Book Pointer

A friend recently pointed me towards this book: "Libertarian Literary and Media Criticism: Essays in Memory of Paul A. Cantor" edited by Jo Ann Cavallo.  

Dr. Cavallo is a libertarian professor of literature at Columbia, which sounds like a pretty unique combination!

A brief description:

The volume’s contributors apply libertarian philosophy and Austrian economics to both literature and media, from early modern drama to novels to comic books, cinema, and television series. Several chapters contrast capitalism with statism, focusing on the market economy versus central planning, freedom versus government coercion. Not surprisingly, the economic theories of Adam Smith, Ludwig von Mises, and F.A. Hayek run through several essays. Contributors also engage with other theorists and writers as diverse as Thomas Hobbes, Charles Darwin, Thomas Huxley, Friedrich Nietzsche, Leo Strauss, and Judith Butler.

 I'm putting it on my list!

Cephalopod Oddities

"The nine-armed octopus and the oddities of the cephalopod nervous system". (Via H.R.)

No Bar Tabs For Gen Z

"Gen Z Doesn't Want to Start a Bar Tab"

Sphere Tricks

"Cool Physics Feat Makes a Sphere Roll Down a Vertical Wall". 

Update: Link fixed!

Tesla Robotaxi Questions

"Tesla's make-or-break robotaxi moment is here. Can Elon Musk deliver?"

AI And Radiologists

"Real-world use of generative AI boosts radiologist productivity by up to 40%"

Apple On The Illusion Of Thinking

Apple paper: "The Illusion of Thinking: Understanding the Strengths and Limitations of Reasoning Models via the Lens of Problem Complexity".

This paper is getting lots of press/controversy over the bold claim that LLMs aren't really thinking, but rather just very good at advanced pattern matching.

Robot Moves

"MIT's new tech enables robots to act in real time, plan thousands of moves in seconds". (Via H.R.)

AI And Math

"What's next for AI and math"

Light Posting

Admin note: Posting may be light this week due to external obligations.

AI-Related Job Losses?

"Top AI CEO foresees white-collar bloodbath"

Dario Amodei -- CEO of Anthropic, one of the world's most powerful creators of artificial intelligence -- has a blunt, scary warning for the U.S. government and all of us:

• AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs -- and spike unemployment to 10-20% in the next one to five years, Amodei told us in an interview from his San Francisco office.
• Amodei said AI companies and government need to stop "sugar-coating" what's coming: the possible mass elimination of jobs across technology, finance, law, consulting and other white-collar professions, especially entry-level gigs
  

Of course, the big question is what currently unforeseen new jobs will arise during the coming AI revolution.

Quantum Computing And Cryptocurrencies

"Quantum computing could make Bitcoin and crypto a lot less secure"

Encrypted Chat Backups

"How Signal, WhatsApp, Apple, and Google Handle Encrypted Chat Backups"

Southwest Bag Fees

"Southwest Airlines ditches free checked bags this week. Here's how much they'll cost"

Non-Tesla EVs

"Want an electric vehicle but not a Tesla? Here are some great alternatives"

Safe Egg Dropping

"The key to a successful egg drop experiment? Drop it on its side." (Via H.R.)