Interesting Links for 03-02-2018

[andrewducker]

Why 2017 Was the Best Year in Human History

(tags: GoodNews history poverty literacy )

Microsoft Office drains productivity by turning people into generalists

(tags: productivity microsoft Technology )

Gut Microbes Combine to Cause Colon Cancer

(tags: bacteria microbiome cancer )

If Workers Slack Off, the Wristband Will Know.

(tags: surveillance amazon )

How to avoid your name being mispronounced

(tags: names sound viaCipherGoth )

This perfectly horrifying Twitter bot combines erotic novels and video games

(tags: games romance_novels erotica Twitter funny )

What the EU wants from a deal with Britain

(tags: uk Europe )

Have Self-Driving Cars Stopped Getting Better?

(tags: driving automation )

Empty places: Where no one lives

(tags: maps population people )

Comments

[dewline]

2. And yet I feel grateful for access to the modern suites of computer-assisted design and productivity tools. Example: I never thought I'd have so much fun getting paid to do research and fill in accounting-style spreadsheets with the results. And I'm learning a lot about the business world in the process.

4. Now this is a morale-killer tool. Sadists who prefer forgo informed consent from their targets will go for this like sharks after chum.

[andrewducker]

Oh yes. They're awesome tools. The problem largely comes from how they're used.

[calimac]

Microsoft generalist: But some of those acquired generalist behaviors save time and trouble. For instance, I find it far easier to look up and book plane flights myself than it ever was to discuss it on the phone with a travel agent, having them read off various options to me, which because of their complexity (time schedule, price differences, etc) I found it hard to keep in mind, and then figuring out which one I wanted, which is how I did it before it could be done on the Internet.

Pronouncing name: I'd actually heard of Senator Spong before, but not this story. Funny!

[andrewducker]

I agree that it can save a load of time. And having the option available for people to organise it themselves can be a boon.

[doug]

Can't remember if I opened this from your links or not (I thought I did but can't find it), but it seems very much like a thing you would like to link:
"Eight things more likely to kill you in 1970s Britain than today" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42324984

Note to self: bookmark this and post the graphs of the declines in workplace and road deaths next time someone talks about health and safety gone mad.

[andrewducker]

It's a great article. And will come in very useful next time someone talks about health and safety negatively near me.