I like the idea, but the branding/execution is a little off-putting. Memorizing obscure facts won't necessarily make me smarter, and honestly I don't know exactly what would be involved in literally making a person smarter, but I would <i>feel</i> smarter if instead of obscure random facts I got obscure random teachings.<p>Examples:<p>A brief explanation of A^2 * B^2 = C^2, followed by a link to the relevant Wikipedia page.<p>A formula for approximating the volume of a cylinder presented as an easy-to-remember mnemonic, like pi * z * z * a where z = radius and a = height.<p>These are primarily math-based examples, but anything that tells more about how the world works than which movie happens to be the highest grossing or which dinosaur happened to be the biggest would be more what I would expect.
This is cute. I think the "Be smart, instantly" tagline is meant to be a little tongue-in-cheek because, yeah, probably memorizing a bunch of facts doesn't necessarily make you "smart," whatever that even means.<p>Simple design. Simple controls. I like how each fact is associated with a picture, which makes reading feel less rote and more of a pleasant experience.<p>For some pages, I would actually like to see the source. For example: <a href="http://instanerd.me/v/81" rel="nofollow">http://instanerd.me/v/81</a>. Was there a study performed that showed people act less irrationally when they see themselves in the mirror?<p>I'm not displeased with my sunk 10 minutes. Not bad.
<a href="http://instanerd.me/v/48" rel="nofollow">http://instanerd.me/v/48</a><p><pre><code> It is possible to create a plant that
grows potatoes above the ground and
tomatoes below, by grafting a tomato
plat stem onto a potato plant stalk.
</code></pre>
Don't people usually want tomatoes above the ground and potatoes below?
I find these sorts of things amusing (they come in book form too: <a href="http://bookoutlet.com/Store/Details/_/R-9781606521328B?gclid=CLfH66u57b4CFRWVfgodsEYAzg" rel="nofollow">http://bookoutlet.com/Store/Details/_/R-9781606521328B?gclid...</a>). And of course they are a trap since if you memorize a bunch of trivia and then pose as a 'nerd' or what ever, when you come across someone who actually learned this stuff because they were fascinated with it, and invested the time, they will rapidly spot you as a 'poser' or a fraud. And then they will be less likely to be friends with you than had you simply not attempted to put on the mantle of 'nerdness' or whatever.<p>Early in my life my wife pretty much cured me of 'male answer syndrome' which occurs whenever a suitably attractive female asks a question, the male is compelled to respond with an answer, regardless of the depth of knowledge on the subject and present it as authoritative. Sometimes you can pull that off, but if the person you are trying to impress is smarter than you, it tends to backfire horribly :-)
I found this to be curious(and interesting):
<a href="http://instanerd.me/v/55#you-made-it" rel="nofollow">http://instanerd.me/v/55#you-made-it</a><p><pre><code> WWOOF is a international program that allows you to travel the world, with food/accommodations covered, in exchange for volunteer work.
</code></pre>
That was the only page with that message in the url. Made me wonder if that page is the point behind the website.<p>Genius move if it was.
A lot of these "facts" seem like they came from a Quora article from several months ago. Even the wording is similar on some of these, including "If you ask someone a question and they only partially answer, just wait. If you stay silent and keep an eye contact they will continue talking" which is word-for-word what was posted there.<p>I mention this because some of these seem dubious, and I'd have loved sources. If they came from potentially unsourced Quora answers, the dubiousness just gets passed along.<p>Link: <a href="http://www.quora.com/Tips-and-Hacks-for-Everyday-Life/What-can-I-learn-right-now-in-just-10-minutes-that-could-be-useful-for-the-rest-of-my-life" rel="nofollow">http://www.quora.com/Tips-and-Hacks-for-Everyday-Life/What-c...</a>
There goes the rest of my day.<p>One UX thing that I thought of when doing this: you may want to take a page out of Facebook's bag of tricks; they preload the next image (when browsing an album).<p>Just a thought. Love it!
Cute though the lack of citations is a huge turn off. Not only does it cost you in trust/authority but if this is supposed to actually help users learn more you should offer a way to dig deeper into the subjects.
The facts are questionable ....<p>"Beer can reduce the risk of heart disease, by slowing down the digestion and absorption of food and reducing cholesterol levels. A liter of beer contains an average of 20% of the recommended daily intake of fiber and some beers can provide up to 60%."<p><a href="http://instanerd.me/v/28" rel="nofollow">http://instanerd.me/v/28</a><p>Guinness has 0 grams of fibre.<p><a href="http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/guinness-draught-stout-1-pint-16-oz-58070024" rel="nofollow">http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/guinness-draught-s...</a>
Doesn't have anything to do with being "smart" or getting smarter. At best, it's a trivia site (and of not very interestign or thinking enhancing trivia at that).<p>Also: "Genghis Khan was the founder of the Mongol Empire. He was responsible for the death of so many people that the Earth's carbon level dropped by almost 700 million tons".<p>Really? I seriously doubt that -- including doubting the fact that it uses a meaningful metric.
You might need some fact-checking.<p>Looking at the "highest recorded temperature":
<a href="http://instanerd.me/v/97" rel="nofollow">http://instanerd.me/v/97</a><p>The 1922 temperature record was recently judged to be most likely erroneous, which makes the Death Valley, CA reading the highest.<p><a href="http://wmo.asu.edu/world-highest-temperature" rel="nofollow">http://wmo.asu.edu/world-highest-temperature</a>
Raw copy of Ultrafacts (and many others) <a href="http://ultrafactsblog.com/" rel="nofollow">http://ultrafactsblog.com/</a> These facts, won't make you smarter, just a little bit curious.
:(<p>Warning: mysql_connect(): User instanerd already has more than 'max_user_connections' active connections in /hermes/bosnaweb04a/b1254/dom.mightyalexcom/public_html/instanerd/db.php on line 2 Warning: mysql_connect(): User alex already has more than 'max_user_connections' active connections in /hermes/bosnaweb04a/b1254/dom.mightyalexcom/public_html/instanerd/db.php on line 7 Could not connect: User alex already has more than 'max_user_connections' active connections
"People with crossed arms are closing themselves to social influence."<p>I cross my arms because I have poor circulation and it keeps them warm. Not everything you read on the internet is true.
<p><pre><code> [[citation needed]]
</code></pre>
I would like this site more if I could click through to a Wikipedia article or something containing the fact.
I can't find a reference for 'When people see themselves in the mirror, the chances of them to behave irrationally lowers significantly. That's why it's a good practise to have a mirror behind the counter at a bar or customer service of any kind.'.
It seems to be something only quoted on reddit and lifehack blogs as far as I can see.
I think this little toy could benefit from Wikipedia links. Take <a href="http://instanerd.me/v/17" rel="nofollow">http://instanerd.me/v/17</a>, for example. Wouldn't you want to know what this Dinosaur was actually called? A Wikipedia link would be helpful. This seems to be the case for most of these flashcards.
> Fingers prune underwater not because of them absorbing water or washing away oil, but because of an evolutionary trait caused by the brain to enhance the grip of your finger underwater.<p>Are those mutually exclusive? Can it not be an evolutionary trait AND be caused by some process?
I kept expecting it to turn into some kind of message-retention quiz. The kind that would prove we only absorb 10% of what we're shown, or some other counterintuitainment.<p>Nice typography and highlight hue.
The interface, at least on Safari on a 13" MBP, requiring scrolling to go to "next" is a bit clunky. I stopped looking after a couple of the items because of it.