@mark_e_evans

86 Followers
281 Following
190 Posts
Telling jokes into the void.
Newsletterhttps://magpie.buttondown.com
linkedinhttps://linkedin.com/in/markenglehartevans
Pixelfed @Mark_Evanshttps://pxlmo.com/i/web/profile/514391804932084046
mark_e_evansSep 17, 2023

Lupe Fiasco's latest release is a LLM collab with Google - you read that right.

New Yorker has a deep-read about all the experts who are uncomfortable with our unofficial boy-king Elon Musk controlling critical battleground technology

and 3 more internet oddities in this issue of Shiny Things. #newsletter
https://open.substack.com/pub/magpiechronicles/p/shiny-things-27?r=s6t&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

shiny things 27/

even an LLM won't make me a good rapper

the Magpie Chronicles
mark_e_evansSep 10, 2023
Shiny sports! Magisterial Messi, Baseball in Bhutan and a bunch of unrelated shiny things from the junk drawer of the internet https://open.substack.com/pub/magpiechronicles/p/shiny-sports-26?r=s6t&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Shiny Sports! 26/

The Messi spectacle comes to America

the Magpie Chronicles
mark_e_evansJul 12, 2023
It’s hard to argue against the dominant narrative: The case for carbon central banks, a brilliant essay by an old friend, grumpy professors “telling it how it is”. #keeppushingthatrock
Magpie Chronicles 16/ https://open.substack.com/pub/magpiechronicles/p/shiny-things-16?r=s6t&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
Shiny things 16/

subverting the dominant narrative is hard work

the Magpie Chronicles
mark_e_evansJun 29, 2023
In this issue we imagine a world where every national anthem is a Slow Jam. Oh yeah.
also:
/ Adult Fans of Lego community has a serious sabotage & revenge drama going on
/ A niche economist with theories about price controls vs inflation has gone from pariah to 'they really might be on to something' in a matter of weeks.
/ inherent data bias is worse than you think
/ I was once too lazy to get Homer Simpson's job at America's only nuclear reactor run by undergrads.
https://magpiechronicles.substack.com/p/shiny-things-12
shiny things 12/

What if all national anthems were Slow jams?

the Magpie Chronicles
mark_e_evansApr 13, 2023

everyone loves when the little guy beats the house, right?

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2023-how-to-beat-roulette-gambler-figures-it-out/

Gambler Who Beat Roulette Found Way to Win Beyond Red or Black

For decades, casinos scoffed as mathematicians and physicists devised elaborate systems to take down the house. Then an unassuming Croatian’s winning strategy forever changed the game.

Bloomberg
mark_e_evansMar 19, 2023

An oral history of #VisualBasic. This kind of stuff is catnip to me

https://retool.com/visual-basic/

Something Pretty Right: A History of Visual Basic | Retool

How Visual Basic became the world’s most dominant programming environment, its sudden fall from grace, and why its influence is still shaping the future of software development.

mark_e_evansMar 18, 2023

and now for something completely different. reading the @publicdomainrev is like watching a old, sentient library hiccup out underappreciated bits of history.

https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/munsell-atlas

*Atlas of the Munsell Color System* (1915)

Munsell envisioned his atlas as a system akin to musical notation, which would liberate visual description from commercially-driven colour names.

The Public Domain Review
mark_e_evansMar 18, 2023

in a matter of years, your choice of AI tool / partner will be a core part of your identity and your community. It will start as a defining trait, like religion or your favorite sports team. Then it will fade to be... toothpaste. important to you, mostly invisible to others, but obvious if you have none.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/03/anthropic-introduces-claude-a-more-steerable-ai-competitor-to-chatgpt/

Anthropic introduces Claude, a “more steerable” AI competitor to ChatGPT

Anthropic aims for "safer" and "less harmful" AI, but at a higher price.

Ars Technica
mark_e_evansMar 17, 2023

"The findings are the strongest evidence to date that we share parts of our microbiomes with the people we spend the most time with. The fact that the authors were able to see this pattern of transmission across the globe, and not just in a single population, was 'striking,' "

https://www.quantamagazine.org/global-microbiome-study-gives-new-view-of-shared-health-risks-20230314/

Global Microbiome Study Gives New View of Shared Health Risks | Quanta Magazine

The most comprehensive survey of how we share our microbiomes suggests a new way of thinking about the risks of developing some diseases that aren’t usually considered contagious.

Quanta Magazine
mark_e_evansFeb 19, 2023
I love everything about these. https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/yaggy-geographical-maps
Levi Walter Yaggy’s Geographical Maps and Charts (1887/93)

Two series of elaborate educational charts, featuring illuminated cutaways and chromolithographic layers, which demonstrate their creator's belief that wonder is the helpmate of learning.

The Public Domain Review