Why I don’t use social media

... but I used to. Let me start by saying that I'm not a zealot, luddite, or other kind of internet fundamentalist. You are completely entitled to do what you like and I care not a whit. I am simply describing my own experience. So, social media. Everyone has an opinion, and here is mine.…

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Some thoughts in 2021 on the future of China

Prediction is a tricky business. It's easy to get carried away with one's own ideas and the Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy is around every corner. However, I have been brewing a few thoughts about China recently which I keep meaning to get down somewhere. So here we are. A quick note before I start - I…

The Covid Diaries 8 – I miss Iso-Life

Iso-Life is ending and I miss it already. A week or so ago some of the restrictions were relaxed here in Victoria. Playgrounds opened again, you can have small groups of visitors around to your house. In light of the apparently well-controlled Covid caseload here, as well as the escalating difficulty of keeping people at…

Algorithms

Software algorithms get a lot of bad press at the moment. They're accused of forcing us into siloes and echo chambers, of shaping our views and attitudes, and of generally being the earthly manifestation of Lucifer. But that's not the real problem. The problem with software recommendation algorithms is that they don't work very well.…

Driverless vehicles

The general consensus seems to be that self-driving cars are inevitable, that the barriers are technical rather than epistemologicical. I suspect that the widespread use of self-driving cars may mark the end of an era of post-war culture and society. A self-driving car that requires no human operators will undoubtedly be safer, more reliable, and…

Public Holidays

Public holidays in Victoria are a confusing mess. They give people an extra day off (which is nice), but strange and contradictory dates have accreted over the years. While no-one would suggest that we have fewer holidays, perhaps we should reorganise them a bit to make them more reflective of contemporary life in this State.…

Fertility fraud; or How to have lots of great grandchildren

A (now deceased) Dutch IVF doctor is presently being accused of having substituted his clients' sperm with his own a large number of times. This has allegedly resulted in 22 children being conceived in the 1980s via imposter sperm, and who were then brought up by men other than their families in the manner of…