Tag: Constants and Variables
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The constant
Still thinking about the two-sided failure of marketing this year. The constant on both sides is the culture war. Bud lost its main audience when it focused on culture from the tranny “left”. Repooflicans lost their working-class audience when they focused on culture from the effete elegant Buckleyan “right”, which is precisely identical to the…
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Leaning in, steering in
Substack is “leaning into politics” by hiring a political coordinator who worked at CNN and WaPo. Not auspicious. One basic rule runs deeper than all the current idiocies and monstrosities. Big corporations MUST conform to the whims of the ruler if they want to function and grow even bigger. Big media needs lawyers, loans and…
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Breaking a taboo
In this clip Vivek is discussing bitcoin with an old friend, not a random interviewer. His casual demeanor is appropriate for the situation. (Normally Vivek is fully suited up.) What Vivek is SAYING is orthodox techie talk, not unusual. What he’s DOING is more interesting. He’s drawing diagrams and using them to illustrate his points.…
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Good question
Somebody asked on Reddit: Water is the base drink. What’s the base food? Evocative question. My instant answer was barley. Barley grows everywhere, unlike rice and wheat and corn. Most of the answers were broader, including all of those localized grains when turned into some kind of bread. BUT: What about the premise? For most…
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More detail on bubbles
Yesterday I made the point that bubbles and frauds depend on who’s in charge, not on the specific mechanisms of money. In 2011 I made the argument in more detailed form. = = = = = START REPRINT: One of the Money Talk shows featured a good long interview with economist Ken Rogoff, who has…
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Meaningless observation
Pundits in 2016 and this year are noticing a difference between the two parties. I observed this strongly in 2016, but I’ve been paying too little attention this time. (2020 was too fucked to observe anything.) In both 2016 and 2024, the R campaign had a real choice of candidates who were claiming to represent…
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Goddamnit, why do we learn so much harmful shit?
One of the rather annoying world traveler types on Substack was discussing the Italian habit of walking IMMEDIATELY after eating. This violates everything we ever learned from TV and doctors and school “health” classes. They STERNLY commanded us to wait at least 30 minutes after eating. Recently I tried the Italian way. It’s unquestionably better.…
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Empathy, not credibility
Denyse points to an interesting experiment with AI preachers. The researchers took advantage of an existing android preacher robot in a Japanese shrine. They surveyed believers who had experienced a real human sermon vs the robot sermon. The robot was seen as “less credible”, and more importantly the robot got less donations than the human.…
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Longest lasting series?
There are four semifinalists. Nash Ambassador Olds 98 Chrysler New Yorker Buick Roadmaster All other names were clearly shorter. Criteria: 1. Must remain in continuous use except WW2 when all cars except Jeep were interrupted. 2. Must remain on the same step of the ladder, never descending the stack like BelAir or Fairlane. Ambassador started…
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Vivek just won me.
In the middle of a somewhat tangled discussion with Greenwald, Vivek said that we need to REOPEN NORMAL TRADE WITH RUSSIA. No more war, no more sanctions, just be human. I’m all yours, Vivek. You’re on the same side as Harding and FDR and Henry Wallace. = = = = = Later: Why did this…
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Real AI vs Altman’s AI
This is pure fraud. Computers have been optimizing routes for 60 fucking years, long before the current generation of “creative” AI. The traveling salesman problem has always been a major part of computer science, a major force in developing PREDICTIVE big data, and it was mostly solved in the ’50s. Here’s a 1969 book on…
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Weird and dumb
This editorial in Military.com expresses the will of the demons. It’s written by a monster who believes (or pretends to believe) all of Satan’s lies. Nevertheless, it says that the military side of Deepstate is planning a peculiar sort of part-time draft. This paragraph is simply true: = = = = = START QUOTE: While…
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Zenith + Wallace, part 3 of 3.
Simplify, simplify, simplify. Wincharger focused my thinking on balancing natural forces with natural forces, using reactance instead of resistance. This leads to three separate Simplifies. The first is impractical, the other two are eminently practical. = = = = = Simplify #1: Farm generators ranged from 6v to 32v, always DC. Modern solid-state equipment, including…
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Restoration, not revolution
The Federalist folks are discussing the Trump indictments. They’re not exactly Trump fans, but they do treat this mess as an unfair prosecution, a use of “legal” techniques to accomplish a purpose that should be done politically. And there’s the real problem. WE CAN’T REMOVE A LEADER POLITICALLY. IT’S PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE. Impeachment was a terrible…
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When didn’t it matter?
Rob Lowe’s latest piece takes the long way around to plead for less fussiness by the unions. I think. During the long trip he makes a point that seems automatic but maybe isn’t. He’s talking about what entertainers call continuity, the small details that some people notice immediately but most people don’t see at all.…
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