‘Breakthrough’ algorithm exponentially faster than any previous one. Just a reminder that the vast majority of the reason computers have gotten faster over the years is algorithmic improvement, not improved hardware.
June 30, 2018
How Merkel broke the EU. Far from being Europe’s savior, the German chancellor is gradually, if unwittingly, destroying it. Attempting to preserve the status quo when it cannot be preserved is the best way known to break a system quickly.
Thomas Bayes and the crisis in science. Modern science is often attempting to find a slight signal in a mass of noise. Often, this is not really possible even when many scientists claim it is, no matter how much math you throw at it.
Anthony Kennedy Was Never Really a Friend to Liberals. A look back at his record shows that but for a few high-profile rulings, he was a conservative justice who granted more power to the right. He was merely a bit less conservative than many of the other troglodytes on the court.
A parthenogenetic quasi-program causes teratoma-like tumors during aging in wild-type C. elegans. I strongly doubt that aging is just an accumulation of damage, in humans or anything else.
June 29, 2018
How Bank Lending Really Creates Money, And Why The Magic Money Tree Is Not Cost Free. Nothing is cost free; sometimes money creation is a good thing. Sometimes it is not.
We Have Reached Peak Screen. Now Revolution Is in the Air. I use my smartphone as little as possible because it’s terrible and I hate it.
We can’t go back to the dark days of discrimination based on a pre-existing condition. Really the only win of the ACA was this provision.
Anthony Kennedy’s retirement ensures the Supreme Court will allow states to outlaw abortion. In many states, it’s already effectively outlawed.
In Japan, Your Smile is Being Recorded: Take This Job and Love It—Or Else. Inevitable for the US, too. If you think customer service jobs are terrible now, just wait.
June 28, 2018
While propaganda is ancient, modern methods make it vastly more effective than in ancient times. Scientists tell us that mind control does not exist. As is often the case in the social realm, they are wrong.
In Hindsight, Obama Shouldn’t Have Appointed Merrick Garland. Safe choices aren’t.
The Lessons of a Stunning New York Primary. The millennials, for the most part, are alright, but probably too late.
I took a phone call from the Google Assistant. More of that tech that will “never happen” happening.
The Number Ones. I wish this were written with more cultural insight (which gives me some ideas), but still interesting.
Confessions of an accidental job destroyer. I have helped destroy around 5,000 jobs myself.
The migration crisis will shatter Europe. And what comes after will be far worse.
Historians will write with astonishment about the Left bringing in so many people who oppose their ideals about homosexuality and feminism. I disagree with about half this piece, but at least it recognizes there is a problem — something most liberals absolutely refuse.
June 27, 2018
We can condense the EU’s unsolvable problem down to one statement: Open migration is not compatible with free education, free services, free lodging, etc. Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia will be ok places in 40 years. Not so much the rest of Europe; Sweden and Germany are fully fucked.
Bernie Sanders Is Not the Left. His refusal to endorse ICE’s abolition is the latest evidence that he’s not the politician that many believe him to be. Bernie was and is better than Hillary. I did not support him because he’s not really much of a leftist, only about what a regular Democrat was 30 or 40 years ago.
The Coldest Temperature Ever Observed on Earth. Carbon dioxide freezes out of the air at these temperatures (actually, well before).
The loudmouth at the concert: Why can’t people stop talking and listen to the music? Because there must be a way to identify those we must shun and kneecap, in whichever order works.
June 26, 2018
While Trump distracts, GOP to gut Medicare, Social Security. I have suspected this is what the immigration circus is really about.
June 25, 2018
Male journalists ignore female peers on Twitter, study shows. There are male journalists on Twitter? Huh.
June 24, 2018
Here’s How That Tablet On The Table At Your Favorite Restaurant Is Hurting Your Waiter. In data-hungry, tech-happy chain restaurants, customers are rating their servers using tabletop tablets, not realizing those ratings can put jobs at risk. Always rate service workers at the top rating unless they attack you with knives. Only way to subvert the system at present.
June 23, 2018
2016 Trump support was greatest in areas with highest rates of painkiller use, study finds. But it was racist painkiller!
Child Labor in the U.S. Tobacco Industry. My father worked tobacco as a kid. Very common in the South.