In particular, some form of the Basic Income. \u00a0Matt Zwolinski of Bleeding Heart Libertarians\u00a0makes the case for, including a couple of different forms it might take, and quotes from both Friedman and Hayek in support of the idea: Both Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek advocated for something like a Basic Income Guarantee as a proper […]<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

We posted a video last week about the basic principles of Bitcoin. \u00a0Here’s a detailed explanation for the layman of how Bitcoin’s cryptography works. Understanding the details of the Bitcoin protocol opens up otherwise inaccessible vistas. In particular, it\u2019s the basis for understanding Bitcoin\u2019s built-in scripting language, which makes it possible to use Bitcoin to […]<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

According to the Wall Street Journal: Islamist fighters ran the top Western- backed rebel commander in Syria out of his headquarters, and he fled the country, U.S. officials said Wednesday. The Islamists also took over key warehouses holding U.S. military gear for moderate fighters in northern Syria over the weekend. The takeover and flight of […]<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

Jonathan Turley, the liberal law professor who spoke of Obama’s being “the threat the Constitution was designed to prevent,” wrote about the rise of the bureaucratic state earlier this year: This \u00a0growth since the founding has led to increasing power and independence for agencies. The shift of authority has been staggering. The fourth branch now […]<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

That’s what happens when 70% of doctors don’t join your exchange: An estimated seven out of every 10 physicians in deep-blue California are rebelling against the state\u2019s Obamacare health insurance exchange and won\u2019t participate, the head of the state\u2019s largest doctors\u2019 association said. … \u201cEnrollment doesn\u2019t mean access, because there aren\u2019t enough doctors to take […]<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

Also, some instruction on camera angles and perspective. \u00a0Shot from a distance, I think it might look bleaker and less pleasant.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

The latest Preservation Battle at Gizmodo: Last month, officials in New York determined that it would cost\u00a0$53 million to fix and restorethe New York State Pavilion, the series of hulking space-age structures built in Flushing Meadows Corona Park during the 1964-65 World’s Fair. Should these deteriorating ruins be preserved? That seems like a lot of […]<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

So far, they’ve been plastic. \u00a0The results are pretty robust, but metal is a whole ‘nother ballgame: Now, scientists have built an open-source 3D metal printer that costs under $1,200, sharing their design and software with the maker community. “We have open-sourced the plans,” in the hopes of accelerating the\u00a0technology\u00a0by allowing others to build upon […]<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

Who knew Al Gore was so into transistors?<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

The US Navy has launched a drone from a submarine platform. \u00a0No word on whether they’re naming it after the birds that Noah sent out.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

The ESA GOCE satellite maps the earth’s local gravity, and shows that the March 2011 Japan earthquake left detectable changes in the earth’s gravity there.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

Courtesy of the e21 Project at the Manhattan Institute. \u00a0Basically they amount to making marginal systemic changes now in order to avoid crashing the system just in time for me to retire. \u00a0 They’re good ideas. Much of Paul Ryan’s budget strategy centered around getting discretionary spending off the table so we could focus on […]<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

Brick-and-Wood at its best: Two problems: first, it’s in San Francisco, which means it’s completely unaffordable unless you own Oracle; \u00a0second, as with so much modern interior design, it’s beautiful because it’s empty. \u00a0Nobody actually lives this way.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

From Tyler Cowen: The bottom decile actually has done quite well in terms of rates of change, but the 6th through 8th deciles have done especially poorly (same link).\u00a0 That source serves up the intriguing hypothesis that the disappearance of middle class-earning middlemen in the Israeli economy is due to the disintermediation of the internet, […]<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

A new Wal Mart just opened in Washington, near\u00a0the old downtown shopping district. \u00a0They get 38 applications for every position, and Mark Perry notes that it’s more from hope than desperation. Too bad, though, that they didn’t take Garfinckel’s old location. \u00a0Would have driven people like Jonathan Singer up the wall.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

Innovation, of course: The\u00a0WSJ has an article today\u00a0about innovation blowing up the commodity industry…. The price of nickel, a metal used to make stainless steel for everything from sauce pans to guitar strings, spiked past $50,000 a metric ton in 2007 from less than $10,000 just a few years earlier…. The innovation has sent nickel […]<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

From The Jewish Week‘s Gary Rosenblatt: Several weeks ago the Nathan Cummings Foundation, a stalwart in the Jewish philanthropic community for 25 years, announced that its new strategic plan calls for focusing on two specific areas: inequality and climate change…. In the past, about 20 percent of those funds were designated to Jewish groups and […]<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

Millennials Still Want Their Newspapers. \u00a0I think the headline overstates this considerably. \u00a0Of those from 18-34, 56% are reading their local paper online or in print, and 60% of that self-selected group consider it trustworthy. \u00a0Those are ridiculously low numbers compared even to 20 years ago, never mind 40 or 60. \u00a0It’s taken a long […]<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

Tech, oil, and…lawyers? I don’t know if 33rd in the country is “impressive, though.”<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

National Geographic Google-Maps 500 of its own maps. \u00a0You can search on a location, and then zoom in and out. \u00a0The link has a couple of maps to explore, but it’s unclear how you get to the other maps they’re digitizing.  <\/div>\n<\/li>\n

From Hi Fructose: Alan Sailer, a microwave engineer and photographer, creates remarkable photographs that capture, with incredible precision, the explosion of several objects as he shoots them with a pellet rifle.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

An Engadget review is lukewarm: Drawing on a flat surface is simple enough, however, and tracing seems a pretty good place to get started with the new tool. Lay a thin piece of paper over a well-defined image and go to town…. The trouble starts when you attempt to draw in the air. You’re essentially […]<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n