On Tinder and Foundational Myths

The Truth About Tinder and Women Is Even Worse Than You Think - Businessweek:

"’I'm sure Rad hates for anyone to know that. But the truth is the truth. Startups fail and succeed because of the real actions of their workers, not because of an agreed-upon myth created after the fact. Whitney Wolfe was part of the real creation of Tinder, and that deserves to be known."

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Go read the whole piece, it is very interesting.

Neil Degrasse Tyson on being Black, and Women in Science

Just watch and learn

The Wisdom of C-SPAN

Racists derail C-SPAN discussion on civil rights: ‘I think it’s time for white pride’:

“I think it’s time for white pride,” said one caller, who identified himself as “Joe in Ohio.” “We have built this country — Irish, Italians, Germans, Irish, wherever they have come from from Europe. No country in the world has produced what the white man has produced for every culture and race in America.”"

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Yes, there really are some asshats out there that think like this. I would like to think that eventually they will die off but the evidence seems to be to the contrary,

Great News - BBC Science Reporting Edition

BBC staff told to stop inviting cranks on to science programmes - Telegraph:

"BBC journalists are being sent on courses to stop them inviting so many cranks onto programmes to air ‘marginal views’
The BBC Trust on Thursday published a progress report into the corporation’s science coverage which was criticised in 2012 for giving too much air-time to critics who oppose non-contentious issues.
The report found that there was still an ‘over-rigid application of editorial guidelines on impartiality’ which sought to give the ‘other side’ of the argument, even if that viewpoint was widely dismissed."

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Now, we can only hope that this idea catches on over here. No, I am not holding my breath.

Yes. Homeopathy is quackery

Homeopathy was quackery in 1796, it was quackery in 1988, and it will still be quackery in 2096 – Respectful Insolence:

"Homeopathy, of course, rests on two principles. First, there is the idea that “like cures like,” which states that to relieve a symptom you should use a substance that causes the symptom in healthy people. The second idea behind homeopathy is that dilution makes the remedy stronger."

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Now, I want you to read those two principles a few times and tell me if they make any sense from what you know about how the world works. The best case scenario for homeopathy is that it  "works" in the same sense as a placebo "works".

And no, the fact that there are "Big Pharma" medications that are also crap does not excuse licensed pharmacies from selling homeopathic remedies. They are, simply put, knowingly defrauding their customers.

The Pet Rock of Apps

People Invested $1 Million In An App That Just Says 'Yo' | ThinkProgress:
 "It only took 8 hours to build the app, and the only thing it does is allow you to send the word ‘Yo’ to your friends. To many, it seems like a joke. But its inventor, Or Arbel, is totally serious. "

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Give me a break.