An excerpt from a book blurb:

An excerpt from a book blurb:

"The electrical grid sputtered; law and government collapsed—and more than half of the world’s population was decimated."

sigh "half of the world's population was decimated."

Look, I know it's meaning has shifted but combining it with "half" just makes the disconnect between informal and official definition more jarring.

And sure, losing 5% of the total world population would be a terrible event in human history but it's probably not nearly as bad as the blurb's author wanted it to be.

Needless to say, I won't be reading this book (I mean, the blurb wasn't great even outside the bad math).

It pays to increase your word power...

It pays to increase your word power...


http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20171122-twenty-six-words-we-dont-want-to-lose

Hummingbirds Are Where Intuition Goes to Die

Hey,

Life's pretty rough right now in a number of arenas. Let's learn about hummingbird tongues.


https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/11/hummingbird-tongues/546992/

The New Sewer Socialists Are Building an Equitable Internet

Maybe the Internet is a public good...


https://www.thenation.com/article/the-new-sewer-socialists-are-building-an-equitable-internet/

There is literally a giant hole where Johnny D’s used to be.

If you own/use bitcoins, the people of Africa would like you to consider divesting away.

If you own/use bitcoins, the people of Africa would like you to consider divesting away.


https://powercompare.co.uk/bitcoin/

Title

It would appear that my front steps are where you leave your small, painted rocks. Please don't leave them directly on the steps, painted rock fairies. The railing is perfectly fine.

Bringing the Internet to the people.

Bringing the Internet to the people.


https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/kz3xyz/detroit-mesh-network

I mean, I never paint along, but he's just so soothing to listen to:

I mean, I never paint along, but he's just so soothing to listen to:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Cjsnq8kVU

At long last, our national nightmare is over...

At long last, our national nightmare is over...


http://www.foodandwine.com/news/kinder-eggs-arrived-america

Back in my day we just watched Lucas McCauslin play and tried to tell him when to jump even though none us made it...

Back in my day we just watched Lucas McCauslin play and tried to tell him when to jump even though none us made it past the Ice World Level.

Good times.


https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/11/20/how-to-get-rich-playing-video-games-online

I feel like this article has more than a whiff of pearl clutching, but it is describing something very real and...

I feel like this article has more than a whiff of pearl clutching, but it is describing something very real and prompts a lot of hard thinking about the Internet in general.

In short -- children's programming on the Internet doesn't even rise to the level of pablum and it's an obvious example of how mis-aligned incentives and algorithms can get a little bonkers.


https://medium.com/@jamesbridle/something-is-wrong-on-the-internet-c39c471271d2

How Lincoln’s embrace of embalming birthed the American funeral industry

A fascinating article, but of extra interest for eclipse book club readers:

https://theconversation.com/how-lincolns-embrace-of-embalming-birthed-the-american-funeral-industry-86196
https://theconversation.com/how-lincolns-embrace-of-embalming-birthed-the-american-funeral-industry-86196

Max Gladstone's newest book The Ruin of Angels is another installment of his excellent Craft Series -- which...

Max Gladstone's newest book The Ruin of Angels is another installment of his excellent Craft Series -- which re-imagines modern global finance in a fantasy milieu. There's a couple of excellent bits of dialog I want to excerpt here:

First -- Kia is talking with R'ok about its past dealings with Kai's sister Ley. R'ok is a spider-mantis demon-thing made of glass:

Kai felt something twist in her stomach. “Were you and Ley close?”

“We never slept together, if that’s what you mean,” R’ok said.

“Is that even— I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“Quite all right. It is possible, if one is willing to be patient and respect the range and diversity of . . . apparatus. But, no.

----

Later on, Zedda is talking to Vogel, a zombie crime lord she owes money to:

“I wanted to talk about my debt,” Zeddig said.

“I’m listening.”

“You mentioned a train job.”

“It’s a job,” Vogel said. “There’s a train involved. The rest is somewhat negotiable.”

Good stuff and highly recommended.

I'd like to meet with a financial planner to discuss the state of my 401(k) among other things.

I'd like to meet with a financial planner to discuss the state of my 401(k) among other things. Do people have any recommendations for a independent financial planner (i.e. they aren't in bed with any particular financial services company)?