"Civil Liberties: Learning from China" James Fallows on living as an obvious foreigner where the police have the right to demand proof of legal residency. Interesting both for what he says, and how he says it. By building up to the sarcasm, and leaving any anger or moral indignation as an undercurrent, it hits harder than coming out bitter and sarcastic from the beginning. It could be called the furious understatement. Battle Cry of Freedom was littered with them.
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11:08:40 AM,
Monday 26 April 2010
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I have been contemplating the vast gulf between fixie hipsters and recumbent geeks lately. There are different forms of non-conformism. The thing about fixies is that they're more subtle, they're like a secret society. Only initiates notice. Children don't stop and stare. I've never seen a fixed gear recumbent. Other than the late Sheldon Brown, I don't think there's any actual overlap between the two communities.
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10:52:06 AM,
Sunday 25 April 2010
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So I now know much more about the battle of Lexington and Concord. It's strange living in the midst of historical monuments that are such a vital part of crackpot iconography. My sense was that few or none of the people involved in the museums and reenactments were crackpots. It's more, I don't know. Kiwanis Club crossed with Renn Faire. But then, I saw an ad with the Concord Minuteman statue on it, followed it, and got to the oath keepers, who feature a painting of the Lexington Green on their website. They are a group promising non-violent resistance to the impending New World Order. And apparently last year they mustered on the green on the 19th, as part of an event organized by the gloriously named Committee of Safety. I am beginning to think that there will be no problem getting material if I ever decide to try to write The Annuls of the Historical Society.
(How I got there, because it's sort of interesting: Andrew Sullivan -> designs for new currencies -> People trolling for Amero believers -> Amero believers)
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03:49:18 PM,
Friday 23 April 2010
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As an election reform geek, I am very excited about the possibility of a hung parliament in the UK.
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01:17:20 PM,
Friday 23 April 2010
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The life and times of Humphrey the Cat. England is presently without a Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office.
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02:50:42 PM,
Thursday 22 April 2010
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I object to this notion that no one can vaguely threaten armed revolution on April 19th anymore, because it's the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. If you object to vague threats of armed revolution in general, good! So do I! But the anniversary of the beginning of the American revolution is as good a day as any to make them, particularly for gun rights groups, since it started with the local militia turning on the regular army. If we still believe the right of revolution, which is unquestionably the original intent of the 2nd amendment, April 19th is the day to talk about it. Oh dear, I'm linking to the stupid again. I need to work on this.
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03:20:56 PM,
Tuesday 20 April 2010
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The Official Monster Raving Loony platform: "To combat global warming and climate change all buildings should be fitted with air conditioning units on the outside."
This makes nearly as much sense as ethanol subsidies. Also:
School will be dismissed if three or more pigeons make it into the central corridor.
Separate Passports for Terrorists: Terrorists should be required (by virtue of law) to apply for separate passports in which they give there full contact details, number of explosives, and time (as well as location) of any plot. This would save time and money in gathering intelligence, and could also help identify the intended ambition(s) behind any atrocity(s).
A government agency will be set up to paint contour lines on to hills and colour roads the same as on maps. This will help people know where they are.
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11:26:57 AM,
Tuesday 20 April 2010
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So much hate for this chart. Put aside the fact that they were off by a power of 10. Why, when they corrected, did they display only the lower estimate? This is a rhetorical question. Clearly it is to maximize the possible remaining propaganda value. And then, why triangles? People aren't good at estimating volumes of pointy things. Yes, yes, volcanoes are vaguely triangular. No, that's not a good reason.
Show the error bars when you do estimates, people. If something can range from 150,000 to 300,000, that doesn't mean pick whichever one looks best. And if you're doing an estimate, and you don't know how to calculate the confidence interval, it means you're just making it up and should go away.
I don't know why there are armies of innumerates putting together pretty charts on the internet, but I don't like it.
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10:48:08 AM, Tuesday 20 April 2010
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This weekend I encountered 3 people claiming to be Paul Revere.
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09:47:01 AM,
Tuesday 20 April 2010
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Went to see the touring Jim Henson exhibit at the Mason Museum down the road, and then to see The Muppet Movie at a theater that is doing a Henson series this weekend. Jim Henson had a remarkable consistent aesthetic. Here are some of the first commercials he made, for Wilkins Coffee.
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10:28:27 AM,
Sunday 18 April 2010
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More brand awareness building: A good post on this Goldman Sachs swindle, where Goldman sold securities picked by a hedge fund that wanted to bet against them them, and marketed it without disclosing how the securities were picked. The pitchbook is... rather unfortunate.
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04:38:27 PM,
Friday 16 April 2010
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Transcription fail: "Early in the next decade, a set of crude flights will test and prove the systems required for exploration beyond lower earth orbit, and 2025, we expect new spacecraft designed for long journeys to allow us to begin the, first ever, crude missions beyond the moon into deep space." It's a good example of a mistake that takes a serious amount of context to catch.
Here is what my new coworker Gregg Easterbrook has to say about the new plan. (See! See! You thought I was wasting time websurfing at work, but really I'm Raising Brand Awareness.)
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03:17:30 PM,
Friday 16 April 2010
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site & script courtesy of Moss
