The Art Of Bullshit

If you look at history, innovation doesn't come just from giving people incentives; it comes from creating environments where their ideas can connect. ~Steven Johnson

Too Rich to Jail NYT. MoDo. And, what’s got into MoDo?:

Reading all the recent stories about the 10th anniversary of the financial crisis, it’s easy to see the neon line leading from Barack Obama’s failure to punish Wall Street scammers to the fact that Republican scammers are now infecting the entire infrastructure of government.

…

President Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. made a terrible mistake by letting the miscreant bankers off the hook rather than saying, as F.D.R. did, “I welcome their hatred.”

Defense of Puns

Despite its bad reputation, punning is, in fact, among the highest displays of wit. Indeed, puns point to the essence of all true wit—the ability to hold in the mind two different ideas about the same thing at the same time. And the pun’s primacy is demonstrated by its strategic use in the oldest sacred stories, texts, and myths.

Philosophizing philosophers

• What is an artist?

10 great English proverbs that are obviously bollocks Daily Mash

What makes bullshit bullshit? The answer is psychological and sociological, as well as linguistic and philosophical... What makes bullshit bullshit

Robots Finally Learning to Clean the Bathroom

The Art Of Bullshit

Bullshitters pretend to a kind of wisdom that only very few people have, but that also means that only very few people are competent to challenge the bullshitters’ pretension. And here’s the rub: if bullshit clings to any undertaking that requires an unusual degree of discernment or expertise, then calling bullshit can itself become a form of bullshitting. … Read More

Published in The Point



A court ruled that judges can be Facebook friends with lawyers because those are not real friendships Quartz: “Florida’s Supreme Court has ruled on something that most social media users already know: Facebook friendships are not real. Specifically, the court said in a Nov. 15 opinion that a Facebook friendship between a judge and an attorney does not mean the judge is too biased to preside over that attorney’s case. Ruling on an appeal in a case where one side argued a trial court judge should be disqualified because of a Facebook friendship, the court added that even traditional, IRL friendship wouldn’t necessarily be disqualifying, because the nature of friendship is “indeterminate.”

The ruling includes some philosophical musings on the meaning of friendship. For chief justice Charles Canady, who writes for the majority, a real friend, “is a person attached to another person by feelings of affection or esteem.” Meanwhile, a Facebook friend is a “person digitally connected to another person by virtue of their Facebook ‘friendship.’” And a Facebook friendship, he says, “does not objectively signal the existence of the affection and esteem involved in a traditional ‘friendship.’”…

Mental Obesity doesn’t sound so far away. Especially if you compare the snacking we do on social media apps with the snacking we do on junk food. The movie Wall-e comes to mind where the remaining humans of the world have evolved into an overweight species floating around watching screens.

MEdia Dragon Hunger Games

Communist-Era Czech Skate Punks Plunged into Limelight

Variety‎ 

In Fraud Detection, Everything You Do Online and Off Is a Clue

Man who run in front of car get tired

"Man who run behind car get exhausted" 

Man with one chopstick go hungry.

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts will hold public hearings in Melbourne on Wednesday, 21 November and in Sydney on Thursday, 22 November for its inquiry into the Australian music industry.

The Chair, Mr Luke Howarth MP, said that the committee is continuing to examine the potential for continued growth and the factors affecting the success of the Australian music industry, both domestically and internationally.

‘The rise of music streaming services, such as Spotify, have revolutionised the music industry. The recent return to growth experienced by the industry has been attributed to the rapid and continued consumer uptake of streaming services, which now account for more than half the overall recorded music market.’ Mr Howarth said.

‘We are very interested to hear Spotify’s views on the Australian music industry—to learn how we can support this growth and how we can grow the reach of Australian music here and overseas.’

The committee will also be speaking to the peak bodies of the radio industry.

‘Radio remains one of the most popular ways that Australians listen to and discover new music. The committee is keen to speak to radio—public, commercial, and community—to hear how we can best support and promote Australian music.’ Mr Howarth said.

The committee will hear from the major copyright collecting organisations APRA AMCOS and PPCA, which are responsible for collecting and distributing royalties for artists and publishers. It will also hear from a range of other organisations and experts representing record labels, venues, live music, music education and mental health support services for artists and music workers.

The public hearings will be broadcast live on the web (audio only).

Public hearing details:

MELBOURNE: 9.00am to 3.30pm, Wednesday, 21 November 2018, Federation Room, Parliament of Victoria, Spring Street

SYDNEY: 8.30am to 4.30pm, Thursday, 22 November 2018, Composite Room, Sydney Masonic Conference and Function Centre, 66 Goulburn St

Programs for the hearings are available on the committee’s website.