Alla fine, com'è andato il primo dibattito pubblico tra i due opponenti di queste strane presidenziali americane, Mr Trump e Mrs Clinton? A occhio e croce ha vinto Mrs Clinton, ma in maniera diversa da come ci si sarebbe aspettato. Il passaggio chiave è stata la scelta del moderatore di lasciarli interagire direttamente. Mr Trump è apparso molto più piccolo di quel che di solito non vuole sembrare, e Mrs Clinton ha funzionato. Alla fine, il primo è un palazzinaro furbo e carismatico ma la seconda è una vera statista e politica di prima grandezza. Magari non piace, ma è come far giocare un dilettante contro uno dei primi tennisti al mondo. Anche se Mrs Clinton non ha stracciato Mr Trump. Il vero avversario di Mrs Clinton è lei stessa.
Money quote: "But it would be a mistake to think of Clinton’s strong performance as a blowout. Especially at the beginning of the debate, Trump spoke about trade and industrial decline in stark terms that will resonate with many voters who don’t live in New York’s boroughs. Clinton was not at her best when she explained why she had abandoned her earlier expressions of support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or T.P.P."
https://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/donald-trump-a-failed-bully-in-his-debate-with-clinton
Money quote: "But it would be a mistake to think of Clinton’s strong performance as a blowout. Especially at the beginning of the debate, Trump spoke about trade and industrial decline in stark terms that will resonate with many voters who don’t live in New York’s boroughs. Clinton was not at her best when she explained why she had abandoned her earlier expressions of support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or T.P.P."
https://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/donald-trump-a-failed-bully-in-his-debate-with-clinton
The New Yorker
Donald Trump, a Failed Bully in His Debate with Clinton - The New Yorker
But it would be a mistake to think of Hillary Clinton’s strong performance as a blowout.
Un segno della trasformazione grillina della democrazia americana (di cui Donald Trump è il punto più alto ma non certo l'unico) è nel dibattito para-istituzionale relativo alla cancellazione della tenure nelle università statali. La tenure è l'assunzione a tempo indeterminato da parte di una università di un docente, che fino a quel momento può aver raggiunto anche i vertici di una carriera accademica ma deve essere "rinnovato" ogni anno. L'effetto della cancellazione della tenure sarebbe, secondo questo articolo, un danno enorme.
Money quote: "Tenure warms the universities that are the incubators of American democracy."
https://aeon.co/ideas/without-tenure-academics-are-becoming-terrified-sheep
Money quote: "Tenure warms the universities that are the incubators of American democracy."
https://aeon.co/ideas/without-tenure-academics-are-becoming-terrified-sheep
Aeon
Without tenure, professors become terrified sheep
In an age of work insecurity, we still need academic jobs for life because anxiety creates bad teaching and research
Lens Flair
Una buona analisi di cosa sono gli occhiali di Snapchat, che adesso si chiama Snap, e perché potrebbero funzionare (mentre Google con i suoi Glass ha fatto un discreto buco nell'acqua)
Money quote: "First and foremost, the very direct framing of Spectacles as a toy is smart. Under-promise, over-deliver 101. As many have noted, basically the opposite of Google Glass."
https://500ish.com/lens-flair-dd2c477a1a46#.wvzmr1y7m
Una buona analisi di cosa sono gli occhiali di Snapchat, che adesso si chiama Snap, e perché potrebbero funzionare (mentre Google con i suoi Glass ha fatto un discreto buco nell'acqua)
Money quote: "First and foremost, the very direct framing of Spectacles as a toy is smart. Under-promise, over-deliver 101. As many have noted, basically the opposite of Google Glass."
https://500ish.com/lens-flair-dd2c477a1a46#.wvzmr1y7m
500ish Words
Lens Flair
About those Snap Spectacles…
Secondo stime avventurose, il nuovo iPhone 7 costa ad Apple circa un terzo del prezzo di vendita. Sopra ci sarebbero gli altri costi e poi l'utile. L'articolo secondo me è ottuso perché, anche se i conti in tasca ad Apple sono accurati, comunque non capisce una cosa fondamentale: Il vero guadagno di Apple è nei modelli con più memoria, perché l'aumento di prezzo e l'aumento dei costi non sono proporzionali. È insomma con i modelli da 128 e 256 giga che ad Apple fanno realmente i soldi, non con quello da 32 giga.
Money quote: "Market research firm IHS Markit recently took apart the iPhone 7 to price out all of the individual parts that go into building the phone. According to its analysts’ research, those parts likely cost Apple about $220 to purchase, and about $5 to assemble. That means Apple’s newest phone only costs about a third of its price-tag, to make."
https://qz.com/791682/the-iphone-7-costs-apple-aapl-about-a-third-as-much-as-apple-charges-you/
Money quote: "Market research firm IHS Markit recently took apart the iPhone 7 to price out all of the individual parts that go into building the phone. According to its analysts’ research, those parts likely cost Apple about $220 to purchase, and about $5 to assemble. That means Apple’s newest phone only costs about a third of its price-tag, to make."
https://qz.com/791682/the-iphone-7-costs-apple-aapl-about-a-third-as-much-as-apple-charges-you/
Quartz
It costs Apple about a third as much to make an iPhone 7 as it charges you
It's one of the most expensive iPhones ever.
Quando l'hardware cominciò a mangiarsi il software - mio pezzo per Macity
https://www.macitynet.it/lhardware-comincio-mangiarsi-software/
https://www.macitynet.it/lhardware-comincio-mangiarsi-software/
Macitynet.it
Quando l'hardware cominciò a mangiarsi il software
La legge di Moore è uno zombie ma con l'integrazione verticale e l'ottimizzazione, ad esempio quella che Apple fa con i propri processori Ax, la carta vincente è l'hardware, non più (solo) il software
E se fosse la NASA il posto per Tesla e gli altri dove cercare la spiegazione siccome costruire automobili autonome? Dopotutto è da là che sono nati molti strumenti per il volo automatico. Ne parla lo Scientific American.
Money quote: "Stephen Casner, a research psychologist in NASA’s Human Systems Integration Division, puts it more bluntly: “News flash: Cars in 2017 equal airplanes in 1983.”"
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-nasa-could-teach-tesla-about-autopilot-s-limits/
Money quote: "Stephen Casner, a research psychologist in NASA’s Human Systems Integration Division, puts it more bluntly: “News flash: Cars in 2017 equal airplanes in 1983.”"
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-nasa-could-teach-tesla-about-autopilot-s-limits/
Scientific American
What NASA Could Teach Tesla about Autopilot’s Limits
Decades of research have warned about the human attention span in automated cockpits
La medicina cambia, i trattamenti medici cambiano, l'attesa di vita cambia, aumenta radicalmente. E cosa succede allora con i criminali giudicati colpevoli? Prigione a vita per centinaia di anni? Oppure non li curiamo e li lasciamo morire "giovani", a settanta, ottant'anni? È un dilemma etico che presto ci dovremo porre.
Money quote: "Roache: In that situation it would probably be inappropriate to view them as an enhancement, or something extra. If these therapies were truly universal, it’s more likely that people would come to think of them as life-saving technologies. And if you withheld them from prisoners in that scenario, you would effectively be denying them medical treatment, and today we consider that inhumane. My personal suspicion is that once life extension becomes more or less universal, people will begin to see it as a positive right, like health care in most industrialised nations today. Indeed, it’s interesting to note that in the US, prisoners sometimes receive better health care than uninsured people. You have to wonder about the incentives a system like that creates."
https://aeon.co/essays/how-will-radical-life-extension-transform-punishment
Money quote: "Roache: In that situation it would probably be inappropriate to view them as an enhancement, or something extra. If these therapies were truly universal, it’s more likely that people would come to think of them as life-saving technologies. And if you withheld them from prisoners in that scenario, you would effectively be denying them medical treatment, and today we consider that inhumane. My personal suspicion is that once life extension becomes more or less universal, people will begin to see it as a positive right, like health care in most industrialised nations today. Indeed, it’s interesting to note that in the US, prisoners sometimes receive better health care than uninsured people. You have to wonder about the incentives a system like that creates."
https://aeon.co/essays/how-will-radical-life-extension-transform-punishment
Aeon
How will radical life extension transform punishment? | Aeon Essays
What happens to life sentences if our lifespan is radically extended? A philosopher talks about future punishment
La sharing economy sta producendo una trasformazione epocale, soprattutto nella testa dei lavoratori. E non è detto che sia una buona cosa. Sempre più autonomi, ma solo formalmente. Marx avrebbe parlato di coscienza di classe. O meglio, di mancanza di una coscienza di classe.
Money quote:
"As we’ve detailed before the Sharing Economy (or gig economy) at large is rife with jobs that sidestep the traditional rights of employees.
Some of these are justified, where the self-employed work on their own terms to dip in and out of work as and when they choose.
Other times businesses in the gig economy employ onerous conditions on how contractors work which blur the line between freelancer and employee."
https://www.thememo.com/2016/09/22/forget-uber-online-self-employment-gigs-are-booming-in-popularity/
Money quote:
"As we’ve detailed before the Sharing Economy (or gig economy) at large is rife with jobs that sidestep the traditional rights of employees.
Some of these are justified, where the self-employed work on their own terms to dip in and out of work as and when they choose.
Other times businesses in the gig economy employ onerous conditions on how contractors work which blur the line between freelancer and employee."
https://www.thememo.com/2016/09/22/forget-uber-online-self-employment-gigs-are-booming-in-popularity/
The Memo
Online self-employment gigs are booming in popularity
Freelance digital jobs in Britain soared 14%.
Una recensione dell'Apple Watch Series 2 molto, molto dettagliata: da leggere
https://www.imore.com/apple-watch-series-2-review
https://www.imore.com/apple-watch-series-2-review
iMore
MrMobile reviews the Apple Watch Series 2
This has been a year of comfortable predictability for Apple: the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus were just what most of us expected from the company, and the revised Apple Watch doesn’t pack many surprises
Cosa succede se fate il test genetico per scoprire quali possibili malattie e aspettativa di vita avete? Potrebbero saltare fuori nuovi parenti prima sconosciuti. Oppure altri potrebbero scomparire. Un vecchio articolo che vale la pena di leggere, adesso che i test genetici stanno diventando popolari anche da noi
Money quote: “After this discovery was made, I went back to 23andMe and talked to them. I said, "I'm not sure all your customers realize that when they participate in your family finder program, they're participating in what are essentially really advanced paternity tests." People find out that their parents aren't who they think they are. They have nearly a million people in the database. If there happens to be anyone in there you're related to, they'll find your match. This is a solid science.”
https://www.vox.com/2014/9/9/5975653/with-genetic-testing-i-gave-my-parents-the-gift-of-divorce-23andme
Money quote: “After this discovery was made, I went back to 23andMe and talked to them. I said, "I'm not sure all your customers realize that when they participate in your family finder program, they're participating in what are essentially really advanced paternity tests." People find out that their parents aren't who they think they are. They have nearly a million people in the database. If there happens to be anyone in there you're related to, they'll find your match. This is a solid science.”
https://www.vox.com/2014/9/9/5975653/with-genetic-testing-i-gave-my-parents-the-gift-of-divorce-23andme
Vox
With genetic testing, I gave my parents the gift of divorce
Vox is a general interest news site for the 21st century. Its mission: to help everyone understand our complicated world, so that we can all help shape it. In text, video and audio, our reporters explain politics, policy, world affairs, technology, culture…
Non volevo condividerlo. No no. E poi sicuramente l’avete già letto voi. Però ci sono alcune cose veramente banali all’apparenza che tali non sono e che diventano anche virali. Ecco, la storia dell’uovo e della gallina, ad esempio.
Insomma, se volete sapere chi è nato prima, qui c'è la risposta definitiva. (A seconda di come viene formulata la domanda)
https://www.ilpost.it/2016/09/28/e-nato-prima-luovo-o-la-gallina/
Insomma, se volete sapere chi è nato prima, qui c'è la risposta definitiva. (A seconda di come viene formulata la domanda)
https://www.ilpost.it/2016/09/28/e-nato-prima-luovo-o-la-gallina/
Il Post
È nato prima l’uovo o la gallina?
La domanda è meno stupida di quanto sembri, ha una storia di tutto rispetto e soprattutto una risposta definitiva
Un mio amico trentenne ha compiuto gli anni: vive da poco a Milano e la madre gli ha mandato un messaggio. Non gli chiedo il permesso di pubblicarlo qui (l’ha già fatto lui sul suo Facebook), perché secondo me è universale:
Messaggi della mamma.
"Stamattina presto mi si sono rotte le acque ed io mi sono un po' impaurita.
Dopo una telefonata al ginecologo, che mi ha tranquillizzata, mi sono preparata per andare in clinica. Per la strada ci ha fermato la polizia perché correvamo troppo ma, viste le mie condizioni, ci hanno lasciato andare immediatamente.
Siamo arrivati verso le 14 e verso le 15 babbo mi ha lasciato perché doveva andare in negozio. Gli ho promesso che lo avrei chiamato appena mi venivano i dolori del parto.
I dolori sono cominciati verso le 20 e non sono stati mai troppo forti. Babbo ha chiuso il negozio ed è partito arrivando quando ero in sala travaglio. Alle 22 ci hanno portato in sala parto perché tu eri pronto ad uscire.Alle 22:07 sei venuto fuori ed hai subito pianto per la nostra gioia. Eri un po' giallino per l'ittero infantile ed avevi un ciuffo nero ritto sulla fronte, e i capelli lunghetti. Babbo ti ha fatto il primo bagnetto sotto i miei vigili occhi e poi finalmente ti ho abbracciato e coccolato.
Io non ho chiuso occhio per tutta la notte perché ogni cinque minuti dovevo guardarti e capire se andava tutto bene. Mi accertavo continuamente te che tu respirassi, e ti accarezzavo sulle guance e sulle mani con un dito perché eri piccolo piccolo.
Ora sei grande ma il mio desiderio di vederti e di sapere se tutto va bene è sempre lo stesso, come anche è lo stesso il desiderio di accarezzarti, di coccolarti e di esserti utile.
Ti amo tanto,
Mamma"
E poi ho pianto.
Messaggi della mamma.
"Stamattina presto mi si sono rotte le acque ed io mi sono un po' impaurita.
Dopo una telefonata al ginecologo, che mi ha tranquillizzata, mi sono preparata per andare in clinica. Per la strada ci ha fermato la polizia perché correvamo troppo ma, viste le mie condizioni, ci hanno lasciato andare immediatamente.
Siamo arrivati verso le 14 e verso le 15 babbo mi ha lasciato perché doveva andare in negozio. Gli ho promesso che lo avrei chiamato appena mi venivano i dolori del parto.
I dolori sono cominciati verso le 20 e non sono stati mai troppo forti. Babbo ha chiuso il negozio ed è partito arrivando quando ero in sala travaglio. Alle 22 ci hanno portato in sala parto perché tu eri pronto ad uscire.Alle 22:07 sei venuto fuori ed hai subito pianto per la nostra gioia. Eri un po' giallino per l'ittero infantile ed avevi un ciuffo nero ritto sulla fronte, e i capelli lunghetti. Babbo ti ha fatto il primo bagnetto sotto i miei vigili occhi e poi finalmente ti ho abbracciato e coccolato.
Io non ho chiuso occhio per tutta la notte perché ogni cinque minuti dovevo guardarti e capire se andava tutto bene. Mi accertavo continuamente te che tu respirassi, e ti accarezzavo sulle guance e sulle mani con un dito perché eri piccolo piccolo.
Ora sei grande ma il mio desiderio di vederti e di sapere se tutto va bene è sempre lo stesso, come anche è lo stesso il desiderio di accarezzarti, di coccolarti e di esserti utile.
Ti amo tanto,
Mamma"
E poi ho pianto.
W l'evoluzione. Però forse abbiamo anche bisogno di Platone per riuscire a ordinare e capire tutto quanto...
Money quote: "A systematist’s task might be daunting, but it becomes manageable if each species is distinguished by its own Platonic essence. For example, a legless body and flexible jaws might be part of a snake’s essence, different from that of other reptiles. The task is to find a species’ essence. Indeed, the essence really is the species in the world of Platonists. To be a snake is nothing other than to be an instance of the form of the snake."
https://aeon.co/essays/without-a-library-of-platonic-forms-evolution-couldn-t-work
Money quote: "A systematist’s task might be daunting, but it becomes manageable if each species is distinguished by its own Platonic essence. For example, a legless body and flexible jaws might be part of a snake’s essence, different from that of other reptiles. The task is to find a species’ essence. Indeed, the essence really is the species in the world of Platonists. To be a snake is nothing other than to be an instance of the form of the snake."
https://aeon.co/essays/without-a-library-of-platonic-forms-evolution-couldn-t-work
Aeon
Possible creatures
It seemed Darwin had banished biological essences – yet evolution would fail without nature’s library of Platonic forms
BlackBerry smette di fare gli smartphone in casa (in Canada) e fa outsourcing in Cina. Il mercato la premia.
Money quote: "BlackBerry has completely outsourced smartphone design and production, a process that Chen had been doing piecemeal since taking over as CEO almost three years ago. Analysts had been holding their breath for the news after Chen said September was his deadline for making the chronically money-losing device business profitable."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-28/blackberry-misses-sales-estimates-amid-slowing-software-growth
Money quote: "BlackBerry has completely outsourced smartphone design and production, a process that Chen had been doing piecemeal since taking over as CEO almost three years ago. Analysts had been holding their breath for the news after Chen said September was his deadline for making the chronically money-losing device business profitable."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-28/blackberry-misses-sales-estimates-amid-slowing-software-growth
Bloomberg.com
BlackBerry Won't Make Smartphones Itself Anymore, Outsourcing Production
BlackBerry Ltd. reported fiscal second-quarter sales that missed analyst estimates and said it will stop making its iconic smartphones and focus on its software business. The shares rose in premarket trading in New York.
Negli Usa c'è un problema con gli scam per gli ebook: ne vengono generati automaticamente a migliaia, privi di contenuti in pratica, per venderli a tradimento e ricavarci anche milioni di dollari. Ne hanno scoperto uno, ma la cosa grave è l'apparente tolleranza di Amazon al fenomeno
Monety quote:
"Shershnyov was able to stay in Amazon’s shadows for two years by using his scam server conservatively so as to not raise any red flags.
What eventually gave him away weren’t customer complaints or even getting caught by the bookseller. It was good old-fashioned carelessness. He forgot to put a password on his server."
https://www.zdnet.com/article/exclusive-inside-a-million-dollar-amazon-kindle-catfishing-scam/
Monety quote:
"Shershnyov was able to stay in Amazon’s shadows for two years by using his scam server conservatively so as to not raise any red flags.
What eventually gave him away weren’t customer complaints or even getting caught by the bookseller. It was good old-fashioned carelessness. He forgot to put a password on his server."
https://www.zdnet.com/article/exclusive-inside-a-million-dollar-amazon-kindle-catfishing-scam/
ZDNET
Revealed: How one Amazon Kindle scam made millions of dollars
For years, thousands were tricked into buying low-quality ebooks.
Il dibattito sulle presidenziali americane sta aprendo la mente dell'agenda setting ad idee piuttosto singolari. E deleterie. Come questa che si possa creare una democrazia in cui votano solo le persone competenti. Una sorta di distopia brutta brutta, ma non impossibile.
Money quote: "The idea here is not that knowledgeable people deserve to rule – of course they don’t – but that the rest of us deserve not to be subjected to incompetently made political decisions. Political decisions are high stakes, and democracies entrust some of these high-stakes decisions to the ignorant and incompetent. Democracies tend to pass laws and policies that appeal to the median voter, yet the median voter would fail Econ, History, Sociology, and Poli Sci 101. Empirical work generally shows that voters would support different policies if they were better informed."
https://aeon.co/ideas/the-right-to-vote-should-be-restricted-to-those-with-knowledge
Money quote: "The idea here is not that knowledgeable people deserve to rule – of course they don’t – but that the rest of us deserve not to be subjected to incompetently made political decisions. Political decisions are high stakes, and democracies entrust some of these high-stakes decisions to the ignorant and incompetent. Democracies tend to pass laws and policies that appeal to the median voter, yet the median voter would fail Econ, History, Sociology, and Poli Sci 101. Empirical work generally shows that voters would support different policies if they were better informed."
https://aeon.co/ideas/the-right-to-vote-should-be-restricted-to-those-with-knowledge
Aeon
The right to vote should be restricted to those with knowledge
Voters mean well but to vote well takes tremendous knowledge. That’s why an epistrocracy works better than a democracy
Alan Turing è una figura gigantesca. Enorme. Il padre di tutti i nerd e non solo. Adesso, si scopre che ne ha fatta una ancora in più.
Money quote:
"Listening to the recording now is only possible thanks to some New Zealand scientists, who recently restored it, announcing their aural achievement on the website of the British Library on Sept. 13.
"It was a beautiful moment when we first heard the true sound of Turing's computer," the scientists wrote then."
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/you-can-now-listen-to-the-first-computergenerated-music-ever
Money quote:
"Listening to the recording now is only possible thanks to some New Zealand scientists, who recently restored it, announcing their aural achievement on the website of the British Library on Sept. 13.
"It was a beautiful moment when we first heard the true sound of Turing's computer," the scientists wrote then."
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/you-can-now-listen-to-the-first-computergenerated-music-ever
Atlas Obscura
You Can Now Listen to the First Computer-Generated Music Ever
It was created by Alan Turing.
Come fai a vendere la merce online senza che arrivi danneggiata al cliente? Semplice, stampi sulle scatole "TV"
Money quote: "With a big hairy goal to sell 90% of our bikes online by 2020, we had to find a fix. Anyone in the ecom world knows you’re only as good as your shipping partner. Your covetable products, your frictionless website, your killer brand — they all count for nothing when your delivery partner drops the ball"
https://medium.com/vanmoof/our-secrets-out-f21c1f03fdc8#.8awvhujyd
Money quote: "With a big hairy goal to sell 90% of our bikes online by 2020, we had to find a fix. Anyone in the ecom world knows you’re only as good as your shipping partner. Your covetable products, your frictionless website, your killer brand — they all count for nothing when your delivery partner drops the ball"
https://medium.com/vanmoof/our-secrets-out-f21c1f03fdc8#.8awvhujyd
Medium
Our secret’s out.
Since we started shipping bikes eight years ago, here at VanMoof we’ve struggled to find shipping partners that give our bikes the same…
Sette trucchi "sul serio" per fare le foto con gli iPhone. Funzionalità nascoste.
Money quote: "In this tutorial you’ll discover just how easy it is to use the advanced iPhone camera controls so that you can start taking incredible photos with the camera that’s always with you."
https://iphonephotographyschool.com/iphone-camera-controls/
Money quote: "In this tutorial you’ll discover just how easy it is to use the advanced iPhone camera controls so that you can start taking incredible photos with the camera that’s always with you."
https://iphonephotographyschool.com/iphone-camera-controls/
iPhone Photography School
6 Advanced iPhone Camera Controls For Jaw-Dropping Photography
Learn to use advanced iPhone camera controls, including shutter speed and ISO. Start taking incredible photos that you never thought possible!
Siete smanettoni con il Mac? È arrivato il momento di usare Gmail con Mutt, programma di posta antichissimo a riga di comando, accessibile solo dal terminale. Molto, molto divertente (anche se a casa preferiamo Alpine, la versione "moderna" di Pine).
Money quote: "This tutorial assumes that you have some familiarity with using mutt and have installed it with sidebar support (sudo apt-get install mutt-patched for the ubuntu folks) and are comfortable with editing your muttrc."
https://smalldata.tech/blog/2016/09/10/gmail-with-mutt
Money quote: "This tutorial assumes that you have some familiarity with using mutt and have installed it with sidebar support (sudo apt-get install mutt-patched for the ubuntu folks) and are comfortable with editing your muttrc."
https://smalldata.tech/blog/2016/09/10/gmail-with-mutt
smalldata.tech
SmallData | Blog | Using gmail with mutt
A tutorial on using gmail with mutt, a console-based email client, along with some advanced concepts such as encrypting your account password and sending emails from a different <code>From</code> address.