For his Spurious Correlations project, Tyler Vigen compares data sets that are the very definition of “correlation is not causation”. For instance, the number of Walmart stores worldwide correlates very strongly with the current distance between the Earth & Saturn. Or Google searches for “avocado toast” closely tracks biomass power generated in the Philippines.
Tags: infoviz · Tyler Vigen
When I wrote last week about the false narrative that iOS 26 is seeing bizarrely low adoption rates compared to previous years, I neglected one source: Apple itself. Apple’s Developer site publishes a page with iOS and iPadOS usage for devices that “transacted on the App Sto...
Pre-show: Snowpocalypse update
Follow-up:
atp.fm passkey update
Google Private AI Compute
Apple 🤝🏻 Google Cloud
Removing copy/paste crud (via rauli)
Screen on RAM
ASUS improves color accuracy for Mac users (via Oliver Thomas)
Modular headphones
AIAIAI (via Graham Dob...
“There isn’t a lot of reliable information out there about how to buy a gas mask, especially for the specific purpose of living under state repression. But hopefully after reading this guide you’ll feel equipped to make an educated decision.”
Datasette 1.0a24
New Datasette alpha this morning. Key new features:
Datasette's Request object can now handle multipart/form-data file uploads via the new await request.form(files=True) method. I plan to use this for a datasette-files plugin to support attaching files to ...
For a project called Tag Clouds, street artist Mathieu Tremblin paints over graffiti tags and makes them more legible.
The result looks like when Word says that the Hardkaze and Aerosol fonts are used in the document you’re trying to open but are missing from your computer and you click OK to replace them with whatever’s available. I think the font above is Arial, which is perfect. I also like this faux-watermark piece he did:
[This is a vintage post originally from Jul 2016.]
Tags: art · graffiti · Mathieu Tremblin · timeless posts
“AI skeptics need to update their priors: Plenty of cause for concern, plenty of room to hit these companies for unethical behavior, resource demands, etc, but we are so, so far past the era of ‘stochastic parrots’”.
China and the UK have agreed a number of new deals during the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit to Beijing. They include visa-free travel for UK citizens visiting the country for less than 30 days, and a partnership aimed at increasing trade in services between the...
Jeremy Fuster, reporting for TheWrap:
But save for some theaters in Republican-heavy states, the film is
unlikely to leave much of an impact at a slumping box office, with
theatrical sources telling TheWrap that “Melania” is projected for
an opening of around $3 million ...
Nicole Sperling and Brooks Barnes, reporting for The New York Times:
Amazon paid Ms. Trump’s production company $40 million for the
rights to “Melania,” about $26 million more than the next closest
bidder, Disney. The fee includes a related docuseries that is
scheduled t...
Ged Maheux, The Iconfactory:
This week we announced a new Kickstarter that’s aimed at
expanding the game offerings of Ollie’s Arcade, the fun, ad-free
retro gaming app we introduced back in 2023. Ollie’s
Arcade has always been a great way to escape doomscrolling,
even if...
Defund Science, Distort Culture, Mock Education. “We have a very focused and intense effort across the board to set America back a generation, at least, for education, health, research, climate policy.”
Donald Trump has warned Iran that "time is running out" to negotiate a deal on its nuclear programme following the steady build-up of US military forces in the Gulf. The US president said a "massive armada" was "moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose" towa...
Adam Engst, back in November, at TidBITS:
Did you know that, regardless of view, you can now swipe left on
any call to reveal a blue clock icon that lets you create a
reminder to call back in 1 hour, tonight, tomorrow, or at any
custom time (below left, slightly doctored...
