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The Random Texan

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Dilletante * Raconteur

good stuff

  • A Happy Saturday

    In a world of doom and gloom, a couple of bright spots appear: Indefatigable theatre critic Terry Teachout gives us this delightful bit of wisdom “You were made for enjoyment, and the world was filled with things which you will enjoy, unless you are too proud to be pleased by them, or too grasping to Read more

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  • A Civil Rights Syllogism

    A syllogism Self-defense is a human right. Black people are human beings.  Therefore Black people have the right of self-defense. Why would this surprise anyone? Tip from the Instapundit. Even a better tip from commenter Franco. Read more

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  • Big Brother Invades the Ice House

    The Surveillance Market is set to invade your local quick-stop, grocer, or ice house. A new digital door technology from a company called Cooler Screens is now being tested in Walgreens, and it sounds absolutely awful. Rather than a basic, transparent glass door, coolers and freezers will be sealed by screens that show a sanitized Read more

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  • Even your doorbell is spying on you

    In it’s unbridled quest for behavioral data, Google put microphones in its subsidiary Nest’s home security systems.   Ostensibly for future upgrades.  Without telling their customers.  Who does PR for these guys?  Jussie Smollett? Bonus:  apparently Google was pushing privacy limits with Street View as well, sucking up local WiFi addresses. Tip from Stephen Green at Read more

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  • A new, and wonderful, Christmas story

    From my old childhood favorite Every Who down in Who-ville likes Christmas a lot, but the Grinch who lived just north of Whoville did NOT!   — Dr Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas A Chistmas present from Faisal is not be missed. Read more

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  • You can teach yourself

    Tara Westover gives the Big Reveal about education My parents would say to me all the time: you can teach yourself anything better than someone else can teach it to you. Which I really think is true. I hate the the word “disempower,” because it seems kind of cliché, but I do think that we Read more

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  • Oh, Xmas Tree, Oh Xmas Tree

    Many folks spend hours and a pile of cash to get the “perfect” Xmas tree.  Not me. Some 20 years ago, the Mrs developed a liking for those fancy glass Xmas ornaments, so we promptly hit the after-Holiday sales and started a collection. Came the next Xmas, and we weren’t happy with how the ornaments Read more

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  • “I want to make this the best I can for them”

    While the Man dithers in the aftermath of the Camp Fire, trying to get his sh*t togther, the Little Folks get it I say “That seems like a thankless task.” “Not at all,” she replies. “Not at all.” “Really? Why the hell not?” “Hey, I do this job every day in this store. It’s my Read more

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  • Feynman’s 4-Step Learning Process

    From the man who showed up rocket scientists, a simple checklist: pick a topic you want to understand and start studying it pretend to teach your topic to a classroom* go back to the books when you get stuck** simplify and use analogies Exactly the technique I use to “get smart” on lots of stuff Read more

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  • Past performance is no indication of future…

    I am such a slow pony.  I’ve just web-surfed my way into discovering Rob Hyndman’s Time Series Data Library, which has hundreds of time-series datasets suitable for every teaching need.  I was looking for one of my old faves, from that hoary old classic, Forecasting, Time Series, and Regression, and voila! there it is.   Read more

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