Tag: skill-estate
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Philco = medieval
The Philco Rule: Sell merchandise that doesn’t come back to customers who do come back. Good manufacturers avoid quantity. They make high-quality products that don’t come back, and they interact with customers to maintain the products. Good lawyers avoid trials and judgments. They negotiate and interact to reach a plea deal or a settlement. Good…
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No QE in nature
Another “leftover” “vestigial” piece of anatomy turns out to be useful after all. The muscles around the outer ear are unquestionably used by most mammals. We can see a dog or cat moving both ears to listen in various directions. The outer ears are also used for emotional signaling, showing fear or alertness or curiosity…
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Only driven by
Books have algorithms too. The physical aspect of a paper book is its algorithm. The font, paper quality, margins, spacing, and binding determine whether the book can be perused occasionally with difficulty, or kept in a bookholder to read at leisure. I always read books in a bookholder, usually while eating. With an especially good…
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Y no Gates?
Picking up WWV for New Year pulled me back into shortwave, at least for a while. (I have real work to do right now, and I don’t have enough spare gumption to delve into another sideline.) I’m reminded again of the fact that shortwave is a vacant resource. Broadcasters and commercial communication services have moved…
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Math teacher’s joke
Seen on Quora. A math teacher met one of his former students in a parking lot. The student parked his Lamborghini next to the teacher’s old Chevy. The surprised teacher said to him: “How can you own a car like that? You were a lousy student.” The ex-student replied: “You see this office building? I…
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Work, not logic
Perfect example of the standard “conservative” and Catholic stupidity about education. “Kids should be taught basic epistemology and logic in primary school before they get access to the Internet”. Precisely wrong. Tyrants LOVE logic and philosophy. The JOB of philosophy is to help tyrants lie and kill. Logic happily defends all sorts of destructive shit.…
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If you don’t like tariffs….
A serious novelist was complaining that publishers have turned into a monopoly, giving less advantage to authors. Not really new. Harper and Random House and Doubleday were always dominant. She’s afraid that Trump’s tariffs will make publishing even more costly, BECAUSE ALL PRINTING IS IN KOREA. I can vouch for the latter. The publisher who…
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Lazy is best.
Following on this item and this item on the importance of MECHANICAL government. = = = = = Good businesses and good rulers are LAZY as well as mechanical. The two go together. When you make a process mechanical it’s affordable and easy to use. When everything is custom-made and ’boutique’, everything is expensive and…
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Obama gets it right
Religion News Service cites a recent article by Obama. = = = = = START QUOTE: What does build trust, because it builds relationships, is people banding together to get stuff done. Whether it’s a mosque and a synagogue joining forces to help victims of a natural disaster, or a Black community linking up with…
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ALL is all.
Time for my occasional salute to good old Kedit. I’ve been using it since 1984, and I’ve tried all the alleged substitutes and replacements. Nothing comes close. My life and work is centered around Kedit, specifically the ALL keyword, which has no equivalent in any other program. I use standard phrases in my daily life…
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New pointless thought
Continuing my pointless crusade against using quotes instead of SAYING IT IN YOUR OWN WORDS. New variant on the pointless crusade: If you’re letting Plato or Einstein or Franklin or Hayek or Rothbard or Tolkien do your thinking for you, then you can’t argue against people who let ChatGPT do their thinking for them. Both…
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Observation from abroad
A revealing cultural difference, observed by expat Mark Simon, cited by Kirn. = = = = = START QUOTE: Been 30 yrs in Asia. Always amazed how in US, who we consider elites, the professional class, are usually regarded as hired hands by an Asia that makes things. Education is greatly respected, and employed, but…
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More on Union Power
Two weeks ago I highlighted WCFL, a Chicago radio station run by a labor federation, which wisely started broadcasting on shortwave in the early 30s. Shortwave was the best way of reaching a worldwide audience with relatively low expense. Now American Radio Library has uploaded a 1929 magazine published by WCFL. It’s a high quality…
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Graybill at all scales
Another good example of Graybill’s Law, written in the 1880s and massively true now. = = = = = START GRAYBILL: Thus the people of unprotected countries are forced into the business of transportation, merchandising, law, the church, or farming. [DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?] This policy narrows and restricts the ordinary opportunities of men, and…
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Union power
I’ve discussed the rise and fall of shortwave often. Shortwave is an abandoned territory ripe for reclaiming, and Mutual Benefit Societies are another abandoned territory that deserves reclaiming. This little item rings both bells at once. In 1933 shortwave was growing but not well explored or understood yet. A 1933 issue of a Gernsback radio…
Polistra's Mill 