200-Year-Old Presidential Code Cracked

retropolitics:

(Newser Summary) – A code that stumped Thomas Jefferson and other cryptologists for over two centuries has finally been cracked, the Wall Street Journal reports. The cipher—sent to Jefferson in 1801 by mathematician Robert Patterson as an example of the perfect code—piqued the interest of defense cryptologist Lawren Smithline, who tackled the jumble of letters using methods available in the 19th century, although sped up with the help of computers.

Smithline broke down the code, which Patterson had boasted would remain uncracked until the end of time, into two-letter segments and analyzed 19th-century speeches for clues. After weeks of work, he discovered that the encoded message was the beginning of the Declaration of Independence—which was partially authored by Jefferson himself. “Patterson played this little joke on Thomas Jefferson,” says Smithline. “And nobody knew until now.”

Source: Wall Street Journal
When Money Buys Happiness

Dr. Miller issued an open invitation to readers to try this exercise:

List the ten most expensive things (products, services or experiences) that you have ever paid for (including houses, cars, university degrees, marriage ceremonies, divorce settlements and taxes). Then, list the ten items that you have ever bought that gave you the most happiness. Count how many items appear on both lists.

More than 200 readers responded and below are the 5 major trends:
1. Some people commented that there was a pretty good match between their most expensive purchases and those that gave the most happiness.
2. Many comments noted that the happiness items were often experiences rather than physical goods – especially experiences that were social, memorable, educational, adventurous, or altruistic.
3. Many comments emphasized the value of thrift, and argued that their good overlap between expense and happiness was due to sensible consumer decisions.
4. Several comments emphasized the importance of financial security and low debt, for peace of mind, if not for happiness.
5. I’m struck by the absence of some items I expected to be really important for the happiness of some of the people, at least some of the time, such as mental health, physical health, and private vices.

"…but those words unsaid poison every next moment. I will try to disappoint you better than anyone ever has."
— Stephen Dunn, Mon Semblable (via milquetoastintolerant)
wooliebear: I just heard this on the news and had to come back for a sec: Alec Baldwin may follow in the footsteps of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura and Ronald Reagan as a celebrity governor. Baldwin told Playboy Magazine that there is a plot by a group of Ohio lawyers to have the “30 Rock” actor move to the Buckeye state and consider a run for chief executive. “A law firm in a liberal Democratic bastion in Ohio state politics sent me a binder with a cover letter that read, ‘Mr. Baldwin, here’s who we represent, the kinds of cases we handle, our credentials in Ohio state politics. We want you to move to Ohio and run for governor. We will launch your career.’” Baldwin, who is a regular contributor to the political web site Huffington Post made no bones about his desire to run for office, but he may have reservations about moving to the Midwest. “I have sometimes thought I could move to New Jersey or Connecticut and run. I’d love to run against Joe Lieberman. I have no use for him. But it’s all fantasy. I’m a carry-me-out-in-a-box New Yorker. Here, anything can happen.” Whatever Baldwin decides about his burgeoning political career, it will have to wait until after Tina Fey and Lorne Michaels are done with him.  The liberal actor, who plays conservative Jack Donaghy on “30 Rock” is under contract for the show until 2012. “In March 2012 I’ll wake up and say, ‘What am I going to do now? Am I done?’ I think I will be done. I may finish a play or something, but I’m retiring at the wrap party.” via

wooliebear:

I just heard this on the news and had to come back for a sec:

Alec Baldwin may follow in the footsteps of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura and Ronald Reagan as a celebrity governor.

Baldwin told Playboy Magazine that there is a plot by a group of Ohio lawyers to have the “30 Rock” actor move to the Buckeye state and consider a run for chief executive.

“A law firm in a liberal Democratic bastion in Ohio state politics sent me a binder with a cover letter that read, ‘Mr. Baldwin, here’s who we represent, the kinds of cases we handle, our credentials in Ohio state politics. We want you to move to Ohio and run for governor. We will launch your career.’”

Baldwin, who is a regular contributor to the political web site Huffington Post made no bones about his desire to run for office, but he may have reservations about moving to the Midwest.

“I have sometimes thought I could move to New Jersey or Connecticut and run. I’d love to run against Joe Lieberman. I have no use for him. But it’s all fantasy. I’m a carry-me-out-in-a-box New Yorker. Here, anything can happen.”

Whatever Baldwin decides about his burgeoning political career, it will have to wait until after Tina Fey and Lorne Michaels are done with him.  The liberal actor, who plays conservative Jack Donaghy on “30 Rock” is under contract for the show until 2012.

“In March 2012 I’ll wake up and say, ‘What am I going to do now? Am I done?’ I think I will be done. I may finish a play or something, but I’m retiring at the wrap party.”

via

"The truth is that laundry doesn’t have to be that difficult."
— 7 Ways to Simplify Laundry | SimpleProductivityBlog.com (via turbozenhacks) (via merlin)
There are few things in this world I hate more than doing laundry.
"We have 60 votes on paper. But we cannot bulldoze anybody; it doesn’t work that way. My caucus doesn’t allow it. And we have a very diverse group of senators philosophically. I am not this morning suddenly flexing my muscles."
—

Senator Harry Reid (D - Nevada), on why a 60-40 Democratic headcount in the Senate may not be such a “supermajority” after all.

(via the NY Times)

(via inothernews)
India court rules gay sex legal

sabine:

A top Indian court has issued a landmark ruling decriminalising gay sex between consenting adults, overturning colonial-era legislation that outlawed homosexuality.  The New Delhi High Court ruled that an existing statute prohibiting homosexual acts was discriminatory and therefore a “violation of fundamental rights” accorded under the constitution.  The statute in question is a British colonial-era law outlawing “carnal intercourse against the order of nature.” Conviction carried a fine and a maximum 10-year jail sentence.
"A guy and a girl can be just friends but at one point or another, they will fall for each other. Maybe temporarily, maybe at the wrong time, maybe too late, or maybe forever."
— Dave Matthews
sexartandpolitics: That certainly puts Obama’s troop increase in perspective, doesn’t it. TAPPED | Making it happen in Afghanistan.

sexartandpolitics:

That certainly puts Obama’s troop increase in perspective, doesn’t it.

TAPPED | Making it happen in Afghanistan.

Temp Work: Kurt Vonnegut

inothernews:bigcrush:caro:

He fed a page into his typewriter, stared at it for several hours, typed “The horse jumped over the fucking fence” and left.

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Themed by: Hunson