Praxtime Archive by Topic

1. Intelligence is prediction. And it comes in two flavors: intuitive and reasoning. AGI is intuitive. 2023-Apr-08
2. Apple revoking Facebook’s certificate was a strategic err which may come back to haunt the tech industry 2019-Feb-02
3. Apple’s new services strategy. Apple is commoditizing (some) of its complements: music, movies, TV. 2019-Jan-13
4. My Soylent review: decent with a very annoying packaging flaw. Plus disruption frameworks. 2016-Jan-25
5. Praxtime 2015 year end review. My favorites in science, tech, econ, pop culture. Grading and making predictions. 2015-Dec-28
6. An iPad with a keyboard is not a PC! Technology transitions and PCs in the Clipper ship era. 2015-Oct-27
7. Why I’m excited about the new Apple TV for gaming, movies, TV, apps, Siri 2015-Sep-08
8. Twitter’s Temptation: The False Allure of Anonymous Users. 2015-Jun-22
9. Blazing a path on machine learning and privacy, Google risks becoming “Uber for lawsuits” 2015-Jun-16
10. 2015 is a transition year to the (somewhat creepy) machine learning era. Apple, Google, privacy and ads. 2015-Jun-10
11. Talking computers pose a threat to current Apple versus Google market segmentation. Beyond Peak Google. 2015-Jun-04
12. Cord Cutting: You know it’s all about UX, ’bout UX. No savings. 2015-Apr-30
13. 5 praxtime predictions for 2015 2014-Dec-30
14. Grading last year’s praxtime predictions for 2014 2014-Dec-30
15. Retailers hate Apple Pay now, but it may work out fine for them long term. 2014-Oct-27
16. There’s a lot to be said for analyzing tech eras by user interface: Gaming, Oculus, Apple Watch. 2014-Oct-13
17. Apple is taking biometrics mainstream. Watch out as software eats identity and payments. 2014-Sep-15
18. The surveillance society is a step forward. But one that harkens back to our deep forager past. 2014-Sep-08
19. Wall street, businesses and even developers feel the seductive allure of monopoly without consequences. 2014-Aug-04
20. Disruption theory’s ultimate ironic success would be falsifying itself. Plus Newton, Popper and Darwin duke it out. 2014-Jul-14
21. Windows 9 explained with smiley faces and Venn diagrams. An emoji update to my Win8 post. 2014-Jul-07
22. The job to be done by Android TV is big screen app entertainment, which will (eventually) subsume existing TV. 2014-Jun-30
23. On the fated path from disruptive startup to regulated tech monopoly 2014-Jun-23
24. Timing is Everything. Apple TV, gaming disruption, and why futurists aren’t billionaires. 2014-Jun-16
25. Jimmy Iovine argues curating music playlists is niche behavior. But this critique applies more broadly. 2014-May-12
26. Windows 8 explained with smiley faces and Venn diagrams. 2014-May-05
27. Sure software methodologies appear different. But keep in mind what they have in common. 2014-Apr-28
28. Twitter should copy Facebook the Conglomerate or Facebook Paper, not Facebook the web site. 2014-Apr-14
29. The God Particle Revisited: Augmented Audio Reality in the Age of Wearables. 2014-Mar-31
30. What Chess and Moore’s Law teach us about the progress of technology 2014-Mar-24
31. Bitcoin as Rorschach Test. Some see Traditional Currency. Others see Byzantine Generals. 2014-Mar-10
32. Bitcoin is a far better payment system than currency. And that’s just fine. 2014-Feb-24
33. Bad Software Design. Splitting the blame between Malice, Stupidity and Difficulty. 2014-Feb-17
34. Make the world better. Don’t say “thin client” again. Ever. 2014-Feb-01
35. Google believes they’re Bell Labs. They’re becoming GE. Long term danger? Becoming a regulated utility. 2014-Jan-27
36. Multiple TV remotes showcase the evils of complexity. Smart TVs just make it worse. 2014-Jan-13
37. Mobile Telecoms. Not just big. Really really big. 2014-Jan-06
38. 10 Praxtime predictions for 2014 2013-Dec-30
39. Grading last year’s predictions for 2013 (my 2014 predictions coming next week) 2013-Dec-23
40. Area man reports “I’m in a promising local blog.” Which is why Twitter needs Pandora style timelines. 2013-Nov-18
41. Apple’s strategy tax on services versus Google. Voice interaction becoming the “God particle” of mobile. 2013-Nov-03
42. Next Gen TV Set Top Boxes are generalized platforms combining DVR + Cable + Receiver + Game Console 2013-Sep-22
43. The Innovation/Monopoly axis 2013-Sep-08
44. The stock market blindly lusts after exploitative monopolies 2013-Sep-01
45. Predictions about self-driving cars 2013-Jun-23
46. A future where it’s normal for all public spaces to be captured on video 2013-Apr-21
47. 10 Predictions for 2013 2012-Dec-30
48. Sifting through bad password advice to find the good stuff 2012-Oct-28
49. The Apple maps kerfuffle means the opposite of what most of the press is saying 2012-Sep-30
50. Beyond the Touchscreen Interface, to Voice Interaction 2012-Sep-23
51. The Rise of the Touchscreen Interface 2012-Sep-16

1. Why the new hoax papers on cultural studies merely confirmed everyone’s priors 2018-Oct-31
2. Contrary to popular belief, fusion power generation is not really like the Sun 2014-Apr-21
3. Getting fat is a metabolic disorder. An evolutionary take on Paleo and Low Carb Diets. 2014-Apr-07
4. Mundane Science and SF are awesome. Please stop it with the invisibility cloaks and FTL. 2014-Mar-17
5. The Reproducibility Crisis in Science. Or, how I learned to stop worrying and love nukes with a side of bacon. 2013-Dec-09
6. Coal is so bad it makes fracking good 2013-Dec-02
7. GM Crops: The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good 2013-Oct-13
8. Living with a deep faith in science 2013-Jun-09
9. Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes 2013-Mar-10
10. Two Models of Why We Get Fat 2013-Mar-03
11. The (very slow) Rise of Scientific Materialism 2012-Oct-07
12. Higgs nightmare scenario – still good science 2012-Jul-15
13. Science on the cusp of mainstream 2012-Jul-08

1. The best place to look for aliens is in a galaxy far, far away. 2015-Apr-20
2. Avoiding “Sagan Syndrome.” Why Astronomers and Journalists should pay heed to Biologists about ET. 2013-Nov-25
3. Intelligent life is just getting started 2013-Sep-29
4. Snail mail to the stars 2013-May-19
5. So where are all the aliens? 2013-Feb-03
6. Life on Wet Planets 2013-Jan-27
7. Closing the astronaut window. Robots onward. 2012-Jul-22

1. The dream of AI has always been talking computers. General AI as prediction. 2016-Jun-09
2. Understanding AI risk. How Star Trek got talking computers right in 1966, while Her got it wrong in 2013. 2015-May-27
3. The Economics of Artificial Intelligence 2013-Jul-14
4. The Gradual Singularity 2013-Jul-07
5. Bees are to hives what neurons are to brains 2013-Jun-30
6. The debate on Strong Artificial Intelligence and conscious computers 2012-Oct-21
7. Consciousness and Free Will 2012-Oct-14

 

1. On the harsh reaction to Paul Graham’s post on inequality. Adapting Tyler Cowen’s laws to writing on the internet. 2016-Jan-12
2. Since cars replaced horses, won’t robots replace people? The future of technological unemployment. 2015-Dec-09
3. The current Perez tech cycle is software driven. Which is great, except now monopoly is eating the world. 2015-Nov-13
4. The algorithmic hand is replacing the invisible hand. But Hayek still applies. 2015-Jul-07
5. Internet economics is relentlessly pulling ebooks and libraries towards subscription streaming. 2014-Aug-18
6. Inequality, Piketty and Matthew Yglesias’ The Rent Is Too Damn High 2014-May-19
7. WhatsApp’s first year free model deserves to be emulated 2014-Mar-03
8. Internet pricing, Dungeon Keeper and the case for Minimum Viable Free Product (MVFP). 2014-Feb-10
9. Average is Over could use more focus on the Zero Marginal Cost Economics of software 2013-Dec-16
10. Business Models for Free Software 2013-Oct-27
11. The Future of Phones? Free Phablets! 2013-Sep-15
12. Economists agree on microeconomics, not macroeconomics. The public believes the opposite. 2013-Aug-04
13. MOOCs and the future of college 2013-Jul-28
14. The College “Bundle” and MOOC online learning 2013-Jul-21
15. Coupons will never, ever, ever go away 2013-Apr-28
16. College athletes should be paid 2013-Mar-31
17. Digital Economics: Content wants to subscription stream 2013-Mar-17
18. How much should we worry about the Population Apocalypse? 2013-Feb-18
19. Articles worth thinking about – Feb 2013 2013-Feb-10
20. Digital Economics: TV and cord cutting 2013-Jan-20
21. Digital Economics: Movies 2013-Jan-13
22. Digital Economics: The Zero Marginal Cost Economy 2013-Jan-06
23. Digital Economics: The Hollow Middle 2012-Dec-16
24. Repeal price gouging laws now. Why? Zombie apocalypse. 2012-Nov-18
25. On the total awesomeness of economist Scott Sumner 2012-Sep-09
26. Ricardo does the medal count 2012-Aug-19

1. Attempting a constructive take on the Sam Harris/Ezra Klein/IQ disagreement. The Nerd and the Manager. 2018-Apr-04
2. Homo naledi and the braided stream of humanity. It’s miscegenation all the way down. 2015-Oct-21
3. Let’s get real about Selfish Genes, Group Selection and Altruism. Towards a less impoverished view of humanity. 2014-Jan-20
4. Homo Erectus – not so different from modern humans 2013-Aug-25
5. In favor of the Super Early Anthropocene 2013-Aug-18
6. Race and IQ. Can’t we all just get along? 2013-May-26
7. What are the risks of a global pandemic? 2013-Mar-24
8. What sport are humans best evolved for? 2013-Feb-24
9. Perfect meritocracy replaces class with caste 2012-Nov-11
10. The Genomic Tsunami. Reshaping arguments for Human Equality. 2012-Aug-12
11. Genomics goes from trickle to flood 2012-Aug-05
12. Cheap genome sequencing – expectations and reality 2012-Jul-29

1. Why did boomer become an insult? Because the internet is shattering industrial era politics and culture 2019-Nov-19
2. The Asian discrimination lawsuit against Harvard won’t change admission rates. But it damages claims to meritocracy. 2018-Jun-22
3. Using Hannah Arendt to understand the Islamic State. And other recommended reads. 2015-Nov-24
4. Dan Kahan’s cultural cognition shows why climate-splaining is a fail. Plus applying it to Paul Krugman. 2014-Jul-21
5. The Ideological Turing Test. What it is. Why it’s worth taking seriously. 2014-May-27
6. Utopian Radicals Never Recant. Not 1960’s leftists. Not Tea Party rightists. 2013-Oct-06
7. Demonizing along your preferred axis 2013-Jun-16
8. Living with a deep faith in science 2013-Jun-09
9. Atheism as a sacred belief 2013-Jun-02
10. Politics are driven by urbanization as much as race 2013-May-12
11. Sometimes bad policy isn’t caused by red state/blue state, but by biased human cognition. 2013-May-05
12. Gay marriage is conservative 2013-Apr-07
13. The Long View on Violence and Gun Control 2012-Dec-23
14. The winding path to multi-ethnic democracy 2012-Nov-25
15. Understanding Republican Science Denialism. Haidt is right. Mooney is wrong. 2012-Nov-04
16. Partisan Incomprehension. “You didn’t build that” edition. 2012-Sep-02
17. Why did Paul Ryan lie about his marathon time? 2012-Sep-02
18. The Enduring Appeal of Ayn Rand 2012-Aug-26

1. Why is Christmas music so bad? Answer: 1950’s television. 2020-Dec-25
2. Why a new Star Trek is a bad idea, even though a new Star Wars is fine. Science Fiction ≠ Fantasy. 2015-Dec-18
3. Science Fiction movie priorities should be movie first, science second. Because movies are hard. 2015-Jun-29
4. Time to accept Frozen’s greatness. And why not? John Lasseter modeled Elsa’s biggest scene. 2014-Jun-02
5. What Star Wars teaches us about being “wrong on the internet” 2013-Nov-10
6. This is my first Praxtime blog post on WordPress. Moved from Tumblr. 2013-Nov-03
7. Life hacking tips and tricks 2013-Oct-20
8. With some sympathy for Orson Scott Card 2013-Aug-11
9. Football, Boxing and head injuries 2013-Apr-14
10. Why is Christmas music terrible? Answer: 1950’s television. 2012-Dec-09
11. Advice on home stereo gear 2012-Dec-02
12. Adventures at Safeway 2012-Jul-15

Image credits: technology, science, aliens and space, ai and neuroscience, digital economics, evolution and genomics, politics, pop culture.