Making DuckDuckGo your search engine

You can change your default search engine in a browser from one that follows you and records all your searches for sale to the highest bidder, to one that protects your privacy.

First, some articles on protecting your online privacy are at https://spreadprivacy.com/tag/privacy-newsletter. Articles include:

  • Privacy Mythbusting #4: I can’t be identified just by browsing a website. (If only!)
  • Privacy Mythbusting #5: I own my personal information. (Not as much as you think.)
  • Privacy Mythbusting #2: My password keeps me safe. (Not necessarily!)
  • Are Ads Costing You Money?
  • Are Ads Following You?

Instructions on changing your default search engine on a Mac:

Firefox: Firefox ➞ Preferences ➞ Search ➞ Default Search Engine and select DuckDuckGo.

Safari: ➞ Preferences ➞ Search ➞ Search engine and select DuckDuckGo.

Setting your default search engine in other browsers, or browsers under Windows, will be similar but probably a little more complicated. Click this: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=default+search+engine+windows to search for instructions.

Fighting bullshit

The Washington Post calls it “BS” in this informative article, but I’m willing to call it bullshit:

BS “involves language, statistical figures, data graphics and other forms of presentation intended to persuade by impressing and overwhelming a reader or listener, with a blatant disregard for truth and logical coherence.”…

A right-wing media site, for example, blared in a headline that several thousand DACA beneficiaries (undocumented children shielded from deportation by an Obama-era policy) have committed crimes against U.S. citizens, Bergstrom said. “But it’s an extremely low percentage of DACA recipients,” he pointed out. “Which means they’re being accused of crimes at substantially lower rates — massively lower rates — than American citizens. Of course the article doesn’t say that.”

Another example: there is an excellent (but probably spurious) correlation between pool drownings per year and the number of films that Nicolas Cage appeared in during that year:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/06/24/misinformation-is-everywhere-these-scientists-can-teach-you-fight-bs/

and the course:

https://www.callingbullshit.org/index.html

60 funniest pet tweets of 2020

For example, the dogslide: https://twitter.com/KalhanR/status/1342104105158926337.

Or “Today in Find the Cat:” https://twitter.com/katehinds/status/1269697161329082370. Hint: find part of the cat.

Lots more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/funniest-tweets-cats-dogs-2020_n_5fc80db8c5b602f56798a3cf. Note that clicking on a photo will give you a slightly enlarged version, you may find details that were outside the original photo’s margins.

“Source code” of Pfizer COVID vaccine

Non-trivial, as we programmers say, but this is a very clear description of how one COVID vaccine works. If you want to know the details, it’s complicated but fascinating. I was particularly intrigued by how much we understand and can manipulate at a very basic level of our own biology:

An mRNA vaccine achieves the same thing (‘educate our immune system’) but in a laser like way. And I mean this in both senses – very narrow but also very powerful.

So here is how it works. The injection contains volatile genetic material that describes the famous SARS-CoV-2 ‘Spike’ protein. Through clever chemical means, the vaccine manages to get this genetic material into some of our cells.

These then dutifully start producing SARS-CoV-2 Spike proteins in large enough quantities that our immune system springs into action. Confronted with Spike proteins, and (importantly) tell-tale signs that cells have been taken over, our immune system develops a powerful response against multiple aspects of the Spike protein AND the production process.

And this is what gets us to the 95% efficient vaccine.

https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/reverse-engineering-source-code-of-the-biontech-pfizer-vaccine/

Making better resolutions

This article looks like an excellent overview. The twelve steps:

How to make better resolutions

  • Commit to the change (an active resolution, not just a throw-away)
  • Be single-minded (especially given COVID’s distractions)
  • Act SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound)
  • Target behavior, not results (you can’t control the results)
  • Anticipate the triggers (and do something else when that happens)
  • Go public (share with friends or family)

How to stick to your resolutions

  • Remove temptation (stay away from them so you don’t have to resist them)
  • Make it easy to be good (veggies in the front of the fridge!)
  • Track your progress (monitor / record it)
  • Reward good behavior (with a treat!)
  • Find a support group (cheerleaders, not naysayers)
  • Get back on the horse (perfection is difficult, settle for excellence!)

Full article here: https://www.newsweek.com/2021/01/08/12-scientifically-proven-ways-succeed-your-new-years-resolutions-1555410.html.

Dave Barry Year in Review 2020

2020 was one long, howling, Category 5 crapstorm.

We sincerely don’t want to relive this year. But our job is to review it. If you would prefer to skip this exercise in masochism, we completely understand.

If, however, you wish, for some sick reason, to re-experience 2020, now is the time to put on your face mask, douse your entire body with hand sanitizer and then — to be safe — don a hazmat suit, as we look back at the unrelenting insanity of this hideous year, starting with …

https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2020/12/27/dave-barrys-year-review-2020

2020: Dumpster fire

Normally as the winter gets colder, we cheer ourselves up by lighting a warm fire in the fireplace, or at least watching one on TV. But this year? 2020? Hah. For this year, we have a one-hour video of a dumpster fire… literally.

Watch for: at 2:40 the 2020 planner going in; 9:00 hand sanitizer; 12:00 stockings hung; 15:00 toilet paper; 21:00 Zoom meeting request; 23:15 a tie; 25:00 a bra; 29:00 face masks; 35:15 wiping the poker down with a cleaning wipe; 36:45 the wipes go in; 38:30 an OPEN/CLOSED sign; 41:00 stale rolls; 45:20 a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle; 51:30 printed-out emails and a travel bag.

Includes traditional holiday music like Jingle Bells and Silent Night.

Further notes from This is True: “…a 2020 appointment book, hand sanitizer, face masks. “The sourdough starter was hilarious to me,” said managing partner Karissa Anderson, “because I couldn’t get mine started for the life of me.” Airline tickets and a suitcase represented cancelled plans; a jigsaw puzzle stood in for boredom. The hard part, Anderson says, was getting a fire to burn in a dumpster for a full hour: her dad had to weld up a custom dumpster with a grate as the bottom so it could pull up air to feed the flames.”

Or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_2JMlfl_M8 in a new tab.

2020 election map

XKCD has an intriguing map of where Democratic and Republican voters were. It’s a lot more evenly distributed than you might think: https://xkcd.com/2399/. Remember to hover your mouse over the graphic for more information.

Oh wow! CNN picked this up! “This is the best map of the 2020 election you’ll see: Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large”: https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/17/politics/donald-trump-joe-biden-2020-election/index.html. (I almost beat CNN!)