This is going to be a pretty fast and loose definition of blog, but I like sharing cool stuff. Some of these links will link to a particular post on that blog — this is if there’s a particular post I really like there, or what first led me to that blog.

“A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry” by Historian Brett Devereux. https://acoup.blog/2019/05/10/collections-the-siege-of-gondor/ He’s especially good at military history, which is why I linked to his series on the Siege of Gondor from Lord of the Rings. I also enjoy his series on pop-culture misconceptions around Sparta

https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/ It’s a blog by the Statistician Andrew Gelman (and others who guest write). This is one of the more academic ones, so only likely to be fun if you’re a particular kind of nerd

https://gsllcblog.com/2019/08/12/part1statblocks/ Tabletop roleplaying games and law crossover blog

https://scatter.wordpress.com/2022/01/30/sex-as-a-social-construct/ Sociology blog. Quite academic, but still fun. Found it through Andrew Gelman’s blog above

https://www.bookandsword.com/2022/04/16/science-as-verified-trust/

https://www.edwinwenink.xyz/etc/web_paleontology/ Unsure if this site is a blog, but certainly this post has many links to old-school web pages that are cool

https://gretzuni.com/ Dense philosophy stuff about technology. This person is an academic. N.b. I am a scientist, not a philosopher, so I am less good at vetting philosophy takes. I enjoy it though

https://explorationsofstyle.com/2011/02/09/reverse-outlines/ Blog by an academic who specialises in teaching writing to university students. I like her stuff.

https://www.bookandsword.com/2022/04/16/science-as-verified-trust/ I think this person is a historian too

https://thetechbubble.substack.com/p/the-phony-comforts-of-useful-idiots Blog by economist Edward Ongweso Jr.

https://www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/ Blog about “the intersection of music and data”. Also has a podcast.

https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/i-will-fucking-piledrive-you-if-you-mention-ai-again/ This post went viral last year. Some people don’t like this tone of writing, but I found it quite cathartic, and have enjoyed other posts from the blog

https://datacolada.org/ “Thinking about evidence, and vice versa”. These guys do a lot of cool stuff on science methodology, like meta-analyses. They were so good at their job that they got sued. I really like them

https://karl-voit.at/ Blog about personal computing information systems. This guy was the one who first piqued my interest about Emacs a bunch of years ago (Emacs is a very old text editor with an insane amount of customisability and an even more insane learning curve)

https://www.baldurbjarnason.com/essays/ “Web dev at the end of the world, from Hveragerði, Iceland”

https://meaningness.com/ It’s kind of blog that some would call pretentious as hell, but I like its vibe

https://wordsmith.social/elilla/deep-in-mordor-where-the-shadows-lie-dystopian-stories-of-my-time-as-a-googler There’s not too many other posts on this blog, but I really enjoyed this one

https://theluddite.org/ “An anti-capitalist tech blog”

https://blog.thea.codes/winterblooms-tech-stack/ Cool resources on DIY music synthesisers

https://www.math3ma.com/blog/what-is-category-theory-anyway Maths! Especially category theory. The difficulty ranges from “pretty darn accessible” to stuff that’s way above my level. I like the pretty diagrams though.

Okay, that’s all that are coming to mind right now

I don’t know too much about this area, but I do know that this kind of task involves a bunch of complex processing in the brain. The more “Mechanical” aspects of vision could be described as visual acuity (sharpness of vision). However, gauging whether something is wonky would be a visual discrimination task, which involves more work by the brain. It’s an area in which one’s skill can be improved through learning, and some occupations have a lower discrimination threshold (I e. They can detect smaller differences).

That was wonderful, thank you for sharing. When it’s done well, I really enjoy this style of prose.

This sounds like a good interview approach. In the sense that the interview is also an opportunity for the interviewee to evaluate their prospective employer, this would be a green flag for me.

“I’m looking for a role where I can make good use of the skills I bring to the table” (because implicitly, the 299 places that didn’t email back don’t have a role where you can fit in and be useful (even if that’s only true in the sense that they didn’t hire you so therefore you can’t contribute there))

“if you can accurately call it “scraping” then it’s always fair use.”

I think you make some compelling points overall, but fair use has always been more complex than this. The intent is taken into account when evaluating whether something is fair use, but so is the actual impact — “fair use” is a designation applied to the overall situation, not to any singular factors (so a stated purpose can’t be fair use)

This is super tangential, but I knew someone who had a miscarriage which caused a mental health crisis. Or perhaps more accurately, the crisis was caused by severe isolation and implicit stigma around her grief. She told me that after the crisis, she was surrounded by people who had experienced miscarriages too. She was baffled because this sure would have been helpful before the mental breakdown.

People are expected to be so strong that ultimately it just weakens us at the community and the individual level

I saw a paper a while back that argued that AI is being used as “moral crumple zones”. For example, an AI used for health insurance acts allows for the company to reject medically necessary procedures without employees incurring as much moral injury as part of that (even low level customer service reps are likely to find comfort in being able to defer to the system.). It’s an interesting concept that I’ve thought about a lot since I found it.

There’s a curfew? Fucking hell.

Ugh, Andreeson is such a creep.

I wish I had the energy to more meaningfully reply to your excellent comment. However, I am a cripple suffering burn out, so I lack the wherewithal to articulate what I want to say.

In lieu of a better comment, please accept my sympathy and solidarity. Being angry like this can feel unpleasant given how powerless we feel against systemic discrimination, but nevertheless, I am glad to see this impassioned rant — better to impotently rage against the system than to internalise it and blame ourselves for our own marginalisation.

I still can’t believe Amazon named it’s gig work platform “Mechanical Turk”. It’s beyond parody

Noted. Will report back with my verdict (if I remember to)

For me, it helps me to focus. It feels less like it adds anything, and more like it removes a source of distraction. If that sounds counterintuitive, that’s because it is; Honestly, I don’t know why so many people with ADHD experience this, but having some lightly stimulating background noise is hugely beneficial to keeping me on track

Ooh, new recommendation. I haven’t heard of this person, but the fact you mention them down-thread of two other video makers I enjoy bodes well. If I remember to, I will update this comment after I’ve listened to a video or two from this Knudsen fellow

Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives More Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Even More Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives All the Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives Knives

I am glad that he tried to assassinate 418, because the massive outcry that led to 418 being saved is something wholesome that I love.

Link with context for anyone unfamiliar with the context: https://save418.com/

Something that I have enjoyed recently are blogs by academics, which often have a list of other blogs that they follow. Additionally, in their individual posts, there is often a sense of them being a part of a wider conversation, due to linking to other blogs that have recently discussed an idea.

I agree that the small/slow web stuff is more useful for serendipitous discovery rather than searching for answers for particular queries (though I don’t consider that a problem with the small/slow web per se, rather with the poor ability to search for non-slop content on the modern web)

With respect to the presentation of your site, I like it! It’s quite stylish and displays well on my phone.

When you get to silly levels of wealth, it’s less about the money and more about power. You’re right that £3000/hr is an absurd amount to spend, and that suggests that they value the power they have within this inhumane system more than the monetary cost of private security.