Favorites December 1st 2023

December 2023

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I really like this Gaussian Splashing concept, although I'm sure it's expensive to run the system to build the 3d model.

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HVC is a high visibility crosswalk, and this is the beginning of a longer thread about intersection design. But the key thing is that we should be doing whatever we can to get cars to go slower near crosswalks. Maybe thinner lanes?

Longer Reads

• Analysis of some survey data pretty clearly indicating that TikTok is droving antisemitism in young Americans. Related, Facebook broke up a Chinese influence operation trying to expand US political divisions.

Flotsam and Jetsam

– The XKCD What If series now has a Youtube Channel and a first video, about pointing Hubble at earth (src)
– Turns out that parsing arbitrary english text requires access to essentially all human knowledge (src)
– Musk forgot his interviewer's name in the funniest way possible (src)
– Indian officials tried to have an american killed in the US, accidentally hired a DEA agent as the hitman and got caught. This is a separate event from the incident in Canada where they succeeded. The DEA agent who pretends to be a a hitman must have an interseting job. (src)
– Americans love shelfish so much now that it's making Red Lobster rethink their bottomless shrimp option, unprofitable even after they raised the price. (src)
– The old 'Is Kissenger Even in this Thing' meme has now died (src)
– I did not realize that there's a TNG episode that mentions that the USSR still existed in 2363. (src)
– Washington state issues example plans for a six unit apartment that they seem to have specifically designed to just barely not fit on a standard lot. (src)
– PRC says that US foreign policy is all bad, except for Kissenger (src)
– Argument for modifications to AB1287, which allows density bonuses to be based on the general plan rather than the zoning. Not sure I agree, but it comes from Elmendorf, who I tend to trust (src)
– Cultural Tutor has a long thread about why people are wrong to think that old buildings were all better than modern ones. (he's subtweeting another account, Culture Critic) (src)
– The movies Her and Lost in Translation are both based on the same relationship between Sophia Coppala and Spike Jonze. And Scarlett Johansen is playing Coppola in both films! (src)
– Survey data indicates that YIMBY ideas are very popular with the American public (src)
– Someone defined what a 'soft landing' would be and surveyed economists a year ago. By the preregistered definition, we are in a soft landing. Inflation is now lower than when Biden took office. (src)
– The US now produces 50% more oil than Saudi Arabia. In fact, it sort of looks like the Saudis are in some economic trouble. (src)
– Did you know that there was a vote of Hawaiians to join the United States, highest voter turnout they ever had, 93% voted to join. (src)
– If we permit ADUs under the HUD code (for manufactured housing), it could make them cheaper to build. (src)
– Study shows that in markets where there are more large firms, workers tend to get paid higher wages. (src)
– A Chinese cargo ship damaged a pipeline between two NATO countries on purpose. (src)
– Due to Prop 13, California is extremely dependent on income taxes which in turn vary based on how silicon valley countries are doing equity compensation. (src)
– Yglesias has always been clear: Angela Merkel was not a good leader. (src)
– Trump keeps making super clear plans for how to more directly run a dictatorship if elected. (src)
– Americans are very confused about economic conditions, which are actually quite good (src)
– At least Americans continue to support military aid to Ukraine. (src)