Favorites November 4th 2021
M.G. Siegler@mgsiegler
Feels like we all glaze over self-driving car stuff these days because of how long it has taken, but this is legitimately fun and cool to see. 🚗🚙
Kyle Vogt @kvogt
1) Monday night was a night I’ll never forget. I’m still speechless. I got to take the first ride, by anyone, ever, in a *driverless* robotaxi on the streets of San Francisco.
This was officially ride #1 for @Cruise. Full story and vids below.
https://t.co/GDjVcvMrvK
5:04 AM · Nov 4, 2021
2 Reposts · 33 Likes
Kinda wild that they beat Waymo to SF deployment
Dr. Wil Van Cleve@drwilvancleve
As someone who frequently uses census data for research, and whose goals for global health research depend on rational international privacy laws, the ongoing decisions by many governments (not just US) to irrationally obscure important public datasets is maddening.
Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias
I think about this the same thing I think about the Census — it's absurd to live in a world of ubiquitous surveillance that is used *only* for the purpose of selling targeted advertising while handcuffing core public sector functions.
https://t.co/2Ol0AhN64T
11:12 AM · Nov 4, 2021
8 Reposts · 68 Likes
This whole episode around the census is absolutely infuriating.
Charlie Stross@cstross
Crypto advertising on buses means the bubble is approaching the "shoeshine boy giving stock tips to Joe Kennedy on the eve of the 1929 Wall Street Crash" stage. If you're in it, now's the time to get out—there aren't enough marks left to fleece, they're having to advertise.
Michael Brown @MrMBrown
Crypto adverts on the side of buses; what could possibly go wrong… https://t.co/czpnt8nJ3c
12:56 PM · Nov 4, 2021
444 Reposts · 1.09K Likes
Here's the shoeshine boy story, if you're interested.
Noah Smith 🐇@Noahpinion
I really do think it's possible that international attention and pressure pushed China to make its oppression in Xinjiang less blatant and overt.
That's not "problem solved", but it's not nothing either. And I think it justifies the attention given to this issue.
9DASHLINE @9DashLine
Xinjiang’s oppression has shifted gears https://t.co/wyUJxQpIaH Militarization is being scaled down as internal surveillance and propaganda increase.
3:28 PM · Nov 4, 2021
17 Reposts · 149 Likes
Somehow it's always surprising to me that countries care about outside pressure mostly in the form of negative publicity.
Noah Smith 🐇@Noahpinion
There is no reason for us to have any tariffs on any Japanese product. Or any EU product for that matter. These are rich countries; their labor costs are similar to ours. Plus, they are our allies.
Yuka Hayashi @TokyoWoods
Japan asks U.S. to abolish extra steel and aluminum tariffs, days after EU signs a deal with Washington https://t.co/U6olbKh0sW
4:07 PM · Nov 4, 2021
73 Reposts · 718 Likes
Ned Resnikoff@resnikoff
There are a lot of people in my mentions today insisting that California does not have a housing shortage, so here is a friendly reminder that California's rental vacancy rate is well below the national average. We actually do really need to build more.
4:41 PM · Nov 4, 2021
56 Reposts · 281 Likes
I had not seen this particular chart before, although I suppose I could have guessed what it would look like.
Noah Smith 🐇@Noahpinion
If a researcher at the Wuhan lab got Covid from an animal while doing field work, would that count as lab leak or zoonotic origin?
8:26 PM · Nov 4, 2021
14 Reposts · 299 Likes
I think it counts as lab leak, because it involves bad safety during disease research. But I admit that it's on the edge.
Matt Novak@paleofuture
NFT guys trying to explain it's not just a hyperlink to a jpeg
11:00 AM · Nov 4, 2021
784 Reposts · 2.72K Likes
Reminds me of Patriot, although I suspect the reference may go in the other direction.
