Category: Geen categorie

Hurt Spree at American University: 17 Millennials Insulted

Tragedy causes discussions about freedom to carry opinion

October 18, 2016 by Hank Grohl
crimescene

During a hurt at a university in Nebraska, 17 students have been insulted. The victims are all millennials that were attending a class on civil rights movements.

The hurter was a white, privileged man who worked as tenured professor of social history at the university. He is said to have just walked into a classroom where he started to fire off historical facts at students. Panic broke out immediately, but thirty students managed to flee the classroom. Even before the hurter could be arrested, he hurt himself.

This is not the first time that America wakes up to a hurting incident with insulting outcome. Even last month, in Colorado fifteen students were seriously hurt by a remark about gluten.

The Nebraska incident has yet again raised questions about the right to have an opinion. More and more Americans are are calling for limits to carry opinions.

[If you took the previous as a ridicule of gun violence atrocities: It is not. Maybe on the contrary, ridiculing whining over if-possible-less-than first world problems. Geddit now?]

[Original, in Dutch, on the Speld; translated with permission]

Spinning Wheel — wait, for it: Clock or Counter-Clock ..?

Anyone noticed that IUs seem to make a thing of having replaced the clearly-archaic hourglass wait icon, with a spinning wheel — that was the Obvious part & mdash; but that the circle sometimes runs clockwise, sometimes counter-clockwise ..?
Part of the why is resolved, e.g., here, but the issue is that it seems to go all sorts of directions in/at all sorts of apps, sites, et al., as far as I can tell not seriously related to the linked explanation.

Yes, I’ve studied this here foundational theory, but also there, not much on directions. Didn’t even know Throbber was a thing.

Then, surely there’s an authoritative UX/GUI protocol (huh?) that has the definitive answers ..? Anyone ..? Oh well:

20160611_153611
[Keeps on [ slipping, slipping, slipping | turning ], [ back to | into ] the future circles; Stedelijk Amsterdam]

Really Bad Life

The recent spat on (team, in particular) sports not being the character building they’re supposed to be, has a pendant in other realms of game as well. The former, here; the latter, here.

Where, similar to other areas of enticement (link and other posts on this blog), the idea of a level paying field not through the starting positions but through procedural justice, seems to want to jump over the weaving errors of our societies being the unevenness and inequality of the starting positions. Also eloquently explained (with a moral take-home) here. Typical in the RBC article above-linked, in the base (sic) of the great game of golf with its handicap system. But still; this doesn’t diminish the feelings of inequity, either on the non-compensated-for-bad-luck-starting-points side, or on the feeling-bad-for-having-lost-the-advantages-of-an-advantaged-starting-point side.

Wouldn’t wars be over and world peace break out when the problem that eluded some of the most eminent (economics- and others) thinkers, as here and certainly here and here, be solved ..? What transformation away from a bad one, would that require of the world society ..?

I’m seriously interested to hear any pointers and partial work already …

dsc_0950
[On the edges of Nature and Appolonian order…, and perfection (in horizon balance) is boring; Ancy-le-Franc]

Peak Gulden

I’ve been dabbling in this pure-fiat money (sic) Gulden that is an attempt to indeed bring back the Dutch florin wink.
So far, I only put a toe into that water, and ’twas a profitable ride indeed. Should’ve moved all-in and retire…

Yes there’s all sorts of payment functionality but haven’t found a place to put that to use yet. Which made me think: Is there some sort of metric by which one can determine how ‘mature’ respective blockchain currencies are ..?

Like, some ratio that includes available volume, traded volume (exchange for (much longer) pre-existing traditional currencies), actual payments made for goods/services transactions, et al.
Or would anyone already have some (pointers to sufficiently secure-not-clickbait) sites that have such info and mdash; surely better factors and ratios than the above…?

TIA. And:
dsc_0740
[Here, another mix of (not ‘chain but brick-‘n-mortar) architecture and finance; Troyes]

Needing trolley answers — NOW!

Needing your help on this. In two ways…:

  • How come all the ethicists dreaming up ever more complex versions of the Trolley Problem, but are only too gleefully snickering at n00bs-to-the-field that figure out the peculiarities as they are led through the many pitfalls in thinking — but never arrive at definitive answers themselves! and are just happy with ever further complicating the issues.
    Question is: How to bang their heads long and hard enough or, to give them a last chance, lock them up without food and drink until they deliver definitive answers? Left or Right, Yes or No, with ‘or’ being absolute XOR not ‘and a bit “and”, too’.
  • How does System 1 thinking, or System 2, tie into these sort of discussions ..? As said problems call for immediate decision (no time to wait for decades of completely useless non-answers from ethicists…), System 1 would probably have it, System 2 being too slow. How does System 1 respond in this arena, then ..? Should be tractable.
  • [Of course you didn’t expect me to stick to even my own ‘two’ of the intro, did you?] Is System 1 inherently more tied to the hunter-gatherer life that humanity has evolved in for so much longer, than the agri-society of late (10k years) ..? If so, in what way could we use such connection(s) and ramifications (…) to improve our responses to the above, and to society’s ails in general..?

OK, enough questions, possibly though certainly not certainly not answerable in a simple Comment … Hence:
dsc_0030
[Ah, the Classics, they would probably provide better, actual, solutions, wouldn’t they ..? Ancy-le-Franc encore]

Wells Fargo very happy with all well-wishes

Customers send flowers and baskets to sick bank
October 14, 2016 by George Greenspan

deutschebank-banner
Wells Fargo CEO Timothy Sloan feels support from all the heartwarming cards, fruit baskets, teddy-bears and drawings he has received.

“Thank you so much, dear ‘people’,” he lets us know with a large Minions balloon in hand.

Wells Fargo had not been feeling well for a long time already. “We still sometimes feel an ache from all the junk mortgages we doled out, and the billion-dollar fines didn’t help much, either,” says Sloan while showing a huge card on which a taxpayer wrote “Get Wells Soon” in giant letters. “But hopefully, we’ll soon have recovered soon enough to fetch me some ridiculous bonuses again.”

Many of the 8 million private customers have sent fruit baskets to their bank. Among them, Hank Dinger from Farmburg. He lost his job in the previous economic crisis and only now, years later, gets sporadic invitations for job interviews again. “But do take care of yourselves, will you?”, the sender card says, on which a pencil drawn tangerine gives a thumbs-up.

Biting an apple, CEO Sloan recognises that Wells Fargo had not been feeling too well already for a longer time in its capital position. “Due to the stock market slump we were more prone to be infected by sick speculators and hedge funds and all sorts of other external factors but us,” he explains. “From now on, we’ll pursue a more healthy strategy; promise!”

According to financial doctors, the bank is in worse health than Sloan would want to admit: “Chances are that Well Fargo will not have much time and the problems may spread to the North-Western economy. The only true remedy at this stage, is a double dose of lay-offs, and a financial injection by the government.”

FED Chair Janet Yellen does not want to give that injection just yet. She has scolded management because it had neglected its health, but also showed tender concern and care by providing a pan of home-made chicken soup. She gave Timothy a kiss on the forehead. “Better!”

[Original, in Dutch, on the Speld; translated with permission]

All Your Data Are Belong To Us

Or, in the form of a question: When
a. One has to notify authorities of any (possible!) data leak, per law, in Europe and soon maybe also in the USofA,
b. Even BIOSses aren’t secure anymore, baked in from the word Go and onwards,
Shouldn’t all organisations declare all of their infrastructure and hence all their data, possibly compromised ..?

Just asking.

[Edited to add this. Also relevant; this one deeper (?)]

And:
20141101_145950
[Calm, not private; Museumplein Amsterdam]

Help determine this rock

I have an inkling of what this piece of art means, but would there be anyone out there that, under strict confidentiality of course, could provide a full explanation ..?
In particular — but including full context — what the link is between a book, possibly obscure but a tip as pleasurable read and this in Joinville:
dsc_0794

It’s just all too odd to not have a connection … Including this, perhaps ..?

Maverisk / Étoiles du Nord