Viewing profile — darnton

The United States is a maritime superpower, able to project power across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Losing the Pacific coast would end that. I can't imagine it being let go e…

What can a run-of-the-mill technical person do to help? We know that super-AI is more likely than not to be existentially dangerous. It would be remiss to foresee the apocalypse an…

The way I read it was that "both versions" refers to the two tellings of the problem, one in terms of deaths the other in terms of survivors, not the two different medicines.

I had a strange moment of mental serenity during an earthquake a couple of years ago. Furniture was rolling around the place and glass was smashing, my heart rate was about 180 and…

Scroll down to the comments and follow the Google Maps link to the crazy Belgium/Netherlands border. How does stuff like this even happen?

They are usually called "Britons".

Is this supposed to be used instead of the Business Model Canvas or alongside?

In "The Luck Factor" Richard Wiseman talks about the personality characteristics that are associated with luck. Agreeableness and conscientiousness are not (contra this saying, whi…

Hard to believe the article can make this observation without mention of John Boyd. http://www.amazon.com/Boyd-The-Fighter-Pilot-Changed/dp/B002...

According to Book Depository my copy was shipped yesterday. (Of course, it has yet to make its way to my doorstep in New Zealand.)

The Box: How The Shipping Container Made The World Smaller And The World Economy Bigger - Marc Levinson. There are so many facets to this book. It's the story of Malcom McLean's dr…

Seville in the 16th century is the best example of what might happen. Spain got hold of the equivalent of a gold-filled asteroid - South America. All the gold and silver came in th…

I wouldn't even read that much into it. Infants learn a whole range of new gestures as they get finer motor control. Newborns flail around not even knowing they've got arms. Then t…

They're a sort of universal building block. In Christchurch at the moment (badly damaged by earthquakes over the last year) they're used to shore up loose facades, as baffles to st…

Tonight I confirmed my first sale for a product that I've been thinking about for a while. The product hasn't been built yet but the customer is keen to collaborate and help me get…

The best thing I've read on this topic is The Procrastination Equation by Piers Steel ( http://www.amazon.com/Procrastination-Equation-Putting-Thing... ). He concludes that differe…

According to small print, you'd also need to move to Canada.

Ideas similar to this are explored by Denis Dutton in The Art Instinct ( http://www.amazon.com/Art-Instinct-Beauty-Pleasure-Evolution... ). The basic idea, in one sentence, is that…

I bought this book as a "Rough Cut" a few months ago. If you want a very high-level introduction to the field of DSLs this book may be for you but don't expect to be able to do muc…

If you want to learn to draw and don't know where to start, get a copy of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. You will be stunned at how quickly you can improv…

It's flying in a replacement for one that caught fire yesterday. http://www.smh.com.au/business/qantas-drama-flames-like-a-gi...

Absolutely. Let your kids make mistakes. Let them do things wrong. Let them make odd decisions. The best thing you can do for your children is help them to become good decision mak…

"France excelled at many things. Punch card automation was not one of them." Rene Carmille founded the Demographic Service in Vichy France and began conducting the first decent Jew…