pancake theorem a tech/life blog


Monthly Archives for May 2011

"Sound of sex could alert internet porn filter" 05.25.2011

It doesn’t take much imagination to guess what a porn video sounds like. It’s more impressive, however, when it’s a computer that’s doing the guessing.

It’s an interesting research topic, but is it too much too late? How long of an audio clip needs to be “heard” by the computer and user before it’s deemed “unwanted pornography?” Comedy wouldn’t fare well, either:

Comedy shows with laughter were also sometimes mistaken for pornography, as the loud audience cheers and cries share similar spectral characteristics to sexual sounds.


Adding Polaroid-like borders to images using CSS border-image 05.24.2011

One post that I get a lot of hits from search results on is my wooden frame border-image post. I’m not surprised, because border-image is probably the most tricky and time-consuming of all the CSS properties. Today I decided to play around with a trickier kind of image border: the Polaroid.

This one involves a bit of math, because each border (top, right, bottom, left) are different sizes, and they change dramatically as the image size changes. I created a little form here that lets you generate code for turning your own images into instant film photography.

Just copy and paste the code, and put in the URL of your image–which, sorry to say, needs to be the same proportions as the polaroid’s inside box, so you can enter the width of your image to see what the height should be.


Grades Hinder Innovation and Creativity in STEM 05.21.2011

The opening line of this clip from CNN’s Don’t Fail Me: Education in America piece says it well:

“Innovations and creativity in science, technology, engineering, and math will be the drivers of tomorrow’s economy…and if you are not a participant on that frontier, you will trail behind it and possibly get left behind entirely.”
-Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Scientist

It’s easy to consider this when you’re not awaiting a grade at the end of a marking period or semester. I can honestly say that I was happier to take a “fluff” course over a challenging one in high school, because I knew that my class rank was more important than any “challenges” I could take as a high school student–it was my class rank and SAT scores that got me a full scholarship to college, not my inventive and creative ideas. Fortunately, college is a different environment that, if you picked correctly, nurtures your creativity and innovation and does not grade solely on exam scores. Continue reading





I love you more than this… 05.12.2011

My life is abuzz with new projects, finals, grading, volunteering, job interviews and all the stresses of this beautiful month of May. If you’re like me – stressed out and buried in your iPhone at all hours – here’s a cute letterpress card to remind your loved one that you’re not leaving them for a gadget any time soon.

If they believe you is another question.


AIDS Walk New York – May 15, 2011 05.03.2011

This past week has given me little time, as it’s the end of the semester. One thing I’m looking forward to (besides seeing that all my grades have been done and submitted) is this year’s AIDS Walk NY, which I am volunteering with one of my closest friends again. Please click this post’s title (or the hideous widget in my sidebar) to go to my Walk page and make a donation. I’ll love you eternally for it!