moldbug

15 ms·

181.
by moldbug 15y ago
Is there a specific reason you assume the academic community is doing a good job at this? Consider the case in point. The myth the Chronicle author was refuting was a political myth: that the Haymarket defendants were innocent men railroad
182.
by moldbug 15y ago
I think a Singaporean would be amused to hear this comment emanating from (or at least served by) a nation that contains Detroit, Oakland, etc. I've visited Oakland a few times in recent years. I haven't been impressed by its wealth or mod
183.
by moldbug 15y ago
Briggs responds: http://wmbriggs.com/blog/?p=5154 My experience is that usually in a contentious debate like this, the person who can keep a cooler head is right. It's not a perfect heuristic but it's a good starting point. Galileo can
184.
by moldbug 15y ago
What scares me is that this is actually a much lower compatibility expectation than Posix ever achieved. It is possible to use strict Posix APIs, whether "large and widely touted" or not, and always has been. It is not and never has been p
185.
Ask HN: Will HTML5 ever be universally interoperable?
5 points by moldbug 15y ago|3 comments
186.
by moldbug 15y ago
Both very insightful parents. Note also that the TV/radio/press oligopoly ("mainstream media," if you will, though we could also say the "WP: Reliable sources" monopoly) receives a huge hidden subsidy in the form of confidential governme
187.
by moldbug 15y ago
And "Mendax" doesn't mean "nobly untruthful" in Latin. It just means "a liar." I don't know Latin, so it took me 87 seconds to check this. These are insignificant points. But somehow I feel they reflect negatively on the credibility of A
188.
by moldbug 15y ago
Ok, fine, I wasn't really thinking of ancient Greece. (But you'll note that ancient Greece declined and fell shortly thereafter. Pericles didn't have a speechwriter, either.) Jackson was notoriously illiterate. Washington was a stuffed s
189.
by moldbug 15y ago
Of course. I certainly wouldn't take anything away from Dr. King's ability to improvise, based on previously existing phrases. I could even believe that he changed some words, etc, in the strenuous editing process described. The principle
190.
by moldbug 15y ago
No, they're not quite the same thing. "Drafted with assistance" is a coy, euphemistic way to say "written by." Here's Jones' own recollection of the process ( http://nexoscapital.com/articles_pdf/TheManWho_06-04.pdf ). With some cuts: Whe
191.
by moldbug 15y ago
Ironically, MLK was not the actual author of the "Dream" speech, which was written by King's regular speechwriters, Stanley Levison and Clarence B. Jones.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream#Speech_title_and... ). It's an interesti
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Washington seen from the inside(foseti.wordpress.com)
3 points by moldbug 15y ago|0 comments
193.
by moldbug 15y ago
tldr: You might as well try to "fix" VMS. I find it a little difficult to think seriously about "fixing democracy" when on the same day I see something like this: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/opinion/free-the-fda.html "The precedent
194.
by moldbug 15y ago
Believe it or not, new surgical procedures are neither patentable nor approved by any Federal regulator. Typically I think there's an IRB and you ought to have hacked around with some pigs or something. Other than that - take a knife, sta
195.
Yet another Climategate?(blogs.nature.com)
2 points by moldbug 15y ago|1 comments
196.
by moldbug 15y ago
Some have coined the term "hatefacts" for these biased facts.
197.
by moldbug 15y ago
This "error in logic" is also known as "Occam's razor." Entities should not be multiplied divergently. A sufficient explanation for the fact that Y Combinator winners are mostly white is the fact that YC applicants are mostly white. As sh
198.
by moldbug 15y ago
Whatever natural, social or political phenomenon causes this insidious effect, it is also clearly visible at (a) Burning Man, (b) Occupy Wall Street, and (c) any fashionable restaurant in San Francisco. What is this phenomenon? Of course i
199.
by moldbug 15y ago
Stephen Jay Gould on racism, 1984: "My visceral perception of brotherhood harmonizes with our best modern biological knowledge. Such union of feeling and fact may be rare indeed, for one offers no guide to the other (more romantic twaddle a