Chirps

• It is very hard to learn anything of substance about fundamental topics in statistics and economics from the most abundant sources available. The reason is that they are in demand by such substantial fractions of the population that sources must be written with an audience of morons in mind. Look up anything online about e.g. statistical hypothesis testing and all you'll find is a dry list of instructions made for idiots to follow mechanically. No insight will be provided, because it would be a waste of time. The knowledge might as well be codified into a religion and for all practical purposes it would not make a difference. You would have the Sibylline Books of Statistics, for instance, which would be read to the practicioners and interpreted by the high priests, the only ones with some degree of understanding. [25/3/2025]
• I just learned that hyenas are feliforms, like cats, rather than caniforms like dogs. Weird [30/7/2024]
• The "how often does your bf think about the Roman Empire?" meme was funny, but in all seriousness: why wouldn't you think about it at least a couple of times a week? it was only humanity's greatest enterprise after all... it's aspirational. [15/12/2023]
• Seeing images of ukrainian frontline cities completely flattened by artillery makes me think that the Chemical Weapons Convention (banning use of all chemical weapons, including tear gas) is having unintended effects on urban warfare - making it extremely more destructive, not less. Here's an article that argues somewhat in this sense: The Dark Side of the Chemical Weapons Convention: Case Studies in Urban Warfare [14/12/2023]
• I just learned that Photoshop is available exclusively as a subscription and I find that hilarious and evil. How much shittier is the world going to get before we put a stop to corporate greed? [13/12/2023]
• The average american's idea of cooking seems to be either: (1) emptying cans and jars into a pot or (2) steak.
• There are still a handful of residents living in Avdiivka who refuse to leave, it appears. The town is under constant russian bombardment and has been turned into a garrison of the ukrainian army. It is slowly getting encircled as well. I was wondering what it must be like to be a civilian living there right now. It must be a surreal experience, one you can only endure because you think you have nothing left to lose. You sleep in a bed on the 5th floor of an abandoned building, having grown accustomed to the explosions that echo through the night. You don't know whether a shell will take you out while you are asleep - and you have made peace with this fact. What do you do for food? maybe the soldiers have pity on you and give you some rations. Maybe you have a vegetables garden somewhere in the outskirts of town - it looks like a moonscape now, with all the craters. You make yourself a cup of tea and look out the window, because the constant EW jamming is messing with the TV. You see plumes of smoke not far away, hear more explosions - some far, some uncomfortably close. Two armoured vehicles roar by in a hurry. You close the curtains, finish your tea and go visit the only other person still living there in your block. You are experiencing the end of the world and it is taking forever. [27/10/2023]
• LLMs (Large Language Models) are a solution in search of a problem. [23/10/2023]