Friday assorted links

Dec. 26th, 2025 18:45
[syndicated profile] marginal_revolution_feed

Posted by Tyler Cowen

1. David Brooks offers some Sidney awards, including to Works in Progress (NYT).

2. If you are the Lakers, of course you should have traded for the new superstar, namely Luka.  But by now it is clear the trade actually will not work out so well, and Dallas is better off with Cooper Flagg.

3. “The threat to German auto producers isn’t from Chinese cars flooding Germany. It’s from Chinese cars flooding to emerging markets (red), where they’re killing the market for German cars. That’s not something EU tariffs on China are going to be able to fix.” Link here.

4. Why everyone loves Japan.

5. The brother Megan McArdle lost.

6. “Our Archivara Math Research Agent (in alpha) just became the first AI system to fully solve an Erdős problem on its own (zero human input or literature online).” Link here.

7. Israel just recognized Somaliland.

The post Friday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

[syndicated profile] googlechromereleases_feed

Posted by Giuliana Pritchard

The ChromeOS Beta channel was updated on Dec 23rd to OS version 16503.25.0 (Browser version 144.0.7559.37) for most ChromeOS devices.

If you find new issues, please let us know one of the following ways:
  1. File a bug
  2. Visit our ChromeOS communities

    1. General: Chromebook Help Community

    2. Beta Specific: ChromeOS Beta Help Community

  3. Report an issue or send feedback on Chrome

  4. Interested in switching channels? Find out how.

Giuliana Pritchard
Google ChromeOS Release

britbong

Dec. 26th, 2025 18:22

Погодное

Dec. 26th, 2025 19:28
ratomira: (Default)
[personal profile] ratomira
Вчера вообще был жуткий холод: минус десять, поэтому мы даже не выходили на улицу, а целый день ели рождественскую еду.

Сегодня потеплело до -2 и выпал снег, поэтому вечером мы немного погуляли (все равно замерзли, ветер сильный).
[syndicated profile] marginal_revolution_feed

Posted by Tyler Cowen

The astronomy world was recently shaken by a discovery from an unexpected source: a teenager still in high school. Matteo Paz, a student from Pasadena, utilized archival data from NASA’s retired NEOWISE mission to bring 1.5 million invisible cosmic objects into the light.

During a stint at Caltech’s Planet Finder Academy, and mentored by astrophysicist Davy Kirkpatrick, Paz took a novel approach to data analysis. He built a unique machine learning model capable of sifting through a staggering 200 billion infrared records. In a span of only six weeks, his AI detected subtle patterns that human analysts had missed, identifying everything from distant quasars to exploding supernovas.

Here is the link, via Shruti.

The post Scientific discoveries will be made by the young appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

Cayman (U.S.) fact of the day

Dec. 26th, 2025 12:41
[syndicated profile] marginal_revolution_feed

Posted by Tyler Cowen

Over the past four years, hedge funds have doubled their footprint in the U.S. debt market, making the Cayman Islands — where many hedge funds are officially based — the place where the most U.S. debt outside the United States is held, according to the Fed. Typically, people flock to Treasuries for safety in times of crisis. Yet, driven in large part by hedge fund activity, the Treasury market went through unusual turbulence during recent shocks, including the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 and President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement in April 2025.

And this:

By the early 2010s, these foreign governments made up over 40 percent of Treasury holdings, excluding those the Federal Reserve held. That was up from just over 10 percent in the mid-1990s…Foreign governments now make up less than 15 percent of the overall Treasury market.

Here is more from Geng Ngarmboonanant at the NYT.

The post Cayman (U.S.) fact of the day appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

[syndicated profile] marginal_revolution_feed

Posted by Tyler Cowen

From the excellent Matt Kahn:

For decades, undergraduate economics educators have followed a well-worn playbook featuring textbooks, lectures and problem sets. Students have passively listened, taken notes and studied for exams. AI disrupts this educational process. Some students are using this tool as a substitute for their own precious time. What is our best response? This paper provides a prospective analysis of how to restructure every phase of the undergraduate economics experience to improve the major and better prepare students for their uncertain future. Departments face a principal/agent issue in implementing major  curricular reforms. I discuss the incentive problems that arise both within economics departments and across departments. If we win this competition to reimagine the undergraduate experience, will the Deans reward us?

TC again: No.

The post Will AI Improve Undergraduate Economics Education? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

[syndicated profile] marginal_revolution_feed

Posted by Tyler Cowen

Adnan Abbasi, 25, founder of Thothica, received his grant to add an archive reader to make rare historical texts accessible using AI-powered translation. Also check out his AI generated debate between Nehru and Hayek.

Dheemanth Reddy, co-founder of Maya Research, received his grant to build Veena – cutting-edge speech models for English and Indian languages as naturally spoken by Indians.

Ritisha Sethi, 16, a high schooler from Lucknow, received her grant to develop Qubit Quest, her solution to help learn quantum computing through gamification.

Jnanendra K S received his grant to convert vintage cars to EVs in his automotive mechanic shop.

Sankalp Shrivastava, 21, self-taught developer and entrepreneur from Bhopal, received his grant for general career development.

Bharath H G received his grant to build a robotic system safely cleaning manholes remotely.

Sarthak Pandit, an engineering student, received his grant for building a wireless drone recharging system to eliminate manual battery swaps.

Namrata Rajagopal received her grant for Exception Raised – a grants program to enable India’s AI research ecosystem through funding, community, and mentorship. Check out their first cohort.

CEDA (Center for Economic Data and Analysis) at Ashoka University, received a grant to build the Economic Enterprises Tool, to integrate datasets delivering harmonized indicators across India’s enterprises.

Saransh Duharia received his grant for Garudakshak, to build a smart drone detection and neutralization system for civil use.

Aditya Gupta, 21, received his grant to develop a breath diagnostics tool screening for complex gut disorders non-invasively.

Farraz Mir received his grant for a bioinformatics automation project saving researchers time and lowering barriers to entry.

Yasmin Qureshi, 20, received her grant for travel and career development.

Jainul Abedin received his grant to scale Abyom SpaceTech, and develop India’s first reusable rocket and commercial rocket engine testing facility.

Kunjpreet Arora, 27, received his grant for Angirus, to transform plastic and industrial waste into waterproof, low-carbon bricks.

Vrinda Borkar, 30, received her grant for Wingrow Agritech, to develop agricultural markets for small farmers.

Those unfamiliar with Emergent Ventures can learn more here and here. The EV India announcement is here. More about the winners of EV India secondthirdfourthfifthsixthseventheighthninthtenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth cohorts. To apply for EV India, use the EV application, click the “Apply Now” button and select India from the “My Project Will Affect” drop-down menu.

And here is Nabeel’s AI engine for other EV winners. Here are the other EV cohorts.

If you are interested in supporting the India tranche of Emergent Ventures, please write to me or to Shruti at srajagopalan@mercatus.gmu.edu.

The post Emergent Ventures India, 15th cohort appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

security blanket

Dec. 26th, 2025 01:39
[syndicated profile] urban_feed
A security blanket is a blanket that young kids have for security.
It originates from a [character] in the [comic strip] Peanuts, named Linus van Pelt who always had a security blanket [with him].

Grinched

Dec. 26th, 2025 01:39
[syndicated profile] urban_feed
When you [come home], and all of your [belongings] are gone, even [the light] bulbs.

sexit strategy

Dec. 26th, 2025 01:39
[syndicated profile] urban_feed
Plan to escape or extract one's self from an [uncomfortable], boring, or otherwise unpleasant situation by means of [bootie call], premediated date, [prostitute], or other means of generally available/easily arranged coitus. Etymology of term derived from business term "exit strategy" making this term especially popular with venture capitalists, attorneys, yuppies, and anyone else who abuses business jargon.

kitchencel

Dec. 26th, 2025 01:39

Sad beige mom

Dec. 26th, 2025 01:39
[syndicated profile] urban_feed
A sad beige Mom is a woman (usually [millennial]) who does not let her kids have color, *for the sake of an aesthetic.* There are variations of the sad beige mom, there are sad white moms and grey moms too. Basically [everything] in their house from clothes to furniture and walls are shades of beige (or white and grey) simply because they [like the look of] it. The kids are literally experiencing sensory depravation in their own homes. All for the sake of someone’s house looking like a pintrest board.

Праздничное

Dec. 25th, 2025 17:03
cybernatic_cat: (complacent)
[personal profile] cybernatic_cat
С Рождеством всех, кто празднует!

Кто не празднует - тех тоже, всё равно, с Рождеством!

В качестве праздничных пожеланий - всем здоровья, мира, денег и работу мечты. Вот такую нопремер, там сразу и деньги, и мечта:

Linux rescue floppy

Dec. 25th, 2025 15:33
vak: (Линукс)
[personal profile] vak
У меня в загашнике сохранился флопик, с которого можно загрузить минимальный Линукс. Сейчас пригодился для возни с SD и CompactFlash карточками на древнем компьютере. Удобно иметь под рукой. Вдруг кому понадобится, скачать можно здесь:

pub.sergev.org/unix/linux-rescue-floppy.img

Покажу как грузится. Сначала приходит Grub.



+6 )
Нынче народ пытается воспроизвести нечто подобное с переменным успехом: krzysztofjankowski.com/floppinux/floppinux-2025.html

One Last Christmas Challenge

Dec. 25th, 2025 21:12
[syndicated profile] futilitycloset_feed

Posted by Greg Ross

The Xmas Puzzles 2025 is now live — 13 fiendish puzzles and a “metapuzzle” that draws on their solutions. The competition will run until 20:00 GMT on January 18.

Quizmaster Tim Paulden has pledged just over £1000 in charitable donations as prizes. The top four entries will win a donation to a charity or good cause nominated by the solver: £200 for first place, £150 for second, £120 for third, and £90 for fourth. Those who solve the metapuzzle or score 50 percent or more will also win a donation.

Entry is free and open to all — participants can work alone or in teams of up to five people. Details are at the link above.

Christmas assorted links

Dec. 25th, 2025 18:13
[syndicated profile] marginal_revolution_feed

Posted by Tyler Cowen

1. When were the Tylers born?

2. India is prepping for major economic reforms (FT).

3. One view on why computers cannot be conscious.

4. “America’s six largest banks added $600bn in market value in 2025, spurred on by the Trump administration’s push to deregulate the industry and a revival in investment banking.” (FT)  This is one reason why gdp growth has been robust.  Whatever you think of bank regulation more generally, in 2025 we needed less of it, not more.

5. Inmates could escape jail on drones (Times of London).

6. What do soccer tickets cost in New Jersey?

7. The origins of European thought on new discoveries.

8. Titanic, Hagen, 33-minute Guatemalan/Mexican musical avant-garde creation.  Here is some background (NYT).  I am growing increasingly bullish on Latin American and also Spanish-language music.  I will be following it more closely in 2026.

The post Christmas assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

[syndicated profile] marginal_revolution_feed

Posted by Tyler Cowen

From Jack Mountjoy, forthcoming in the QJE:

This paper studies the returns to enrolling in American public universities by comparing the long-term outcomes of barely admitted versus barely rejected applicants. I use administrative admission records spanning all 35 public universities in Texas, which collectively enroll 10 percent of all American public university students, to systematically identify and employ decentralized cutoffs in SAT/ACT scores that generate discontinuities in admission and enrollment. The typical marginally admitted student gains an additional year of education in the four-year sector, becomes 12 percentage points more likely to ever earn a bachelor’s degree, and eventually earns 8 percent more than their marginally rejected but otherwise identical counterpart. Marginally admitted students pay no additional tuition costs thanks to offsetting grant aid; cost-benefit calculations show internal rates of return of 26 percent for the marginal students themselves, 16 percent for society (which must pay for the additional education), and 7 percent for the government budget. Earnings gains are similar across admitting institutions of varying selectivity, but smaller for students from low-income families, who spend more time enrolled but complete fewer degrees and major in less lucrative fields. Finally, I develop a method to separately identify effects for students on the extensive margin of attending any university versus those on the margin of attending a more selective one, revealing larger effects on the extensive margin.

That is one simple way of seeing why I do not think of higher education as largely signaling, noting that signaling theories might give you a higher wage up front but not over extended periods of time, as worker quality becomes known.

The post Marginal Returns to Public Universities appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

мудрые мысли

Dec. 25th, 2025 07:41
juan_gandhi: (Default)
[personal profile] juan_gandhi
О каком освоении космоса могут говорить люди, способные "осваивать" землю только сетью кандальных трактов и лагпунктов. За разговорами правящего класса о новом пути, поступательном развитии, прогрессе и эволюции человека скрывается желание тотального контроля. «Эти новые пути заключаются, главным образом, в сочетании бандитизма с наукой и техникой», - проницательно замечает Чуковский в «Растлении американских детей», емко описывая грядущий цифровой ГУЛАГ как «гитлеровское сочетание науки и подлости». «Человек как вид не прогрессирует», - напоминает Ницше

src 
kampfflieger: (Default)
[personal profile] kampfflieger
Тому я накотив вже зранку. Це мій протест проти жидокавеенівської диктатури.

ATP 2Gb Industrial Grade

Dec. 24th, 2025 22:44
vak: (Линукс)
[personal profile] vak
Ещё одна индустриальная SD карточка с Тайваня, чуть пошустрее предыдущей. Есть мысль поставить на неё Линукс для i486 компьютера. Не уверен, получится ли. Нынешние линуксы давно перешли сначала на i686 (Pentium), а потом и его выкинули в пользу x86_64.

Где Санта Клаус?

Dec. 24th, 2025 17:30
vak: (Улыбка)
[personal profile] vak
https://www.noradsanta.org/en/map

По этой ссылке можно отслеживать передвижения Санта Клауса в реальном времени. В санях с подарками, запряжённых оленями.

белый дыбр

Dec. 24th, 2025 19:01
juan_gandhi: (Default)
[personal profile] juan_gandhi

Вчера я закинулся одной таблеткой "от нервов". Сегодня утром сахар был совершенно дикий. Но зато - губу не закусываю, всё так нормальненько. Но я, пожалуй, так не буду. Нафиг мне высокий сахар, от него один вред. Упал он где-то уже после обеда, когда действие таблетки прошло. Да блин.

Постирал; пошкурил и поподмазывал потолок в нарнии. Потому что снаружи тепло, 20 градусов.

В четвёртом часу пошёл гулять, как-то по-особому. Карты гугловские показывают тропы, по ту сторону 49-й, но в реале там всё заросшее, или забор. Ну ничего. Но устал с этого ничего.

Да и всё на сегодня. Сейчас дуолинго надо делать вот.
 

Учебник по EDSAC

Dec. 24th, 2025 13:34
vak: (Аристипп)
[personal profile] vak
Новая книжка на моей полке: руководство по программированию для компьютера EDSAC, 1951 год. Машина времён киевской МЭСМ.


+2 )

Баш Командер

Dec. 24th, 2025 12:53
vak: (Daemon)
[personal profile] vak
Вот как выглядит современный bashc под NetBSD на древнем cx486. Неплохо работает, даже удобнее чем deco.

Политическое

Dec. 24th, 2025 12:36
vak: (U.S.A.)
[personal profile] vak
Трамп по заданию кремля пытается расшевелить гражданскую войну в США. Затея встречает некоторое сопротивление.

Недавно Трамп отправил несколько сот солдат Национальной гвардии в Иллинойс, окопаться в районе Чикаго. Их развернули восвояси.

Верховный суд заявил: "...The Government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois."

Федеральные военные не власть на территории штатов. Им таких полномочий не давали.
jonathan_simba: (Default)
[personal profile] jonathan_simba


Поки наша багатостраждальна планета поволі заходить на черговий виток навколо Сонця, підведемо деякі підсумки року, що минає. Ну і трохи польових прогнозів, як же без них.

1. Живі та відносно цілі. Як для геноцидальної війни, найбільшої з часів Другої Світової - результат прям непоганий. Продовжуємо нашу найгуманнішу в світі місію - утилізацію роzZіянського біосміття, нагуляного в п'яному угарі їхніми мамками та висраного вниз головою на кам'яну долівку. Ніхто не піде обділеним. "Ти хотів землі моєї? Тож тепер змішайся з нею!" (с)

2. Хуйло не зупиниться, поки воно живе та поки функціонує його нафтоекономіка. Перемовини - гра в імітацію. Це навіть харошиє рускіє розуміють. Тому миру ближчим часом не очікуємо. Так, всі страшенно втомилися, але всі мирні ініціативи, які не є нашою капітуляцією - апріорі приречені.

3. Капітулювати ми не збираємося. І жодні трумпи, папи римські чи мами китайські нас до цього не схилять, якщо ми самі не схилимося. Буде важко, так, але справа того варта. Єдине, що ми можемо вам обіцяти - це що ночі нарасіі будуть все більш запальними, а за кожен метр нашої землі вони будуть дедалі більше захлинатися кров'ю. Приміром, ми вже працюємо по танкерах, чого не було раніше. І ці процеси будуть кратно масштабуватися. Жодна смерть побратима чи посестри, жоден удар по нашим мирним жителям не залишаться без болючої відплати.

Рецепт нашої перемоги лише один - солідарність та спокійна українська впертість. Незважаючи ні на що.

Розвалили три імперії - розвалимо і четверту. Ми росію висвятили (дякуємо випускникам Києво-Могилянського колегіуму Феофану Прокоповичу, Симеону Полоцькому та Стефану Яворському) - ми її і відспіваємо.



Тому тримаймося, дорогі брати і сестри - харків'яни, одесити, сумчани, чернігівці, херсонці, дніпряни та всі інші, близькі та далекі, але від того не менш свої. Без вас усіх ми то не стягнемо.

Ніколи не забуваймо про те, якою є ціна простих речей. Наприклад, мати можливість святкувати в родинному колі, у себе вдома, в теплі та затишку - нечувана розкіш, яку подекуди чомусь сприймають як даність.

Зі святом, дорогі друзі! Дякуємо вам за підтримку та переможного нам року!

Христос рождається!

Xmas movies

Dec. 24th, 2025 12:33
[syndicated profile] jwz_blog_feed

Posted by jwz

Reminder that in 2022, the elves did their work in one night and gave us two perfect Christmas movies. In case you're looking for something to watch with mom.

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