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Is It Just Me, Or Is the World Going Crazy?

By nearly every objective measure, the world is a better place than it has ever been in modern history. So why doesn't it feel that way?

Click to view the original at markmanson.net

Hasnain says:

"But people have seemed to conveniently forget that freedom is earned through internal sacrifices as well. Freedom can only exist when you are willing to tolerate views that oppose your own, when you’re willing to give up some of your desires for the sake of a safe and healthy community, when you’re willing to compromise and accept that sometimes things don’t go your way and that’s fine."

Posted on 2016-07-31T03:19:40+0000

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A Worry if Hillary Clinton Wins: What to Do With Bill

Clinton aides are addressing a potentially thorny problem: Historically, when Mr. Clinton has time on his hands, he can create dangerous distractions for his wife.

Click to view the original at nytimes.com

Hasnain says:

I don't even know where to begin ...

"Mr. Clinton is not likely to shoulder many of the traditional duties of first ladies, advisers say, like selecting White House china and floral arrangements and presiding as the host in the national home and arranging state dinners. Some of that is expected to fall to the Clintons’ daughter, Chelsea. Mr. Clinton also has not given thought to using the role of first gentleman to redefine images and ideas about American masculinity and patriarchy, nor has he decided if he might draw on his personal interests — like veganism — for a healthy-eating initiative the way Michelle Obama did, his advisers say."

Posted on 2016-07-27T00:19:18+0000

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Programmers imagine the most ridiculous ways to enter a phone number into a form

Programmers have been trying to make phone number entry forms that are as terrible and hilariously difficult to use as possible. And, so far, they've been succeeding.

Click to view the original at qz.com

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Hasnain says:

"While many in the insurance industry expect the new technologies to improve and proliferate, “we are still operating in an era when car makers are recalling millions of vehicles for the simplest of technology failures: ignition switches, floor mats and air bags,” said Robert Hartwig, president of trade group Insurance Information Institute.

He said many prognosticators with speedy timetables for driverless-car adoption “have drunk too much of the Silicon Valley Kool-Aid.”"

Posted on 2016-07-26T17:49:50+0000

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World of Warcraft: one simple line of code can cost you dearly

A few days ago, a new type of gold/item scam made the rounds. Usually scamming in MMORPGs is done using social engineering techniques, e.g. an attacker sells a fake item code for alleged in-game items like mounts to a potential victim for in-game currency. But this most recent kind of attack...

Click to view the original at blog.gdatasoftware.com

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Hasnain says:

A pretty good read on LSMs, why they're useful, and where they're needed. I still think it's unfortunate that I haven't seen them covered in databases classes

Posted on 2016-07-26T00:52:22+0000

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Hasnain says:

This was tough to read. A few snippets below.

"A single shot from a pellet gun sprays more than a hundred pellets. A pellet is a high-velocity projectile 2mm to 4mm around and with sharp edges. It doesn’t simply penetrate an eye; it ricochets inside it, tearing the retina and the optic nerves, scooping out flesh and bone."

"Omar Nazir, a reed-thin boy of 12, barely filled one corner of his bed. A thick swathe of bandages formed a cross across his chest and belly. He had black, adult-size glasses. “He’s lost both his eyes,” Dr. Shafi said. Doctors had yet to deliver the news to Nazir Ahmad, the boy’s father, a day laborer in Pulwama, a district in southern Kashmir, but he already seemed to know. Mr. Ahmad, tall and wiry, looked at the doctor, his eyes liquid with entreaty: “Dr. Sahib, we own one-fifth of an acre of land in the village. I will sell all my land, but please make him see.”"

"A few days later, the police raided the offices of Greater Kashmir, the daily that had run that story about Insha, as well as several other local newspapers, and shut down the printing presses. The authorities’ familiar silencing routine had begun again. Indian officials and thought leaders fell back on tired rituals of obfuscation and denial. But already one line of graffiti had appeared on every other wall throughout the entire valley: “Go India, Go Back!”

Posted on 2016-07-25T23:49:52+0000

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Nintendo shares plummet after investors realize it doesn't actually make Pokémon Go

Nintendo shares have skyrocketed since Pokémon Go's release and instant transformation into global cultural phenomenon, but they fell dramatically today after investors realized that Nintendo...

Click to view the original at theverge.com

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Shtetl-Optimized » Blog Archive » My biology paper in Science (really)

Well, you can see the paper right here (“Synthetic recombinase-based state machines in living cells,” by Nathaniel Roquet, Ava P. Soleimany, Alyssa C. Ferris, Scott Aaronson, and Timothy K. Lu).  Unfortunately there’s a paywall, but I think we’ll be able to post our own version before long (will che...

Click to view the original at www.scottaaronson.com