News Stories

[Ithekro]

Originally Posted by KiraYamatoFan

Fish 'n chips FTW!

That combination is our only known exception.

[Yu Ominae]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...ssador-kennedy

National Police Agency confirms arrest of man over death threats on American diplomats. It's related to American presence in Okinawa and the suspect is an Okinawan who made threats in fluent English.

[ganbaru]

Ohio man cleared of murder after 39 years in jail to get $1 million payment
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0MG0GX20150320

Many Democrats want independent Clinton email probe: Reuters/Ipsos poll
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0MF0DV20150319

Russia says sanctions 'destructive', will act in own interests
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0MG0U320150320

[Dysprosium]

China in shock after Japanese girl wins brain battle

BEIJING – China’s loss to Japan on a popular game show devoted to mental athletics has left the country’s netizens atwitter and provoked some national soul-searching.

The battleground was the popular television show “Super Brain,” and the eventual winner a 9-year-old Japanese girl.

The series is a sort of weekly mental Olympics, pitting teams from around the world against China in a series of three brain-bending events.

In recent competitions, China has gone up against Germany and Britain, with contestants fighting over such questions of national honor as who can solve a Rubik’s cube the fastest.

Last Friday’s match against Japan — the country China loves to hate — was one of the most hotly anticipated, and widely watched, of the season.

For the last event in the triathlon, contestants were given mere seconds to find the answers to arithmetic problems that would take the average adult minutes — and a calculator — to solve.

When the dust settled, Japanese math prodigy Rinne Tsujikubo had demolished her Chinese competition, as well as fellow teammate Takeo Sasano.

Sasano, who is in his 30s, holds the Guinness World Record for mental addition: 15 three-digit numbers in 1.7 seconds.

The diminutive Tsujikubo played it cool throughout the contest, even after she mistakenly wrote one digit in a difficult problem.

That error allowed Team China to stay neck-and-neck for most of the competition, but in the last few minutes Tsujikubo completely blew the opposition away.

In the final round she multiplied two seven-digit numbers — and double-checked her work — before her competitors, or teammate, had seemingly even finished writing their answers.

The blistering speed with which she solved the problem left everyone, including the audience, dumbfounded and handed a win to Japan.

Xinhua, China’s official news agency, devoted a five-page write-up to the match, lavishing most of its attention on Tsujikubo’s mind-bending “mathleticism.”

What’s her secret? Studying the Japanese abacus, known as soroban, she told an interviewer before the show.

Abacus classes are a common, if not necessarily popular, after-school activity in Japan. After years of practice, devotees develop the ability to do sums on a mental calculator, solely based on visualization.

The skill is known as flash anzan (mental calculation) and is the centerpiece of an annual abacus competition.

Tsujikubo’s demonstration of the skill seems to have captivated Chinese viewers, who have watched the online version of the show almost 22 million times. Most were blown away by Tsujikubo’s superhuman arithmetic skills.

But inevitably, online comments showed signs of wounded nationalism. “Let’s fiercely trample Japan underfoot,” one commenter wrote.

Other viewers, however, had a more introspective take on Japan’s victory. Soroban, noted another commenter, were imported to Japan from China, where the tradition has largely died out.

“The island nation,” he wrote, referring to Japan, “defeated us with one of the best things left to us by our ancestors.” Perhaps, he said, “that’s worth reflecting on.”

Spoiler:

[Esclair]

^That show is pretty cool. I've watched a few episodes and its mind blowing how crazy their abilities are. And it's promoting math/science and making it popular to the TV watching audience, something I feel is sorely likely in the states.

[Ithekro]

The start of Mentats?

[SaintessHeart]

That girl is awesome. She even has time to cap her pen.

And lol at that pissed look on her face. I want to take her home and teach her more advanced things....*IS SHOT*

And there is a technique to that more than abacus which I remember to do so :

ABC
ABC
ABC

Arrange the numbers mentally like this, then add everything up per column (A/B/C), ignoring all the digits other than the ones in each case.

Arrange the results according to each row. Whatever is left is your tenth (X0) and thousand-hundredths (XX00). Add them to the answer.

Do it enough times and you can get the answer in less than a second.

Multiplication of 7-digit numbers is actually doable in an advanced mathematical concept known as Matrices. Put everything in 2x7 matrix form, tweak the formula a little and you can get the answer really fast.

[JokerD]

Originally Posted by Esclair

^That show is pretty cool. I've watched a few episodes and its mind blowing how crazy their abilities are. And it's promoting math/science and making it popular to the TV watching audience, something I feel is sorely likely in the states.

But is it useful in real life?

[HasuMasu]

You can be famous for being in a game show.

[ganbaru]

How the Senate Republicans’ letter gave Iran a boost in nuclear talks
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debat...nuclear-talks/

U.S. sets first major fracking rules on federal lands
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0MG1Q220150320

Wisconsin federal judge finds state abortion law unconstitutional
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0MH05H20150321

Alabama woman convicted of running granddaughter to death
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0MH02E20150321

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by JokerD

But is it useful in real life?

Against insurance agents and investment relationship managers, yes.

EDIT :

Islamic State posts kill list with purported addresses of U.S. military personnel

What is the gun ownership rate in US again? What is the 2nd Amendment again?

[AnimeFan188]

Berkeley’s Swastika Problem: Are America’s Liberal Colleges Breeding
Anti-Semitism?:

"From neo-Nazi graffiti at Berkeley to the grilling of a Jewish student at UCLA,
anti-Semitism is on the rise at liberal schools thought to be bastions of political
correctness."

See:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...-semitism.html

[SaintessHeart]

Former Singaporean PM's health deteriorates further

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited his father Lee Kuan Yew in hospital on Sunday. A statement released by the government says the 91-year-old former prime minister's health is deteriorating even further. The government said he was critically ill on Friday. Lee was hospitalised in early February with severe pneumonia. Residents and well-wishers have been leaving flowers and notes for a speedy recovery outside the hospital.

(SOUNDBITE)(Mandarin) UNIDENTIFIED SINGAPOREAN WOMAN SAYING: "We were very poor at that time, we were excited to see running water. You young people should cherish this country. Our leader ran this country for 50 years. I hope he can go through his 50th year, we are praying for him every day." (SOUNDBITE)

(English) DAVID EPSTEIN, 56, AMERICAN WORKING IN SINGAPORE, SAYING: "In a broader picture, coming from the United States, and seeing what Singapore has meant to Southeast Asia and the U.S., he's built something quite substantial. Can't predict what the future is, but I think it is important to pay tribute to that contribution." Lee is credited with transforming the city-state into the financial hub that it is today. Although he's receded from the public and political scene, his health is watched closely as he's still seen as an influential figure for the current government.

Hence this :

Images

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[JokerD]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Former Singaporean PM's health deteriorates further



Hence this :

Images

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

Funny you should mention this:
Golden_Throne#At_Present

It was revealed in the time after the end of the 13th Black Crusade on 986.999.M41 that many mechanisms of the Golden Throne have developed technological failures beyond the current ability of the Tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus to repair. Because of this, it seems possible that the Emperor's body will die at some time in the near future. Depending on the many myths and fevered predictions that have come to dominate the Imperium's "Time of Ending," this unwelcome event will either destroy or actually save the Imperium of Man, and the galaxy as a whole, from the inevitable destruction brought by Chaos.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by JokerD

Funny you should mention this:
Golden_Throne#At_Present

I think it is about time we should revamp our history textbooks into WH40K lore.

[ganbaru]

Fearing Islamic State, some Afghan Shi'ite seek help from old enemies
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0MI03N20150322

Australia signals approval of China-based AIIB; Japan divided
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0MG0CB20150320

How Europe and U.S. stumbled into spat over China-led bank
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0MI0ER20150322

[SaintessHeart]

Well finally he can let go. RIP.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Feels so surreal.

[Azuma Denton]

Deep condolences to the people of Singapore. He is a very good leader with inspiring life to tell to your children / grand children later.

[Chaos2Frozen]

I'll always remember the time they caned an American tourist for vandalism. Or at least thats how the story goes.

/so good