Interesting Links for 09-04-2024

[andrewducker]

1. ScotRail named one of most reliable train operators in UK

(tags:trains scotland )

2. Long COVID still has no cure — so these patients are turning to research

(tags:research pandemic )

3. Giving money, well: '$5,000 to Save a Life Is a Bargain'

(tags:charity money )

4. Why two years and three months is the best age gap for siblings (alas, Gideon and Sophia are a month out from that)

(tags:age children psychology )

5. I tried Tesla FSD

(tags:review driving automation Tesla )

6. Would you like to know how good a job an AI can do of writing a rock song entitled "AI Took My Job"?

(tags:music ai Irony viaSwampers jobs )

Comments

[cmcmck]

six years and ten years between my brothers and me- that's what you get for having a military father!

Regarding Point 2:

[dewline]

I'm not surprised. The enforcement of disposability has to be fought.

[channelpenguin]

2. Gosh. I hope they find something. Long COVID is one of my worst health nightmares. A living death. A quick brain and a capable body IS what I am and how I earn and enjoy.

6. I've heard worse. I would have guessed a non-native English speaker, but not ai

2

[danieldwilliam]

I have a good pal who has ME. I was talking to him about Long Covid and he says that as lot of ME activism at the moment is about pointing out the similarities between ME and Long Covid and suggesting that ME probably has some sort of viral cause.

Re: 2

[dewline]

I've read of those suggested linkages of cause. I await further research news with great interest.

6.

[channelpenguin]

As a fellow music maker just said - I don't like this timeline, can I change to a different one?

Have listened to a few, prompted minimally and listened to what it made.

Most people will listen and not know or not care for films, games, background music.

I bet they sell to Spotify - this is precisely what that asshole wants.

Re: 6.

[andrewducker]

Yeah. And this is, frankly, very mediocre. But a lot of people won't notice mediocre music being mediocre.

[ninetydegrees]

4) I really don't like this kind of articles which mixes all kinds of different issues (health, academic success, emotional development) while ignoring some others (let's talk about how the first pregnancy went for exemple, whether the family has the same living and financial situation two years later) and give you broad generalizations with "ideal numbers" as if it was a magical recipe for success. I mean we have all kinds of interesting questions there: whether having an older sibling impact some of your learning skills, how and why does sibling rivalry develop (and how healthy/unhealthy can it be), what's the impact of pregnancy short-term/long-term, etc. They all deserve better that this.

[andrewducker]

Oh yeah, there are all sorts of reasons to aim for different ages. And I don't think there is one best age for everyone.

(I'm very happy with the age gap between Gideon and Sophia. Earlier and she wouldn't have been ready, later and they wouldn't play together so well.)

Sibling age gaps

[bens_dad]

As I child I heard that the rule/guide was "less than two (years) or more than three".

My hazy recollection is that this was so that the older one either was fully aware or completely unaware of the difference between them.

Now that I think about it, similar advice was given for the timing of sorting out Ben's extra thumb.

Full Self Drive

[bens_dad]

I can't imagine why anyone would want this level of automation, even if it worked perfectly.
If the car doesn't need my input at all: fine.
If I do every thing myself: fine. Everything ? I have an automatic choke, and I can see the point of an automatic gear box (though I'm not a fan), so cruise control: maybe.
But once it becomes any easier than that, avoiding the car in front and changing lane on its own, wont I find my concentration wandering, so that when it says "help" and gives me five or ten seconds to take over, will I be ready ? No thanks; if I need the car to do this for me I should not be driving.

So I'm not a bit surprised that few people have chosen to pay for this option.
If one of the other car manufacturers delivered this I would be surprised, or even shocked, but from all I've heard of Musk, the article says nothing surprising (though in a way that is entertaining to read).

[calimac]

4) Age gaps in my family were 3y4m, 2y0m, and 2y9m. I was eight when my youngest brother was born, which excited me because I was now old enough to help out (in trivial childish ways) which I hadn't been when the others were born. I had a rather distant relationship with that brother in childhood because of the age difference, but once we were both adults, shared interests and attitudes brought us closer.

[andrewducker]

Shared interests seem likely to have a big impact once you're old enough to have them.

[hutchingsmusic]

We almost got the two years and three months right! (Two years and 118 days... close enough)