This is the January 2015 edition of the Gwern.net newsletter; previous, December 2014.
This is a collation of links and summary of major changes, overlapping with Changelog. This broadcast has been brought to you by Def-Con Owl Traps (kills owls dead!) and my donors on Gratipay.
Writings
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A/B tests: no positive results from sidebar test; set up in-page metadata format
Media
Links
Genetics:
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Everything Is Heritable:
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Recent Evolution:
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“Rabbit genome analysis reveals a polygenic basis for phenotypic change during domestication”, et al 2014 (the power of selection—complex behaviors influenced by many small changes)
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Politics/religion:
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“Reactionary Philosophy In An Enormous, Planet-Sized Nutshell”
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“The Credibility Paradox: Violence as a Double-Edged Sword in International Politics”, Abrahms 201311ya (Why does terrorism so rarely succeed in policy goals compared to guerrilla warfare, and trigger backfire effects? Because use of terrorist tactics triggers the horns effect; given the same hypothetical, they are perceived as fundamentally hateful, unable to keep negotiated commitments, & intrinsically preferring violence.)
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“Blonde cargoes: Finnish children in the slave markets of medieval Crimea”
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“New poll finds majority of Americans believe torture justified after 9/11 attacks”
Statistics/AI/meta-science:
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“Framing For Light Instead Of Heat” (What do we mean by ‘controlling’ in statistics and is it what we think it means?)
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“Site Selection Bias in Program Evaluation”, 2014 (on one reason programs ‘fade out’; of particular concern in effective altruism)
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“Probable Points and Credible Intervals, Part 2: Decision Theory” (Bayesian search theory/optimization)
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“Kalkalash! Pinpointing the Moments The Simpsons became less Cromulent”
Psychology/biology:
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“Artificial Selection on Relative Brain Size in the Guppy Reveals Costs and Benefits of Evolving a Larger Brain”, Kotrschal et al 201311ya (fascinating little experiment—it’s odd the males showed no intelligence gain, and selecting on volume isn’t exactly what you want to select on, but I’d love to see what a larger experiment ran for more generations showed.)
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“Clinical outcome of preimplantation genetic diagnosis and screening using next generation sequencing”, et al 2014
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“Secrets of the Magus: Ricky Jay does closeup magic that flouts reality”
Technology:
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“Bitcoin and Me”, Hal Finney
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“The explosion of No. 5 Blast Furnace, Corus UK Ltd, Port Talbot”, 2001
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“The Darkhotel APT: A Story of Unusual Hospitality” (cyberwarfare)
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“Statistical Basis for Predicting Technological Progress”, et al 2013
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“Tokyo Polytechnic University Publishes Results of VOCALOID Study”
Economics:
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“A colourful history of progress” (the Industrial Revolution, synthetic dyes, and the environment)
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“Forget It!”, Isaac Asimov (on the benefits of standardization, illustrated by an old practical mathematics textbook.)
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“Study of Men’s Falling Income Cites Single Parents” (201311ya)o
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“Redistributing from Capitalists to Workers: The Chamley-Judd Impossibility Theorem”
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“Net benefits: How to quantify the gains that the internet has brought to consumers”
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“Beware of the survivorship bias: Investors may have developed too rosy a view of equity returns”
Philosophy:
Books
Nonfiction:
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Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History (see Yvain)
Fiction:
Film/TV
Anime:
Music
Misc:
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“COME SWEET DEATH,SECOND IMPACT” (Shiro Sagisu feat. Megumi Hayashibara; The world EVAngelion JAZZ night =The Tokyo III Jazz club= {2014}) [jazz]
Touhou:
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“Extend Ash ~ Hourai Victim” (Studio A’; BorderLine {C68}) [instrumental rock]
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“Shanghai Alice of Meiji 17” (樋口秀樹; BorderLine {C68}) [instrumental]
Doujin:
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“きつねうどん (Kitsune Udon)” (marasy; Kitsune no Nikkichou {C84}) [classical]
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“狐の日記帖” (marasy; Kitsune no Nikkichou {C84}) [classical]
Kantai Collection:
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“Happy Wedding” (BubbleRecords; SUMMER AIRCRAFT {C86}) [classical/electronic]
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“Goodbye Admiral” (BubbleRecords; SUMMER AIRCRAFT {C86}) [trance]
Vocaloid:
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“Sadness” (Miku? hitsuji; にこにこ {200915ya}) [progressive rock]
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“アマツキツネ (Amatsu Kitsune)” (marasy; Kitsune no Nikkichou {C84}) [classical]
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“天照ラセ (Amaterase)” (marasy; Kitsune no Nikkichou {C84}) [classical]
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“Helianthus” (Gumi; PlantyP; Silent Paradiso -EXTEND- {201311ya}) [trance]
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“Clarity (Planty Arrange)” (IA; PlantyP; Silent Paradiso -EXTEND- {201311ya}) [vocal]