http://barrdear.com/john Thoughts about economics, politics and life in general Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:08:12 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Dreams are more negative than real life: Implications for the function of dreaming Authors: Katja Valli; Thea Strandholm; Lauri Sillanmki; Antti Revonsuo Published in: Cognition & Emotion, Volume 22, Issue 5 August 2008 , pages 833 - 861 Abstract Dream content studies have revealed that dream experiences ... http://barrdear.com/john/2008/08/20/dreams-are-more-negative-than-real-life/ This is a post from the Wordpress app on my iPhone. The interface is simple enough, but seems to lack any admin functionality. http://barrdear.com/john/2008/08/10/a-post-from-my-iphone/ Was on holiday. Back now. http://barrdear.com/john/2008/08/10/returning/ I've got my hands on a copy of Xavier Vives' new book, "Information and Learning in Markets."  It's a graduate-level textbook on mechanisms for information aggregation and I have to admit - my inner nerd is pretty excited at the prospect of not understanding most of it. http://barrdear.com/john/2008/06/20/information-and-learning-in-markets/ Dear Michael Medved (who wrote the article and who graduated from Yale) and Professor Greg Mankiw (who linked to the article and teaches at Harvard), I'm willing to accept that Michael's argument represents some of the reason why Harvard and Yale graduates represent such a large fraction of presidential candidates if ... http://barrdear.com/john/2008/06/11/orly/ Australia, like most of Western Europe and a few other countries, is on America's "visa waiver" programme, which lets people travel to the USA for up to 90 days at a time without first applying for a visa, although the US can still deny entry to anybody that doesn't answer ... http://barrdear.com/john/2008/06/03/needing-a-visa-to-visit-america/ I can't write much at the moment - exams - but it just occurred to me to ask:  Where is Obama's big speech on sexism? Why didn't he give a month ago?  In particular, why didn't he give it before the DNC made their decision on Florida and Michigan?  Giving it ... http://barrdear.com/john/2008/06/03/where-is-obamas-big-speech-on-sexism/ Are obese people more likely to break their bones when they fall over because of their extra weight? I can imagine that their bones are stronger than healthy-weighted people, but are they sufficiently stronger to make up for the extra pressure in a fall (as opposed to just walking around)? http://barrdear.com/john/2008/05/12/enquiring-minds-want-to-know/ Scott Adams has given up some gold for anybody dealing with dodgy datasets (and they're all dodgy): 8 May 2008: 7 May 2008: http://barrdear.com/john/2008/05/09/dilbert-gold/ My sister (in law) wondered why the government, if you can call it that, of Burma (Myanmar) isn't letting foreign aid into the country after Cyclone Nargis (that's a hurricane to any North Americans in the audience) ripped through the country earlier this month. My quick-and-dirty response: They're arseholes. ... http://barrdear.com/john/2008/05/07/why-wont-the-government-of-burma-myanmar-let-aid-in/