December 21st, 2014:
- Hachette is now doing exactly the right thing (instead of exactly the wrong thing) by exploring new sales channels. In this case, it’s Gumroad, a technology that allows retail sales on Twitter. I need to look more closely, but I could certainly get behind that. And–yeek!–a real use for Twitter!
- “Nutrition is full of all kinds of nonsense.” Boy, is it ever. (Thanks to Erik Anderson for the link.)
- Ibuprofen (Advil) appears to extend the lifespan of several species, mostly way down the complexity chain from humans. Ibuprofen is not without side effects; like most NSAIDS, it hits the stomach lining harder harder than acetaminaphen (Tylenol) and I avoid it for heartburn reasons. I’d certainly like to see further research on whether the effect still exists on much lower doses.
- I’m not sure torrenting was ever really safe, but with the disappearance of the real Pirate Bay and the appearance of Pirate Bay clones, the risks have definitely increased. I’m also guessing that a lot of the traffic that once ran through TPB has now gone “black” and moved to private trackers and seedboxes.
- Several French publishers are suing the creators of AdBlock Plus for ruining their business model. My position: Accept financial liability for serving malware in your ads, and I’ll stop blocking your ads.
- My guess is that the waittress will look at you funny if you order corned-beef octothorpe.
- Carol and I got our flu shots some time back, but it may do us (and you) less good than we all think. The virus mutated after work began on this year’s virus, and the vaccine is nowhere near as effective against the mutated strain as it is against the others. No cons for us this season.
- David Brooks generally isn’t funny. But when he is, yikes! He bends it like Jonathan Swift. (If you’re not behind the paywall, search for “Brooks The Thought Leader”.)
- Corn flakes are (mildly) magnetic. I didn’t know this.
- Government is your friend! Without it, how would you know enough not to buy vulgar underwear?
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