Ratings by sethherr

183 Matching Ratings

Rated Article

What Happened to San Francisco, Really?

Nathan Heller on the fate of America’s most enterprising downtown and the debates over housing, homelessness, and public safety that have engulfed the city since the pandemic.

2023-10-16T03:00:00-0700 The New Yorker Nathan Heller 8,000 words

Rated 2023-10-18T22:05:43-0700

The Great Awokening of Higher Ed Has Ended—But Is It Too Late?

Growing numbers of Americans prefer sticks over carrots to move colleges and universities towards reform—a crisis we in academia largely brought upon ourselves

2023-06-21T05:15:58-0700 The Liberal Patriot Musa al-Gharbi 2,000 words

Rated 2023-10-12T18:23:38-0700

Opinion | Israel Has Never Needed to Be Smarter Than in This Moment

It would be a mistake to give Hamas what it wants: an overreaction like an invasion of Gaza. #Israel #Joe Biden #Middle East #Military #Politics #Terrorism

2023-10-10T14:58:28-0700 The New York Times Thomas L. Friedman ($) 2,000 words

Rated 2023-10-12T10:25:12-0700

‘We’ve Been Shaken Out of This Fantasy’: How the Left Sees the War in Israel

A former top aide for Bernie Sanders on how Israel's critics on the political left see the Hamas attack and what this means for deal-making in the region.

Politico 2,000 words

Rated 2023-10-09T12:16:09-0700

How the Elon Musk biography exposes Walter Isaacson

Walter Isaacson’s Elon Musk is a strangely incurious book. Its shallow reporting and bizarre skew left me with more questions than I had before I read it.

2023-10-01T05:30:00-0700 The Verge Elizabeth Lopatto 3,000 words

Rated 2023-10-08T18:16:30-0700

A review of Number Go Up, on crypto shenanigans

Zeke Faux's book on crypto shenanigans is best book on crypto ever and occasionally frustrating, plus bonus commentary on financial journalism.

2023-09-29T09:52:31-0700 Bits about Money Patrick McKenzie (patio11) 4,000 words

Rated 2023-10-04T16:35:56-0700

Fine, I'll run a regression analysis. But it won't make you happy.

State partisanship and COVID vaccination rates are strongly predictive of COVID death rates even once you account for age.

2023-10-01T05:20:22-0700 Silver Bulletin Nate Silver 2,000 words

Rated 2023-10-01T15:48:58-0700

One man’s quest to end cheating in virtual cycling

A cyclist discovered widespread cheating on the popular online cycling platform Zwift. Then came the death threats.

2023-09-22T09:50:44-0700 The Hustle Katherine Laidlaw 2,000 words

Rated 2023-09-26T21:31:37-0700

FTC Sues Amazon for Illegally Maintaining Monopoly Power

The Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorneys general today sued Amazon.com, Inc.

2023-09-26T06:16:29-0700 Federal Trade Commission 1,000 words

Rated 2023-09-26T21:13:12-0700

America Is Using Up Its Groundwater Like There’s No Tomorrow

Unchecked overuse is draining and damaging aquifers nationwide, a data investigation by the New York Times revealed, threatening millions of people and America’s status as a food superpower. #Agriculture #Climate Change #Global Warming #Water

2023-08-28T14:19:48-0700 The New York Times Mira Rojanasakul, Christopher Flavelle, Blacki Migliozzi, ... ($) 5,000 words

Rated 2023-09-26T07:16:33-0700

Meet the Shadowy Global Network Vilifying Climate Protesters

For decades, the Atlas Network has used its reach and influence to spread conservative philosophy—and criminalize climate protest.

2023-09-12T00:00:00-0700 The New Republic Amy Westervelt 4,000 words

Rated 2023-09-23T10:43:28-0700

Speed Kills: Addressing the Real Road Hazard - CalBike

The best thing we could do to prevent traffic fatalities is to prevent speeding. And the best way to do that is through infrastructure.

2023-09-18T18:15:04-0700 California Bicycle Coalition Kendra Ramsey 2,000 words

Rated 2023-09-19T16:04:21-0700

Electric cars have a road trip problem, even for the secretary of energy

A road trip I took with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm confirmed one thing: The U.S. is wrestling with an inadequate charging network (unless you're a Tesla driver).

2023-09-10T03:00:51-0700 NPR Camila Domonoske 4,000 words

Rated 2023-09-17T08:44:38-0700

The Inside Story of How the Navy Spent Billions on the “Little Crappy Ship”

Littoral combat ships were supposed to launch the Navy into the future. Instead they broke down across the globe and many of their weapons never worked. Now the Navy is getting rid of them. One is less than five years old.

2023-09-07T03:00:00-0700 ProPublica Joaquin Sapien 10,000 words

Rated 2023-09-14T07:40:35-0700

Pivot to AI: Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain

The LLM is for spam

2023-09-12T14:43:42-0700 Amy Castor 2,000 words

Rated 2023-09-13T18:27:23-0700

The Coming Enshittification of Public Libraries

Global investment vampires have positioned themselves to suck our libraries dry #Libraries #Private equity

2023-07-26T10:00:23-0700 Nine Lives Karawynn Long 4,000 words

Rated 2023-08-04T08:09:18-0700

The Solar Cell Discovery Machine

Robotic analysis of perovskites may speed development of solar cells with better than 30% efficiency

2023-08-01T09:30:04-0700 IEEE Spectrum Charles Q. Choi 1,000 words

Rated 2023-08-02T09:58:33-0700

Conspiracy theory: Electric cars make more air pollution than gas cars

tires + battery + heavy

2023-07-27T09:00:29-0700 Dynomight Internet Newsletter dynomight 2,000 words

Rated 2023-07-30T22:08:44-0700

How critical theory is radicalizing high school debate

New rhetorical tactics are creating a generation of nihilists #Debate

2023-07-29T05:49:43-0700 Slow Boring Maya Bodnick 3,000 words

Rated 2023-07-29T22:28:11-0700

The Fight for the Right to Trespass

A group of English activists want to legally enshrine the “right to roam” — and spread the idea that nature is a common good. #England

2023-07-26T02:01:02-0700 The New York Times Brooke Jarvis ($) 7,000 words

Rated 2023-07-27T18:34:05-0700

The Dictator Myth That Refuses to Die

Authoritarians would have you think that they can do certain things better than their counterparts who have to deal with checks, balances, and public opinion. Don’t believe it. #United States

2023-07-26T07:00:00-0700 The Atlantic Brian Klaas ($) 200 words

Rated 2023-07-27T09:43:13-0700

How Signal Walks the Line Between Anarchism and Pragmatism

The privacy-focused messaging app arose from a fringe culture that emphasized individual autonomy and skepticism of authority. As it tries to go mainstream, can it escape its roots? #Politics #Silicon Valley

2023-07-23T04:00:00-0700 WIRED Kai Ye 2,000 words

Rated 2023-07-25T16:13:25-0700

Ability to See Expertise is a Milestone Worth Aiming For

Good news: we have a neat, universal milestone on the journey to mastery. What that looks like, and how to use it.

2022-04-05T12:34:10-0700 Commoncog Cedric Chin 4,000 words

Rated 2023-07-21T13:00:59-0700

An invitation to a secret society

Or: why you should be a lizard

2023-07-20T08:03:53-0700 Experimental History Adam Mastroianni 3,000 words

Rated 2023-07-20T19:08:46-0700

The hidden force that shapes everything around us: Parking

A Q&A with Henry Grabar, author of “Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World.” #Politics #Transportation #Urban Planning

2023-05-09T04:30:00-0700 Vox Marin Cogan 3,000 words

Rated 2023-07-17T14:20:48-0700

Is It Hot Enough Yet for Politicians to Take Real Action?

Bill McKibben writes on the recent temperature records set amid a global heat wave, on a global cascade of climate-change-related floods and disasters, and the lack of political will in Canada and the U.S. to take on the needed confrontation of oil and gas interests. #Canada #Climate Change #Global Warming #Wildfire

2023-07-11T11:18:01-0700 The New Yorker Bill McKibben 2,000 words

Rated 2023-07-12T09:00:10-0700

Felt for Advocacy Groups: Mapping Traffic Violence in Oakland

Bryan Culbertson and Kuan Butts, two activists working on Traffic Violence Rapid Response, leverage Felt maps to advocate for safer streets in Oakland.

felt.com 1,000 words

Rated 2023-07-11T09:56:29-0700

Jigar Shah’s big idea for getting rooftop solar and smart appliances to low-income Americans

How the DOE could marshal its loan guarantees to decarbonize the grid and boost energy equity in one fell swoop. #Renewable energy

2021-11-23T00:00:00-0800 Canary Media 3,000 words

Rated 2023-07-06T18:42:07-0700

Bloc Party's Kele Okereke On Being Gay and Black in the Dance and Rock Worlds

vice.com

Rated 2023-07-06T18:09:33-0700

The Engineer/Manager Pendulum

Lately I've been doing some career counseling for people off Twitter (long story). The central drama for many people goes something like this: “I'm a senior engineer, but I'm thinking about being a manager. I really like engineering, but I feel like I'm just solving the same problems over and over and it seems like the real…

2017-05-11T10:20:12-0700 charity.wtf 2,000 words

Rated 2023-07-05T07:26:40-0700

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

San Francisco Police Traffic Enforcement

An analysis of SFPD moving violation citations in San Francisco

transpomaps.org 3,000 words

Rated 2023-06-20T09:49:33-0700

Beyond the Yuck Factor: Cities Turn to ‘Extreme’ Water Recycling

San Francisco is at the forefront of a movement to recycle wastewater from commercial buildings, homes, and neighborhoods and use it for toilets and landscaping. This decentralized approach, proponents say, will drive down demand in an era of increasing water scarcity.

Yale E360 3,000 words

Rated 2023-06-20T07:12:37-0700

Burying Indiana Jones

Christopher Heaney on “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” and the titular character’s impact on the public’s perception of what it means to be an archeologist. #Movies

2023-06-18T03:00:00-0700 The New Yorker Christopher Heaney 2,000 words

Rated 2023-06-19T23:43:03-0700

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

Rewriting the Ruby parser

At Shopify, we have spent the last year writing a new Ruby parser, which we’ve called YARP (Yet Another Ruby Parser). As of the date of this post, YARP can parse a semantically equivalent syntax tree to Ruby 3.3 on every Ruby file in Shopify’s main codebase, GitHub’s main codebase, CRuby, and the 100 most popular gems downloaded from rubygems.org. We recently got approval to merge this work into CRuby, and are very excited to share our work with the community. This post will take you through...

2023-06-11T17:00:00-0700 Rails at Scale 5,000 words

Rated 2023-06-13T16:37:24-0700

Lessons From a Renters’ Utopia

Worldwide, housing has become a nightmare of expense and speculation. What did Vienna do right? #Housing #Real Estate

2023-05-23T01:20:41-0700 The New York Times Francesca Mari, Luca Locatelli ($) 7,000 words

Rated 2023-06-13T11:07:14-0700

'Anti-dopamine parenting' can curb a kid's craving for screens or sweets

Dopamine is a part of our brain's survival mechanism. It is also part of why sugary foods and social media hook kids. The latest neuroscience can help parents help their kids manage behavior. #Dopamine #Parenting

2023-06-12T02:00:32-0700 NPR Michaeleen Doucleff 3,000 words

Rated 2023-06-13T10:59:28-0700

Pluto should be our ninth planet. A planetary scientist explains why

Astronomers believe they’re closing in on the so-called Planet Nine, but planetary scientist Paul Byrne argues our official definition of what is and isn’t a planet is in need of a long-overdue shake up.

2023-06-11T23:40:00-0700 BBC Science Focus Magazine Paul Byrne 2,000 words

Rated 2023-06-13T10:52:47-0700

Harvey Karp Knows How to Make Babies Happy

The pediatrician and best-selling author on the perils of excessive individualism, the moralization of baby sleep, and why when it comes to newborns he’s “a little bit like a priest.” #Babies #Interview #Parenting

2023-04-09T12:25:06-0700 The New Yorker Helen Rosner 7,000 words

Rated 2023-06-09T16:54:30-0700

Nanoplastic Ingestion Causes Neurological Deficits

Small plastic particulates can induce inflammatory responses in the gut and brain, but removing them reverses this damage. #Nanoplastics

The Scientist Magazine 1,000 words

Rated 2023-06-08T07:40:41-0700

The Talk: Accused of Plagiarism

In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, “The Talk,” Darrin Bell illustrates a conversation with a professor at U.C. Berkeley who accused him, without evidence, of plagiarism. #College

2023-06-03T03:00:00-0700 The New Yorker Darrin Bell 200 words

Rated 2023-06-04T07:23:39-0700

It Will Cost Up to $21.5 Billion to Clean Up California’s Oil Sites. The Industry Won’t Make Enough Money to Pay for It.

An expert used California regulators’ methodology to estimate the cost of cleaning up the state’s onshore oil and gas industry. The study found that cleanup costs will be triple the industry’s projected profits.

2023-05-18T03:00:00-0700 ProPublica Mark Olalde 2,000 words

Rated 2023-06-03T21:02:38-0700

Undoing bikeshare’s original sin

Bikeshare has been a godsend. Why not subsidize it?

2023-04-18T00:00:00-0700 Fast Company Aimee Rawlins 3,000 words

Rated 2023-05-30T19:54:00-0700

How Tokyo Became an Anti-Car Paradise

The world’s biggest, most functional city might also be the most pedestrian-friendly. That’s not a coincidence.

2023-04-11T04:45:01-0700 Heatmap News Daniel Knowles 5,000 words

Rated 2023-05-22T23:39:08-0700

Did Scientists Accidentally Invent an Anti-addiction Drug?

People taking Ozempic for weight loss say they have also stopped drinking, smoking, shopping, and even nail biting. #Drugs

2023-05-19T07:37:59-0700 The Atlantic Sarah Zhang ($) 2,000 words

Rated 2023-05-19T16:53:16-0700

How to Quit Cars

Adam Gopnik reviews “Carmageddon,” by Daniel Knowles, and “Paved Paradise,” by Henry Grabar, and considers the shortsighted history of transportation and the possibilities for its future. #Books

2023-05-15T03:00:00-0700 The New Yorker Adam Gopnik 4,000 words

Rated 2023-05-19T07:28:42-0700

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

Our crazy farm subsidies, explained

The US offers farm subsidies pretty heavily for some crops, but what began as a temporary measure gradually became more permanent. #Technology

2015-04-20T02:00:23-0700 Grist Amelia Urry 2,000 words

Rated 2023-05-14T22:58:24-0700

Taco Bell’s Innovation Kitchen, the Front Line in the Stunt-Food Wars

Antonia Hitchens writes about how the chain outdid Burger King’s Bacon Sundae, Pizza Hut’s hot-dog-stuffed crust, and KFC’s fried-chicken-flavored nail polish.

2023-04-17T03:00:00-0700 The New Yorker Antonia Hitchens 5,000 words

Rated 2023-05-12T22:14:26-0700