Hasnain says:

“Arguably, it is not so much “taste” that determines the value of collectibles, but more the way that human beings actually live their lives. Economists have noted how the wealth of the middle class in developed countries has declined over the last 30 years. This has inevitably had an impact on the value of lower-range collectibles. So, too, has the way that members of the middle class use their homes.”

Hasnain says:

“BEIJING — The young applicant is described as confident and courageous. His résumé, at 15 pages, is glittering, complete with performance reviews (“full of energy”), a map of his travels (trips to Tokyo and Bali) and a list of books he has read this year (408 in total).

But the applicant is not a seasoned job seeker. He is a 5-year-old boy from southern China applying for a spot in first grade at a Shanghai private school.”

Hasnain says:

Interesting take backed by data

Hasnain says:

"Pakistani liberals are asking the government and the army to go and crush the mullahs and take the country back. It might be more useful to go after these blasphemy laws that seem to be turning all of us into blasphemers."

Brave callout at the end, especially given this earlier in the article, for those who aren't aware:

"The governor of Punjab Province, Salman Taseer, visited her in prison and promised to lobby for a presidential pardon. He was assassinated by one of his police bodyguards who believed the governor had committed blasphemy by questioning the country’s blasphemy laws. The Pakistani media was understanding. Of the bodyguard’s feelings."

Hasnain says:

Uhh what

“IBM is making a big move to bring more software developers under its corporate wing by acquiring Red Hat, the largest distributor of the popular open source operating system Linux, for $34 billion.”

Hasnain says:

This was a really cool analysis with ... math! and numbers! Highly recommend reading in detail

"The larger lesson here is that you should be careful about the assumptions you bring to any data analysis task. A Poisson process is a good description for arrival time data — sometimes. But just because one type of data sounds like another type of data, it does not mean that assumptions valid for one are necessarily valid for the other. Often assumptions that seem correct on their face can lead to conclusions that don't match reality."

Hasnain says:

“Early this month, a respected medical journal published a research paper on its website that analyzed the effects of a business trend roiling the field of dermatology: the rapid entrance of private equity firms into the specialty by buying and running practices around the country.

Eight days later, after an outcry from private equity executives and dermatologists associated with private equity firms, the editor of the publication removed the paper from the site. No reason was given.”

Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2018-10-27T02:24:48+0000

Hasnain says:

Fascinating read on bidets

“Throughout this bidet boom, the United States resisted its appeal, and the reason might have been the power of first impressions. Americans were introduced to bidets on a broad scale during World War II, when troops were stationed in Europe. GIs visiting bordellos would often see bidets in the bathrooms, so they began to associate these basins with sex work. Given America’s puritanical past, it makes sense that, once back home, servicemen would feel squeamish presenting these fixtures to their homeland.”

Hasnain says:

This was a very interesting read on both data, economics research, and human feelings