first Derivative [7]
Weekly Highlights (max 10). Basically what I found interesting. Not necessarily the big-ticket items. A focus on drawing out trends and including some more 'out-there' pieces.
There's a big problem with AI: even its creators can't explain how it works
Last year, a strange self-driving car was released onto the quiet roads of Monmouth County, New Jersey. The experimental vehicle, developed by researchers at the chip maker Nvidia, didn't look different from other autonomous cars, but it was unlike…
Meet Ezra Cohen-Watnick, Donald Trump's invisible man in the White House
The well-manicured Washington, D.C., suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland, is probably what President Donald Trump's supporters imagine when they whoop about draining the capital's “swamp.” A high-income enclave of Volvo-driving…
Statistical Significance Is Overrated
Ronald A. Fisher, one of the fathers of modern statistics, reportedly got on the nerves of many of his contemporaries. But if there's a reason we should be annoyed with Fisher today, it's for coining the misleading term “ statistical…
Texas student commits suicide after Title IX kangaroo court
If every other egregious example of a male student denied due process after being accused of sexual misconduct gets ignored – this one should not be. A male student who was accused of sexual harassment committed suicide just days after the…
Google Fiber Was Doomed From the Start
Just a handful of newsflashes have come home to me in such a way that I never forgot where I was when I heard them. Most were disasters, like the Challenger explosion or the attacks of September 11. In February 2010, I was sitting in my office in…