Category: Facebook

https://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-anita-sarkeesian-cancels-utah-speech-20141014-story.html

Not content with systematically harassing critics and female game developers and making them fear for their own lives, the “Gamergate” … I hesitate to call it a movement, or a discussion … has reached a new low: Threatening *mass murder* in order to intimidate someone into silence.

On Facebook

https://comicsalliance.com/archie-comics-dark-horse-archie-meets-predator/

And I thought Archie Meets the Punisher was a bizarre crossover idea.

On Facebook

https://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-megadrought-20141006-story.html

Interesting: a computer simulation shows how California might survive a decades-long mega-drought without collapsing or emptying out. More importantly, it suggests that the state *could* adapt. We just have to actually do it.

On Facebook

How the drought has changed water use in Southern California

I can't say I see a lot of this change in my area, though I do see the occasional lawn replaced by native (or at least less thirsty) plants, or allowed to get a bit more scraggly than usual.

https://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-water-year-20141001-story.html

It's New Year's Day for California's water planning. The past year hasn't been great.

On Facebook

The Ultimate Retaliation: Pranking My Roommate With Targeted Facebook Ads

On the surface, it's a brilliant prank: he found a way to create a custom targeted audience of just one person, about whom he knew more than Facebook's ad system did. But it shows the potential for online harassment, especially since it ties in with our fears about online privacy.

Ring Around the Rainbow

Great photo: It’s rare to see a circular rainbow because usually we see them from the ground, and there aren’t enough raindrops below the horizon to produce a lower arc. But from a high enough vantage point (say, in an airplane or helicopter), with the right rain and sun conditions, you can see a full circle.

Why More Trees in the Sierra Mean Less Water for California

Unintended consequences: Decades of suppressing fire in the Sierra Nevada mountains have led to overgrown forests, which reduces runoff into the rivers and reservoirs used by the rest of the state because the extra trees are using more water.

Independent bookstores rising: They can’t compete with Amazon, and don’t have to.

On Facebook

Autism Prevalence Unchanged in 20 Years

Interesting: One of the ongoing questions about the rise in autism spectrum cases is how much is an increase in diagnosis (not to mention expanding definitions, but that’s easier to adjust for) and how much is an increase in actual prevalence. A new study looks at data worldwide from 1990 to 2010 and finds that the rate has actually remained constant across that time. That suggests that the rise in documented cases is almost entirely due to better diagnostics.

Comcast Wi-Fi serving self-promotional ads via JavaScript injection

The practice raises security, net neutrality issues as FCC mulls Internet reforms.

Comcast is modifying websites that you access through their hotspots.

On Facebook

10 Uses for Baking Soda: Guidelines for Cleaning Your Bathroom

And yet no one ever says, “You can clean your toilet with baking soda? Eeew! Imagine what it does to your stomach!”

It turns out that El Niño years don’t correlate very strongly with wet winters, unless you only look at the strongest El Niños.

Los Angeles Isn’t London, and Other Things that are Wrong with California

It’s a bit late for the zillions of suburban houses already in existence here, but yeah, there are definitely other home designs than solid-box-with-a-lawn that would be more suitable to the California climate.