Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Oddly Relevant Feb-7-2013


More on USPS’s Saturday service suspension: It’s all over the news, in case you haven’t picked it up yet. Goal’s to save $2 bn in cost per annum. In any case, in a test to see how long it takes to return 10 letters that cannot be delivered, USPS is the fastest to do so. [Note: Courtesy of Josh Shanker for the idea. A few more [long] articles if you care.] Source:

Obesity myths and research against them: They identified 7 myths to be inaccurate, so to speak, such as small sustained increases in energy intake or expenditure, establishment of realistic goals for weight loss, rapid weight loss, etc. [Note: who knows, science thought smoking was healthy 50 years ago, or maybe it is?]…Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/02/06/everything-you-believe-about-obesity-is-probably-wrong/

The fact that LeBron is underpaid might have made him richer: underpaid measured performance and revenue-genertion-wise, of course. Here’s the argument: capping salaries prevents the league from turning into a rich mens’ arms race, gives smaller teams chances, boosts overall popularity, and allows the super-stars to reap enhanced-marketing benefits via corporate contracts. [Note: I agree, and this is a enlightening case where a well thought-out ecosystem is better than deregulated ones; something to think about]…Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/02/lebron-james-is-underpaid-and-that-might-just-make-him-richer/272797/

The philosophy of data: Dataism, the belief that everything that can be measured should be measured, is on the rise alongside the explosion of information. It has its merits at (1) exposing where intuition view is wrong and (2) illuminating patterns we haven’t yet noticed.
Note: he left us hanging there—by not delving into where data fails, where, in my opinion, such situation occurs when (1) logics and conclusions are casually drawn, (2) the prediction and corresponding actions change the logical nature and renders the pattern obsolete, and (3) applying dubious models and assumptions without proper understanding. It’s an exciting age of data ahead, but more of it does not imply better insight and understanding of the world around us.

Federal Reserve hacked: 4000 bank executives’ detail are claimed to be stolen on Sunday. Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/feb/06/federal-reserve-anonymous

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