How Programmers Read Code

From the article How Do We Read Code?

I recently got to participate in a psychological experiment for programmers. A friend of mine, Mike Hansen, is doing research on how people comprehend programs. The goal is to figure out some way of measuring what features in programming systems help programmers understand what they are doing, and how this can be used to make systems that lead to higher quality software. Mike is currently running an experiment where he shows people several short Python programs and asks them to tell the output of the program. The test subject is sitting in front of an eye tracker, so afterwards Mike can see where you were looking at various times during the experiment.

I recommend pausing the video for a second and studying the code yourself and then watch the eye-tracking as the participant solves the puzzle. Quite interesting.

Weird Audio Illusion

Play the video and look at the text paragraphs below for a while and you should hear Fry say it, even though the audio doesn't change. He is actually saying "Fix it"

BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD.

DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK

BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT

bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza

snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it

PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTUREPICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTUREPICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE

ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT

friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction

There's more in the YT comments.

This is also how that Stairway to Heaven backwards sounds so convincing.

Binaural Recordings

You'll need headphones for this to work. Make sure there is no noise around, close your eyes, turn the volume up a little bit, hold and press headphone on your ears for better hearing, play it and enjoy this impressive audio work ( illusion ). Not a screamer not a prank!

Binaural recording @ wiki

This clip also has some effective examples. This clip is also quite good.

Dolphins have fun with a mirror

The McGurk Effect

A bizarre optical and auditory illusion.

BA.. BA.. BA..

FA.. FA.. FA..

Hallucinogens Have Doctors Tuning In Again

New York Times - April 11, 2010 As a retired clinical psychologist, Clark Martin was well acquainted with traditional treatments for depression, but his own case seemed untreatable as he struggled through chemotherapy and other grueling regimens for kidney cancer. Counseling seemed futile to him. So did the antidepressant pills he tried. Nothing had any lasting effect until, at the age of 65, he had his first psychedelic experience. He left his home in Vancouver, Wash., to take part in an experiment at Johns Hopkins medical school involving psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient found in certain mushrooms. Scientists are taking a new look at hallucinogens, which became taboo among regulators after enthusiasts like Timothy Leary promoted them in the 1960s with the slogan “Turn on, tune in, drop out.” Now, using rigorous protocols and safeguards, scientists have won permission to study once again the drugs’ potential for treating mental problems and illuminating the nature of consciousness. Full story... Psilocybin @ wiki

Smart bird

Nice Optical Illusion

All identical diamonds, each with the same gradient. You can check out the image below in an image editing program if you don't believe it.

23 years of conscious coma

A car crash victim has spoken of the horror he endured for 23 years after he was misdiagnosed as being in a coma when he was conscious the whole time. Rom Houben, trapped in his paralysed body after a car crash, described his real-life nightmare as he screamed to doctors that he could hear them - but could make no sound. 'I dreamed myself away,' he added, tapping his tale out with the aid of a computer.

The truthfulness of this story has been criticized by none other than the acclaimed skeptic Randi. Is the story real or not, or somewhere in between?

Wired article Houben has since proven able to answer yes-or-no questions with slight movements of his foot. It’s a tremendous accomplishment, and raises the chilling possibility that, as estimated by Coma Science Group leader Steven Laureys in a Monday New York Times story, as many as four in 10 people considered utterly comatose may be misdiagnosed. But the legitimacy of interviews given by Houben and his facilitator to Der Spiegel, and shown on video by the BBC, may not be as certain. “I believe that he is sentient. They’ve shown that with MRI scans,” said James Randi, a prominent skeptic who during the 1990s investigated the use of facilitated communication for autistic children. But in the video, “You see this woman who’s not only holding his hand, but what she’s doing is directing his fingers and looking directly at the keyboard. She’s pressing down on the keyboard, pressing messages for him. He has nothing to do with it.”

Imagine how messed up it is for this guy if he IS conscious and sees the woman typing stuff that he IS NOT thinking.

MSNBC article Most troubling about the claim that Houben is communicating are the facts that he is doing so with the help of a therapist who points his finger to the keys on a computer keyboard. The therapist, Linda Wouters, has told news reporters that she can feel Houben guiding her hand with gentle pressure from his fingers. She feels him objecting when she moves his hand toward an incorrect letter. But, given his injuries, Houben should not be able to generate any pressure in his fingers. And if he can do so, why did no one else detect this ability over the past 23 years?

There is a simple way to test this. Say or show a simple word to Mr Houben while the person guiding his hand is not there. Then have the facilitator come back and ask Houben to write that word. If he can answer Yes/No questions with his foot, then you could also ask him, are you typing these words? We need more info on this story. I hope someone gets to the truth of this. Locked-in syndrome @ wiki Facilitated communication @ wiki

Four Shades of Blue Optical Illusion

Seems somewhat similar to the Cornsweet Illusion.

Doubt cast on cannabis, schizophrenia link

A British study has cast doubt on the supposed link between cannabis use and schizophrenia, but at least one Australian researcher says the study needs more evidence. Previous research has suggested cannabis use increases the risk of being diagnosed with either psychosis or schizophrenia. This latest study, led by Dr. Martin Frisher of Keele University, examined the records of 600,000 patients aged between 16 and 44, but failed to find a similar link. "An important limitation of many studies is that they have failed to distinguish the direction of association between cannabis use and psychosis," the authors write in the September edition of the journal Schizophrenia Research. [...] They argue that if cannabis use does cause schizophrenia, an increase in cannabis use should be followed by an increase in the incidence of schizophrenia. According to the study, cannabis use in the United Kingdom between 1972 and 2002 has increased four-fold in the general population, and 18-fold among under-18s. Based on the literature supporting the link, the authors argue that this should be followed by an increase in schizophrenia incidence of 29 per cent between 1990 and 2010. But the researchers found no increase in the rates of schizophrenia and psychosis diagnosis during that period. In fact, some of the data suggested the incidence of these conditions had decreased. More...

Top 10 Illusions of 2009

The three pink- and blue-colored parallelograms are the same. All blue lines are equal in length; all pink lines are also equal. Box B is simply Box C rotated counterclockwise. But the three parallelograms look different, and boxes B and C look different. Our visual system assumes that the diagonals in A and C are foreshortened and “stretches” them perceptually. The pink lines in B should be foreshortened and stretched, just as they are in C. But our visual system doesn’t stretch a horizontal quite as much as it stretches a diagonal.

Most of the illusions (including the number 1) are animated on the site. Also check out the finalists of previous years in the menu on the left.

The Amazing Color Changing Card Trick

Zombie caterpillars controlled by voodoo wasps

More @ NewScientist.

Your Brain on Google

Memories Selectively, Safely Erased In Mice

Targeted memory erasure is no longer limited to the realm of science fiction. A new study describes a method through which a selected set of memories can be rapidly and specifically erased from the mouse brain in a controlled and inducible manner. New and old memories have been selectively and safely removed from mice by scientists. [...] Much as a war veteran remembers a fateful patrol when he was fired upon, mice can establish a very long-lasting emotional memory about a place if, for example, they receive a mild shock to the paws while there. The researchers showed if they over-expressed αCaMKII, this powerful memory was rapidly erased as the animals tried to retrieve them while other memories remained intact. A similar approach was taken with object recognition memory, giving mice a couple of toys to play with then erasing their memory of one of them. "You will feel like every time, it's a new toy," says Dr. Tsien. Full Article...

Quite scary that this is possible. Though it has uses for traumatic memories it could also be misused. And what if you use it and remember the wrong memory, bye bye memory.

Thanks Boys!

It's super cool!

Nicotine as Good as Ritalin

Tomorrow I start with Ritalin in order to reduce the effects of ADD on my ability to concentrate. I was browsing the net on what to be careful with in combination with Ritalin and found this article. Turns out I've been self medicating for quite some years now...

NEW ORLEANS, LA -- November 13, 2003 -- Nicotine serves as well as the commonly prescribed drug methylphenidate (Ritalin) on measures of motor inhibition taken in teens with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). [...] Nicotine was delivered by a skin patch. Comparison was to oral Ritalin and a placebo for both medications. The teens served as their own controls. Reaction times significantly improved on 2 standard laboratory tasks that measure inhibition of responding no matter which drug was used. Tests included the Stroop Task, with nicotine significantly decreasing the so-called Stroop effect (P < .05). Nicotine worked better on this task than did Ritalin.

"moving animations" optical illusion

This optical illusion, works pretty simple and the effect is cool.