therandomtexan
-
What time is it? BOOGIE TIME!
Did some rug-cutting at last night’s Skyline Swing, and saw something I’d never even imagined exists. May I present the shim sham Why doesn’t anyone tell me about this cool stuff? Read more
-
Doubleplus Ungood Bizspeak
My department is in the College of Business, so I get bombarded with this bafflegab on a daily basis. Tip from the Geek Press. Read more
-
Simpson at Bletchley Park
Best known for his Paradox and diversity index, Edward Simpson was also one of the code-breaking geniuses at Bletchley Park. He explains their use of Bayesian reasoning in Significance. Tip from X’ian’s OG, by way of R Bloggers. Read more
-
The Doorway Effect
Ever have this happen? Walk through a doorway and immediately lose focus, forgetting what you had just intended to do? This is an extreme example of the “doorway effect” which is a manifestation of our brain’s method of spatial processing. This and more are the subject of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Read more
-
GPS makes you stupid
Get your face outta that stupid screen! The latest First World Problem is Death by GPS: Most death-by-GPS incidents do not involve actual deaths—or even serious injuries. They are accidents or accidental journeys brought about by an uncritical acceptance of turn-by-turn commands: the Japanese tourists in Australia who drove their car into the ocean while Read more
-
More Revolution
A few years ago, I was chatting with a professor from our Art Department. He startled (poor, ignorant, unsophisticated) me saying “Art is not about beauty anymore; that’s not what we study.” My unspoken response was (and is) “If not you, then who?” Enter Jacob Collins: “My general feeling in terms of art making is Read more
-
The Old Emotional Support Animal Gag
In my more curmudgeonly moments, I complain that progressivism is turning us into a Nation of Grifters. None more egregious than these What a wonderful time it is for the scammer, the conniver, and the cheat: the underage drinkers who flash fake I.D.s, the able-bodied adults who drive cars with handicapped license plates, the parents Read more
-
Revolution
This is how one starts What those who prefer freedom over submission do have in our favor is the reverse Midas touch of the Left: everything they take over, they turn to shit. Just in case Bledsoe didn’t make himself clear. Update: The Guggenheim provides us a perfect example, a solid gold toilet. Lileks has Read more
-
Great Comment!
Love him or hate him, Charles Murray is doing some interesting social research with his Bubble Quiz. In his first, rough, analysis article, he examines the association between bubble score and SES. The comments are interesting, if only as examples of people being “triggered” into high dudgeon. My fave from Jeff Herman: Most people take Read more
-
Holy Deconstruction, StatMan, I’m a Fascist!
Briggsy, the Statistician to the Stars, has unearthed a paper revealing that evidence-based medicine* is a fascist enterprise. …the evidence-based movement in the health sciences is outrageously exclusionary and dangerously normative with regards to scientific knowledge. As such, we assert that the evidence-based movement in health sciences constitutes a good example of microfascism at play Read more
The Random Texan 