Source: Original Site Post

  • by James Santagata Google was / is a one-trick pony, search — but it is a god-d

    by James Santagata Google was / is a one-trick pony, search — but it is a god-damn good fucking pony at that!! It was basically developed by having Michael Moritz trick his earlier investment, Yahoo! to outsource a $100M USD deal to let Google do the search. The NSA / CIA / Qtel, kicked in the start up money and then as Yahoo abandoned search and tried to be a Portal and then a Vortal, Google ripped off the GoTo.com / Overture patent (key word buys / auction related to click throughs), bought DoubleClick and rebuilt it, and stumble onto Applied Semantics key acquisiton. Everything since all acquired. Overture patent stolen, Double click, Applied Semantics, Keyhole (Google Earth), Android, Youtube, etc. all the internal projects – DOA. Orkut for social networks, Google video, Google check out, etc. etc. oh, Google Wave.
  • On Rand

    I dunno. I worked very hard on Rand in the early 90’s and there exist only two known criticisms and I’m not sure that they stand in any meaningful sense. I mean, I can tear apart pretty much anyone, and that includes Rawls and certainly Nozick (and demonstrably marx, keynes, mises, rothbard, rand and hoppe), and she isn’t any weaker than the rest of them except when she tries to transform it from narrative to analytic statements. And I bet I can handle (although It’s been a while) any criticism of her arguments other than her (failed) attempts at analytic ones (“A=A” is Rand’s version of Mises “Man Acts” – they are meaningless); The problem with Rand is Randians. She’s a doorway, from the novel as philosophy, to lite-philosophy, to her one piece of fantastic philosophy (Aesthetics). But, unlike most of us, Randians stop after they enter the doorway, like old people stop at the top of the escalator. You very rarely find people other than marxists and randians who are that dedicated to a single narrative. (and we can learn a great deal from the construction of narratives that are that compelling). Abrahamism is very interesting subject of study for the purpose of deception by continuously overloading a false premise (or in the jewish case deep metaphysical falsehoods that are necessary for the preservation of their pastoralist group evolutionary strategy). In the sense that she (a) popularized philosophy, (b) created a narrative path between marxism/socialism and classical liberalism, and (c), created an upper middle class set of narratives and values, I think she was successful. On the other hand, she’s an entry level thinker, trying to translate jewish ethics (without duty – libertinism) into anglo form (with duty – liberty), in order to prevent the left’s transmission of negative duty (defense of all capital) into positive duty (transfer of wealth), the same they way that translated negative freedom (from imposition by others) to positive freedom (imposition upon others). And I think she made that argument in the terms it needed to be made: *sentimentally*. That she tried to formalize it the way jewish law was formalized, and that she called aristotelian instead, didn’t work without innumeracy. Marx could get away with innumeracy because of the primitive state of economics. Pseddorationalism (claims to logical completeness) are identical to innumeracy (numerology), and not very different from economic innumeracy (cherry picking). Unfortunately, she failed to say it as clearly as I just did, and tried to state it as a universal…. Curt Doolittle The Propertarian Institute
  • On Rand

    I dunno. I worked very hard on Rand in the early 90’s and there exist only two known criticisms and I’m not sure that they stand in any meaningful sense. I mean, I can tear apart pretty much anyone, and that includes Rawls and certainly Nozick (and demonstrably marx, keynes, mises, rothbard, rand and hoppe), and she isn’t any weaker than the rest of them except when she tries to transform it from narrative to analytic statements. And I bet I can handle (although It’s been a while) any criticism of her arguments other than her (failed) attempts at analytic ones (“A=A” is Rand’s version of Mises “Man Acts” – they are meaningless); The problem with Rand is Randians. She’s a doorway, from the novel as philosophy, to lite-philosophy, to her one piece of fantastic philosophy (Aesthetics). But, unlike most of us, Randians stop after they enter the doorway, like old people stop at the top of the escalator. You very rarely find people other than marxists and randians who are that dedicated to a single narrative. (and we can learn a great deal from the construction of narratives that are that compelling). Abrahamism is very interesting subject of study for the purpose of deception by continuously overloading a false premise (or in the jewish case deep metaphysical falsehoods that are necessary for the preservation of their pastoralist group evolutionary strategy). In the sense that she (a) popularized philosophy, (b) created a narrative path between marxism/socialism and classical liberalism, and (c), created an upper middle class set of narratives and values, I think she was successful. On the other hand, she’s an entry level thinker, trying to translate jewish ethics (without duty – libertinism) into anglo form (with duty – liberty), in order to prevent the left’s transmission of negative duty (defense of all capital) into positive duty (transfer of wealth), the same they way that translated negative freedom (from imposition by others) to positive freedom (imposition upon others). And I think she made that argument in the terms it needed to be made: *sentimentally*. That she tried to formalize it the way jewish law was formalized, and that she called aristotelian instead, didn’t work without innumeracy. Marx could get away with innumeracy because of the primitive state of economics. Pseddorationalism (claims to logical completeness) are identical to innumeracy (numerology), and not very different from economic innumeracy (cherry picking). Unfortunately, she failed to say it as clearly as I just did, and tried to state it as a universal…. Curt Doolittle The Propertarian Institute
  • Do You Believe Your Political Views Are Objective Or Subjective?

    As far as I know, and the research is increasingly conclusive, your political preference is 80% genetic. Just like everything else you think and feel.

    The blank slate is a lie, and dunning kruger constrains all but the few.

    https://www.quora.com/Do-you-believe-your-political-views-are-objective-or-subjective

  • Why Do White Americans Appropriate European Culture?

    Um. (a) Why do europeans (overwhelmingly) appropriate American culture? (b) Americans pay very little attention to europe other than the UK. And (c) Because while europeans are better cultured, and often better educated, and certainly better disciplined – europeans are also ‘provincial’ from our perspective, and the data bears that out.

    The french are effeminate and have been our enemies since the second world war. The Germans are culturally compatible with us, but … cowardly by comparison. And the Brits have all gone soft and mad. And frankly other than italy, which we share love of food and beauty with, there isn’t much reason to think about europe at all. (Really).

    If the Germans ever regain their self respect and return to military leadership of europe, so that we don’t have to carry their moral self indulgence any longer, that would be something worth talking about. 😉

    I mean, the people we are most interested in are the japanese and the russians.

    At least they have some SPINE.

    Europe is a conquered continent, and really needs to recover.

    https://www.quora.com/Why-do-white-Americans-appropriate-European-culture

  • Do You Believe Your Political Views Are Objective Or Subjective?

    As far as I know, and the research is increasingly conclusive, your political preference is 80% genetic. Just like everything else you think and feel.

    The blank slate is a lie, and dunning kruger constrains all but the few.

    https://www.quora.com/Do-you-believe-your-political-views-are-objective-or-subjective

  • Why Do White Americans Appropriate European Culture?

    Um. (a) Why do europeans (overwhelmingly) appropriate American culture? (b) Americans pay very little attention to europe other than the UK. And (c) Because while europeans are better cultured, and often better educated, and certainly better disciplined – europeans are also ‘provincial’ from our perspective, and the data bears that out.

    The french are effeminate and have been our enemies since the second world war. The Germans are culturally compatible with us, but … cowardly by comparison. And the Brits have all gone soft and mad. And frankly other than italy, which we share love of food and beauty with, there isn’t much reason to think about europe at all. (Really).

    If the Germans ever regain their self respect and return to military leadership of europe, so that we don’t have to carry their moral self indulgence any longer, that would be something worth talking about. 😉

    I mean, the people we are most interested in are the japanese and the russians.

    At least they have some SPINE.

    Europe is a conquered continent, and really needs to recover.

    https://www.quora.com/Why-do-white-Americans-appropriate-European-culture

  • The thing about competing with FB is that it’s actually not hard. (a) performanc

    The thing about competing with FB is that it’s actually not hard. (a) performance. Every other attempt has been slow. FB is just email v2. It’s not complicated. (b) minimum features. Every other attempt has been either too little (I won’t name names), or too pretty (I won’t name names). (c) confusing twitter (news) with facebook (email). The fact that we don’t have a twitter clone in fb is rather odd to me. The fact that a lot of startups try to make a twitter clones just … amazes me. Retweets are only one measure. Why doesn’t twitter rate users, and conversations on a subject, as well as the popularity of a stream? (d) confusing medium( articles -I have no idea if that’s gonna survive) with facebook ( conversations on articles). (e) confusing quora and Wiki: wikipedia is great beecause most of it was fukcing STOLEN from the encyclopedia. The problem is that there is no competition, and no method of showing right, libertarian, and left positions on subjects that need it. For the simple reason that editing is a monopoly (cult) where there IS NO NPOV on most questions OTHER than reciprocity (Which is beyond them).. (c) Lacking taboos – its one thing to select your interests and friends, its another to select taboos that you don’t want to see that limit what you can see (and say for that matter). Anyway. The market is there to provide a competitor but the minimum feature set isn’t something you’re going to produce in a few months by hobbyists. That era like the era of single programmer video games, has all but passed except for outliers. Minimum features. Court the adult market and therefore the money. Rember hat FB makes a disproportionate amount of its money from the third world. That means there is an amazing opportunity for advertising in the first world, at far lower prices, with zero trickery involved.
  • The thing about competing with FB is that it’s actually not hard. (a) performanc

    The thing about competing with FB is that it’s actually not hard. (a) performance. Every other attempt has been slow. FB is just email v2. It’s not complicated. (b) minimum features. Every other attempt has been either too little (I won’t name names), or too pretty (I won’t name names). (c) confusing twitter (news) with facebook (email). The fact that we don’t have a twitter clone in fb is rather odd to me. The fact that a lot of startups try to make a twitter clones just … amazes me. Retweets are only one measure. Why doesn’t twitter rate users, and conversations on a subject, as well as the popularity of a stream? (d) confusing medium( articles -I have no idea if that’s gonna survive) with facebook ( conversations on articles). (e) confusing quora and Wiki: wikipedia is great beecause most of it was fukcing STOLEN from the encyclopedia. The problem is that there is no competition, and no method of showing right, libertarian, and left positions on subjects that need it. For the simple reason that editing is a monopoly (cult) where there IS NO NPOV on most questions OTHER than reciprocity (Which is beyond them).. (c) Lacking taboos – its one thing to select your interests and friends, its another to select taboos that you don’t want to see that limit what you can see (and say for that matter). Anyway. The market is there to provide a competitor but the minimum feature set isn’t something you’re going to produce in a few months by hobbyists. That era like the era of single programmer video games, has all but passed except for outliers. Minimum features. Court the adult market and therefore the money. Rember hat FB makes a disproportionate amount of its money from the third world. That means there is an amazing opportunity for advertising in the first world, at far lower prices, with zero trickery involved.
  • Runcible

    For a long time. Runcible. In honor of Stephenson. A Runcible is a computer that tutors you through storytelling. It’s essentially an adventure game to teach you how to excel. In Neal Stephenson’s 1995 novel The Diamond Age, Runcible is a code name for the Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer, an educational computer. In The Diamond Age, the Runcible is effectively priceless, and while designed for a princess, ends up in the hands of a poor young girl who eventually, due to its tutelage, conducts a Revolution. RUNCIBLE is also the name of a computer program compiler for an early (late 1950s) programming language. Donald Knuth published the flowchart of the compiler in 1959;[12] this was his first academic paper. The Straight Dope, while treating “runcible” as a nonsense word with no particular meaning, claims that an unspecified 1920s source connected the word “runcible” etymologically to Roncevaux — the connection being that a runcible spoon’s cutting edge resembles a sword such as was used in the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. The Straight Dope adds that “modern students of runciosity” link the word in a different way to Roncevaux: The obsolete adjective “rouncival”, meaning “gigantic”, also derives from Roncevaux, either by way of a certain large variety of pea grown there, or from a once-current find of gigantic fossilized bones in the region. “Runcible” is a nonsense word invented by Edward Lear. The word appears several times in his works, most famously as the “runcible spoon”.