DYSPEPSIA GENERATION

We have seen the future, and it sucks.

Archive for the 'Think about it.' Category

Program lends hand to poor Indian tribes

20th December 2007

Read it. Well, I guess that’ll stop now that they’re officially foreigners.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Program lends hand to poor Indian tribes

Toshiba’s building a “Micro Nuclear” reactor for your garage?

19th December 2007

Read it. Marvelous news.
Although not in Takoma Park, Maryland, which has officially declared itself a “nuclear free zone” — as if anybody cared. (Since TP is a suburb of DC, though, it would be amusing were some jihadis to ring the uranium bell there on the day. Just putting everything in perspective, like.)

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Toshiba’s building a “Micro Nuclear” reactor for your garage?

Synthetic DNA on the Brink of Yielding New Life Forms

18th December 2007

Read it. This could be very weird.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Synthetic DNA on the Brink of Yielding New Life Forms

The right to keep and bear adjuncts

18th December 2007

Read it. Parsing the Second Amendment. Who knew there were so many obsessive-compulsive grammarians out there?

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on The right to keep and bear adjuncts

Illegal Immigration and local government finance

18th December 2007

Read it.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Illegal Immigration and local government finance

Desperately seeking the Jerusalem Syndrome

18th December 2007

Read it.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Desperately seeking the Jerusalem Syndrome

Deirdre McCloskey Endorses The Wisdom of Repugnance; or, Too Many Damn Steves!

18th December 2007

Steve Sailer has the sort of enemies that make a man proud.

Personally, I’d consider my life a raging success to be mentioned in the same group with Stephen Pinker. But that’s me.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Deirdre McCloskey Endorses The Wisdom of Repugnance; or, Too Many Damn Steves!

Virtual Cable nav system superimposes route guidance on your windshield in 3D

18th December 2007

Read it. I believe Asimov wrote about this in on of his Foundation novels.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Virtual Cable nav system superimposes route guidance on your windshield in 3D

Google Embracing Unintentional Crowdsourcing

18th December 2007

Read it. No, I don’t understand it either. But it sounds important.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Google Embracing Unintentional Crowdsourcing

On The Market Dominant Minority Revolt In Bolivia

18th December 2007

Read it. Once again, a case of the world turned upside down — or, at least, it’s upside down from the viewpoint of the current mythology.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on On The Market Dominant Minority Revolt In Bolivia

The consequences of outsourcing

18th December 2007

This, from a colleague of my wife’s:

I got depressed last night so I called a hotline.

I was connected to a call center in Pakistan.

I told them I was feeling suicidal.

They got all excited and asked whether I could drive a truck.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on The consequences of outsourcing

1999 A.D. Controversy

18th December 2007

Read it. This is very interesting. I would not have thought that people in 1967 could be that prescient.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on 1999 A.D. Controversy

The Language Indicator: If You Want To Stay On Top Of Technology, You Need To Speak Chinese

18th December 2007

Read it. An interesting perspective. I must confess that I have no clue as to how one would go about doing a “search” in an ideogrammatic language, but I suppose there must be some way of doing so.

Which brings up another thought: Since Chinese characters are ideograms rather than syllabary, it ought to be possible to read and write “Chinese” without actually knowing one of the (mutually unintelligible) “Chinese” dialects. Hmmm.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on The Language Indicator: If You Want To Stay On Top Of Technology, You Need To Speak Chinese

Against Moneyball Medicine

18th December 2007

Read it. Perhaps doctors aren’t as knowledgeable about the practice of medicine as they’d like us to believe.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Against Moneyball Medicine

Why Do Serial Killers Vastly Outnumber Vigilantes?

18th December 2007

Read it. Perhaps because the Left thinks of serial killers as victims and thus objects of pity, whereas it reacts to “vigilantes” (i.e. anybody attempting to defend himself against, say, a serial killer) with shock and horror?

That’s just a guess, of course.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Why Do Serial Killers Vastly Outnumber Vigilantes?

Demand curves slope downward, even in the humanities

18th December 2007

Read it. Market incentives work, even in the most unlikely places.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Demand curves slope downward, even in the humanities

Getting rid prepositions

17th December 2007

Read it. More fun Language Log.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Getting rid prepositions

Thoughts on Religion and Politics

17th December 2007

Rod Dreher shows up every now and then to give us his views.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Thoughts on Religion and Politics

A Corporate State?

16th December 2007

Arnold Kling critiques Mencius Moldbug.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on A Corporate State?

“No Blood for Oil” – or “No Oil for Blood”?

16th December 2007

Read it. The primary defect of the common lefty trope “No blood for oil” is that if we wanted the oil we could just pay for it; no blood is required. That was certainly the case with Saddam’s Iraq — if it had really been “all about oil”, we wouldn’t have invaded, we’d have just ended the sanctions and bought to oil.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on “No Blood for Oil” – or “No Oil for Blood”?

A Plea for “Merry Christmas”

14th December 2007

Yaacov ben Moshe speaks.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on A Plea for “Merry Christmas”

The Gospel of Paul

14th December 2007

Kimberly Strassel over at the Wall Street Journal takes a lemon and attempts to extract some lemonade.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on The Gospel of Paul

Mormonism: A Racket Becomes a Religion

14th December 2007

Christopher Hitchens is really on a tear about religion recently. He writes so well that one sometimes forgets that he is a socialist and therefore prima facie an idiot. He’s sound on the Muslim threat, though, and I’ll forgive him a great deal for that.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Mormonism: A Racket Becomes a Religion

World of Warcraft and Wikipedia as Generalizations of the Client/Server Model

14th December 2007

David Friedman is always worth reading.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on World of Warcraft and Wikipedia as Generalizations of the Client/Server Model

“In other words, our Founding Fathers were more or less the Troofers of their day.”

13th December 2007

Read it. Especially if you’re a libertarian.

If you are a libertarian, you are already resigned to the fact that most fashionable people think of you as a nutcase. Today we are going to ask you to crawl a little farther out on that limb, and suggest that you replace your libertarian views with thoughts that are even more extreme.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on “In other words, our Founding Fathers were more or less the Troofers of their day.”

The Fourth Amendment Two-Step

11th December 2007

Read it. People without legal training (or a knowledge of history, for that matter) often mistake how limited the Fourth Amendment really is. Even otherwise intelligent and knowledgeable people (as here) often forget that the government has a legitimate interest in knowing what people are doing, even if they don’t like it much.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on The Fourth Amendment Two-Step

2000 A.D. (Part 1, 1990)

11th December 2007

Read it. It’s amazing what people thought the future would be like.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on 2000 A.D. (Part 1, 1990)

Google’s PageRank Works Like Our Brains

11th December 2007

Read it. That wouldn’t be so bad, if it weren’t for all of the target advertisements….

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Google’s PageRank Works Like Our Brains

Digital tombstone fails to catch on

11th December 2007

Read it. I wonder why?

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Digital tombstone fails to catch on

Will Online Harassment Law Be Used Against Those Harassing Lori Drew?

11th December 2007

Read it. An interesting point.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Will Online Harassment Law Be Used Against Those Harassing Lori Drew?

Abolish the CIA

11th December 2007

Christopher Hitchens is apparently unaware of what a secret intelligence agency is supposed to do.

Still, he’s got a point.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Abolish the CIA

Are humans evolving faster?

10th December 2007

Steve Sailer doesn’t ask the obvious question, which is: Faster than what?

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Are humans evolving faster?

How will on-line gaming change the world?

10th December 2007

Read it. I’m not sure I buy it, but it’s an interesting perspective.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on How will on-line gaming change the world?

Magna Carta up for auction

8th December 2007

Read it. Well, it’s not really the Magna Carta, but rather a later confirmation of the Magna Carta, but it’s still pretty cool.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Magna Carta up for auction

America’s Petting Zoo of Faith!

7th December 2007

Mickey Kaus has his own unique perspective on the Mitt Romney speech.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on America’s Petting Zoo of Faith!

Pebble Bed And Other Gen IV Nuclear Reactor Designs

7th December 2007

Read it. We have the technology — the question is, do we have the will?

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Pebble Bed And Other Gen IV Nuclear Reactor Designs

Recognizing a Theory

7th December 2007

David Friedman gets down with his home-b0ys.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Recognizing a Theory

Hollywood gets shown up by pro-war YouTube videos and a didactic antiwar cat

7th December 2007

Read it. And watch the videos.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Hollywood gets shown up by pro-war YouTube videos and a didactic antiwar cat

Harnessing Status Competition On Wikipedia

7th December 2007

Read it. More sanity than one usually expects to see from a techie.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Harnessing Status Competition On Wikipedia

Seussical-Sounding Web Site Names

6th December 2007

Pogue. Take whatever action you think is appropriate.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Seussical-Sounding Web Site Names

Face of the Day

6th December 2007

Read it. Lest you think it’s all sweetness and light around here.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Face of the Day

Why don’t we love science fiction?

6th December 2007

Read it. Well, the worthwhile of us do. As for the rest, hey, some people eat okra.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Why don’t we love science fiction?

Why don’t we love science fiction?

6th December 2007

Read it. Well, the worthwhile of us do. As for the rest, hey, some people eat okra.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Why don’t we love science fiction?

Jurassic Tennis

5th December 2007

Read it. You will of course remember the famous scene in the first Michael York Three Musketeers movie.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Jurassic Tennis

The Logic of Torture

5th December 2007

Read it. One of the few theoretical discussions I’ve seen on the subject.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on The Logic of Torture

Tragedy of the Commons II

5th December 2007

Read it. Wisdom from John Stossel. “No one washes a rental car.”

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Tragedy of the Commons II

The Dictatorship of Talent

4th December 2007

Read it. David Brooks attempts to explain what’s going on in China.

Imagine the Ivy League taking over the shell of the Communist Party and deciding not to change the name. Imagine the Harvard Alumni Association with an army.

And that’s not the strange part….

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on The Dictatorship of Talent

Mormonism and its Enemies

4th December 2007

Ross Douthat has an interesting perspective. Apparently it’s a struggle for market share.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Mormonism and its Enemies

Pigs Don’t Fly: The Economic Way of Thinking about Politics

3rd December 2007

Read it. A lot of inconvenient truth here.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Pigs Don’t Fly: The Economic Way of Thinking about Politics

Baby Selling

3rd December 2007

Read it. Not something you normally spend much time thinking about.

Posted in Think about it. | Comments Off on Baby Selling