linkstream2 microblog

QT:{{”
“People would suspiciously ask what kind of camera it was before walking away with expressions ranging from offense to pity. “I can’t allow you to take a picture of me with that camera—it’ll be too ugly,” a woman from Chongqing told me. I assured her that I was not a wang hong and would not be posting it, and we reached a compromise: she would take a selfie of us on her Meitu phone, edit her face, and then send the photo to me.”
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https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/18/chinas-selfie-obsession

QT:{{
“At this summer’s pax West—a yearly convention that inundates downtown Seattle with gaming fans—virtually every streamer I spoke with voiced concerns about the health risks of overwork. “My doctor told me I was going to die if I kept doing it like this,” a young broadcaster who goes by Bria Leigh said. “You spend ten hours a day in the chair. And you don’t even want to get up to use the bathroom, because you’re afraid you’ll lose viewers.””
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How to Get Rich Playing Video Games Online
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/11/20/how-to-get-rich-playing-video-games-online

Some that l liked.

QT:{{”

Set an alarm for [specific time, or amount of time]. Ex.: “Set alarm for 10 a.m.” Or “Set alarm for 20 minutes from now.”
Set a timer for [X] minutes.
Note to self [contents of note].
Define [word].
Synonyms for [word].
Etymology of [word].
What sound does [animal] make?
What does the fox say?
How many calories are in [insert food item]?
Do a barrel roll.
Roll a die.
Flip a coin.
Translate [phrase or word] to [language]. Ex.: “Translate ‘where is the bathroom?’ to German.”
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NEW in ’18 – I think

OK Google, Tell Me a Joke
Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right. Easter egg.
Who are you? Easter egg.

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/complete-list-of-ok-google-commands/

The Magnetohydrodynamic Drive Is Real – & You Can Build One
https://www.Wired.com/story/the-magnetohydrodynamic-drive-is-realand-you-can-build-one/ Great illustration of the cross product & the weird way #magnetism makes things curl around

QT:{{”
“In the diagram, I have a magnet with the north side pointing down. This produces a magnetic field that also mostly points down (as indicated by the red arrow). Now for the awesome physics part. If you have an electric charge moving in a magnetic field, there is a force on that charge—the magnitude of this force depends on the strength of the magnetic field, the value of the electric charge, and the velocity of the charge. This magnetic force can be expressed as the following equation:

If don’t have a degree in physics, there are three things that are crazy about this equation. First, there is this weird arrow symbol over some of the variables. Nothing to be alarmed about—this just means these are vector quantities so that the direction also matters. Next there is this vector B. This represents the value of the magnetic field. Honestly, I’m not sure why we (physicists) always use B for the magnetic field—but we do. Lastly, there is that big “X”. That is not the sign for multiplication, that is the sign for the cross product. I guess I should also point out that “q” is the symbol for the electric charge.”

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NYC’s Bold, Flawed Attempt to Make #Algorithms Accountable
https://www.NewYorker.com/tech/elements/new-york-citys-bold-flawed-attempt-to-make-algorithms-accountable QT: “#NYC should commit to demanding openness in all future contracts with vendors of these algorithmic services…It’s a dereliction of duty to allow vital decisions to be made by a black box.”

QT:{{”
“Frank Pasquale,… told me much the same. “While the terms of past contracts are hard to revisit, New York City should commit to demanding openness in all future contracts with venders of these algorithmic services,” he said. “They have the leverage here, not the firms. Secrecy may incentivize tiny gains in efficiency, but those are not worth the erosion of legitimacy and public confidence in government. It’s a dereliction of duty to allow vital decisions to be made by a black box.”
…
Cathy O’Neil, the author of “Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy,” told me. “What we’re finding is that the world of algorithms is one ugly wormhole.” In insulating algorithms and their creators from public scrutiny, rather than responding to civic concerns about bias and discrimination, the existing system “propagates the myth that those algorithms are objective and fair,” O’Neil said. “There’s no reason to believe either.””

Facebook Job Ads Raise Concerns About Age Discrimination
https://www.NYTimes.com/2017/12/20/business/facebook-job-ads.html QT: “The ability of advertisers to deliver…message to the precise audience most likely to respond is the cornerstone of
$FB…[but]…opportunities only to certain age groups has raised concerns”.

QT:{{”
“The ability of advertisers to deliver their message to the precise audience most likely to respond is the cornerstone of Facebook’s business model. But using the system to expose job opportunities only to certain age groups has raised concerns about fairness to older workers.

Several experts questioned whether the practice is in keeping with the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, which prohibits bias against people 40 or older in hiring or employment.”
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Can Carbon-Dioxide Removal Save the World?
https://www.NewYorker.com/magazine/2017/11/20/can-carbon-dioxide-removal-save-the-world #BECCS, “which stands for bio-energy with carbon capture & storage,” actually removes #CO2 from the atmosphere, while generating energy: plant trees & burn them w/ C-capture.

QT:{{”
“BECCS, which stands for “bio-energy with carbon capture and storage,” takes advantage of the original form of carbon engineering:
photosynthesis. Trees and grasses and shrubs, as they grow, soak up CO2 from the air. (Replanting forests is a low-tech form of carbon removal.) Later, when the plants rot or are combusted, the carbon they have absorbed is released back into the atmosphere. If a power station were to burn wood, say, or cornstalks, and use C.C.S. to sequester the resulting CO2, this cycle would be broken.”
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Choke-Proof Food That Tastes Like the Real Thing
https://www.theAtlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/01/choke-proof-food/546572/ QT: “The most intriguing product…may be #engay food. Engay is Japanese for swallowing, something that can become…difficult as people age: More Japanese now die…from choking than…traffic accidents.”

QT:{{”
“The most intriguing product, though, may be engay food. Engay is Japanese for “swallowing,” something that can become increasingly difficult as people age: More Japanese now die each year from choking than in traffic accidents.

Instead of settling for, say, a cup of Ensure-brand pudding, throw some cooked salmon in a blender. Then, with a little help from modern chemistry, mold the resulting pink puree back into the shape of a fillet, and add “grill” marks with a propane torch. Presto: salmon that looks like it was plated in a restaurant and almost tastes that way, minus the flaky texture.”
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18 exponential changes we can expect in the year ahead
https://www.TechnologyReview.com/s/609868/18-exponential-changes-we-can-expect-in-the-year-ahead/ Might be the year of the #Buddha. Quote: “Buddha’s relevance will be driven by a greater awareness of mindfulness & contemplation in our dopamine economy.”

What $AMZN Alexa pays the people building its skills
https://www.CNet.com/news/amazon-alexa-economy-echo-speaker-google-assistant-siri Strange “pseudo-compensation” to encourage app development.
Market-based or at the whims of the central planner?

QT:{{”
“Wilson unexpectedly joined a new Alexa economy, a small but fast-growing network of independent developers, marketing companies and Alexa tools makers. They’re working to bring you voice-activated flash briefings, games and recipes through Amazon’s Echo speaker, Alexa’s primary home. By doing so, they hope to define the 3-year-old Alexa platform and make money from voice computing’s surging popularity.”
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