My little space in the interwebs.
If you are interested in the culture wars and conspiracy theories, Things Fell Apart this is worth a listen. The episodes are well researched and produced, and are easy to listen to. Season 1 is on a broad collection of US culture war battles. Episode 4 is on the “satanic panic” of the 1980’s, which,…
I’m finding that as I age I prefer my outdoor recreation to be less about suffering and adventure, and more about recreation. Think a nice, sunny walk in the woods on a developed trail compared to a remote bushwhack in the pouring rain. Living in upstate New York allows for this, as even “wild” places…
This post could be lifted from an introductory statistics text. But in my experience working with researchers the important distinction between a sample statistic and a population parameter gets a little muddled. A population parameter is an value that describes a population, such as the mean BMI of all American’s or the mean rent in…
My latest favorite podcast is Navel Gazing by John Dickerson. I would recommend listening from the beginning, but I found this episode about todo lists like I was connecting with a long lost twin. I never thought I would hear a reference to the AlphaSmart word processor in a podcast, let alone 43 folders and…
Since November 27, 2022 I’ve been participating in a writing challenge, which is called a very short story (tagged #vss365 on Twitter/X). The rules are to create a Twitter-length story using the prompt of the day. The website that hosted the challenged has ended, so if you want to participate you’ll need to search #vss365…
With the recent explosion of generative AI, what will be the role of expertise in this new world? For example, in coding, can anybody with no expertise write quality computer programs using AI, or is there still a need for computer science expertise? Will photographers be needed, when high-quality images can be created by a…
PJ Vogt has launched a new podcast last year, Search Engine. As with his other work (Reply All and Crypto Island) it is worth adding to your playlist. His episode with Ezra Klein on how to use the internet is a solid introduction. Klein reminds us that we “vote” for the content we get on…
My other post here questioned if medical students and residents should be doing serious research (i.e., expected to have an extensive record of research publications) vs doing research for pedagogical purposes. Here is an example supporting the “no” side. I’m not sure why anyone thought it would be a good idea to stalk medical students…
From NPR, a different list of words to avoid this upcoming year. Here is the list: I kind of like rizz, but I’m old so I don’t hear it that often.
I have my own list of phrases that I think have reached the end of their useful life and should be retired. Personally, I’m finding that I use the term granular too much.