(This Week) Space, Logic & Zoom Suppers
05 April 2020
Welcome back to the Week That Was series where I highlight a few things from the interwebs which I thought were interesting, noteworthy and probably worth your time. Articles📝, Tweet(s)📱, Videos🎥, Charts 📈 all fair game with or without attendant commentary.
📹 The Last Zoom
2020 Refresh
Credit: @beardandbible
🌎🌐 World 2.0
“There are decades where nothing happens, and weeks where decades happen”
Some interesting commentary below reposted on Tyler Cowen’s blog.
| World 1.0 | World 2.0 |
|---|---|
| 110 successive months of job growth | 10 million jobless claims in 2 weeks |
| 10 year bull market across sectors | Winners and losers with extreme outcome inequality |
| Full employment | 30% unemployment |
| Base rate thinking | First principles thinking |
| Physical | Digital |
| Office by default | Remote by default |
| Office for work | Office for connection, community, ecosystem, makerspaces |
| Suit, tie, wristwatch, business card | Good lighting, microphone, webcam, home office background |
| Commute + traffic jams | Home + family |
| Last mile | Only mile |
| Restaurants | Groceries + delivery |
| $4 toast | Sourdough starter |
| Walkscore | Speedtest |
| Cities | Internet |
| $100k for college | Not paying $100k for a webinar |
| City | Countryside |
| YIMBY | NIMBY |
| Internal issues | Exogenous shock |
| Lots of little problems | One big problem |
| Stupid bullshit | Actual issues |
| Too much technology | Too little technology |
| Complacency | Action |
| Years | Days |
| Policy | Capacity |
| Ideology | Competence |
| Assume some government competence | Assume zero government competence |
| Institutions | Ghost ships |
| WHO | Who? |
| Trusted institutions | Trusted people |
| Globalization | Decoupling |
| Just-in-time | Stockpile |
| Tail risk is kooky | Tail risk is mainstream |
| NATO | Asia |
| Boomers most powerful | Boomers most vulnerable |
| Productivity growth collapse | Economic collapse |
| Social services Democrat | UBI Communist |
| Propaganda | Propaganda |
| Deficit hawks | MMT |
| Corporate debt | Government debt |
| Techlash | Tech a pillar of civilization and lifeline to billions |
| Break up Amazon | Don’t break up Amazon!!! |
| Avoiding social issues | Avoiding layoffs |
| Sports | Esports |
| Phone is a cigarette | Phone is oxygen |
| Resource depletion | $20 oil, $0.75 watt solar, <$100/kwh batteries |
| Stasis | Change |
| Low volatility | High volatility |
| Design | Logistics |
| Extrovert | Introvert |
| Open | Closed |
| 20th century | 21st century |
🌌🌕🌟🕳 Space
The Solar System is slightly more crowded than the picture that’s usually presented to us. Here is every known object in it.
We also tend only to visualise the planets orbiting the sun, yet this star is itself moving through the space and the galaxy.
Credit: VisualCapitalist
A 20 year time lapse of the stars orbiting around the black hole at the center of our galaxy https://t.co/fzaRuXvgSD pic.twitter.com/l1kBrquVJ5
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) March 29, 2020
🥤 Frozen Prices
I was today years old when I learned that there was a 70 year period when the price of Coca-Cola didn’t change - remaining exactly 5 cents from 1886 until 1959.
In this podcast, originally aired in 2015, NPR try to find out why. The answer includes half a million vending machines, a 7.5 cent coin, and a company president who just wanted to get a couple of lawyers out of his office.
💬 Logic
“Veritas odit moras,” - “Truth hates delay.” Line 850 of Seneca’s version of Oedipus
🦠🧼🖐💦⚕ Greenzone
This graphic (source) attempts to delineate case versus case growth in the current epicentres as of 3rd April 2020.
Here’s how lockdown is currently evolving across the world
An interesting and good thread, with relevant lessons, about how an Italian city called Ferrara beat the plague.
The Italian city that beat the plague: Ferrara. Not a single plague death since 1576. How did they do it, and what lessons can we learn today? (TLDR the thread: early preventive action, vigilance, public funding, effective borders). pic.twitter.com/U7augEdvyD
— Wrath Of Gnon (@wrathofgnon) March 17, 2020
XKCD with an important message
There’s much being said about masks, varying government policies regarding their requirement in the populace and changing guidance being issued by official institutions like the WHO and CDC.
The clip from this Lex Fridman tweet shows the effect of wearing a simple mask - and is taken from this longer video where he runs through the current sources and guidance on the topic.
Air flow from a person breathing, talking, and coughing, with & without face mask. Visualization by @LaVisionInc pic.twitter.com/RbeEgzJu1n
— Lex Fridman (@lexfridman) April 3, 2020
Kurzgesagt returns to these pages again - here with a video from a year ago that is topical and important and we shelter in place for the forseeable future.
🤔🧮🔢 Oh…and one more thing
The kind of clocks you’d expect from these individuals
Thanks for reading. Tune in next week. Stay Home. Wash Your Hands
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fa17eab @ 2023-09-18