from Seth’s Blog We get what we invest in. The time we spend comes back, with interest. If you practice five minutes of new, difficult banjo music every day, you’ll become a better banjo player. If you spend a little bit more time each day whining or feeling ashamed, that behavior will become part of […]
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Europe Is Developing Offensive Cyber Capabilities. The United States Should Pay Attention.
from Net Politics It is no surprise that the United States and its European allies are looking to integrate offensive cyber capabilities as part of their military operations. Last year, the Pentagon boasted about dropping “cyber bombs” on the self-declared Islamic State group. France and the United Kingdom have built similar capabilities, as have smaller […]
For Women, It’s Not Just the O’Reilly Problem
from NYTs Bill O’Reilly’s ouster from Fox News Wednesday — nine months after similarly lurid charges of sexual harassment forced the resignation of Roger Ailes, the Fox chief executive — has opened another window into sexual abuse of women at Fox and in the workplace generally. The serial nature of the alleged abuse, as well as […]
Hey, Computer Scientists! Stop Hating on the Humanities
from Wired AS A COMPUTER science PhD student, I am a disciple of big data. I see no ground too sacred for statistics: I have used it to study everything from sex to Shakespeare, and earned angry retorts for these attempts to render the ineffable mathematical. At Stanford I was given, as a teenager, weapons […]
Time to Explore Alternative Ownership Structures for Network Effects Businesses including Twitter
from Continuations At Union Square Ventures, network effects have been central to our investment thesis for a decade. From an investor perspective network effects are one of the few, possibly the only, source of sustainable competitive advantage in a world where almost everything else can be copied quickly. But we also early on recognized that […]
Complicated Problems Rarely Require Magical Explanations
from Seth’s Blog One clue that someone doesn’t understand a problem is that they need a large number of variables and factors to explain it. On the other hand, turning a complex situation into something overly simple is an even more common way of demonstrating ignorance of how the system works. What we’re looking for […]
When a Potential Employer Seems Unnervingly Nosy
from NYTs I had an interview for a fantastic job. However, the prospective employer asked me to sign a form that says: “I expressly authorize my previous employers to provide information and opinions concerning my work and work habits.” It goes on to say that I will allow them to “provide salary history” and that […]
The Gig Economy Celebrates Working Yourself To Death
from The New Yorker Last September, a very twenty-first-century type of story appeared on the company blog of the ride-sharing app Lyft. “Long-time Lyft driver and mentor, Mary, was nine months pregnant when she picked up a passenger the night of July 21st,” the post began. “About a week away from her due date, Mary […]
Robots Aren’t Human. You Only Make Them So
from Wired IF A ROBOT were to look at you with a twinkle in its eye, you wouldn’t be blamed for running away in terror. But that plunge into the uncanny valley doesn’t bother Max Aguilera-Hellweg, who’s been photographing anthropomorphic bots since 2010. “I’ve never found myself afraid of any of them,” he says. In […]
6 Tips for Avoiding the Worst Student Loan Repayment Traps
from NYTs Whether or not you believe the allegations, the jaw-dropping dossier of sins that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accuses the nation’s largest student loan servicer of committing is useful for two crucial reasons. First, it’s a reminder of just how much can go wrong when we force inexperienced young adults, especially, to navigate a […]