Comments for Grobstein http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog Dave Gottlieb's news, views and miscellaneous junk Tue, 15 May 2012 21:18:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on China: Rule by fake PhDs? (America: Rule by fake lawyers?) by Elisa http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=1291&cpage=1#comment-16630 Elisa Tue, 15 May 2012 21:18:58 +0000 http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=1291#comment-16630 "to burnish their resumes"? Malaprop alert! “to burnish their resumes”? Malaprop alert!

]]> Comment on Rule by lawyers by China: Rule by fake PhDs? (America: Rule by fake lawyers?) | Grobstein http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=978&cpage=1#comment-16626 China: Rule by fake PhDs? (America: Rule by fake lawyers?) | Grobstein Tue, 15 May 2012 17:13:47 +0000 http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=978#comment-16626 [...] recent Marginal Revolution post adds some complexity to my earlier post comparing the educational backgrounds of the respective rulers of China, America, an.... I had remarked on the tendency of Chinese top leaders to have advanced degrees in engineering and [...] [...] recent Marginal Revolution post adds some complexity to my earlier post comparing the educational backgrounds of the respective rulers of China, America, an…. I had remarked on the tendency of Chinese top leaders to have advanced degrees in engineering and [...]

]]> Comment on Do you need to know your TV to enjoy Family Guy? Why not? by Eduardo dos Santos http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=1255&cpage=1#comment-15144 Eduardo dos Santos Wed, 18 Apr 2012 23:04:53 +0000 http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=1255#comment-15144 As a TV-illiterate snob, I always felt they were aimed at me As a TV-illiterate snob, I always felt they were aimed at me

]]> Comment on This American Life and Mike Daisey’s Perfect Crime by Dave Gottlieb http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=1266&cpage=1#comment-14156 Dave Gottlieb Sat, 17 Mar 2012 19:47:39 +0000 http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=1266#comment-14156 Fat Mike has actually opened two restaurants in my neighborhood, <a href="http://www.taldebrooklyn.com/" rel="nofollow">one of which</a> is quite good. Fat Mike has actually opened two restaurants in my neighborhood, one of which is quite good.

]]> Comment on This American Life and Mike Daisey’s Perfect Crime by reality check http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=1266&cpage=1#comment-14155 reality check Sat, 17 Mar 2012 19:37:45 +0000 http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=1266#comment-14155 Fat Mike telling Fat Lies, now he's still fat but also rich! It pays to tell fat lies. Just ask Fat Mike. Fat Mike telling Fat Lies, now he’s still fat but also rich! It pays to tell fat lies. Just ask Fat Mike.

]]> Comment on @tejucole’s Rule of Sevens by sarang http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=1269&cpage=1#comment-13973 sarang Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:32:54 +0000 http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=1269#comment-13973 There have been previous outbreaks of this sort (including anti-Kristof rants, a theme close to my heart), but the rule of sevens is apparently a new thing. (I am tempted to invent a Cole's Law but am not sure what that would entail.) There have been previous outbreaks of this sort (including anti-Kristof rants, a theme close to my heart), but the rule of sevens is apparently a new thing. (I am tempted to invent a Cole’s Law but am not sure what that would entail.)

]]> Comment on Wireless gaming and driverless cars by Trey Doff http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=1254&cpage=1#comment-13638 Trey Doff Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:47:47 +0000 http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=1254#comment-13638 I'm actually writing (under Carcass Sunstein) a paper about the <i>built-in</i> consoles that will likely be included in self-driving cars. Because, according to industry professionals, it won't make sense for these cars to have separate computers for their gaming (etc.) and driving functions, there will be some tradeoff between driving and gaming performance. Of course, regulations will likely require car computers to allocate a certain minimum percentage of capacity to driving at all times (though I think there is a good argument that any market failure regarding safety would be trivial), so the most intense game (or video editing or whatnot) would only change the risk of driver error from, say, .0001% to .001%. But still! I’m actually writing (under Carcass Sunstein) a paper about the built-in consoles that will likely be included in self-driving cars. Because, according to industry professionals, it won’t make sense for these cars to have separate computers for their gaming (etc.) and driving functions, there will be some tradeoff between driving and gaming performance. Of course, regulations will likely require car computers to allocate a certain minimum percentage of capacity to driving at all times (though I think there is a good argument that any market failure regarding safety would be trivial), so the most intense game (or video editing or whatnot) would only change the risk of driver error from, say, .0001% to .001%. But still!

]]> Comment on Watching Fragments of Law & Order by Do you need to know your TV to enjoy Family Guy? Why not? | Grobstein http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=706&cpage=1#comment-13608 Do you need to know your TV to enjoy Family Guy? Why not? | Grobstein Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:40:54 +0000 http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=706#comment-13608 [...] I may be missing a lot of this. I haven’t seen a lot of TV, and when Family Guy makes reference to some canonical show I have usually never seen it (possible exception: Law & Order). [...] [...] I may be missing a lot of this. I haven’t seen a lot of TV, and when Family Guy makes reference to some canonical show I have usually never seen it (possible exception: Law & Order). [...]

]]> Comment on Why does Language Log love “prescriptivism”? What does it even mean? by Elisa http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=1246&cpage=1#comment-13237 Elisa Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:37:37 +0000 http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=1246#comment-13237 Well, basically, a lot of people read Language Log and take it as an authority on all things language-y. If it was a radio show a la Car Talk instead of a blog, we'd see the same effect. Anyway, LL certainly does its share of "prescriptive" ranting, e.g. Pullum's ongoing comments-closed nonsense about journalists not knowing what "passive" means. Well, basically, a lot of people read Language Log and take it as an authority on all things language-y. If it was a radio show a la Car Talk instead of a blog, we’d see the same effect.

Anyway, LL certainly does its share of “prescriptive” ranting, e.g. Pullum’s ongoing comments-closed nonsense about journalists not knowing what “passive” means.

]]> Comment on Why does Language Log love “prescriptivism”? What does it even mean? by Dave Gottlieb http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=1246&cpage=1#comment-13236 Dave Gottlieb Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:47:48 +0000 http://www.davegottlieb.com/blog/?p=1246#comment-13236 <blockquote>But I’m not sure what blogginess has to do with any of this, honestly.</blockquote> The connection to "blogginess" is that the recurring LL feature of tweaking "prescriptivists" has (in my speculation) lead to the vernacular adoption of "prescriptivism" as a kind of tribal term of abuse. It's possible that I just hang out in places where this happens much more than you do.

But I’m not sure what blogginess has to do with any of this, honestly.

The connection to “blogginess” is that the recurring LL feature of tweaking “prescriptivists” has (in my speculation) lead to the vernacular adoption of “prescriptivism” as a kind of tribal term of abuse.

It’s possible that I just hang out in places where this happens much more than you do.

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