The many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics is the ultimate violation of Occam's Razor.  It's totally unsubstantiated speculation.  You might as well be theorizing about the flying spaghetti monster.

The Trouble is that ranking order determines the number of views, which determines the vote count, which determines the ranking order.  This is self-reinforcing, and amplifies random noise such as the number of people who were online at the time the video was submitted.  To get a more accurate ranking of videos there are some countermeasures we might try:

0.  Introduce some randomness to the default sort order

1.  Each view of a video (from a distinct user) subtracts a small fraction from its vote count

2.  Only videos found through searching or "random" mode can be voted.  If a user arrives at a video through a top-list, he cannot vote for it.  Videosift doesn't have enough traffic volume to try this approach, but YT does.

If lowering the stock price of a company can destroy it, the company was already in deep shit.  They shouldn't rely on continuously issuing new stock to pay for daily operations.   The only way shortselling would be a bad thing is if the shortsellers spread false rumors about the company.

Normally, the tap water has so many dissolved gasses and salts that I can't see through it when it first comes out of the tap, but if you let the water sit for a minute or two the gas bubbles come to the top and it becomes transparent.   Also, it has so much dissolved salts that putting tap water in a pot and boiling off 20% of it leaves a visible precipitate/residue on the bottom of the pot.    This fucking sucks.   If you run the cold water for >5 minutes before filling up from it, it comes out clear.  But the excessive dissolved crap problem is still there.   You can't boil off 20% of it without forming a precipitate.   It probably isn't healthy to drink water that has so much dissolved crap in it.   I looked up their test results, which meet LEGAL limits but don't meet EPA health guidelines or California public health goals:

http://www.ewg.org/tapwater/yourwater/system.php?pwsid=NE3110926

The US ought to at least recognize the independence of Taiwan.   They've been de-facto independent for over 60 years, and they make most of the world's CPUs.    China's delusions can jump off a bridge...  It's just like Britan's delusion that led to the 100 years war.

It's interesting how the text differs drastically from what was done in Iraq and Afghanistan.   It was specifically to avoid having a ton of disgruntled unemployed ex-soldiers:

We, acting by command of and on behalf of the Emperor of Japan, the Japanese Government and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, hereby accept the provisions in the declaration issued by the heads of the Governments of the United States, China, and Great Britain 26 July 1945 at Potsdam, and subsequently to by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which four powers are hereafter referred to as the Allied Powers.

We hereby proclaim the unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters and of all Japanese Armed Forces and all Armed Forces under Japanese control wherever situated.

We hereby command all Japanese forces wherever situated and the Japanese people to cease hostilities forthwith, to preserve and save from damage all ships, aircraft, and military and civil property, and to comply with all requirements which may be imposed by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers or by agencies of the Japanese Government at his direction.

We hereby command the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters to issue at once orders to the commanders of all Japanese forces and all forces under Japanese control wherever situated to surrender unconditionally themselves and all forces under their control.

We hereby command all civil, military, and naval officials to obey and enforce all proclamations, orders, and directives deemed by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers to be proper to effectuate this surrender and issued by him or under his authority; and we direct all such officials to remain at their posts and to continue to perform their non-combatant duties unless specifically relieved by him or under his authority.

We hereby undertake for the Emperor, the Japanese Government, and their successors to carry out the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration in good faith, and to issue whatever orders and take whatever action may be required by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers or by any other designated representative of the Allied Powers for the purpose of giving effect to that declaration.

We hereby command the Japanese Imperial Government and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters at once to liberate all Allied Prisoners of War and civilian internees now under Japanese control and to provide for their protection, care, maintenance, and immediate transportation to places as directed.

The authority of the Emperor and the Japanese Government to rule the State shall be subject to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, who will take such steps as he deems proper to effectuate these terms of surrender.

Signed at TOKYO BAY, JAPAN at 09.04 on the SECOND day of SEPTEMBER, 1945

Mamoru Shigemitsu
By Command and in behalf of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese Government

Yoshijirō Umezu
By Command and in behalf of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters

Accepted at TOKYO BAY, JAPAN at 0908 on the SECOND day of SEPTEMBER, 1945, for the United States, Republic of China, United Kingdom and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and in the interests of the other United Nations at war with Japan.

Douglas MacArthur
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers

C.W. Nimitz
United States Representative

Hsu Yung-Ch'ang
Republic of China Representative

Bruce Fraser
United Kingdom Representative

Kuzma Derevyanko
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Representative

Thomas Blamey
Commonwealth of Australia Representative

L. Moore Cosgrave
Dominion of Canada Representative

Jacques Leclerc
Provisional Government of the French Republic Representative

C.E.L. Helfrich
Kingdom of the Netherlands Representative

Leonard M. Isitt
Dominion of New Zealand Representative

The way most of the scientific literature is split up over 100 different pay-sites with 100 different logins and outrageous pricing schemes ($20 an article!) is a pain in the ass that retards the progress of science.   When I publish stuff I'm going to GPL it so that it will be *illegal* for derivative works to be sold exclusively on pay-sites.  That's the way science is supposed to be: free and open to the world.

Also, fuck the tradition that requires every advanced degree to be hyperspecialized to the point of tunnel-vision.

There's no circumstance in the English language where the pronunciation of "x" even resembles the typical pronunciation of x in a transliterated chinese surname.  That sound is indistinguishable from "sh" to English ears, so they should have just transliterated it to "sh" instead of "x".   Match phonemes to phonemes, not random characters to random characters...