The Fount of Useless Information
Your place for useless information that just might possibly be interesting.
The Internet is a surveillance state
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/16/opinion/schneier-internet-surveillance/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
I kinda doubt this is news to any of my reader(s), but there is no privacy any more. Even if you want to live in a shack in the wilderness like the Unibomber …
Are we over-diagnosing mental illness?
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/16/health/mental-illness-overdiagnosis/index.html?hpt=hp_bn13
‘Normal’ is continually redefined by society. However, society’s mental illness is now being defined by for-profit organizations who stand to make billions of dollars by having ‘normal’ defined in such a way that the …
Stop Blaming Trolls for the Patent Problem
http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/03/stop-blaming-the-trolls-or-we-wont-be-able-to-fix-the-patent-system/
I talked about my ideas for patent reform before, but didn’t mention so-called patent trolls. Generally speaking (to me) these ‘trolls’ are not really gaming the system but are doing …
Live-Blogging Senate Hearing Tomorrow, When J.P. Morgan Chase Will Be Torn a New One
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/live-blogging-senate-hearing-tomorrow-when-j-p-morgan-chase-will-be-torn-a-new-one-20130314
I have complained off and on about this idiotic ‘too big to fail’ crap for years (now we have “too big to jail” …
So I happen across this article:
Scientists Publish Controversial Paper About Extra-Terrestrial Life on Meteorites
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/scientists-publish-controversial-paper-about-extra-terrestrial-life-meteorites
and think to myself, “that is quite interesting that there should be such ‘definitive’ evidence of extraterrestrial life and I am only finding out …
Management/Success/Leadership: Mostly Bullshit
http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/managementsuccessleadership_mostly_bullshit/
Scott Adams sometimes has very thought provoking things to say. Sometimes it is just bla bla bla (I am quite guilty of the same), but, as is said, the broken clock is right twice a day, …
Web-based ‘brain’ for robots goes live
Robots confused about what they encounter in the world of humans can now get help online.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21714191
Well, I am sad to say I didn’t see this one coming. It makes sense, though, and …
Social Security, Life Expectancy, and Income Inequality
http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/social-security-life-expectancy-and-income-inequality/
Prior to reading the article above (though the thoughts had been percolating for a while), I was a strong proponent of increasing the retirement age for social security. “Everyone knows” that life …
Two interesting articles on global warming and that it ain’t so bad for certain people/ecosystems…
Extra Heat Turning Northern Latitudes Green
http://frenchtribune.com/teneur/1316622-extra-heat-turning-northern-latitudes-green-study
Global Warming Pushing Trees North
http://news.discovery.com/earth/global-warming/trees-invade-arctic-tundra-130311.htm
Just like how global warming can help shipping and the ozone hole…
What The Hardened Arteries Of Ancient Mummies Mean For Picking A Diet
http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2013/03/11/what-the-hardened-arteries-of-ancient-mummies-mean-for-picking-a-diet/
While I think this article is pointing out the obvious, it seems clear that to a lot of people this isn’t obvious at all. While nearly everyone …