A team of theoretical physicists working with Microsoft today published an amazingpre-print research paperdescribing the universe as a self-learning system of evolutionary laws. In other words: We live inside a computer that learns. The big idea:Bostrom’sSimulation Argumenthas been a hot topic in science circles lately. We published “What if you’re living in a simulation, but there’s no computer” recently to posit a different theory, but Microsoft’s pulled a cosmic “hold my beer” with this paper....

There are a lot of photo sharing apps out there that do more or less a lot of the same things. In fact, there are so many that we called 2010:The Year of Epic Photo Sharing Apps. Some have better platform options like PicPlz, some have better sharing options like Path (debatable) and some have the ability to steala million heartswith classic filters likeInstagram. One photo sharing app,PicBouncefor the iPhone, prides itself on being very simple and quick, and uploading only to Facebook and Twitter....

There are a number of good image bookmarking and sharing websites such asWeheatrit,Ffffound,Pichausto name but a few. However there is a new kid in town calledPiccsy, which is making a pretty good dive for the number one spot. It is still in private Beta but has a staggering 1.2 million visitors a month. Piccsy is founded by CanadianDaniel Ecklerand is part ofStartup Chile. The site is visually breathtaking, simple to navigate and easy to understand....

I’m quite a few years away from settling down, but that’s not to say the thought hasn’t crossed my mind that I don’t want my future child to be stuck with a crappyTwitterhandle like @EmMyers99892. Domain names don’t bother me so much, but for some an available domain name may make or break a name decision.Rewordio.usis an easy to use web app designed for couples to register available domain names in the future children’s name....

Chatroulette. The site synonymous with showing “onesself”recently underwent some cosmetic changes, but first impressions mean everything and unless you’re impressed by seeing the nether regions of another, Chatroulette for you, as it is for me, is less than appealing. A new site launching today,Pick or Skip, bills itself as “Chatroulette, but without the dicks.” Upon first reading that line I was flummoxed as to why a site would ban anyone named Richard....