Idle Analytics» General

An illuminating trip to the Microsoft store

Reuben — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 05:26:02 +0000

Microsoft has, as you may know, released a piece of hardware called the Surface Pro 2. I own one. It's currently a doorstop, but I'm told it may compute once again maybe sometime tomorrow. What's sad is that the hardware isn't defective; the developers are. Specifically, MS pushed out a firmware update for the Surface …

Netflix streaming continues to founder as dozens of prominent movies are taken down

Reuben — Sat, 28 Dec 2013 21:37:57 +0000

As I've written before, Netflix streaming is not a particularly good deal if you want to actually watch movies that people want to watch. With the end of 2014, the streaming catalog is about to shrink yet again: For a while, it was also possible to find out what was expiring, information that was valuable …

Virtual reality is finally coming next year

Reuben — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 08:04:00 +0000

Virtual Reality has been a joke for years. For all the derision heaped on nonexistent flying cars, jetpacks, and cures for cancer, no seemingly straightforward bit of technology has been vaporware for so long. 1992's film The Lawnmower Man enticed us with the idea of entering a fictional world, a facsimile of Star Trek's Holodeck, …

Netflix streaming still a crap deal compared to disc plan

Reuben — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 06:00:28 +0000

Zap2It is out with a press release that Netflix streaming will now be expanding its vast collection to include ... a major network show that's been running for almost 9 years. Netflix, Inc. today announced an extension of its multiyear licensing agreement for select CBS library content streamed instantly to Netflix customers. Under the revised …

Georgia drivers die mostly because of yokels

Reuben — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 07:30:57 +0000

A huge traffic sign adorns the highway near my home, announcing the number of fatalities on Georgia roads this year so far (it's about 150). Moving here from California, knowing this is a small state, that seems like a lot, and it is. Here is the data from 2008 for both states (rates per million …

On admitting loss

Reuben — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 06:28:21 +0000

It's a regrettable fact that people who gravitate toward the morose are associated with a wretched underclass of people. Call them "downers", "goths", "emo kids", or what have you, these people spend an above average time thinking of death and loss. And what of it? Life is nearly entirely entwined with our relationship to loss. …

New PPP poll on Civil War outcome is a doozy

Reuben — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 19:40:43 +0000

In a poll released today, PPP revealed what southerners from former confederate states (Mississippi, North Carolina, and Georgia) think about the outcome of the Civil War. This is ugly. GA NC MS Glad North won 53% 48% 34% Wish South had won 23% 21% 27% Not sure 24% 31% 39% Looking at the crosstabs and …

Clear gender bias in American Idol voting

Reuben — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 08:23:17 +0000

If it seems like American Idol always turns into a sausage fest, it's probably because it really does. If you're a female singer, you have only slightly more than a 30% chance of reaching the top 2 under the current rules. I compiled data from Wikipedia on the gender makeup of remaining finalists on all …

Notes on "Diary of a Very Bad Year"

Reuben — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 23:41:26 +0000

I've just finished Diary of a Very Bad Year: Confessions of an Anonymous Hedge Fund Manager, which I highly recommend. It's a detailed and mostly accessible discussion of the financial crisis, the reasons it happened, and the fallout, as told by an anonymous hedge fund manager. Along the way, you pick up lots of information …

Post election thoughts

Reuben — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 23:16:15 +0000

There are many ways to view this election. Most of them aren't that bad.