This crossed by Facebook crap feed this week. It is a fake, of course. The “rules” were written by author Charles Sykes in a couple of books he wrote. This has nothing to do with Bill Gates or even a high school. Did Bill Gates create a list of ‘Rules Kids Won’t Learn in School’? Source: Bill Gates High School Speech But thanks to social media, this was shared, Liked and re-shared again this past week.
Source: Seattle hits record high for income inequality, now rivals San Francisco The data presented in the article is correct. But it leaves out critical information for understanding what this means overall, or even if it means what it purports to mean. Almost 20 years ago in a graduate economics course we learned that the “static” view of income at an instant in time is not a full picture. Not surprisingly, incomes change over time, often by a lot. Consider…
Has the simple thumb-and-forefinger “OK” hand gesture become a white supremacist hand sign? Source: No, the “OK” Gesture Is Not a Hate Symbol says the Anti-Defamation League. Another day, another Internet meme – this time claiming that people making a popular “Ok” symbol with their thumb and index finger are actually expressing a symbol for “white power”. This in turn has been used to publicly accuse people who display the “ok” symbol as clandestinely flashing a white power symbol. All thanks…
Verge reports the Trump administration will drop a mandate to require all automobiles to contain automated vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems. The reporter writes Under the Obama administration, then-Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said V2V technology would greatly enhance autonomous driving technology to, “provide 360-degree situational awareness on the road,” and improve vehicle safety. [Emphasis added as the quote is about vehicle safety] and then follows that with: The Trump administration’s decision comes at a time when traffic fatalities in recent years have…
Who gets to be the censor? Crazily, Americans say they favor free speech and censorship! … the survey also found Americans willing to censor, regulate, or punish a wide variety of speech and expression they personally find offensive: 51% of staunch liberals say it’s “morally acceptable” to punch Nazis. 53% of Republicans favor stripping U.S. citizenship from people who burn the American flag. 51% of Democrats support a law that requires Americans use transgender people’s preferred gender pronouns. 65% of…
Facebook ads also reach 12 out of every 7 young adults in the U.S.! Facebook makes up their advertising reach numbers: According to Facebook, there are 41 million adults between the ages of 18 and 24. However, according to data from the U.S. census, there are just 31 million. Facebook also says there are 60 million between the ages of 25 and 34, while the U.S. census puts its estimate at just 35 million. Source: Facebook Claims It Reaches More…
This fake news nonsense came through my Twitter feed today. The story traces back to this fake news web site. Source: Fact check: Did Illegal Muslim From Iran Started California Wildfire – ayupp Answer: NO, the entire story is fake. Note that this item has been shared 471 times and liked 330 times on Twitter. Of the 105 comments, very few pointed out that its a fake news story. The photo, which is easy to cross check, is of a…
Disney has a secret army of mothers who flood the internet with Disney propaganda While this sounds like a big deal and “secret” and what not, it is just “astro turf” public relations. “Grassroots” organizing is when a group of people supposedly come together to promote something (often political or government policy related). The idea is that it is a movement that arose from the people. In reality, nearly all “grassroots” movements today are “astro turf” operations, carefully orchestrated and…
Most of us believe crime is getting worse. How often do we see yet another news report about car prowling, a break in, or especially, a violent crime? Probably every single day. Many TV news casts lead with murders and mayhem, followed by fires and auto crashes. What effect do you think this has on how you view the world? Pew Research took a look at the data and found that “public perceptions about crime in the U.S. often don’t…
Wow! …what Wood and Forest discovered was that sharing negative thoughts or feelings apparently made users less likable … …. “If you’re talking to somebody in person and you say something, you might get some indication that they don’t like it, that they’re sick of hearing your negativity,” Forest said. “On Facebook, you don’t see most of the reactions.” However, those with high self-esteem get more responses for negative updates than those with low self-esteem, the study found. Source: Your…