Robin Hanson on Lord of the Flies: schools as a decivilizing force

I got a spam entitled Very Discrete Packaging and Billing. One would hope so!

Dissatisfied with my hairstyle, I decided some months ago to shave my scalp in the spring, take pictures over a year, and then decide what length I like best. So on the equinox I initiated the plan, and promptly caught cold. Ten days later (still congested) I notice that my hairline is asymmetric: it has receded more on the left (where I usually parted it until 1998) than on the right. Hm.

I’ve consistently noticed that my “home” in my dreams, though it seems normal during the dream, almost never resembles any place where I’ve resided (nor indeed any place that I recognize).

Now I find that the principle applies not only to dwellings! I had a dream involving “my” pistol, which resembled a Walther PP — a type that I don’t think I’ve ever handled.

Something’s wrong with commenting here, it seems.

Dad’s book is gorgeous. Buy a bazillion copies.

Chaos is good: Of beating hearts; sequel

Movies: I enjoyed Key Largo (1948).

Gotta agree with Greg Egan:

Sometime in the next twenty years or so, the technology that enabled Avatar will become cheap enough to risk employing alongside a moderately intelligent script.

It is mighty pretty, though. Among the details, I particularly liked the hemispheric virtual displays in the control room: that sort of thing has been done before, of course, but stereoscopy makes it much more effective.

For objects very near to the viewpoint, the frame rate seemed to me to suffer; though (from what I read of the process) each eye gets 24 frames per second, same as standard movies. So I wonder what caused that effect.

Meanwhile, I continue to use Netflix. ( . . more . . )