Me: Sorry, I can’t accept this booking. I could never meet the deadline.
Client: Why?
Me: Well, because it’s at least 45 hours of work.
Client: So? The deadline is 48 hours away.
Shared posts
27 Jan 13:58
Me: Sorry, I can’t accept this booking. I could never meet the deadline. Client: Why? Me: Well,...
13 Nov 20:14
One man’s idea of utopia?: the bitcoin-only Czech cafe
by Tyler Cowen
Paralelní Polis, which in Czech means “Parallel World,” is known mostly for being perhaps the world’s first bitcoin-only cafe. (Here’s my photo essay of what it’s like to buy coffee in the shop.) All transactions — from wages to point of sale — are processed virtually, using one of the most well-recognized cryptocurrencies. More broadly though, the recently-renovated space, which includes a co-working room and hacker space, was conceived as way to demonstrate on a micro level how an entirely decentralized society might function.
There is more here, and supposedly there is no hierarchy among the employees either. The original pointer was from Ángel Cabrera.
Osiasjota likes this
13 Nov 19:06
You Have Been Warned
Submitted by: (via gperlman)
Tagged: monday thru friday , warning , sign , hot sauce , restroom , restaurant , bathroom , g rated
13 Nov 19:02
This Pun is a Mainstay of the Landscaping World
firehose likes this
13 Nov 18:49
Kansas apocalypse markets in everything
by Tyler Cowen
The best defense is sometimes…a good defense:
When Tyler Allen agreed to fork over $3 million in cash for a luxury condominium near Concordia, Kan., he wasn’t attracted by the indoor swimming pool, 17-seat movie theater, or hydroponic vegetable garden.
The real selling point of the 1,820-square-foot apartment: It will be buried 174 feet underground in a decommissioned missile silo sturdy enough to withstand a nuclear attack.
…The so-called Survival Condo complex boasts full and half-floor units that cost $1.5 million to $3 million each. The building can accommodate up to 75 people, and buyers include doctors, scientists and entrepreneurs, says developer Larry Hall.
The development is sold out. I found this bit interesting:
…the complex has enough emergency food on hand to last for up to five years. There’s also a holding cell for unruly occupants.
The full story is here.
13 Nov 18:48
Learning the Wealth of Nations
by Tyler Cowen
This paper I had neglected, now it is time to remedy that. The authors are Francisco J. Buera, Alexander Monge-Narajo, and Giorgio E. Primiceri, and it was published in Econometrica 2011:
We study the evolution of market-oriented policies over time and across countries. We consider a model in which own and neighbors’ past experiences influence policy choices through their effect on policymakers’ beliefs. We estimate the model using a large panel of countries and find that it fits a large fraction of the policy choices observed in the postwar data, including the slow adoption of liberal policies. Our model also predicts that there would be reversals to state intervention if nowadays the world was hit by a shock of the size of the Great Depression.
I don’t find that abstract so informative, this paper has a few main results:
1. Policymakers have priors about how good the market economy is, and they revise those views — and thus revise policy — as they observe their own growth results and those of their neighbors. Success for market economies tends to breed greater reliance on markets.
2. A simple learning model predicts about 97% of the policy choices observed in the data. Perhaps more importantly, the model accounts for more than 77% of the observed policy switches over a three-year time window.
3. Evolving beliefs — and not just the fixed demographic characteristics of countries — are critical for understanding policy decisions.
4. It was probably the growth collapse of the late 1970s for interventionist countries which led to a greater reliance on markets.
5. Adjustment toward better-performing policies is often quite slow. In part this is because policymakers attribute the superior performance of other countries to heterogeneity rather than policy per se.
6. A global Great Depression would lead to a significant switch back to state interventionism.
7. If I understand the model correctly (and I am making a bit of a leap in interpretation here), it implies a Chinese growth slowdown will lead to greater state intervention in China, not greater liberalization.
The pointer to this paper is from Luis Garicano.
13 Nov 18:47
Is the economics job market worth it?
by Tyler Cowen
There is a new NBER paper on this topic by McFall, Murray-Close, Willis, and Chen, gated copy here. Here are some key takeaways from the paper:
1. One-third of the job candidates in the sample were women.
2. More than one quarter of all job candidates on the market come from top ten institutions, which tend to have the largest Ph.d. programs.
3. 28 percent of new job candidates enter the market with some kind of publication. The average candidate has served as primary instructor for one or two courses, plus as teaching assistant for more than three courses.
4. The five most frequently listed fields are labor economics, macro, IO, applied micro, and econometrics, each listed by 21-23% of the candidates.
5. 72% of the people on the market express a preference for jobs as assistant professor.
6. More than eighty percent of the job candidates “expected to place in the top half of the distribution for their graduate department.”
7. Although there is overoptimism, in terms of relative rank candidates have a decent idea of where they will end up.
8. Job candidates receive three offers on average (noting that only half of the candidates in the total pool responded, so there may be bias. Three strikes me as a little high on average).
9. Number of publications predicts higher yield in terms of job offers, whereas gender, undergraduate school, having a Ph.d. from the U.S., and teaching experience have only weak predictive power.
10. As a candidate progresses through the process of interview, flyout, and the like, unobservable characteristics matter more and more for predicting outcomes. This is consistent with the view that the process itself yields information, though whether that information is ultimately accurate as a predictor of success remains an open question.
11. Approximately 92% of candidates ended up with a job (!).
12. More than two-thirds of the candidates are “very” or “extremely” satisfied with their final results.
13. The average base salary for accepted jobs is $93,000. The median base salary is $88,600.
14. The paper has many other results of interest. As Bryan Caplan has previously observed, being an economist is a great life and a great career — do it!
13 Nov 17:41
Breaking the lock: Why all game content should be unlocked from the outset
by Kyle Orland
Aurich Lawson vs Capcom, FIGHT!
The Master Chief Collection launched earlier this week, a collection of classic Halo games that included an array of changes from the originals, such as improved graphics and customized, cross-game playlists. But there was another, more subtle change from the original Halo titles that I think more games should mimic well before being re-released as "remastered" collections.
As Sam Machkovech pointed out in his review, "all four full campaigns are unlocked the moment you boot HTMCC, meaning you can skip ahead to a favorite part of Halo 3, then find a friend and pound out a beloved Halo: CE mission in online co-op." It's a design decision that makes us wonder: why wasn't this the case when the Halo games were originally released? For that matter, why do developers "lock" game content in the first place?
The idea of locked content, which has to be "unlocked" through some sort of in-game achievement, is a peculiarity that games share with no other mass consumer art form. Books don't require you to read the prologue and author's note before diving in to Chapter 1. DVDs don't confirm that you fully comprehended the first act before letting you jump to your favorite scene in Act 2 (or make you suffer through the bad episodes of a TV show just to watch the good ones). Music albums don't require that you listen to songs in a certain order without the ability to skip around at will.
13 Nov 17:38
DARPA wants to turn existing planes into drone motherships
by Sean Gallagher
A DARPA artist's concept of how a flying drone carrier's takeoff and landing pattern might look.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) kicked off a program seeking ways to convert existing large aircraft into drone carriers that could launch waves of unmanned aircraft a safe distance from a target to carry out a mission and then recover them—all while in flight. DARPA issued a request for information (RFI) kicking off the program November 7.
“We want to find ways to make smaller aircraft more effective, and one promising idea is enabling existing large aircraft, with minimal modification, to become ‘aircraft carriers in the sky’,” Dan Patt, program manager for DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, said in an official statement issued by the agency.
The RFI document says that DARPA is seeking to prove “the feasibility and potential value of the ability to launch and recover volleys of small UAS [unmanned aircraft systems] from one or more existing large platforms (e.g., B-52, B-1, C-130, etc.).” The drones would carry payloads of less than 100 points and would need to be low-cost to be produced in large quantities for the sort of capability DARPA envisions.
13 Nov 16:44
'Pangu' Jailbreak for iOS 8.x Now Available for Mac, Compatible with Newer Apple Devices
by Richard Padilla
The Pangu development team today updated its jailbreak for iOS 8 and 8.1, bringing full support for the Mac. The update comes a week after the program saw an update for Windows that brought an automatic installation of Cydia and support for the English language.
Pangu's jailbreak tool for iOS 8 is the first that is compatible with any device running iOS 8.0 to iOS 8.1, including newer devices such as the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 3. The jailbreak method allows users to install content like themes, tweaks, and apps from other sources than the App Store. The Pangu development team recommends that users backup their iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches before using the tool, and notes that devices upgraded over-the-air may need to be restored before being jailbroken.
Cydia administrator Jay Freeman noted on his Twitter that the Pangu jailbreak is "stable enough" and said that developers on Cydia are now able to mark their own apps as iOS 8 compatible. Members on our forums are also maintaining an active list of which Cydia apps are compatible with iOS 8 and Pangu's jailbreak, and interested users should look there for more specific information.
Pangu can be downloaded for OS X and Windows as an untethered jailbreak, meaning that users only have to apply the method once. The release of the tool follows an announcement by the Electronic Frontier Foundation yesterday stating that a new petition was filed with the Librarian of Congress to extend an exemption that allows jailbreaking to be legal. The exemption was last renewed in 2012 and created by the U.S. Congress in 2010.
Pangu's jailbreak tool for iOS 8 is the first that is compatible with any device running iOS 8.0 to iOS 8.1, including newer devices such as the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 3. The jailbreak method allows users to install content like themes, tweaks, and apps from other sources than the App Store. The Pangu development team recommends that users backup their iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches before using the tool, and notes that devices upgraded over-the-air may need to be restored before being jailbroken.
Cydia administrator Jay Freeman noted on his Twitter that the Pangu jailbreak is "stable enough" and said that developers on Cydia are now able to mark their own apps as iOS 8 compatible. Members on our forums are also maintaining an active list of which Cydia apps are compatible with iOS 8 and Pangu's jailbreak, and interested users should look there for more specific information.
Pangu can be downloaded for OS X and Windows as an untethered jailbreak, meaning that users only have to apply the method once. The release of the tool follows an announcement by the Electronic Frontier Foundation yesterday stating that a new petition was filed with the Librarian of Congress to extend an exemption that allows jailbreaking to be legal. The exemption was last renewed in 2012 and created by the U.S. Congress in 2010.
firehose and -1 others like this
13 Nov 16:43
Apple Reportedly Opening New R&D Center in Cambridge, England
by Richard Padilla
Apple is planning to open a new facility that includes research and development operations in Cambridge, England within the next few weeks, reports Business Weekly (via MacGeneration).
90 Hills Road, which is said to be location of Apple's new offices in Cambridge
The company's new offices are said to be located at 90 Hills Road, which is described as a prestigious corporate building and is located near the likes of headquarters belonging to Microsoft and Sony. More than 1000 technology companies have established offices in Cambridge since 1998, with the region earning the nickname of "Silicon Fen" in reference to Silicon Valley. Other companies including microprocessor manufacturer ARM and wireless communications company Broadcom also have campuses in Cambridge.
According to the report, Apple is aiming to start with 20 employees in its new offices, and will look to grow to a total of 40 employees in the coming year. The UK was also said to be working hard for the past 25 years to persuade Apple to establish an office in Britain. Apple has numerous R&D centers around the world, including buildings in Israel, Shanghai, Taiwan, and more.
90 Hills Road, which is said to be location of Apple's new offices in Cambridge The company's new offices are said to be located at 90 Hills Road, which is described as a prestigious corporate building and is located near the likes of headquarters belonging to Microsoft and Sony. More than 1000 technology companies have established offices in Cambridge since 1998, with the region earning the nickname of "Silicon Fen" in reference to Silicon Valley. Other companies including microprocessor manufacturer ARM and wireless communications company Broadcom also have campuses in Cambridge.
According to the report, Apple is aiming to start with 20 employees in its new offices, and will look to grow to a total of 40 employees in the coming year. The UK was also said to be working hard for the past 25 years to persuade Apple to establish an office in Britain. Apple has numerous R&D centers around the world, including buildings in Israel, Shanghai, Taiwan, and more.
13 Nov 15:42
Bunda de Kim Kardashian pode ser vista no Google Earth
by @sensacionalista
Cientistas do observatório de Londres ficaram intrigados hoje com uma grande protuberância perto da costa dos Estados Unidos avistada no Google Earth. Logo eles descobriram que se trata da bunda da atriz Kim Kardashian. Ela posou para fotos mostrando tudo na capa de uma revista americana e provocou frisson na internet. Consultórios médicos do mundo inteiro também começaram a receber jovens com tendinite.
Internautas que ouviram falar da notícia buscaram no Google por “Bundão Kim” mas acabaram caindo na página oficial da Coreia do Norte.
12 Nov 18:05
What you and your 21 year old friends look like to people in...
What you and your 21 year old friends look like to people in their 30s. #9gag
12 Nov 18:05
Just sitting down thinking about life… #9gag
Just sitting down thinking about life… #9gag
11 Nov 12:33
Parenting around the world
For the past year, Joanna Goddard has been running a series on her blog called Motherhood Around the World. The goal of the series was to tease out how parenting in other countries is different than parenting in the US. From the introduction to the series:
We spoke to American mothers abroad -- versus mothers who were born and bred in those countries -- because we wanted to hear how motherhood around the world compared and contrasted with motherhood in America. It can be surprisingly hard to realize what's unique about your own country ("don't all kids eat snails?"), and it's much easier to identify differences as an outsider.
The results, as Goddard states upfront, are not broadly representative of parenting in the different countries but they are fascinating nonetheless. I've picked out a few representative bits below. On parenting in Norway:
Both my kids attended Barnehage (Norwegian for "children's garden"), which is basically Norwegian pre-school and daycare. Most kids here start Barnehage when they're one year old -- it's subsidized by the government to encourage people to go back to work. You pay $300 a month and your kids can stay from 8am to 5pm. They spend a ton of time outside, mostly playing and exploring nature. At some Barnehage, they only go inside if it's colder than 14 degrees. They even eat outdoors-with their gloves on! When I was worried about my son being cold, my father-in-law said, "It's good for him to freeze a little bit on his fingers." That's very Norwegian -- hard things are good for you.
The Democratic Republic of Congo:
No one thinks twice here about sharing breastmilk. Why let something so valuable go to waste? Not long after my second daughter was born, I went on a work trip to Kenya. I pumped the whole time I was there and couldn't bear to throw away my breast milk, nor imagine the nightmare scenario of leakage in my luggage. So I saved it all up in the hotel fridge in Ziploc bags. On the day I left, I took all the little bags to the local market and said, "All right, ladies. Who's got babies and wants breast milk?!" Not a single Kenyan woman at the market thought twice about taking a random white woman's breast milk. My driver even heard I was handing out milk and asked if I could pump some extra to take home to his new baby.
There are no car seat or seatbelt laws here. You will regularly see toddlers with their heads peeking out of sunroofs or moms holding their infants in the front seat. The government and the car companies are trying to educate people about the dangers, but the most locals (Emiratis as well as people from countries like India and Egypt) believe that a mother's arms are the safest place for her child.
In a country in which space comes at such a premium, few parents would dream of allocating a separate room for each child. Co-sleeping is the norm here, regardless of class. Children will usually sleep with their parents or their ayah until they are at least six or seven. An American friend of mine put her son in his own room, and her Indian babysitter was aghast. The young children from middle class Indian families I know also go to sleep whenever their parents do -- often as late as 11pm. Our son sleeps in our bed, as well. He has a shoebox of a room in our house where we keep his clothes and crib, and he always starts the night in there, falling asleep around 8pm. That way Chris and I get a few hours to ourselves. Then, around 11pm, Will somehow senses that we are about to fall asleep and calls out to come to our bed. It's like clockwork, and he falls right back into a deep sleep the second his head hits the pillow.
On sleep camps: Government-subsidized programs help parents teach their babies to sleep. I haven't been to one (though I did consider it when we were in the middle of sleep hell with our daughter) but many of my friends have. The sleep camps are centers, usually attached to a hospital, that are run by nurses. Most mums I know went when their babies were around six or seven months old. You go for five days and four nights, and they put you and your baby on a strict schedule of feeding, napping and sleeping. If you're really desperate for sleep, you also have the option of having a nurse handle your baby for the whole first night so you can sleep, but after that you spend the next few nights with your baby overnight while the nurses show you what to do. They use controlled crying and other techniques. I have friends who say it saved their lives, friends who left feeling "meh" about the whole thing, and a friend who left after a day because, in her words, "they left my baby in a cupboard to cry."
Giving treats to children is seen as a sign of affection, so strangers will offer candy to kids on the street. I'll sometimes turn around and a stranger will be handing my daughter a chocolate bar! Several months ago, we were on a bus, and a woman near us was eating cookies. She saw my daughter Mia and said "Oh, let me give you some cookies." I said, "No, thank you." But she kept on insisting. Then, a random stranger, who was not even connected to the first woman, chimed in, "You should give your daughter the cookies!" They were very serious about it! I was frustrated at the time, but after the fact I found it funny.
And then more recently, they talked to a group of foreign mothers about how parenting in the US differs from the rest of the world. For one thing, there's the babyproofing:
Here in the U.S., there is a huge "baby industry," which does not exist in Romania. There's special baby food, special baby utensils, special baby safety precautions and special baby furniture. In Romania, children eat with a regular teaspoon and drink from a regular glass. They play with toys that are not specifically made for "brain development from months 3-6." Also, before I came here, I had never heard of babyproofing! Now I'm constantly worried about my daughter hurting herself, but my mom and friends from home just laugh at me and my obsession that bookshelves might fall.
And the more permissive and involved parenting:
I was surprised that American children as young as one year old learn to say please, thank you, sorry and excuse me. Those things are not actively taught in India. Another difference is how parents here tend to stay away from "because I said so" and actually explain things to their children. It's admirable the way parents will go into basic reasoning to let the child know why some things are the way they are. When I last visited Bombay, I explained to my then four-year-old about that we couldn't buy too many things because of weight restrictions in the flight, etc. My relatives were genuinely wondering why I didn't just stop at "no."
Like I said, the whole series is fascinating...I could easily see this being a book or documentary (along the lines of Babies).
11 Nov 02:26
VLC has encountered a problem with Windows. #9gag
VLC has encountered a problem with Windows. #9gag
