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Different jobs
Headline says it all: Harvard will no longer make public statements on political, social issues, administration says Starting to get a teensy bit smart, starting to relearn the Fairness Doctrine. Schools and businesses are NOT politicians. Schools and businesses and politicians have DIFFERENT JOBS. A school is supposed to generate profit by training people. A…
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Geography and language
In language we pin down the consonants, which are really absences of sound. Many writing systems, from Sanskrit to Arabic, write only the consonants. The majority of meaning is carried by the chords of vowel formants, which are shaped by the mostly absent consonants. Consonants are moments when the formant vector changes its direction. In…
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I’d rather
More random pointless thoughts. Before the web, newspapers were divided into Serious Publications and Tabloids. Serious Publications had pictures of Serious Men Doing Serious Things, which was usually a meeting to conjure up a new unjustified war. Tabloids had pictures of pretty girls. The same division happens in the web, with one addition. Serious Publications…
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When tools were tools
Random pointless thought about algorithms and such. A tool is supposed to be a servant, not a master. It’s supposed to be an extension of your muscles and senses, not a battering ram to club you into submission. Before 2010 most of our tools were servants. The most basic tools like clothing and houses adapted…
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Got my wish
A while ago somebody was writing about presidential debates sponsored by the Commission for Presidential debates, or CPD. The writer was complaining that the current candidates weren’t going through CPD. I wrote a “clever” comment: I don’t want CPD debates, I want CBD debates. Force both candidates to eat gummies, then let er rip. You…
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Easy correction
When a demon worries about an event or phenomenon, whether it’s “global warming” or “pandemics” or AI, the demon is really informing us about his plans. Psychopaths blame and frame innocent bystanders. I didn’t imprison and strangle you for two years, some dude named Virus imprisoned and strangled you. I didn’t turn off your electricity…
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Is it cheaper?
Now that I’ve found the Duane Jones book again, I’m reading it again. He was writing in the early 50s when radio and magazines were established but TV was too new to quantify. He was mostly discussing household products sold by radio soap operas and magazine ads. He calculated the advertising cost to acquire one…
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Another rerereprint
Originally from 2010, with a few celebrity names and topical words modernized. = = = = = Three types of knowledge: How, What, Who. All three types are necessary, and everyone uses all three types all the time, but the dominant type strongly influences the form and the success of a culture. = = =…
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Nice to see verification
Lately I’ve managed to pin down the vestibular stuff (probably Menieres) to spring and fall, and then more specifically to convective days. When wind is coming and going, and when popup storms are forming and moving around, the balance and tinnitus and general icky feeling are also moving around. Looking back on the daily journal,…
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Rererereprint
First written in late 2020.. = = = = = Berenson: Now they have frightened us into giving them massive power (I’ve been reading up on the swine flu vaccine fiasco of 1976, when something similar happened)… and we are going to have to figure out how to take it back. = = = =…
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Theories
This is what happens when you get involved in theories and theologies and philosophies. Religion Unplugged writes about a survey of Army chaplains, revealing a peculiar and outright evil function served by the chaplains. The survey was dealing with the perceived morality or legitimacy of software-driven drone warfare. It turns out that chaplains ADVISE GENERALS…
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Are they starting to learn?
Somebody on Substack noted, with figures to prove it, that NYTimes is quickly becoming more of a gaming company than a “news” company. Fits with something I’ve seen lately. NYTimes occasionally sends me email spam. Most of it was the usual FUCK TRUMP! PEASANTS ARE HORRIBLE! In recent months the usual is gone, and the…
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Riddle
Before 2020 flipped the script, fake doctors used to be called quacks. Q: What do you call fake freedom fighters? A: Quacks. = = = = = Via Protos, with caution as usual: Bing’s search engine went down for most of yesterday, and Google later snarkily thanked them for the added business. The article includes…
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Yeah, I was fooled too.
Saagar apologizes for falling into a fake news story that Red Lobster was bankrupted by its own stupid mistake. I fell for the story too, so I also apologize! It turns out to be a textbook LBO crime. The private equity thief finds a company in trouble, offers it a fake cash infusion in exchange…
Polistra's Mill
Be your own beacon.
Polistra's Mill 