tingilinde

why some people appear to need less sleep

They may be wired that way

 

 

the backpass rule

I don't follow soccer, but this segment on the Backpass Rule from 99 Percent Invisible is fascinating.  Text and supporting material as well as the audio podcast.

 

admiral mcraven's piece

Admiral McRaven (ret) is, by all accounts, one of the most respected military people in the country.  His piece in the NY Times is worth reading.

snip

...

President Trump seems to believe that these qualities are unimportant or show weakness. He is wrong. These are the virtues that have sustained this nation for the past 243 years. If we hope to continue to lead the world and inspire a new generation of young men and women to our cause, then we must embrace these values now more than ever.

And if this president doesn’t understand their importance, if this president doesn’t demonstrate the leadership that America needs, both domestically and abroad, then it is time for a new person in the Oval Office — Republican, Democrat or independent — the sooner, the better. The fate of our Republic depends upon it.

...

 

 

 

on forests and the planet

Watching for the Amazon's tipping point - what happens when it turns from carbon sink to carbon source?

And the importance of mature forests - guess where the greatest pressure is now.  Hint - it's not Indonesia or Brazil.

 

how to power your house

Randall Munroe plugs his new book - which is excellent btw

social media and russian investment

This is from a few years ago, but it still may be relevant. 

snip

...

Two Russian state institutions with close ties to Vladimir Putin funded substantial stakes in Twitter and Facebook through an investor who later acquired an interest in a Jared Kushner venture, leaked documents reveal.

The investments were made through a Russian technology magnate, Yuri Milner, who also holds a stake in a company co-owned by Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior White House adviser.

The discovery is likely to stir concerns over Russian influence in US politics and the role played by social media in last year’s presidential election. It may also raise new questions for the social media companies and for Kushner.

...

 

 

from a few months ago

A friend in England asked why Republicans in the House and Senate fell behind Trump and seemed to be more resolute with time.  Of course there are any number of conjectures, but here's what I offered:

Immediately after Trump’s election many Republicans in the House and Senate had to put on a mask. As time went on their faces grew into it.

 

the odyssey

In limericks - a tweet stream by Emily Nekyia Wilson whose serious translation is highly acclaimed (I haven't read, but people seem to love it)

snip

...

A majestical goddess, Athena,
swooped down from the sky -- you'd have seen her
as some kind of bird ¬–
when she gave the word,
men's yearning for fighting got keener.

...

 

 

time crystals

A very clear discussion on time crystals by Frank Wilczek.

I had no idea Betsy named them, but I'm not surprised.

 

 

 

independence day

Erdogan owns Trump. MBS owns Trump. Putin *really* owns Trump. American needs a new kind of Independence Day.

 

little bubbles .. bursting bubbles

When companies are forced to show a profit - or go away.

snip

...

Starting about a decade ago, a fleet of well-known start-ups promised to change the way we work, work out, eat, shop, cook, commute, and sleep. These lifestyle-adjustment companies were so influential that wannabe entrepreneurs saw them as a template, flooding Silicon Valley with “Uber for X” pitches.

But as their promises soared, their profits didn’t. It’s easy to spend all day riding unicorns whose most magical property is their ability to combine high valuations with persistently negative earnings—something I’ve pointed out before. If you wake up on a Casper mattress, work out with a Peloton before breakfast, Uber to your desk at a WeWork, order DoorDash for lunch, take a Lyft home, and get dinner through Postmates, you’ve interacted with seven companies that will collectively lose nearly $14 billion this year. If you use Lime scooters to bop around the city, download Wag to walk your dog, and sign up for Blue Apron to make a meal, that’s three more brands that have never record a dime in earnings, or have seen their valuations fall by more than 50 percent.

...

 

 

issues with safe browsing

Matt Green on "safe browsing" the questions raised in Apple's iOS 13 version.  

snip

...

This morning brings new and exciting news from the land of Apple. It appears that, at least on iOS 13, Apple is sharing some portion of your web browsing history with the Chinese conglomerate Tencent. This is being done as part of Apple’s “Fraudulent Website Warning”, which uses the Google-developed Safe Browsing technology as the back end. This feature appears to be “on” by default in iOS Safari, meaning that millions of users could potentially be affected.

...

It is probably only going on in China, but given Apple's relationship with the country there are a lot of unanswered questions.

 

strength or weakness

Is China's recent corporate pressure a sign of strategic strength, a weakness or possibly a combination?

Zeynep Tufecki has a good piece in The Atlantic.

 

 

trump numbers

Mathematicians have Erdös Numbers.. maybe lawyers will have Trump Numbers.

Trump has the Trump Number 0

Anyone who has represented him directly has a Trump Number of 1

Anyone who has represented a lawyer with Trump Number N has a Trump Number of at most N+1

 

Conjecture:  In ten years all lawyers with Trump Numbers less than 3 will have served or will be serving prison time for their work.

 

now where have I seen something like that before?

A US Attorney General who doesn't understand the Constitution.  Here's Paul Krugman's commentary.

 

 

 

oh yeah...