Author Archives: Simon Penner

“He wrote this post, and then people were hurt. There appears to be no rational evaluation of how or why this happened. No consideration of other factors in play, and no meaningful allowance for any alternative explanations.”

“When I first moved to California there was dramatic culture shock. I come from Midwestern Canada, where things are quite a bit different. When I got here, I had a lot of adapting to do.”

Let’s play a game. Some of you may already know this game; if so, please don’t spoil it for everyone else.

A week or two ago I wrote up a post on Tumblr, entitled “What I Believe”. It was my attempt at a work-in-progress accounting of my politics, philosophy, and worldview. I’m cross-posting it here. Hopefully I can cajole the other … Continue reading →

True of all leaders, or should be https://t.co/4vLho7sx0c — Simon Penner (@simon_penn_r) January 15, 2017 Most people think about their superiors in the wrong way. Most people have this attitude, in politics, or business, or whatever, that the leaders are … Continue reading →

“As we’re all journalists now, the marginal cost of producing journalism is zero. Hey look, I’m doing it right here, right now! How much did you all pay me? Exactly.” A lot of technological innovation has followed the same pattern.

I’m a big fan of economic freedom. The freedom to buy and sell what I want, and to not buy and sell what I don’t want. And this is more than just a thinly veiled support of the free market. Private corporations … Continue reading →

Sometimes it feels like the world has jumped the shark. It’s 2016, and the world outside my door is starting to get stranger than the world behind my screen. Most of this year, it’s been a constant low-grade background of absurdity, but occasionally … Continue reading →

Look around you. Look around you. Look around you. Most websites don’t exist. When you type ‘google.com’ into Safari, you might think you’re visiting Google’s website server, but you would be wrong. “Google’s website server” is not a thing. Google, … Continue reading →

Today a friend of mine brought this article to my attention. It was also shared on Twitter, and you know how those things go. The article is pretty standard stuff; I swear they could generate these things with Markov chains.