The video in the article has some good footage too. The “why is there bright light when I am nocturnal?!” face is a mood I felt on a deeply personal level.

I appreciate you

For sure, I just get antsy when peer review doesn’t come from from external sources

1 patient, T2 since mid-30s and now 59, had kidney transplant 2017 after end-stage diabetic nephropathy and fucked glucose control since 2019. The successful cells were endoderm stem cells from him cultivated by mice they injected with his PBMCs that they then made diabetic. So not from cadavers (except mouse cadaver i guess), which is the actual new part here. Intrahepatic implant, and cells from unrelated donor failed that were embedded at the same time. His personalised mouse-donor cells worked well enough to take him off insulin 3 months later.

Wu, J., Li, T., Guo, M. et al. Treating a type 2 diabetic patient with impaired pancreatic islet function by personalized endoderm stem cell-derived islet tissue. Cell Discov 10, 45 (2024).

It’s good news, but you’re entirely correct that the article missed the point entirely. Thanks for the crash course in islet cell therapy!

Hm, 5 year old journal, with the editor board, funding and half of the authors all from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, but significant hospital contribution. I remain skeptical of the headline but hopeful of the science.

Looming? Sudan is past the looming stage. When do known verified atrocities reach “current reality” status?

I once looked at a job listing for something with very specialist technical knowledge in specific programming areas, for a Japanese company based in Tokyo (pre-covid so remote wasn’t really a thing yet). Pretty niche stuff and needed at least basic Japanese language skills too, so I assumed it would pay ok - even if it wasn’t good or great in comparison with jobs where i was.

After conversion it worked out to be around USD$40k a year, which is probably just over 1/3 of what it would pay at minimum elsewhere. More like 1/4 or less for Silicon Valley type locations, but the rent for a tiny Tokyo shoebox is about the same price even if food is a cheaper. There was no way I was applying for that.

It isn’t just about a weak yen, it’s much more about hugely underpaying people.

It starts before birth. Low socio-economic status affects the health of pregnant people, which in turn has consequences for foetal development. Stress is a big trigger for various latent congenital issues, and that’s one reason climate change is going to result in increased rates of disease.

Not just a defense witness, a former federal prosecutor. A judge had to tell a former federal prosecutor “And then if you don’t like my ruling, you don’t give me side eye and you don’t roll your eyes.” like he was a pouty teenager.

That’s probably it, thanks. Good to know it’s just a firmware issue too

Yep, got a Samsung evo 870 in there, still going strong for like a decade. The HGST spinner I have is also pretty longlived. Weren’t they bought out by WD though? I feel like I remember hearing that the quality has declined severely.

Having said that, I do also have a WD … black? In there that has also lasted. I will check out gold though, and the mx500

backblaze drive failure report

Excellent, this is what I was hoping to find again but i couldn’t remember the name. I also assumed it would be paywalled after all these years… if I could even get google to deliver the link.

Thanks a heap, you’ve been extremely helpful!

There’s a person who has been living a mostly normal life with 90% of his brain missing. Perhaps we could just re-examine society’s ableism and how we design our systems of government to allow single points of failure instead? RFK Jr. has terrible opinions, but also had them before having a literal brain worm.

Dennett taught me how to find common ground with very different people in discussions which might otherwise be heated arguments. I was lucky enough to see one of his talks some years ago, and his work and methods are something I frequently think about even today. His writing style was playful and accessible, but it paled in comparison to his presentation which really demonstrated his abundant charisma. His passing is truly a huge loss in a world that increasingly needs his teachings. My condolences to his family and the communities he fostered.

Vale, Daniel C. Dennett. I hope I can continue to do even a shred of justice to your contributions.

Edit with link: Dennett (somewhat accidentally) created a community for interdenominational Christian clergy who are also secret atheists. It started with a research paper with interviews and some analysis of their similar/different experiences. Ignore the abstract if academic language isn’t your thing, the rest of the paper is a much easier and interesting read:

Dennett, D. C., & LaScola, L. (2010). Preachers Who are Not Believers. Evolutionary Psychology, 8(1), 122-150

very good mental healthcare

No, it’s just better than other places. It’s overstressed, underprioritised, acute-focussed and failing the population at large. Better than the US, even exponentially, doesn’t mean good.

Is that a forehead whisker? Is he unhappy about being a unicorn, or are you just not being prompt enough about food time?

This picture is my life goal. Content, comfortable and safe snoozing. Give winter a gentle pat for me, I wouldn’t want to wake them up.

Apex predator, so majestic

That is not a level of power I officially possess, but it is a level of power that I am able to unofficially implement for the people who solely report to me. I am also able to tailor their roles and responsibilities to whatever causes them the least pain because their job titles are extremely non-specific, which is very helpful for both of us.

Both manager and non-managers are economically coerced into providing our time and energy. I try my best to reduce that burden for as many people as I can without being noticed by the people who are willing to suck the life out of others for personal gain.

The people who are marginalised by the process are the ones who will be doing the real suffering.

Hobbies indicate interest and aptitude. Someone who collects things might enjoy jobs and tasks related to organisation but not necessarily enjoy highly collaborative work that requires many meetings, whereas someone who enjoys team sports might enjoy the more collaborative social meeting type work instead of solo detailed organisation etc.

It is far from the first thing I would use as a hiring choice, but it does give me an idea of questions I might ask someone to figure out what would make them happiest.