A quiet day of coding, in which I had a most pleasant open source encounter, and otherwise made forward progress on a number of fronts...

Frequent readers know, I do not watch TV.  And by "TV" I mean, any packaged video content, including shows produced by nonstandard channels like netflix, HBO, and Amazon.  I watch movies and sports, and that's it.  Sometimes my friends will be talking about a great show - West Wing, or Breaking Bad, or whatever - and I'm mystified.  So lately I've been reading and hearing a lot about Jessica Jones, a netflix-produced show starring Krystin Ritter, and I'm tempted.  Should I watch? 

And so we've lost another amazing artist, Glenn Frey passed away today.  He wrote or co-wrote and sang lead vocals on so many of those excellent Eagles songs, and went on to have an amazing solo career after.  He will be missed. 

I'm already gone
And I'm feelin' strong
I will sing this vict'ry song
'Cause I'm already gone

Trumping all: "the number of Republicans who could see themselves backing a Trump nomination rose 42 - forty-two - percentage points in 10 months".  I'm one of them. 

It's pretty interesting looking back over links I had saved for three months.  Trump has gone from wacky outsider who somehow was leading the race for the GOP nomination (but who was surely going to screw up and blow it), to a respected leader widely considered the front-runner.

Yep: Texas is like Australia with the handbrake off.  "There is no individual income tax and no corporate income tax, which explains the state's rapid economic and population growth..."  Amazing what can happen if the government gets out of the way instead of trying to help. 

One of those correlation vs causality mixups: poverty stunts IQ in the US but not in other developed countries.  Who can explain this?  Why I can.  Let's just turn that headline around: Low IQ results in poverty in the US but not in other developed countries.  Aha.  That's what happens in a meritocracy.  The US isn't all the way there, but it's a lot closer than other countries. 

Ponder this: what if Tinder showed your IQ? 

Related: do smart people have bad sex?

That reminds me to link this interesting analysis by Scott Johnson of the recent Supreme Court review of "affirmative action".  (Otherwise known as anti-meritocracy.)  It turns out the pursuit of "diversity" hurts those it is trying to help.

Yay: A real-world electric plane.  "Perhaps the age of hard-of-hearing flight instructors will be coming to an end:  The aircraft is quiet. There is some noise, but it’s mostly from the propeller, and headset-free conversation is no problem, even at takeoff power."  Excellent. 

Loved this, from Mark Suster: Why I Fucking Hate Unicorns and the Culture They Breed.  "If you’re fortunate enough to raise $100 million early-on to build your startup – congratulations. But to all of the 99.999% of other startups out there please know that this isn’t the success by which to measure yourself."  His blog is an ongoing source of great wisdom. 

I'll leave you today with Sunset on Pluto.  As you view this, remember: this is a real picture of a real planet.