Favorites October 14th 2022

Google Bayview, September 2022

Jack Clark @jackclarkSF

More real-world, high-stakes uses of AI... nytimes.com/2022/10/13/us/…

The consequences of Biden's export controls on China's chip industry are starting to become clear. Here's a thread of examples that opens by calling it a 'decapitation' of their Chip industry. TL;DR: nobody wants to lose their American citizenship in order to stay in China and work on chips.

Brian Klaas @brianklaas

I know this sounds strange but this is a really positive sign for British democracy. Polarization is so toxic in the US that Trump could never dip below around 35%, no matter what he did. The fact Truss can plummet to 16% for far less egregious incompetence is a healthy sign.

Tom Lubbock @tmlbk

NEW NUMBERS: 🚨 Liz Truss has the lowest level of satisfaction with the public *ever recorded* for a British Prime Minister with @IpsosUK 16% satisfied 67% dissatisfied (John Major briefly dipped to 17% in August 1994)

I really like this concept, that the existence of huge popularity swings says something good about the health of a country.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

I think the biggest impact of the “techlash” has been to convince a bunch of rich, smart, hardworking, and powerful executives and venture capitalists who were favorably disposed to Barack Obama that they should try to help the Republican Party win elections. https://t.co/6kCNp4NYD1

Will Oremus @WillOremus

but at the risk of tautology, the biggest impact of the "techlash" to date has been just that -- a dramatic shift in public attitudes & elite posture toward the tech giants' products and promises. it's easy to forget that they were bipartisan darlings in the US ten years ago.

Kim Mai Cutler points out another outcome: the rise of a major social network controlled by an authoritarian state.

Shashank Joshi @shashj

“The U.S. government should be communicating, quietly and often, to the Russian military not to follow any unhinged orders from Mr. Putin…Anyone who orders nuclear use and anyone who implements such orders, they should be told, will be held accountable”

wsj.comHow to Keep the Ukraine Conflict From Going NuclearPutin’s menacing rhetoric has alarmed the West, but lessons learned 60 years ago in the Cuban Missile Crisis provide some reassurance.

So, I don't actually know how well this will work to dissuade Russia from using nuclear weapons, but it's at least a new angle I haven't heard before.

Louie Mantia, Jr. @Mantia

Folks, they did it. They really fucking did it.

Threads

• The 'pink tax', that products targeting women cost more, may not be a real thing, but the main takeaway is something different. TL;DR: legislating against it probably won't cause any problems, but it's a bad idea to have tons of regulations of problems that you have very limited evidence for.

• Here's a thread about what the training camps for the newly mobilized Russian soldiers are like, many have no food, or very limited heating. The punchline at the end is that this is all much better accommodations than they'll get when they're deployed to Ukraine. Maybe this is why Putin is signaling that he's going to end mobilization soon.

• Thread summarizing the sequence of events that lead Senator Leahy to vote against the Iraq War, reads like a political thriller. I'm not giving any spoilers on this one.

• If you've heard some rumor about kitty litter in schools, here's a thread explaining how the urban legend started. TL;DR: the only real example they could find was a school that put it in a set of emergency supplies in case of a mass shooting.