West Coast Stat Views (on Observational Epidemiology and more)
It's Hollywood, you knew there'd be a cliffhanger.
Still waiting for the episode where Don Draper pitches the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Laboratory
Funny how often a quote from Germany in the late Thirties seems appropriate these days.
Birthright citizenship
Notes on Netflix + WB -- in retrospect, my biggest mistake was not realizing what a dumpster fire Disney+ would be under Bob Chapek
You're going to hear a lot of bad Christmas music this month.
The fallacy of equivocation
When it came to Elon Musk, the hyperloop was my reindeer moment.
Everybody's talking about affordability, but only Marketplace thought to bring in a linguist.
Our annual Toys-for-Tots post
Explaining the finances of OpenAI remains a job for Patrick Boyle
"As God as my witness..." is my second favorite Thanksgiving episode line [Repost]
Happy Thanksgiving Eve
Apologies in advance but I just have to share this one
Elon really, really doesn't think things through
The funniest part of the latest XKCD cartoon isn't on XKCD
Cacti, Goats, Charcoal -- we do it all
After you've cleaned your room, you can go outside and play with Foamy.
Edison on the power grid of the future
Actually a P/E ratio of 200 would be an enormous improvement
Finally, a piece of data visualization that truly captures the moment.
We really should set aside more time for cool math
Reason 53 Why Wikipedia Is Better Than Mainstream Media: They Actually Fix Their Mistakes
More from the vaunted fact-checkers of the New Yorker
One of the most challenging parts of living in profoundly abnormal times is avoiding a false sense of normalcy.
Having robots follow criminals around to prevent all crime sounds like a perfectly workable plan that's not at all dystopian
"But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot If you ain't got the do re mi. "
"Indefensible on any artistic level but..."
If Mamdani wins, please keep your think pieces to yourself
I don't think the administration is going to try to suppress the vote in L.A. (because I don’t think they can).
Twelve years ago at the blog -- a Halloween themed repost
Halloween Deep Cuts
"Back in my day, the internet was really something."
It's important to note these Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether moments
Notes on Mr. Arkadin
Boyle's slightly less pessimistic take on the Gen AI bubble.
"Did you hear the one about the huge bubble threatening to take down the economy?"
A bubble story that's not about AI.
Cheering for fire trucks and crossing with the light- - notes on a Portlandia/Spirit Halloween protest.
Tweet-posting History
Corollary: when comics started printing "Collector's Edition" on the cover, they ceased being financially worth collecting.
There's an ongoing war against the very concepts of public domain and fair use and it's something we should be talking about.
And you thought consultants were overpaid before...
Fourteen years ago at the blog: the "a pervasive fetish" line actually holds up better today than it did then
Eleven years ago at the blog: This one had legs
NYT on the SAT -- then and now
"If there's fear in the market, it's wearing noise canceling headphones."
It’s like a buy-one-get-one-free deal, except with billions of dollars’ worth of chips and 10% of AMD.
The Libertarian Movement and Women -- It's not just a Robin Hanson thing
Guess what I got in the mail this weekend?
When "create more wealth before the bubble bursts" is the bull case
To address the oversupply of soybeans, RFK Jr. announced that the Health Department has developed new crackers combining the legume with lentils for a tasty and nutritious snack.
West Coast Stat Views Correction: it turns out August wasn't the worst possible time to start playing Kriegspiel with the US economy
Making sense of the senseless
The Iger Sanction*
That was quick
Weekend Videos -- Would-Be Tyrants and Real-Life Giants
Back on the cautionary beat
Kimmel part 2 -- the business
Kimmel Part 1 -- the politics
I was going to start a two-part post on the Kimmel suspension, but given the news, I though I'd hold off
Fill in the _____
Bluesky, Dark Clouds
My Bluesky
The tech right and fascism—Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Marc Andreessen have been checking this Overton window for years.
Insider trading is bad and other quaint notions
"Wonderful news, comrade! Based on the results of your tissue match, you have been awarded an all-expenses-paid vacation to..."
On Tuesday, the world’s richest man was a far-right, Ivermectin-loving loon who used his money to buy major media platforms. By close of trading Wednesday, the new world’s richest man was a far-right, Ivermectin-loving loon who uses his money to buy major media platforms for his son.
It's not true that all techno-optimist ideas come from old sci-fi shows. Some of them come from old back issues of the National Review.
It took some tough bargaining, but the Tesla board managed to keep Musk's pay plan under $1 trillion
Not so much the fact itself as the fact people are talking about the fact
Dispatches from a still-not-burning Los Angeles.
Nothing to worry about here -- Nvidia edition
More (non)weird weather
This is probably a non-story, old news about the president's health blown up by internet buzz and wishful thinking, but it's also a reminder of how strange and unstable the dynamic of this White House is and of the gaping double standard in recent press coverage.
It's Labor Day, so we're taking time off and running a repost