Author: tsprad

Religious belief appears to have negative influence on children’s altruism and judgments of others’ actions even as parents see them as ‘more empathetic’

Source: Religious children are meaner than their secular counterparts, study finds | World news | The Guardian

Prof Krugman says “I told you so” yet again.

one striking aspect of the past few years has been how few people are willing to admit having been wrong about anything. It seems all too possible that the Very Serious People who cheered on disastrous policies will learn nothing from the experience.

Source: Austerity’s Grim Legacy – The New York Times

start asking really great questions. Be intensely curious. Listen with the goal of understanding.

Source: Start Listening to Burnish Your Reputation as a Trusted Adviser – The New York Times

I ditched my old consumer Wi-Fi for an enterprise solution—and I’ll never go back.

Source: Review: Ubiquiti UniFi made me realize how terrible consumer Wi-Fi gear is | Ars Technica

Source: Those Aren’t Fighting Words, Dear

Just wanted to save a link to this.

 

Microsoft is literally trying to annoy me into upgrading to a new operating system that I’m just not ready for. The Get Windows 10 app is evil software, and I don’t like the precedent that it sets, particularly given how successful it’s apparently been at accomplishing Microsoft’s objectives.

Source: Ultimate Outsider: Using GWX Control Panel (formerly GWX Stopper) to Permanently Remove the ‘Get Windows 10’ Icon

Yep, this whole article ends in an irony: Microsoft is pushing me to upgrade my Windows 7 machine, but because the upgrade nag is breaking, I’m not going to upgrade. And I’m not upgrading my Mac because… wait for it… Microsoft software can’t handle the upgrade.

Source: Dear Microsoft: Please stop breaking my perfectly good Windows 7 | ZDNet

Modern software is completely out of control.  It’s gotten far too complicated to ever be correct, let alone secure.  smh

 

B. F. Skinner’s notorious theory of behavior modification was denounced by critics 50 years ago as a fascist, manipulative vehicle for government control. But Skinner’s ideas are making an unlikely comeback today, powered by smartphone apps that are transforming us into thinner, richer, all-around-better versions of ourselves. The only thing we have to give up? Free will.

Source: The Perfected Self – The Atlantic

Atheism, like any ideological position, has political and moral consequences. As nonbelievers become a more self-conscious subculture, as they seek to elect their own to high office and refute the fear that a post-Christian America will slide into moral anarchy, they will need every idea their tradition offers them.

Source: Wanted: A Theology of Atheism – The New York Times

Source: What Happens Next Will Amaze You