Do you pull a lever to rescue 5 people on a runaway trolley, yet in doing so, you will take the life of an innocent bystander? I’m writing my thesis on moral decision making. Basically, I want to investigate if exposure to certain types of media content can shape certain (cognitive) aspects of decision making, [...]
The Mars One mission has the ambition to send a team of humans to Mars on a one-way trip by 2023. CBC News recently reported that Mars One will begin recruiting people for this mission later this year. The first impression is that it sounds awesome. Human beings haven’t left the Earth’s gravitational pull since [...]
There is currently a petition being circulated in an attempt to get gaming in the Olympic games. Gaming as in eSports. Olympics as in the thing with athletics. Dubbed the “Torch for Gaming”, the manifesto on their website takes the Olympic philosophies and puts them… well… out of context. I just don’t see it happening, [...]
A recently published article on CNN takes a weird spin on pro-gaming, turning something which could have been a wonderful, poetic story into a fear-mongering article about gaming addiction. The article is loosely based around pro Starcraft II player MarineKing (also known as MKP) and the ‘gaming addiction’ he faced, which almost tore his family [...]
The “Science; It’s a Girl Thing!” campaign was designed to get more females into various fields of science, but instead generated a plethora of angry responses. In less than a few weeks, the negative responses caused the YouTube commercial to be removed. If you missed it: From the description: This video was published by the [...]
Since I rant on about it pretty often enough, I wonder if there are some of you left that still have the impression that gaming isn’t particularly good for you? Due to sensationalist media headlines (like this) we’ve all been led to believe it, but it’s not entirely true. For every reason we are given [...]
According to a recent experiment published in the PLoS ONE journal, yes, gaydar is real. Through briefly showing faces of people for 50 milliseconds the data produced statistically significant results. Participants were able to judge sexual orientation through facial features alone (minus hair, ears and colour) with around 60% accuracy. Random guessing would yield results of around 50%, [...]
A new study shows links between pre-pregnancy obesity and lower test scores in students between 5 – 7 years old. Compared to mothers with a healthy pregnancy weight, those who were obese before conception are found to be at a higher risk of producing spawn with lower cognitive functioning. Cognitive functioning was measured through commonly [...]
Editors note: I decided to post this essay that I wrote as a first year student. I feel with the CISPA bill and all that junk, it’s pretty relevant. I’ve edited it slightly to be less academic and removed/replaced in-text referencing with hyperlinks. Footnotes were also removed. It’s not as long of a read as [...]
Earlier this week, PornHub tried to raise awareness for breast cancer by giving out free breast exams on board a ‘boob bus’. Why? Because “PornHub cares about your greatest assets”. Porn star Bree Olson did her part to save breasts by promoting the campaign along with her leather-clad Boob Bus Nurse Brigade. A plastic surgeon [...]
I don’t often click links on my Facebook feed, but when I do they leave me frothing at the mouth with rage. Ok, that’s a bit of an overstatement, but I feel like I have to point out that this kind of shit needs to stop. Below is the embedded video, because that shitty website [...]
At least, that’s what Eric Qualman writes in his book Socialnomics. I found it pretty hard to believe, and I began to hum Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez’ fantastic tune (video below). So I did some digging and actually, I think (technically) Qualman may be wrong. The difference between pornography sites and regular sites is [...]
As if the Anders Breivik case needed to have headlines beyond the horrific events, CNN decides to shine the spotlight on the evils of gaming: These silly headlines were noticed immediately and accusations of fear pandering started. Soon after, CNN changed the headline ‘Killer Breivik trained on video games for massacre’ to something less sensationalist. [...]
A simple link on a social news website linking to a picture with the caption: “Meet Omari. Two days ago he returned from the hospital after being hacked in the face by a machete defending an orphanage of 35 children by himself. Think we could raise the $2,000 needed for the remainder of the cement/barbed [...]
A simple link on a social news website [Reddit.com] linking to a picture with the caption: “Meet Omari. Two days ago he returned from the hospital after being hacked in the face by a machete defending an orphanage of 35 … Continue reading →
Normally, gamers get the shit end of the stick in the mainstream media. Causality of violent behaviour in real life is often attributed to virtual violence, most recently with the Grand Theft Auto series deemed to encourage rioters in their abhorrent behaviour. The second most common appearance of gamers in the mainstream media feature negligent [...]
Normally, gamers get the shit end of the stick in the mainstream media. Causality of violent behaviour in real life is often attributed to virtual violence, most recently with the Grand Theft Auto series deemed to encourage rioters in their … Continue reading →
Well if your answer is a resounding yes, there may be an opportunity for you to finally make your dream come true. Before you get too excited though, this is just open to homeowners in Vancouver. A talented individual who … Continue reading →
Well if your answer is a resounding yes, there may be an opportunity for you to finally make your dream come true. Before you get too excited though, this is just open to homeowners in Vancouver. A talented individual who is fluent in dinosaur is offering dinosaur-esque services in exchange for a property in Vansterdam [...]
The largest ever study of the possible genetics of depression is set to go underway in China. This is due to the recent findings of a major survey on depression, indicating that there are similar symptoms and triggers of the disorder as in the West, except with a few surprises: A higher level of education [...]
The largest ever study of the possible genetics of depression is set to go underway in China. This is due to the recent findings of a major survey on depression, indicating that there are similar symptoms and triggers of the … Continue reading →
A few days ago, Kotaku posted about an upcoming launch party for Battlefield 3. What makes this event somewhat striking though is that females are not able to attend. Instead of promoting the event as a “guys night out” or … Continue reading →
A few days ago, Kotaku posted about an upcoming launch party for Battlefield 3. What makes this event somewhat striking though is that females are not able to attend. Instead of promoting the event as a “guys night out” or something similar, they claimed that this exclusion of females was an attempt to combat misogyny: [...]
A temple dedicated to kitty cats is set to open in Moscow, Russia. Not only will people be able to go there and check out different species of kitties, but those who are allergic can also take special classes to learn how to use breathing techniques to beat allergies. Funny!! Maybe the Egyptians had it [...]
A temple dedicated to kitty cats is set to open in Moscow, Russia. Not only will people be able to go there and check out different species of kitties, but those who are allergic can also take special classes to … Continue reading →
If you were an avid reader of my website last summer, you’ll know that I participated in the Alienware Backpacking Challenge, where 4 bloggers were sent out to the big bad world with the bare minimum, a minimal budget and … Continue reading →
If you were an avid reader of my website last summer, you’ll know that I participated in the Alienware Backpacking Challenge, where 4 bloggers were sent out to the big bad world with the bare minimum, a minimal budget and a sweet M11x laptop. We had to endure weekly challenges for 8 weeks, followed by [...]
The beginning of the 2011 – 2012 school year is coming closer and for the event, I’ve decided to update the look of HelloLiefje.com. Things are still a bit under construction so if you encounter any errors, please let me … Continue reading →
The beginning of the 2011 – 2012 school year is coming closer and for the event, I’ve decided to update the look of HelloLiefje.com. Things are still a bit under construction so if you encounter any errors, please let me know. Furthermore, there was an issue with the previous theme that people using ie9 would [...]
In January 2007, Canadian researchers seem to have found a simple and effective cure for some types of cancer – namely lung, brain and breast. The cure was found using dichloroacetate acid, something currently used to treat metabolic disorders. The drug used is something which is cheap compared to other ...
In January 2007, Canadian researchers seem to have found a simple and effective cure for some types of cancer – namely lung, brain and breast. I’m only writing about this now as it seems like the hubpages link (here) is … Continue reading →
On Tuesday 22 February, the city of Christchurch, New Zealand was hit by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. While it was “less strong” than the one that hit previously, it was closer to the surface and it caused a shitload of … Continue reading →
