Interesting Links for 30-06-2014

[andrewducker]

• Facebook manipulated users' moods in secret experiment to show bad moods spread
  (tags: psychology manipulation emotion Facebook )
• 'Bad' video game behavior increases players' moral sensitivity: May lead to pro-social behavior in real world
  (tags: games behaviour psychology morals )
• Cliff Slip and Slide! 50 Feet! In 4K! (Looks like way too much fun

Comments

[philmophlegm]

Oh, I was agreeing with everything in that grammar article until right at the end, when he argues that "I could care less" means exactly the same as "I couldn't care less". I've never understood that - in fact it's massively confusing. Surely "I could care less" has to mean "I care a lot"?

[cartesiandaemon]

I find it really hard to let that one go. I generally prefer language which seems logical to me. But I think the same logic applies, that I can specify in which direction I prefer language to drift, but once it has drifted, even if the original usage was a mistake, that's what the phrase means now and there's no point complaining about it, just like all the words which I grew up with, but a 100 years ago people might have complained about...

[andrewducker]

Yeah, logically so.

But I assume it's supposed to be said with an inflection that indicates sarcasm, and thus that it means the opposite.

Or, possibly, that that was the original usage, and now it's drifted.

It's more common in America though, so I don't bump into it often.

[cartesiandaemon]

The sarcastic reading doesn't really make sense to me. Somehow it feels like if someone were being sarcastic, they'd say "oh yes, I definitely care about that", or similar, "I could care less" just sounds odd. I'm more convinced that people just repeated "I couldn't care less" and then shortened it. But that might just be because it's what I'm used to.

Plan to merge NI and Income Tax

[cartesiandaemon]

I'm really torn. I think simplifying the two different taxes actually is a really good idea because any simplification is better, and because income tax is more progressive than NI. But I also think that it makes it much easier to view unemployment benefits as a luxury to be cut, not something people have paid for and are entitled to, which is really bad.

In fact, I wonder if this is one of the policies which originated as a practical suggestion in HMRC somewhere, and politicians came out for it or against it based on their ideological speculations.

Re: Plan to merge NI and Income Tax

[andrewducker]

Yup, I agree.

Although the idea that you're only entitled to benefits to stop you starving to death if you've previously worked is also one I object to.

Re: Plan to merge NI and Income Tax

[cartesiandaemon]

Yeah.

Re: Plan to merge NI and Income Tax

[fanf]

What worries me is that it could be turned into an opportunity to give everyone a massive pay cut.

To avoid that, I would prefer to see it done in stages (if it is done at all): first require pay slips to include details of the employer's contribution; then require gross pay to be increased to include all NI payments, with no change to net pay; and finally merge the taxes.

[philmophlegm]

I tried out Google Glass last week (one of my clients bought one*). Wasn't that impressed. Fiddly and awkward. Had to reposition the frame on my nose to see the screen (maybe that's just my nose). Touch controls on the frame seemed very inconsistent.

* Bought "one"? Bought "a pair"?

[andrewducker]

Yeah. I like the idea of something that's feeding you data easily and allows you to take photos without getting your phone out, but I'm not convinced that it actually adds enough value to be a success.

[philmophlegm]

The (admittedly creepy) killer app for this sort of device is the one that lets wearers take photos of girls on the beach without them noticing.

Lust and lechery drive many technological breakthroughs...

[franklanguage]

The link you have up for '7 bogus grammar 'errors' you don't need to worry about' is for a mobile page; for any of us reading it on desktops, here's the link:

http://theweek.com/article/index/240882/7-bogus-grammar-errors-you-dont-need-to-worry-about

Using average height as a proxy for poverty tells you something about the USA

[cartesiandaemon]

Yeah, that's really creepy. Although a couple of friends reckoned that the USA dip was likely to be due to immigration from central/south america where (I think?) average heights are lower, which also sounded plausible.

Re: Using average height as a proxy for poverty tells you something about the USA

[brixtonbrood]

Over the period of the height dip (which is pretty small in absolute terms - check the Y axis), the US population has moved from (roughly - and Hispanic definition is always tricky, hence non-100% totals)
90% white, 10% black, 2% Hispanic, 0% anything else
to
72% white, 12% black, 17% Hispanic, 11% something else

That's going to have a big impact on the average height of the nation.