Ratings by sethherr

689 Matching Ratings

Rated Article

“Useless Ruby sugar”: Argument forwarding

This is a part of a blog post series about “useless” (or: controversial) syntax elements that emerged in recent Ruby version. The goal of the series is not...

zverok.space 4,000 words

Rated 2023-11-24T08:45:07-0800

“Rabbit Test” unwins the Hugo

I cannot convey the supreme depths to which I'd rather be doing anything else with my Saturday afternoon other than writing this blog post, but here we are. If you have been blessedly insulated from the current furor over the 2023 Hugo Awards -- good for you! (I'm going to have to explain this post…

2024-02-17T17:08:27-0800 SAMANTHA MILLS 2,000 words

Rated 2024-02-18T21:22:35-0800

“He has a battle rifle”: Police feared Uvalde gunman’s AR-15

The Texas Tribune

Rated 2023-03-21T06:37:09-0700

“Founder Mode” and the Art of Mythmaking

I’ve never been good at “hot takes”. Anyone who knows anything about marketing can tell you that the best time to share your opinion about something is when everyone is all worked up about it. Hot topics drive clicks and eyeballs and attention en masse. Unfortunately, my internal combustion engine doesn’t run that way. If…

2024-12-17T09:53:35-0800 charity.wtf 9,000 words

Rated 2025-01-29T12:39:41-0800

‘We’re changing the clouds.’ An unintended test of geoengineering is fueling record ocean warmth

Pollution cuts have diminished “ship track” clouds, adding to global warming

Science Advances 2,000 words

Rated 2023-10-12T17:38:38-0700

‘The Justins’ seem like Civil Rights-era throwbacks. But 2023 isn’t 1968.

The two young Tennessee legislators gained a national platform after being expelled. How will their mix of religion and politics fly?

2023-08-03T03:00:44-0700 The Washington Post Michelle Boorstein ($) 3,000 words

Rated 2023-08-03T07:54:26-0700

‘America Is Under Attack’: Inside the Anti-D.E.I. Crusade

The backlash against “wokeism” has led a growing number of states to ban D.E.I. programs at public universities. Thousands of emails and other documents reveal the playbook — and grievances — behind one strand of the anti-D.E.I. campaign. #College #Texas

2024-01-20T13:35:53-0800 The New York Times Nicholas Confessore ($) 7,000 words

Rated 2024-01-22T18:03:33-0800

‘A Ticket to Disney’? Politicians Charge Millions to Send Migrants to U.S.

The Biden administration vowed to “end the illicit movement” of people through the Darién jungle. But the number of migrants moving through the forest has never been greater — and the profits are too big to pass up. #Colombia #Panama #Politics

2023-09-14T02:03:09-0700 The New York Times Julie Turkewitz, Federico Rios ($) 6,000 words

Rated 2023-09-15T13:05:46-0700

Your Review: Alpha School

...

2025-06-27T04:49:52-0700 astralcodexten.com Scott Alexander 60,000 words

Rated 2025-06-29T20:55:47-0700

Your Book Review: The Pale King

Finalist #12 in the Book Review Contest

2024-09-06T08:47:37-0700 astralcodexten.com Astral Codex Ten 30,000 words

Rated 2024-09-09T19:59:57-0700

Yes, Social Media Really Is a Cause of the Epidemic of Teenage Mental Illness

Two major problems with a review in Nature

2024-04-09T07:55:25-0700 After Babel Jon Haidt 4,000 words

Rated 2024-06-14T17:26:50-0700

Y Combinator's Garry Tan Declares War on San Francisco Politics

The CEO of Y Combinator is using his considerable wealth and social media megaphone to attack the progressive agenda. #Elon Musk

2023-09-27T05:00:00-0700 The San Francisco Standard Josh Koehn 4,000 words

Rated 2023-09-27T15:38:38-0700

Y Combinator urges the White House to support Europe's Digital Markets Act

YC sent a letter on Wednesday urging the Trump Administration to support Europe's Digital Markets Act (DMA).

2025-03-13T13:49:21-0700 TechCrunch Maxwell Zeff 1,000 words

Rated 2025-03-14T08:01:43-0700

Wrong door, wrong driveway: How US got to shoot first, ask later

The Christian Science Monitor

Rated 2023-04-28T07:44:35-0700

Writing Is My Main Freedom. One Day My Work Disappeared.

A software change in my prison-issued electronic tablet ate up my drafts and eliminated basic writing tools. That may sound minor, but try sending a poem to your kid without line breaks. #Michigan

2021-12-16T19:00:00-0800 The Marshall Project Demetrius Buckley 1,000 words

Rated 2023-05-19T11:44:44-0700

Would you live next to co-workers for the right price? This company is betting yes

Businesses like Cook Medical in Indiana say the housing shortage makes it harder to recruit and keep middle-income workers. Now, more companies are building places for employees to rent or even buy.

2023-05-02T02:20:10-0700 NPR Jennifer Ludden, Marisa Peñaloza 2,000 words

Rated 2023-05-02T16:13:05-0700

Wikipedia’s Moment of Truth

Can the online encyclopedia help teach A.I. chatbots to get their facts right — without destroying itself in the process? #Artificial Intelligence #Google #Reddit

2023-07-18T02:00:21-0700 The New York Times Jon Gertner ($) 7,000 words

Rated 2023-07-20T18:40:22-0700

Widely used chemical strongly linked to Parkinson’s disease

Common environmental contaminant increased rate of neurodegenerative affliction in one population by 70%

Science Advances 2,000 words

Rated 2023-05-16T10:02:34-0700

Why “Alone” Is the Best Reality Show Ever Made

Jay Caspian Kang writes about the appeal of the reality-TV show “Alone” and other shows about survival in the wilderness. #Nature #Survival #Television

2023-09-06T08:39:42-0700 The New Yorker Jay Caspian Kang 1,000 words

Rated 2023-09-06T21:18:24-0700

Laundry Pods Are Bad. Laundry Sheets Aren’t Any Better.

Laundry and dishwasher pods are encased in toxic plastic. Save money and go easier on the planet with these sustainable laundry tips. #Sustainability

2023-06-14T04:42:18-0700 Outside Online Kristin Hostetter 2,000 words

Rated 2023-06-14T05:56:23-0700

Why Holes at the Bottom of the Ocean Disappear and Reappear

Scientists made a new discovery about other causes for holes on the seafloor. Find out what is causing the pits to disappear and reappear all over again. #Animals #Ocean

2024-01-18T15:05:00-0800 Atlas Obscura 1,000 words

Rated 2024-01-19T08:31:07-0800

Why Match School And Student Rank?

...

2023-07-10T22:39:09-0700 Astral Codex Ten Scott Alexander 45,000 words

Rated 2023-07-12T17:04:52-0700

Why is Git Autocorrect too fast for Formula One drivers?

Why does Git's autocorrect wait 0.1s before executing a mistyped command? Let's dig in.

2025-01-13T05:09:15-0800 GitButler Scott Chacon 1,000 words

Rated 2025-01-20T06:21:26-0800

Why Is Everyone on Steroids Now?

Across the internet and in gyms everywhere, body-modifying drug use has become ubiquitous, effective and... normal. Can this really be a good thing?

2024-06-05T05:00:00-0700 GQ Rosecrans Baldwin 5,000 words

Rated 2024-06-14T17:23:39-0700

Hospitals Gave Them Meds During Childbirth. Why Did Patients Get In Trouble?

Mothers were reported after they were given medications used routinely for pain or in epidurals, to reduce anxiety or to manage blood pressure during cesarean sections. #Doctors #Health Care #Indiana #Pennsylvania #Texas

2024-12-11T03:00:00-0800 The Marshall Project Shoshana Walter 3,000 words

Rated 2024-12-28T07:37:30-0800

Why has nuclear power been a flop?

Nuclear is expensive, but it should be cheap #Nuclear power

2021-04-16T02:18:28-0700 The Roots of Progress 5,000 words

Rated 2023-05-05T14:06:16-0700

Why GitHub Actually Won

GitButler

Rated 2024-09-11T15:21:57-0700

Why does target=”_blank” have an underscore in front?

Ever wondered why you need the underscore in target="_blank" to open a link in a new tab?

2024-10-25T03:00:00-0700 Kyrylo Silin 200 words

Rated 2025-02-24T08:33:39-0800

Why do railway tracks have crushed stones alongside them?

Track ballast is the name for the crushed stones next to railway tracks. They are used by Railway Track Designers for numerous reasons

2022-02-18T19:39:00-0800 Alpha Rail 1,000 words

Rated 2023-06-04T07:27:23-0700

Why do people post on [bad platform] instead of [good platform]?

danluu.com

Rated 2024-01-27T22:49:43-0800

Why Did the Obamas Fail to Take On Corporate Agriculture?

Activists hoped President Obama would fight for stronger regulation. Eight years later, they’re still waiting. #Agriculture #Barack Obama #Fast Food #Food & drink

2016-10-05T01:55:45-0700 The New York Times Michael Pollan ($) 6,000 words

Rated 2023-05-15T22:27:38-0700

Why Congress — and Biden — killed DC’s crime bill

#DC Statehood

Vox

Rated 2023-03-28T16:38:57-0700

Why Can’t California Solve Its Housing Crisis?

#California #Homelessness

Rolling Stone

Rated 2023-04-09T21:14:03-0700

Why Britain doesn’t build

The history of attempts to reform planning in Britain is proof that political willpower is not enough: you need to be smart, not just brave.

2023-05-23T05:36:06-0700 Works in Progress 8,000 words

Rated 2023-06-27T20:58:00-0700

Why birds do not fall while sleeping

The only permanent bipeds of the animal kingdom alongside humans, birds have an extraordinary sense of balance. How do these direct descendants of the dinosaurs maintain this stability, especially when sleeping? Scientists recently succeeded in solving the mystery.

CNRS News 1,000 words

Rated 2024-10-17T07:34:46-0700

Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts

Surprised individuals and small-business owners can’t pay rent or make payroll, and no one ever explains what they did wrong. #Fraud #Money Laundering

2023-11-05T02:00:45-0800 The New York Times Ron Lieber and Tara Siegel Bernard ($) 3,000 words

Rated 2023-11-05T17:57:52-0800

Why Are So Many American Pedestrians Dying at Night?

Nothing resembling this pattern has occurred in other comparably wealthy countries. #Cars #Poverty

2023-12-11T00:00:01-0800 The New York Times Emily Badger, Ben Blatt, Josh Katz ($) 3,000 words

Rated 2023-12-12T08:09:34-0800

Why Anonymous Sperm Donation Is Over, and Why That Matters

Activists are trying to end secrecy for sperm and egg donors — a campaign that troubles some L.G.B.T.Q. families.

2023-12-03T02:03:43-0800 The New York Times Emily Bazelon ($) 2,000 words

Rated 2023-12-03T17:48:38-0800

Why Americans Are Obsessed With Poor Posture

A recent history of the 20th-century movement to fix slouching questions the moral and political dimensions of addressing bad backs over wider public health concerns.

2024-11-20T02:00:00-0800 The Nation Zoe Adams ($) 3,000 words

Rated 2024-11-24T17:58:20-0800

Who Is Podcast Guest Turned Star Andrew Huberman, Really?

nymag.com

Rated 2024-03-27T19:07:53-0700

We Know Where New Weight Loss Drugs Came From, but Not Why They Work

The empty auditoriums, Gila monsters, resistant pharmaceutical executives and enigmas that led to Ozempic and other drugs that may change how society thinks about obesity. #Diabetes #Obesity

2023-08-17T02:01:00-0700 The New York Times Gina Kolata ($) 3,000 words

Rated 2023-08-27T15:05:55-0700

Where does my computer get the time from? – Tony Finch

dotat.at

Rated 2023-10-05T22:25:08-0700

When Private Equity Firms Bankrupt Their Own Companies

Private equity firms can succeed when their companies, customers, and employees fail. It’s a broken system.

2023-05-01T04:00:00-0700 The Atlantic Brendan Ballou ($) 3,000 words

Rated 2023-05-02T23:35:44-0700

When muscles work out, they help neurons to grow, a new study shows

Exercise can have benefits at the level of neurons, through chemical and mechanical effects, MIT researchers find. The discovery could inform exercise-related therapies for repairing damaged and deteriorating nerves.

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1,000 words

Rated 2024-11-12T11:32:17-0800

When Imperfect Systems are Good, Actually: Bluesky’s Lossy Timelines

By examining the limits of reasonable user behavior and embracing imperfection for users who go beyond it, we can continue to provide service that meets the expectations of users without sacrificing scalability of the system.

2025-02-18T16:00:00-0800 Jaz’s Blog Jaz 2,000 words

Rated 2025-02-20T07:50:18-0800

When half a million Americans died and nobody noticed

Was the US drug Vioxx responsible for far more deaths than has been acknowledged so far?

2012-04-27T02:04:52-0700 The Week Alexander Cockburn 1,000 words

Rated 2023-09-22T15:37:50-0700

What's involved in getting a "modern" terminal setup?

What's involved in getting a "modern" terminal setup?

Julia Evans 2,000 words

Rated 2025-01-16T13:48:46-0800

What o3 Becomes by 2028 — LessWrong

Funding for $150bn training systems just turned less speculative, with OpenAI o3 reaching 25% on FrontierMath, 70% on SWE-Verified, 2700 on Codeforce…

2024-12-22T04:37:20-0800 lesswrong.com Vladimir_Nesov 4,000 words

Rated 2025-01-09T20:45:16-0800

Shot at, electrocuted, exhausted, exhilarated: What it’s like to kayak from Tulare Lake to San Francisco Bay

With torrents of snowmelt flowing through California, two men kayaked an improbable 200-mile route from Tulare Lake to San Francisco Bay. #Los Angeles

2023-06-10T04:00:00-0700 San Francisco Chronicle Gregory Thomas 1,000 words

Rated 2023-06-10T08:46:36-0700

What it was like working for GitLab

yorickpeterse.com 6,000 words

Rated 2024-02-11T11:43:54-0800