Month: June 2023

The Declining Quality of Google Search is an Opportunity for Reddit and other Competitors

The ongoing Reddit blackout in protest of Reddit’s API pricing has an unlikely or unexpected victim, that being Google. This is because, similar to Wikipedia, Google drives a lot of traffic to Reddit from people using Google indirectly as a Reddit search engine. The quality of Google’s search results have gone downhill precipitously over the… Continue reading The Declining Quality of Google Search is an Opportunity for Reddit and other Competitors

Diversity Really is Our Strength? It Depends.

I saw this Richard Hanania article going viral, Diversity Really is Our Strength. He writes: Immigrants change urban areas more than they change the country as a whole. Even setting aside the problems with black urban areas, the two whitest major cities in the country are Portland and Seattle, not exactly conservative paradises. If you… Continue reading Diversity Really is Our Strength? It Depends.

Crime and Real Estate in California (separating hype from reality)

NYC Housing Market Report: Rent Prices Are Skyrocketting The median rental price for Manhattan is now at an average of $4,050, which is $800 over what it was just a year ago, according to the eye-opening June market reports compiled by Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel. Specifically, the average rental price in Manhattan has reached… Continue reading Crime and Real Estate in California (separating hype from reality)

Turkish Lira crashes, crypto crashes: right again. Mid-year recap.

Time for a mid-year recap post of all the predictions. The Turkish Lira crashed this week on Turkey’s newly appointed Finance Minister, Mehmet Simsek, ending the Turkish Central Bank’s costly scheme to prop up its currency. Just like I said would happen earlier this year: Prediction 1: Turkish stock market and ETF (ticker symbol: TUR)… Continue reading Turkish Lira crashes, crypto crashes: right again. Mid-year recap.

AI is not going to make things cheaper (hidden fees and costs will persist)

Marc Andreessen’s article Why AI Will Save The World went hugely viral. As to be expected, the tone is breathlessly optimistic. I agree that AI-doom fears are likely overblown and unfounded. The people who are championing this view have shifted the burden of proof to everyone else to prove why AI will not destroy the… Continue reading AI is not going to make things cheaper (hidden fees and costs will persist)

‘Snowflake’ as an insult has never made sense

The designation or descriptor of ‘snowflake’ as synonymous with weakness or fragility, or snowflake as an insult against the left, has never made much sense to me. The indefatigable desire to banish one’s ideological enemies/opponents from all corners of the internet and discourse, has never struck me as snowflake-like. The persistence and ruthlessness in identifying… Continue reading ‘Snowflake’ as an insult has never made sense

Why people may be better-informed than ever before

In the 2020 post “A post-truth era? Why Americans may be better-informed than ever,” I argue that despite the ‘fake news’ meme and ‘disinformation’, that technology and social media makes it easier for people to be informed. This is somewhat in agreement with articles by Scott Alexander and Richard Hanania defending the media as being… Continue reading Why people may be better-informed than ever before