I learned an interesting fact about Fibonacci numbers recently. Fibonacci numbers can be used to approximately convert from miles to kilometers and back.

Here is how.

Take two consecutive Fibonacci numbers, for example 5 and 8. And you’re done converting. No kidding – there are 8 kilometers in 5 miles. To convert back just read the result from the other end – there are 5 miles in 8 km!

Another example. Let’s take the consecutive Fibonacci numbers 21 and 34. What this tells us is that there are approximately 34 km in 21 miles and vice versa. (The exact answer is 33.79 km.)

If you need to convert a number that is not a Fibonacci number, just express the original number as a sum of Fibonacci numbers and do the conversion for each Fibonacci number separately.

For example, how many kilometers are there in 100 miles? Number 100 can be expressed as a sum of Fibonacci numbers 89 + 8 + 3. Now, the Fibonacci number following 89 is 144, the Fibonacci number following 8 is 13 and the Fibonacci number following 3 is 5. Therefore the answer is 144 + 13 + 5 = 162 kilometers in 100 miles. This is less than 1% off from the precise answer, which is 160.93 km.

Another example, how many miles are there in 400 km? Well, 400 is 377 + 21 + 2. Since we are going the opposite way now from miles to km, we need the preceding Fibonacci numbers. They are 233, 13 and 1. Therefore there are 233 + 13 + 1 = 247 miles in 400 km. (The correct answer is 248.55 miles.)

Just remember that if you need to convert from km to miles, you need to find the preceding Fibonacci number. But if you need to convert from miles to km, you need the subsequent Fibonacci number.

If the distance you’re converting can be expressed as a single Fibonacci number, then for numbers greater than 21 the error is always around 0.5%. However, if the distance needs to be composed as a sum of n Fibonacci numbers, then the error will be around sqrt(n)·0.5%.

Here’s why it works.

Fibonacci numbers have a property that the ratio of two consecutive numbers tends to the Golden ratio as numbers get bigger and bigger. The Golden ratio is a number and it happens to be approximately 1.618.

Coincidentally, there are 1.609 kilometers in a mile, which is within 0.5% of the Golden ratio.

Now that we know these two key facts, we can figure out how to do the conversion. If we take two consecutive Fibonacci numbers, F_n+1 and F_n, we know that their ratio F_n+1/F_n is 1.618. Since the ratio is approximately the same as kilometers per mile, we can write F_n+1/F_n = [mile]/[km]. It follows that F_n·[mile] = F_n+1·[km], which translates to English as “n-th Fibonacci number in miles is the same as (n+1)-th Fibonacci number in kilometers”.

That’s all there is to it. A pure coincidence that the Golden ratio is almost the same as kilometers in a mile.

We’ve all seen the embarrassing Google Maps images flying around the Web and, well, there are just too many to deny.

In this Web 2.0 world, the cameras are always rolling and the net is always ready to advertise our absurdity. So in the spirit of open information — we’ve compiled our Top 13 Moments Caught on Google Maps!

Prepare to be exposed.

1. 
2. Drug Deal From Every Angle
   
3. 
4. Best Sign on Google Maps
   
5. 
6. Street Fight
   
7. Marriage Proposal 2.0
   
8. 
9. Google Maps Catches Chicago Kid About To Shoot Someone
   
10. 
11. Multiple Public Urinations
    
12. 
13. Is Your Neighborhood Safe?
    

The new website Telecommute Anywhere makes it easy to find telecommute and freelance jobs. Telecommute Anywhere aggregates telecommute job postings from across the US and Canada, and provides a clean, easy-to-use interface to quickly apply to selected postings.

The site averages 250 new telecommute and freelance job posters, per day! Telecommute Anywhere is working on new job sources and soon should see an additional 100 new job postings (or more) per day.

[Telecommute Anywhere]

Cyber Nations is a free persistent browser-based nation simulation game. Create a nation anywhere in the world and decide how you will rule your people by choosing a government type, a national religion, ethnicity, tax rate, currency type, and more in this geo-political nation simulator. Build your empire by purchasing infrastructure to support your citizens, land to expand your borders, technology to increase your nation’s effectiveness, military to defend your interests, and develop national improvements and wonders to build your nation according to your choosing.

Cyber Nations is an Internet game designed to simulate nation building and management and will require you to exercise your management skills on a day to day basis. You can play Cyber Nations with most modern web browsers that have JavaScript enabled. Cyber Nations runs 24/7 (except when we are performing maintenance and upgrades) so even while you are not online your nation will still be active allowing other players to interact with you through trade offers, foreign aid offers, war declarations, private messages, and much more. Cyber Nations has never been reset since it’s inception on 01/06/06 and no resets are planned in the future. We take extreme care to provide complete backups of our game databases and files to ensure your uninterrupted gaming experience.

Game Play – Cyber Nations is not a game that can be completed in one sitting and there is really no way to ‘beat’ the game. There are many different ways you can build your nation; treat your people kindly through representation of a benevolent government or rule them with an iron fist as a malevolent dictator. Become a war monger and participate in destroying other nations or grow peacefully as a diplomat among the other nations of the world. Grow your nation in size and strength to become all powerful or run your nation into the ground through mismanagement. It’s all up to you.

Playing the Game - Once you’ve registered a user ID and created your nation there are many things you can do. You can purchase infrastructure, land, build your military forces, or begin saving your money to purchase that first level of technology; which ever direction you want to go. I could spend a lot of time discussing everything here but you probably just want to get on with the game. Here’s a few tips to get you started:

• Probably the most common activity that you will perform in Cyber Nations is collecting taxes and paying bills. You can collect a percentage of your citizens income base on your government’s tax rate each day. The money that you collect can be used for nation purchases or to send to others via the foreign aid system. You can collect your taxes once everyday or save up for a couple of days between tax collections to gain an added bonus in interest. Beware however, the same rule applies to your nation’s bills (charged for on infrastructure, soldiers, tanks, etc…) so if you don’t pay your bills daily you might end up paying interest on your unpaid bills.
• Keep an eye on the Nation Messages that appear at the top of your nation information page. These messages are important and will guide you in the right direction of successfully managing your nation.
• Keep an eye on the happiness of your population. Nothing can bring an economy and progress down more than unhappy citizens.
• Keep a close eye on your Government Financial information. Your financial situation determines what you can buy and therefore how quickly your nation grows.
• Even if you desire not to wage wars and select to be a peaceful nation it is still important to invest in your military. Soldiers act both as military and as a police force in Cyber Nations so you’ll want to have some soldiers defending your nation at all times in order to keep your population happy. Just make sure your forces are not too powerful as they might make your citizens uncomfortable.
• Anywhere that you see the there is more information available for that item in the Cyber Nations Information Index.
• Seek trading partners early on. There are many resources available in the Cyber Nations world, each with their own unique benefits. Choose your resources carefully.

[CyberNations]

There is a crisis of insults on the Web. On one hand, the volume of flames is very high yet the quality is poor. Gone are the days of the razor-sharp wit of Oscar Wilde and Winston Churchill*, only to be replaced by a string of four letter words typed in ALL CAPS by n00bs (the latest of which is “FAIL”, itself a failure of coming up with a more scathing insult, if you think about it).

For example:

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go," says Oscar Wilde.

George Bernard Shaw wrote to Winston Churchill, "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend....if you have one." And Churchill wrote back, "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second......if there is one"

Well, it’s hard to teach wit – but all of us can learn the next best thing: the approximation of it by obfuscation, i.e. using big, difficult, and obscure words. So, to do our part in improving the quality of insults on teh Interweb, below is a list of 10 Insulting Words You Should Know:

1. FRENCHIFY (v)

Definition: 1) To make French in quality or trait 2) To make somewhat effeminate, and 3) To contract a veneral disease (a 19th century slang).

Analysis: We have the English to thank for this word. Most people implicitly understand that it means to become more like the French, but not a lot know the second or the third meaning. We’re still not sure which is more insulting.

2. BESCUMBER (v)

Definition: To spray with poo.

Analysis: Actually bescumber is just one of many words in the English language that basically mean “to spray with poo”. These are: BEDUNG, BERAY, IMMERD, SHARNY, and the good ol’ SHITTEN. In special cases, you can use BEMUTE (specifically means to drop poo on someone from great height), SHARD-BORN (born in dung), and FIMICOLOUS (living and growing on crap).

Alternative: If that is too vulgar, you can use BEVOMIT and BEPISS, which meanings should be obvious to you, as well as BESPAWL (to spit on).

Oh, and if you want to say poo without looking like you’re saying it, you can use ORDURE, DEJECTION, and EXCRETA. To mean something more specific, you can use MECONIUM (first feces of a newborn child), MELAENA or MELENA (the abnormally tarry feces containing blood from gastrointestinal bleeding), LIENTERY (diarrhea with undigested or partially digested food), and STEATORRHEA (fatty stool that’s hard to flush down).

Here are some words along the same line that may one day prove to be useful for you: TURDIFY (turn into turd), COPROPHAGIA (eating of feces [wiki]), and COPROPHILIA (Think 2 Girls 1 Cup [wiki - don't worry, SWF], if you don’t know what this is, I shan’t corrupt you any further).

Let’s end entry number two with these two amazing words COPREMESIS and MISERERE, both of which mean fecal vomiting. Yes, fecal vomiting. It’s a medical emergency caused by the obstruction of the bowel (source).

3. MICROPHALLUS (n)

Definition: An unusually small penis.

Analysis: Self explanatory.

Alternative: Insulting a man’s private part is a very reliable way to put him down (if he’s smaller than you) or to get beat up (if he’s larger than you). Usually, even a dimwit can decipher the meaning of this word, after all, it’s just a combination of “micro” and “phallus”.

So, to insult a physically larger opponent, we recommend you use these words instead: PHALLOCRYPSIS (retraction or shrinkage of the penis), CRYPTORCHID (undescendend testicles), and PHALLONCUS (tumor of the penis).

4. COCCYDYNIA (n)

Definition: Pain in the butt.

Analysis: It’s a real medical term: coccydynia is pain in the coccyx or tailbone. Most people simply call it “buttache.”

Similar: PROCTALGIA, PROCTODYNIA, PYGALGIA and RECTALGIA all mean pain in the butt.

Alternative: CERVICALGIA (pain in the neck), PHALLODYNIA or PHALLALGIA (both mean pain in the penis), and PUDENDAGRA (pain in the genitals).

The word “butt” is highly versatile in its vernacular use – you can say “butt face” or “hairy butt” – dem are fightin’ words – but it’s much better to use these instead: ANKYLOPROCTIA (stricture of the anus, the state of “tight-assity”), STEATOPYGOUS (fat-assed), DASYPYGAL (having hairy buttocks), and CACOPYGIAN (having ugly buttocks).

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5. NINNYHAMMER (n)

Definition: A fool or a silly person.
Analysis: The word “fool,” unless you’re Mr. T, is sometimes woefully inadequate to express the stupidity of the person you’re talking about. So use Ninnyhammer. Or at least NINNY.

Alternative: The English language is chockful of colorful words meaning stupid person, such as: DUMMKOPF, IGNORAMUS, JOBBERNOWL, GOWK, and WITLING.

For mental retardation, eschew the ubiquitous ‘tard – rather, use AMENTIA (extreme mental retardation because of inadequate brain tissue), CRETINISM (mental retardation associated with dwarfism, caused by the deficiency of a thyroid hormone, a person with cretinism is a CRETIN), and MORONITY (used to mean mild retardation of having a mental age of 7 to 12 years, now it’s an obsolete term though we still use the word moron).

6. BUNCOMBE (n)

Definition: A ludicrously false statement. Basically it means bullshit or nonsense.

Analysis: Actually, you probably already know this word by its more common spelling: bunkum.

The origin of this word is fascinating. In 1819, a North Carolina congressman, the Honorable Felix Walker, was giving a rambling speech with little relevance to the current debate. He refused to yield the floor, and claimed that he wasn’t speaking for Congress but instead “for Buncombe” (a county in North Carolina he represented). That’s all it took.

Over time, the spelling changed to “bunkum,” and the meaning strangely changed to be “excellent.” Then it changed back in 1870, when a San Francisco gambler introduced a new game “banco” played with dice that were later found out to be loaded. Sure enough, BUNCO became known to mean swindle or cheat, and bunkum reverted back to its original meaning. (Source)

The word DEBUNK came directly from this: it’s just bunk(um) with the prefix de- (meaning to remove).

7. HIRCISMUS (n)

Definition: Offensive armpit odor.

Analysis: Hircismus comes from the root word “hircus” which means goat in Latin. Someone must have thought smelly pits smelled like goats. Actually, this word combines two sources of great insult potential: smelly and armpits. Why this is not used more often in the discourse of hateful communication is beyond me.

Alternative: As we’ve mentioned, armpit is an untapped goldmine for insults. Here are some examples of words you can use: MASCHALEPHIDROSIS or MASCHALYPERIDROSIS (excessive sweating of the armpits). MASCHALOPHILOUS (sexual attraction to the underarms) and AXILLISM (the use of armpit for sex).

Smelling like goats is also a good source of insults (especially since goat is also a slang for a lecherous man). Try CAPRYLIC and HIRCINE (smelling like a pungent goat), and CAPRIC (resembling a goat).

8. CORPULENT (adj)

Definition: Very fat.

Analysis: Good ol’ fat is a reliable insult word. After all, nowadays, no one likes a fatty … except Mauritanian men. That’s right: in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, fat and Rubenesque women are sexy and desirable. So much so, that instead of the crash diet of the West, they have a similar but opposite program: crash feeding or “gavage,” where girls as young as 5 years old are force-fed milk, cream, butter, couscous and other calorie-rich food:

Girls as young as 5 and as old as 19 had to drink up to five gallons of fat-rich camel’s or cow’s milk daily, aiming for silvery stretch marks on their upper arms. If a girl refused or vomited, the village weight-gain specialist might squeeze her foot between sticks, pull her ear, pinch her inner thigh, bend her finger backward or force her to drink her own vomit. In extreme cases, girls died. (Source)

Interestingly, the ideal man is skinny (Mauritanians view portly men as womanish and lazy).

Alternative: ABDOMINOUS (potbellied), STEATOPYGOUS (fat-assed), and FUSSOCK (a very fat woman).

9. FEIST or FICE (n)

Definition: 1) A small dog of uncertain ancestry, a mongrel. 2) A person of little worth or someone with a bad temper, and 3) Silent fart.

Analysis: You actually already know this word: feist is used throughout the Midland and Southern United States to mean a snappy, nervous and belligerent little dog. The adjective feisty which means “full of spirit or spunky,” comes from this word. But that’s not why it’s on this list (hint: #3!)

What you may not know is the true origin of the word. Feist comes from the Middle English fisten, which means to break wind (fist originally also meant flatus or fart). Feist is a special type of fart: the silent (and often deadly) type. Oh, and the word “fart” itself comes from another Middle English word farten or ferten, which in turn is from the Old English feortan.

Feist is the type of word that, if introduced to young adolescents, no doubt would spark a lifelong interest in learning new words.

Alternative: Fart is another one of those goldmines of insults. To obfuscate what you really mean, use instead: FLATUOSITY (fart). Other gems: EPROCTOLAGNIAC (someone aroused by flatulence, his own or someone else’s), CARMINATIVE (something that makes you fart), and BDOLOTIC (prone to farting).

10. CACAFUEGO (n)

Definition: A swaggering braggart or boaster.

Analysis: Cacafuego literally means “shit fire” in Spanish. Anyone who boasts their new knowledge of insulting words from this article can be called a cacafuego.

That’s not the only interesting thing about it:

Cacafuego is also the nickname of a 16th century Spanish galleon captured by Sir Francis Drake (El Draque or The Dragon as he was known to his Spanish victims). The ship’s original name was Nuestra Señora de la Concepción (Our Lady of Conception), but for some reason it’s called by her sailors as “cagafuego” (fireshitter) or “cacafuego” (shitfire).

It was Drake’s biggest plunder: it took his crew four days to transfer the cargo from the Cacafuego. In all, Drake got 80 pounds of gold, 26 tons of silver, 13 cases of silver coins, jewels, and more.

Synonym: BLATHERSKITE, BRAGGADOCIO, FANFARON, GASCONADER, and RODOMONTADE (English is full of this kind of word, though I think caca “shit fire” fuego is in a class of its own!)

I’ve found myself doing this more and more. Personally, I think it’s better because the recipient can buy what they really want (but probably wouldn’t without your ‘gift’).

A system that turns brain waves into FM radio signals and decodes them as sound is the first totally wireless brain-computer interface.

For now, 26-year-old Erik Ramsey, left almost entirely paralyzed by a horrific car accident 10 years ago, can only express vowel sounds with the system. That’s less than can be accomplished with wired brain-computer interfaces. But it’s still a promising step.

“All the groups working on BCIs are working toward wireless solutions. They are very superior,” said Frank Guenther a Boston University cognitive scientist who helped developed Ramsey’s system.

In the last decade, brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs, have made the jump from speculation to preliminary medical reality. Since Wired reported on quadriplegic BCI pioneer Matthew Nagle four years ago (”He’s playing Pong with his thoughts alone“), the interfaces have been used to steer wheelchairs, send text messages and even to Tweet. They’re so advanced that some researchers now worry about BCI ethics — what happens when healthy people get them? And they’re concerned about the threat posed by hackers.

But as amazing as these early BCIs are, they’re far from street-ready. Systems based on translating electrical signals captured by electrodes on patients’ scalps are notoriously slow, capable of producing about one word a minute. If researchers put electrodes directly into patients’ brains, the results are better — but that raises the possibility of dangerous infection. And from a purely practical point of view, wires just get in the way.

The implant system tested by Ramsey, as described in a paper published Wednesday in Public Library of Science ONE, was originally developed by Philip Kennedy, founder of Neural Signals, a company that specializes in BCIs. Several electrodes are implanted in Ramsey’s cerebral cortex. Beneath the skin of his skull is an amplifier that gathers the electrodes’ signals, and an FM transmitter that sends them to a nearby computer.

Using a neurological model constructed by Guenther, Ramsey’s brain activity is mapped to corresponding mouth and jaw movements. Another program decodes the signals, and synthesizes them in the sound of a tinny, but human-like voice.

“The system produces the sound output in about 50 milliseconds. That’s the time it takes for sound output to come from a motor cortex command in a normal individual,” said Guenther.

The three wires in Ramsey’s brain are only sufficient for making vowel sounds, said Guenther. But the researchers plan to add more electrodes, perhaps as many as 32. That would be more difficult to control, but would also allow Ramsey’s thoughts to better mimic natural tongue and jaw movements, ultimately letting him form consonants as well.

For now, the computer that translates Ramsey’s mental broadcasts is still in a laboratory. “But our goal is to have him transmit directly to a laptop,” said Guenther.

Image: A schematic at left and CT scans at right of the wireless brain-computer interface. PLoS ONE.

[Brandon Keim]

1. It’s an incentive to show up.

2. It leads to more honest communications.

3. It reduces complaints about low pay

4. Employees tell management what they think, not what they want to hear.

5. It encourages car pooling.

6. Increase job satisfaction because if you have a bad job, you don’t care.

7. It eliminates vacations because people would rather come to work.

8. It makes fellow employees look better.

9. It makes the cafeteria food taste better.

10. Bosses are more likely to hand out raises when they are wasted.

11. Salary negotiations are a lot more profitable.

12. Employees work later since there’s no longer a need to relax at the bar.

13. It makes everyone more open with their ideas.

14. Eliminates the need for employees to get drunk on their lunch break.

15. Employees no longer need coffee to sober up.

16. Sitting “Bare ass” on the copy machine will no longer be seen as gross.”