Interesting Links for 02-04-2019

[andrewducker]

Dubstep artist Skrillex could protect against mosquito bites

(tags:music mosquito sound )

Scotland's groundbreaking new domestic abuse law comes into force

(tags:Scotland abuse law GoodNews )

The Guardians of the French Language Are Deadlocked

(tags:language France )

The sexes don't feel pain the same way

(tags:gender pain )

China warned others not to attend UN meeting on Xinjiang human rights violations

(tags:rights china UnitedNations OhForFucksSake )

Bookmakers accused of bypassing FOBT rules with roulette-style games

Would one alternative be to ban gambling on random number generators? Insist on games having some kind of skill involved?
(tags:gambling uk )

I know almost nothing about console emulators or graphics, but I found this fascinating and deeply impressive nevertheless

(tags:emulation consoles graphics )

More publications should give this kind of advice on pitching stories to them

(tags:journalism advice )

Canada warming at twice the global rate (three times, in its North)

(tags:Canada globalwarming doom )

Comments

Would one alternative be to ban gambling on random number generators? Insist on games having skill

[jack]

Good suggestion, but I'm sure somewhere has those laws because I remember people arguing about some kind of game (probably the sort of charity "guess the number of X with no information" thing but I'm not sure) counted as a game of skill or not.

I know the SORT of thing I want to allow: raffles and guess-the-X at fetes, and (on the cusp) buying random packs of MTG cards. And betting on live sports at reasonable odds. And the sort of thing I think is harmful, the sort of thing that just pushes the "addiction" button with little added fun. But I'm not sure how to codify that.

Re: Would one alternative be to ban gambling on random number generators? Insist on games having ski

[andrewducker]

I'm not actually sure about Magic cards, to be honest (and definitely unsure about Hearthstone cards).

Possibly an entirely separate gambling license for village fetes. Which was the only kind allowing random numbers. And had a ceiling of £10 per weekly event per person.

Notes on Several Items of Interest

[dewline]

5. Xi Jinping and company are meddling to protect their abusive behaviour. This is clear. The Uighurs, Tibetans and other groups enduring similar treatment deserve better. So does mainland China's peoples as a whole.

9. Hence my seeking a place to scream last night.

Meanwhile, SNC-Lavalin and its sequels are sucking the political oxygen out of the room, and the Oil-Alt-Rightists of Scheer and Bernier are looking to distort whatever discussion and action is still going on re: this issue.

advice on pitching stories

[calimac]

That's impressive: actual real examples of how to do it right. Not lists of "don't do this and that" or even "do do this and that." If I had even the remotest interest in the kinds of articles they publish, this would be inspiring.

Re: advice on pitching stories

[hilarita]

Contrast to a video the FT put on its front page today, which contained very little of value about what sort of thing they wanted.

[doug]

Saw this and thought of you - actual field research on timing of door closures on the tube. If you leave too short between beep starting and doors closing, people get stuck; if you leave too long, they try it on and also get stuck - there's a sweet spot in the middle.
https://www.railengineer.co.uk/2019/01/30/timing-of-door-closing-how-critical-is-it/

Re: Notes on Several Items of Interest

[chickenfeet]

You can throw Drug Fraud in with Scheer/Bernier. I'd suggest a bottomless pit.

[del]

I have a peeve about pedestrian crossings which go Red/DDN'T WALK long before the staionary vehicles are allowed to start. It just trains people to try jumping out into traffic.

Re: Notes on Several Items of Interest

[dewline]

Them, Jason Kenney, Scott Moe, and a few others...

[andrewducker]

Thank you, that was fascinating!

Fixing Gambling

[birguslatro]

The obvious solution is for state-run gambling machines where the users, over time, at least break even, or even profit ever so slightly from their addiction. This would put the commercial ones out of business, as the state run ones would be the better bet for the gamblers. It wouldn't stop the gamblers from wasting their time, of course, but would cut down on the harm caused by them spending more than they make from their gambling.