-
Popymarket
History Today has a feature on the long-lasting Italian industry of Pope betting. It focuses on the 1500s, a time with way too much history packed into the tiny geography of the Vatican. The church had reached a peak of secular control and wealth, then a series of wars and secessions broke it. Meanwhile, Italian…
-
Pleasant surprise
Interesting article on the recent deplaneting of Pluto. In 2006 a group of official assholes decided for no obvious reason to change the definition. Since then, science writers have automatically forgotten Pluto, rubbing it in by headlining new discoveries of a ninth planet. GODDAMN IT, WE ALREADY HAVE A NINTH PLANET, AND IT’S CALLED PLUTO.…
-
Why they fail
Via Nieman. A husband and wife spent 10 years building up a children’s story hour broadcast on WBUR, the educational station of Boston University. They’re leaving after a decade of frustration. Repeatedly the university refused to give them what they needed, even though their program was a major revenue source for the station. The couple…
-
We could
Long quote from David Lilienthal’s magnificent little book on the TVA. = = = = = There is a grand cycle in nature. The lines of those majestic swinging arcs are nowhere more clearly seen than by following the course of electric power in the Tennessee Valley’s way of life. Water falls upon a mountain…
-
Creating vs destroying value
Rehashed and condensed from 2023. = = = = = While feebly attempting to “think” about REAL VALUE vs FAKE VALUE in banking, I noticed a basic fact. So far I can’t find any mention of this basic fact in online discussions of the subject, but the word combinations are probably not hitting the right…
-
Why did you have to spoil it?
A speech by Sulzberger of the NYTimes, summarized by Graham Lovelace. In general Sulzberger verifies my feeling that publishers are the best defense against AI. Publishers don’t need to apologize for hating technology! Publishers started modern technology in 1455, and have been at the forefront ever since. Publishers also understand what’s especially new and especially…
-
Bucky was a fucking idiot
Reprinting and adding from 2016 because I’m in a mathy mood. = = = = = Cool people have always admired Bucky Fuller, and academic mathematicians spend lots of time dealing with optimal packings of shapes in space. Mathy packings always have a Bucky flavor. Fancy polyhedra jumbled in fancy ways. In THEORY a sphere…
-
Used to be odd
Old newspaper and radio features poked fun at absurd elections. Somebody ran a wooden cigar store Indian against a judge, and the Indian won. President Atchison slept through his entire (one-day) term in a drunken stupor. Weird stuff! Now most of Congress is like President Atchison. If they actually died we wouldn’t know the difference.…
-
1891 teeth
The British government has ruled that Google must allow publishers to opt out of being eaten by AI. This is a good move, but it’s only one company and one country, and it DOESN’T REQUIRE PAYMENT for the gobbled-up material. It’s time for a new international agreement with enough teeth to bite back. A similar…
-
Impersonate Authority Day
Today is listed as Impersonate Authority Day. Most listed Days were either invented by some NGO to “raise awareness” for their cause, or invented by the prolific publicist Adrienne Koopersmith. This day uniquely invites you to commit a serious crime! One of the Official Day websites says: This one I have tracked back to Holidays…
-
Ha ha ha, nastyass fuckheads!!!!!
Via Shepstone: In 2021 Princeton decided to “punish” the Trump-loving peasants by divesting its endowment from oil and gas stocks. This year, under pressure from overall demographics and economics, they quietly decided to reinvest. HA HA HA. TAKE IT UP THE ASS, ELITE MONSTERS! In the first fucking place, divestment doesn’t even accomplish its pretended…
-
random stupid thought
I noticed that Spokane News forgot to capitalize the street name in a report of a fire. 29400 North schwachtgen Rd, structure fire reported Are there any streets named after e e cummings? What if e e cummings road was a horizontal street, divided into e e e cummings and w e e cummings? the…
-
Damn, this is an INTERESTING question.
Via USA Today, the pope’s official statement on AI could cause some Conscientious Objector cases in workplaces. James Paul, a labor and employment litigator with the law firm Ogletree Deakins, told USA TODAY he is “bracing himself” for an influx of religious accommodation cases related to AI because of the comments. …”People are drawing the…
-
Kirby and the Moore Method
I mentioned my freshman calc teacher Bill Kirby in previous item. I didn’t know much about him. I only knew his attitude and method represented everything I hated about American math teaching. In my own later teaching and courseware I’ve been trying to counteract those bad American tendencies. Found Kirby’s obituary. Nothing about politics, nothing…
Polistra's Mill
Be your own beacon.
Polistra's Mill 