Displaying comments 1 to 50 of 15980
MeFi post:
Occupations' Health Concerns
I think he should either come clean or accept the share price hit for staying quiet.
It's not up to Steve Jobs if he decides he wants to let the stock "take a hit".
I did buy some stock in Apple a couple of months ago, I haven't lost much (about $120), but it's still pretty obnoxious. The stock should be up now, from what I understand.
I wouldn't want to talk publicly about My Bowels either... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 4:05 PM on July 26, 2008
I just hope that whoever follow Steve Jobs is a designer/artist in background and not a technology guy or a money guy.
Steve was always a tech guy, not an artist. He likes to call himself an artist, for whatever reason, but his background is tech.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 6:46 PM on July 26, 2008
MeFi post:
Rocket pistol
Can't you use a regular gun in outer space? I guess recoil would be more of a problem, but still.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 4:17 PM on July 26, 2008
MeFi post:
Carlos Is an Asian at Heart
Diet perhaps is one influence? I wonder if corn (maize) consumption has anything to do with it. High fructise corn syrup seems to have some correlation with making Americans fatter and less motivated; I wonder if the prevalence of corn in the Latino diet has a similar effect.
Wow. That was just about one of the dumbest things I've ever read.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 8:16 PM on July 23, 2008
By the way, when people talk about the success of Asians in the U.S. it's important to remember that many of the Asians that came over here were at the top of their society or already middle class.
Look at the situation with the Hmong, who actually have pretty low academic achievement, from what I recall. There's probably not much genetic difference between them and other south east Asians, but they didn't have the same sort of academic culture, etc.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 8:22 PM on July 23, 2008
A useful link that may be good reading for everyone here is wikipedia's race and intelligence page.
Yeah, because what could be a better way to learn about race and intelligence then a page written by random people on the internet obsessed with race and intelligence.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 8:29 PM on July 23, 2008
Acceptable stereotype: Asians perform better because their parents push them harder.
Unacceptable stereotype: Asians perform better because they are genetically predisposed towards higher intelligence.
Why is one stereotype more acceptable than another? I don't know.
Wow, it must be tough going through life with such a low IQ.
I do know that if you even suggest that it's worth... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 8:34 PM on July 23, 2008
Well, there's plenty of empirical evidence that the Japanese have been growing taller & taller, as more western food has crept into their diet in the latter part of this century*
Woah woah woah. It has nothing to do with "western foods" it has to do with not living in a poor, war-torn society. But yes Japanese have been getting taller, which actually illustrates how even something like height is determined as much by environment then by genetics.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 8:42 PM on July 23, 2008
At the very least, this story has a happy ending: Lily cleaned up, took the MCAT, and--you guessed it--went to medical school.
Wow, that's good. Because that story was super-depressing man.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 9:01 PM on July 23, 2008
Yes it is much less insulting to my sense of human dignity and equality to believe that all people of a given ethnicity have the same attitude towards a particular pursuit rather than believing that all people of a given ethnicity happen to have, through chance historical genetic events, an enhanced propensity for success in a given activity.
You're very confused.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 9:21 PM on July 23, 2008
This is the reason why the families of those kids encourage them to go into things like medicine: the amount of shmoozing required to attain relatively high pay and status is much less, and the financial and professional rewards come more from brute force hard work.
That seems a little mercenary, if they knew it was going to be a problem, wouldn't it make more sense to try to teach their kids the importance of networking and shmoozing?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 10:40 PM on July 23, 2008
Because they're curious about the universe they live in?
There is a nearly infinite number of possible correlations between different data sets. Why would the correlation between race and inborn intelligence be more curiosity piquing then the correlation between consumption of carrots and choice in literature? or hair color and laughter, or the size of someone's nose and the size of their hands? That stuff isn't interesting and so... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 11:12 PM on July 23, 2008
Out of all the comments, that was the one you chose to criticize. Wow.
You mean out of the first five? Um, yeah...
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 11:12 PM on July 23, 2008
Of interest from William Saletin. (NB: note a defense--just relevant and readable.)
It's interesting that you would link to that article, and not his apology for writing that article based on the work of racist crackpots.
Many of you have criticized parts of the genetic argument as I related them. Others have pointed to alternative theories I truncated or left out. But the thing that has upset me most concerns a co-author of one of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 7:30 AM on July 24, 2008
In fact, the opposite -- that genes most definitely do play a major role in determining IQ, and if I may cavalierly extend from that, intelligence -- is much closer to factual accuracy.
Fail.
That's not at all a fair characterization. The article wasn't "based on the work of racist crackpots." It had references to work by one racist crackpot (Rushton) among other scholars, statisticians, etc.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 1:45 PM on July 24, 2008
delmoi: I'm not even claiming that IQ or intelligence has a racial basis. I'm just claiming that it has a genetic component.
Oh, okay.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 1:53 PM on July 24, 2008
Not exactly.
I'm not exactly sure how 'legitimate' gnxp actually is, links to it come up often when people are arguing the race/intelligence stuff. Either way, the clustering stuff, if you want to try to cluster people into races by genetics it's not uprising it would work, but that don't mean the concepts of 'races' is legitimate.
There is a lot of genetic variation in humans that's geographic, but there are no 'walls'... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 3:03 PM on July 25, 2008
It's ridiculous to accuse someone of racism simply because they are interested in the question of whether there is a link between race and intelligence. The charge doesn't deserve an answer, but I must share this quote:
Obviously no one likes to be called a racist. Unfortunately some people actually are racist. It's odd that you would argue so forcefully that we be allowed to discuss the innate inferiority of Africans on the one... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 3:22 PM on July 25, 2008
Hmm, just looking at the front page of GNXP, one of the articles is about how blacks are more susceptible to HIV, two are about the interplay between race, intelegence, and economic outcomes. One is titled "Colder climates favor civilization even among Whites alone" (wow even among whites!?). And one of them positively mentions Steve Sailer, a notorious racist. That's about half the content.
Who ever writes for that blog is clearly pretty... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 4:06 PM on July 25, 2008
You're careful not to go too far and say I posted a link to GNXP (as if posting a link meant endorsement!) because that's easy to check.
That's a bit rich coming from someone who likes to hype spurious correlations. In any event, this is what you actually said about GNXP in that thread:
Curiosity requires no defense. People wonder and they discuss. And I have seen no proof that the GNXP post is racist dreck. An analogy of races to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 3:43 AM on July 26, 2008
MeFi post:
a beautiful life
If your parents are rich, it makes sense to allow them to pay your expenses while you invest your time in to building up your money making ability. Whether that's by networking, or education, or whatever.
Hang out with a bunch of rich people your age, and eventually you'll be in the "old boy's club" and able make a ton of money.
If that means your parents subsidizing you for a few years, it's not necessarily a bad trade off.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 4:00 PM on July 25, 2008
MeFi post:
sex in the park
And right there would be the problem, as that sentence should read "We don't grant privacy to people who have been convicted of crimes."
Well, he plead guilty, which is in effect a kind of conviction, although in some cases people will get deals where they'll go through probation and have an actual conviction filed.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 3:25 PM on July 25, 2008
In related news: Circuit court denies Bob Allen's appeal
Interestingly, that was not a case of a police sting. The cop was there scoping out a robbery or something like that, and Bob Allen just approached him looking to buy sex.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 3:26 PM on July 25, 2008
MeFi post:
Those Wacky Swiss
fwiw: keyboards generally clean up ok with soap and water (a toothbrush helps), but you need to leave them to dry for a long time (several days, sometimes longer).
Last time I cleaned my keyboard I just took it apart. What was really amazing was that the actual 'keyboard' component was just two thin sheets of plastic, along with rubber pads that went over the sensor pads and provided springyness.
It didn't take long to dry,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 2:53 PM on July 25, 2008
MeFi post:
Boing Boing Finds 21st Century Trotsky?
Wow, she finally admitted it?
Huh, Xeni's Wikipedia page said she had been a journalist.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 7:06 AM on July 21, 2008
she [TNH] posted a tweet that said "@BohemianCoast Today it's especially vile. VB is lying, by the way. My suspicion is that we're under attack by Gawker Media." She entered that thread spoiling for a fight?---
Takuan: where'd ya come from anyway? Ain't seen you around these parts afore. [ . . . ] what is your intent?
cortex: To read and discuss. What on earth do you think my intent is?
Takuan: to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 7:12 AM on July 22, 2008
Well, if any good comes out of this hopefully no one will ever consider TNH an 'expert' on community moderation ever again. Every once in a while I'd see her held up as an example of how to build a communit, of how to mod, etc. Obviously she's not actually any good at it.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 11:04 PM on July 23, 2008
MeFi post:
Shut Em Down?
For some reason the bar is much lower for rappers.
Wow plexi, you're really on a roll spouting racist innuendo today.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 10:12 PM on July 23, 2008
Wait, Jesse Jackson said he wanted to cut off Obama's nuts? On Fox News? What?
He was whispering to a friend while off the air.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 10:17 PM on July 23, 2008
MeFi post:
Closer to Disney than punk
The larger, more impossible questions are missing. How would the Victorian imagination conceive and execute a functioning computer? The answer must be more interesting than adding wood veneers to your laptop...
Hah.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 11:38 AM on July 23, 2008
MeFi post:
Googles social interface
Well, IMO their search results have really gone downhill in the past few years, especially when it comes to searching for programming information. A lot of times you get these obnoxious websites that are obviously just collections of scraped Usenet postings filled with ads.
On the other hand, Wikipedia has in a lot of ways made Google superfluous, I mean if I'm just looking for 'information' about something then chances are it's in Wikipedia (which should hopefully have... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 7:56 AM on July 23, 2008
MeFi post:
There will also be a singing crocadile
Well, I always found it insulting when black people on TV only dated other black people, in those teen drama/comedy shows like "saved by the bell", especially since there would usually only be two black characters, so I would prefer they do an interracial relationship. It's actually much more daring and forward thinking, IMO.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 5:47 AM on July 23, 2008
MeFi post:
Artifacts from the Future
Wired blows. It's essentially porno for gadget nerds now.
I liked it better when it was porno for techno-Utopians living in the inflating tech bubble.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 9:08 PM on July 22, 2008
Actually wired did do an article predicting the internet bubble collapse a few years out, and a few years before their 'long boom' article as well.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 9:59 PM on July 22, 2008
MeFi post:
Cake Wrecks
I would like to unsee that "Push, Olivia!" cake.
Are you kidding? That's awesome. Likewise the pufferfish cakes.
There's general badness, which many of the cakes display, but a few of the cakes just push boundaries a little bit. The blogger sounds like a priss who can't deal with anything out of the ordinary.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 9:41 PM on July 22, 2008
MeFi post:
Viacom will steal your film
What is the possible basis for laws which allow party X to take property away from party Y, and then put the burden of proof on party Y as to why the transaction shouldn't have happened?
They're not claiming ownership, they are claiming copyright. And the DMCA doesn't exactly work like your example with the lien. The burden of proof is not on the actual owner, rather, the actual owner simply has to assert the content should not be taken down.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 2:50 PM on July 22, 2008
MeFi post:
Baby's First Internet
Where's the big brouhaha over diaries? And books? An entire industry exists built around nothing more than books, talking about reading to other readers! And another industry built around nothing more than eating! OMGTHEINSANITYMUSTBESTOPPED!!!!
I don't think anyone is saying it should "be stopped" but I think a lot of people are starting to feel that much of the blog sphere has become like daytime television. Completely vapid and pointless,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 6:41 AM on July 22, 2008
MeFi post:
Virtual Thinking
Bleh. I actually studied this stuff a bit towards the end of my undergraduate days. I wouldn't call myself an expert or anything but some of the people talking about this obviously are not.
The idea that you would try to build these translators without a 'theory of Chinese' or a 'theory of french' is absurd. Obviously, you would want to start with a massive built-in dictionary and go from there. Sure, there would be times where your initial seed translator wouldn't... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 9:29 PM on July 21, 2008
Want to know who a million people are going to vote for? Ask forty or so. It turns out that to within two or three percentage points, that's more than plenty. It might be counterintuitive, but the best kinds of science are like that.
40? Most polling is done with about 1,200 people. 40 might work if you could get a truly random sampling.
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 9:31 PM on July 21, 2008
40 people would get you a confidence interval smaller than +/- 15% with 95% confidence. To get a 3% interval you need to poll at least 144 people. I don't understand delmoi's point about how a "truly random" sample would shrink your confidence interval--if it's biased for 40, it'll be biased with 1200, assuming you use the same procedure to pick your sample.
I'm not sure exactly why, but when was the last time you saw a serious political poll... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 11:33 PM on July 21, 2008
You've got a bucket with 1,000 marbles in it. Red ones and blue ones, except you can't see them inside... bla bla bla
I don't think anyone here is lacking a 3rd grader's understanding of random sampling.
40 non-random people = inaccurate, imprecise.
40 truly random people = accurate, but imprecise.
1,200 non-random people = inaccurate, but precise
1,200 random people = accurate and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 2:36 AM on July 22, 2008
MeFi post:
I sense you want to plead the 5th
Well, it may have been a correct use of reverse-engineering. For example the sentence "the best part would be someone figuring out how it works in order to to place "experiential knowledge" into a brain, instead of merely retrieving them." is a more reasonable interpretation then "the best part would be someone making it work backwards to place "experiential knowledge" into a brain, instead of merely retrieving... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 7:23 AM on July 21, 2008
MeFi post:
Password Chart
One of those simple easy ideas someone should have done a long time ago.
People have. I read a post on Bruce Schneier blog that said you should write down your passwords, and there was a suggestion (from somewhere) that you ought to create a chart that explained your password in a way that only you could read. I actually posted this to metafilter
I don't like the over-use of random case mixing, since it makes the generated... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 6:04 PM on July 20, 2008
One thing I hate is when they require you use some special characters, and then block some. So, if you frequently use one special character in your passwords, and you come across some other site that doesn't let you use that character, it can fuck up your shit.
The problem with pass phrases is that you can forget the punctuation and capitalization. I had one issue where I typed in the wrong password more then three times on a credit card site, and I actually had to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 7:34 PM on July 20, 2008
MeFi post:
One-woman crime spree
With the open borders and only partially-connected police forces, I'm surprised Europe doesn't have more of these traveling serial killers.
Um, couldn't you say the same thing about the U.S?
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 7:03 PM on July 20, 2008
MeFi post:
Lifestyles of the Rich and Flavorless.
Actually, I read somewhere that reducing the sentencing for rape was in part motivated by feminism, with the idea that when the penalties for rape were so high, people would be unwilling to convict men who they had sympathy for or had doubts about what happened. I mean, who would send a guy to jail for 20 years based on he-said-she-said? So I don't think the sentences are that long.
I'm not sure how accurate that is, though, I mean it's just some comment I read on some... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by delmoi
at 1:14 PM on July 20, 2008
