tingilinde

trying to hold the sea back

Expect supply problems triggered by a host of issues - particularly China's zero Covid policy. (via The New York Times)

One has to wonder about the Olympics..

 

 

 

covid made him miss a funeral

This Australian farmer still offered a remembrance.

 

how long can you wear that n95?

Longer than a single use.

a tip of the hat to Greg

 

the power grid

A remarkable piece of work.  Some of the display choices leave something to be desired, but still 

a tip of the hat to Steve

 

 

 

 

a case against crypto

There are any number of reasons the technical underpinnings are poorly suited for - well - almost any task.  Stephen Diehl offers  some non-technical points why crypto is bad.

snip

...

The crypto project has had 13 years to try and find a problem to solve. It has not found one.

The real world has fundamental constraints that make the technology unworkable, whenever it has to interact with the outside world the benefits of decentralization disappear and the solutions end up simply recreating slower and worse versions of processes and structures that already exist.

Despite that, for the last thirteen years these projects have done nothing but scam people by creating synthetic asset bubbles for gambling and destroying the environment. There are fundamental limitations to the scalability of blockchain-based technologies, and every use case is better served by another simpler technology except for crime, ransomware, extralegal gambling, and sanctions evasion; all of which are a drain on society not a benefit. Taken as a whole the technology has no tangible benefits over simply using trusted parties and centralized databases.

...

 

killed by google

Googlish things that didn't quite make their cut.

a tip of the hat to Bjaren

 

Not as classy as the Ben & Jerry's flavor graveyard

 

 

in case you were wondering

(you may want to turn the sound off)

kinetic energy

A 14 gram piece of plastic going 24,000 km/h striking an aluminum block

(a tip of the hat to Greg)

 

 

 

on helicopter parenting

Maybe this is a good approach, maybe not .. but it's clear helicopter parenting isn't. 

snip

...

In the back yard, a mom told Lansbury that her two-year-old throws tantrums every time he’s told no, bonking his head against the floor. Lansbury looked at the tiny culprit. “Sometimes you go down on the ground because you don’t like it when someone says no?” she asked. Turning to his mother, she suggested putting a blanket under his head, so he wouldn’t hurt himself. “He’s got a right to object,” she continued. “It’s so healthy for them!”

...

(odd note - Finns call it snowplow parenting)

 

bob wachter and eric topol on the current and future state of the pandemic

Bob hosts the regular UCSF series on Covid and Eric is the founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute. The series is aimed at people who are following things closely.

 

about 75 years of disease research in a minute

Really impressive.

 

political interference in the 2020 census

One guess

These guys really hate the notion of Democracy.

a tip of the hat to Jim

 

pandemic-fueled voter purge?

One guesstimate on how many Trump voters are becoming ex-voters every day.

 

 

 

on blockchain based systems and web3

They aren't what they claim.

(that's always true when you're dealing with religion)

And a snarky look at web3 by the same author.

a tip of the hat to John

 

 

 

 

targeted advertising drives people to the extremes

No real surprise here - forces seeking to radicalize groups of people use targeted ads to push their messages.  The author presents some common sense fixes that people won't; adapt.