere and room, a single outcome (pictured at bottom) is destined to emerge, but yet requires the participation of dozens if not hundreds of gallery visitors. Reminds me of the work of Roman Ondák. (via we make money not art, photos courtesy we make money not art, s.antonio, and the artist)

Learn How to Write a Synopsis, Quick & Easy Format Tips & Examples Once you have finished writing your novel or book, it’s time to prepare your work for the submission process. While each literary agent has their own specific guidelines, it’s useful to know how to write a synopsis. Presented by Jane Friedman, publisher and editorial director for Writer’s Digest, this OnDemand Webinar, The Dreaded Synopsis, takes you through the steps of writing a synopsis, gives helpful tips on what to include, and synopsis examples.

The 101 Most Useful Websites on the Internet Here are the most useful websites on the Internet that will make you smarter, increase productivity and help you learn new skills. These incredibly useful websites solve at least one problem really well. And they all have cool URLs that are easy to memorize thus saving you a trip to Google. Also see: The Best Android Apps America as it could have been: 8 North American nations that didn’t make it to the 21st Century North America. We all recognise it on a map: it’s the continent above South America. Most of us can even name the countries, Canada, the United States, Mexico... other Spanish speaking ones... But, the point is, it might not have turned out that way.