Brains Return!
Jan. 29th, 2018 05:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsHow Public Transportation Really Works: The Geometry of Cities A very good essay on how conservative and technological fixes don't change how cities work. Elon Musk and Uber can't engineer our way to a better city; what's really needed is strategic allocation of public transport and infrastructure money to encourage walking within the city, and public transport such as busing and light rail, to reach the city.
Less than half of all stocks outperform US Treasury Bills
Which was more technologically advanced, the Roman Empire or Han China?. Spoiler: While the answer is "it's a tie," the differences between the two are very interesting.
Pre-Kindergarten programs for low-income students offer high-quality and long-lasting benefits
Stark divide in generational acceptance of Trumpism: Even young Republicans are disgusted with the Republican Party
The Coming Age of Genetics is Now. This one is really important, because I've long held that American squeamishness over stem cell research and other biological issues is going to cripple us; twenty years from now, the wealthiest Americans will be jetting to South Korea and Scotland to receive working cures for Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, and significant reversals of other gerontological defects, and the rest of us will be reduced to third world status, fit only to be discarded by time.
How to fold a fitted sheet
Observe, Orient, Decide, Act
The EPA is being dismantled from within I hope you've enjoyed the last 30 years of clean water and breathable air, because Trump's EPA wants you to have to pay for those things. They're not inalienable rights.
Why Personas Fail. I've seen this several times in my career. As a professional developer, I've often said and even written, "This software is meant to be used by people," and then had other teams end up writing software that made sense to them, but not to anyone who lacked their context.
If Statements: Guard Clauses may be all you need This is something I'm surprisingly passionate about: the use of if statements in programming as guard clauses is valid and useful, especially if the language permits early returns, but is otherwise a code stink; if statements create separate code branches which are not immediately visible and yet must both be tested well. One thing that deeply frustrates me about Rust is the lack of an
Podcast listeners actually do listen to the ads. Good stuff if you podcast; your message is getting through, and so are your advertisers.
Less than half of all stocks outperform US Treasury Bills
Which was more technologically advanced, the Roman Empire or Han China?. Spoiler: While the answer is "it's a tie," the differences between the two are very interesting.
Pre-Kindergarten programs for low-income students offer high-quality and long-lasting benefits
Stark divide in generational acceptance of Trumpism: Even young Republicans are disgusted with the Republican Party
The Coming Age of Genetics is Now. This one is really important, because I've long held that American squeamishness over stem cell research and other biological issues is going to cripple us; twenty years from now, the wealthiest Americans will be jetting to South Korea and Scotland to receive working cures for Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, and significant reversals of other gerontological defects, and the rest of us will be reduced to third world status, fit only to be discarded by time.
How to fold a fitted sheet
Observe, Orient, Decide, Act
The EPA is being dismantled from within I hope you've enjoyed the last 30 years of clean water and breathable air, because Trump's EPA wants you to have to pay for those things. They're not inalienable rights.
Why Personas Fail. I've seen this several times in my career. As a professional developer, I've often said and even written, "This software is meant to be used by people," and then had other teams end up writing software that made sense to them, but not to anyone who lacked their context.
If Statements: Guard Clauses may be all you need This is something I'm surprisingly passionate about: the use of if statements in programming as guard clauses is valid and useful, especially if the language permits early returns, but is otherwise a code stink; if statements create separate code branches which are not immediately visible and yet must both be tested well. One thing that deeply frustrates me about Rust is the lack of an
if not let clause which would allow guard conditions with Option.Podcast listeners actually do listen to the ads. Good stuff if you podcast; your message is getting through, and so are your advertisers.
