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Software isn’t the variable
Digital technology gets too much credit and too much blame. People do what they’re inclined to do, and they use whatever technology is available. Current examples: 1. A Biden admin lawsuit against RealPage rent collusion software was weakened by the Trump admin. It won’t make much difference. Landlords ALWAYS collude to keep rent high. They…
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Rare wisdom
Via RealClear, one economics writer actually understands the New Deal! This is unique! Nearly all modern writers on politics and economics either hate FDR because he was “commie” or hate FDR because he was “fascist”. Nobody understands why the New Deal worked, why it created such long-lasting fierce loyalty. = = = = = START…
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History is a spiral
Today is Fibonacci Day because (1,1,2,3) are the first four numbers of the Fibonacci sequence. I’m not interested in this part of math, but one Twitter post marking the day has a remarkably clever GIF. It loops across a short sequence of images, creating an ever-expanding fractal of the Golden Spiral.
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50 year unsync
In 1958, TV Radio Life magazine interviewed Martin Klein, who hosted a weekly science program on LA television station KCOP, listed as ‘independent’. It’s still there, still on channel 13 with the same call letters. They asked Klein to predict 50 years into the future. How would we live in 2008? Klein worked for Cohu…
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Note on Win 11 “update” KB5066131
TLDR for google: Win 11 “update” 5066131 causes a blank taskbar with no icons. The only fix is uninstalling 5066131. None of the other recommendations work. = = = = = = = = = Background: My trusty old Win 7 computer, made in 2009, was seriously aging and had acquired some annoying malware that…
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Another 100 year sync
From Radiocast Weekly, exactly 100 years ago. The editorial mentions that one wealthy gentleman has given a $1000 endowment to his favorite radio station, without any advertising strings attached. It suggests that others should do the same. Instead of endowing a library, let them set aside a fund which will benefit a much larger area.…
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Switchover
Two sides have flipped. Part of the flip is a fine positive surprise. The “independent” intellectuals are supine servants of Altman now. They’re happy slaves, competing for the best way to use more of Altman’s demonic products and make Altman richer. This side of the switch is predictable. The same switch happened earlier with the…
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Arguing about details as usual
Web folks are having a big hissyfit about grade inflation this week. How will the kids ever master life if they aren’t receiving feedback about the quality of their work? It’s a genuine problem, but schools have never solved it and won’t solve it. Grade inflation is NOT new. Grade inflation was a big hissyfit…
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Supersuckers as fucking usual
Via Protos: = = = = = Crypto exchanges Kraken, Crypto.com, and BitMEX, alongside a raft of DECENTRALIZED crypto industry websites, have been impacted by Tuesday’s widespread Cloudflare outage that caused swathes of the internet to grind to a halt. = = = = = DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU’RE SAYING? A money-handling business…
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Buying Canadian without knowing it
When my skin started doing weird things this summer I went to the doctor several times, got two different diagnoses and a variety of different pills and creams. Eventually I decided that it fits the description of eczema, and the usual recommendations for eczema seem to handle it better than the special prescriptions. Controlling stress…
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Stop the shibboleths
Following on this recognition that the I in AI is Imagination, not Intelligence. People are saying that text with typos is more likely to be human instead of AI. First, specific shibboleths are doing more damage than good. The witch hunters are unfairly shaming or blocking real people. This gives the advantage to AI, as…
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Update at last on Hilderbrand
The fake “shutdown” didn’t affect me in any meaningful way. I can’t figure out what the politicians hope to accomplish by playing this game. They weren’t solving any problems before the “shutdown”, and they’re not solving any problems now. The “shutdown” doesn’t change anything. The “shutdown” did prevent me from satisfying my curiosity and reaching…
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Where are the goddamn philosophers?
After mentioning Sidney Webb’s history of the Russian Revolution I tried to find it online. Couldn’t find it in free form, but an accidental reference was worth reading. A 1929 article in a British journal of socialism [Klugmann, p 48 of PDF] discusses the takeover of politics by ideology. Sounds mighty familiar. Klugmann was focusing…
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Ned Green and enjoyable science
Linked in previous, worth a reprint. = = = = = START 2021 REPRINT: Following part 1 and part 2 and part 3. Saved the best for last. Colonel Ned Green was the most influential of these three men. Money talks, and intelligently-directed ENJOYABLE money talks best. His mother Hetty Green was the equivalent of…
Polistra's Mill
Be your own beacon.
Polistra's Mill 