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Once a month, I take the extra issues of the Economist and throw them in the recycling bin beneath the desk where everyone in the R&D lab eats lunch.  This week, I did so and didn’t hear any sound indicating the magazine had hit bottom so I pulled out the Recycling Bin and found every issue of The Economist since December.   Either housekeeping is hasn’t seen this bin or they did find it and didn’t want to move the now 40 pound brick o’ news.

I proposed breaking up the package into several bins to which a coworker responded “No, my library!”.

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I found the following in an Economist.com article on why kids can’t read:

No question, without a wimpy GUI, computers would never have become as popular as they are today. The command-line interface—with its forbidding prompt and blinking cursor—required mastering a whole catechism of arcane instructions that only a priesthood of computerdom could cherish.

When “root@computername:~# shutdown -h now” could be replaced by a simple click of a mouse to switch off a computer, novices of all ages and backgrounds could climb aboard the digital bandwagon.

via Economist.com 

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I found the following in an Economist.com article on why kids can’t read:

No question, without a wimpy GUI, computers would never have become as popular as they are today. The command-line interface—with its forbidding prompt and blinking cursor—required mastering a whole catechism of arcane instructions that only a priesthood of computerdom could cherish.

When “root@computername:~# shutdown -h now” could be replaced by a simple click of a mouse to switch off a computer, novices of all ages and backgrounds could climb aboard the digital bandwagon.

via Economist.com 

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(Demographics and Statistics Nerds Only)

As a protoactuary, I often talk with people on the train or where ever about things ranging form economics to demographics to environmental issues.  Matt Sundheim and I most notably have disagreed over the shape of the world in 2050.  I’ve always been called optimistic (I consider it realistic) concerning epic drops in violence, poverty, starvation and disease.  I try to cite data where possible and the Economist has done a survey of world health as experienced by humans summing up progress since the 1990s.

If humanity can come up with a way to curb environmental damage and reduce fall-out or possible manage failing states, the world is going to truly kick ass in 2050.  110-year life expectancy here we come.

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(Demographics and Statistics Nerds Only)

As a protoactuary, I often talk with people on the train or where ever about things ranging form economics to demographics to environmental issues.  Matt Sundheim and I most notably have disagreed over the shape of the world in 2050.  I’ve always been called optimistic (I consider it realistic) concerning epic drops in violence, poverty, starvation and disease.  I try to cite data where possible and the Economist has done a survey of world health as experienced by humans summing up progress since the 1990s.

If humanity can come up with a way to curb environmental damage and reduce fall-out or possible manage failing states, the world is going to truly kick ass in 2050.  110-year life expectancy here we come.

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Economics of Commercial Sex Work from the Economist.com

I’d be curious if the wage increase caused by having a pimp is cause or correlation.  Pimps could be an associated service like having a fixer/personal assistant that can help with scheduling and so on akin to an agent.  Alternatively, pimps could merely be trying to feed off of successful prostitutes like volcano insurance salesmen.

I’d like to also see data regarding STI infection rates and if there’s a niche market for condom-only workers, much like the premium placed on cocaine from verified uncut stock.