A few years ago after some social media sites started telling me whenever #superbowl was trending, I got into the habit of responding by posting photos of majestic owls tagged #superbowl. Just over 3 years ago I decided that the joke was wearing thin — but that it could be rescued by taking it to the next level. I got spousal buy-in to throw an actual Superb Owl party. (I would like to take a moment to say that this was before Colbert. ... Read more

A few weeks ago I had an idea for an article. I would set out the arguments in favor of a political position which I deeply want to be true. And then, I would set out the evidence which proves that it’s actually false. The idea is that if you’re really in favor of evidence-based policy, you’ll be in favor of it even when your own sacred cows are being made into policy hamburger — so why not demonstrate that with an article? ... Read more

I may not be much of a mathematician, but I have a favorite mathematician: Kurt Gödel. At the beginning of the 20th Century, Bertrand Russell started an ambitious project. They would begin from basic principles of logic (truth, falsity and sets), and gradually derive the whole of modern mathematics. The work began to be published as a series of volumes named Principia Mathematica. After 379 pages, they’d gotten as far as conclusively proving that 1+1=2, so it looked as if they were well on the way to deriving integers, fractions, and so on. ... Read more

Three products to avoid because they hijack your browser and decrease security, with links to details: AVG Antivirus. Comodo Internet Security. TrendMicro Antivirus.

Siobhan Thompson writes on Twitter: Diversity hiring is scary because it makes people realize that part of why they got their job is because they look like the idea of that job — Siobhan Thompson (@vornietom) October 21, 2015 This is something I’ve been aware of for a long time. Last time I found myself unemployed in a new city, I went and spent time sitting outside some offices when everyone went to get lunch. ... Read more