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The True Complexity of Civilization

I found this article some time ago, and I just rediscovered it by accident. So. I ask: how many people does it take, as a minimum, to maintain our current level of technological civilization? I'd put an upper bound of about one billion on the range, because that

PC vs Mac history

Via Steve Sailer, Kevin Drum has an interesting article on why Microsoft managed to dominate Apple so completely: If everyone will indulge me in a bit of nostalgia, I want to make a broader point here. To understand why PCs beat Macs, you have to understand the era in which

Assassins Creed I and II Videogame Review

Assassins Creed I and II Videogame Review

Assassin's Creed CoverThe advantages to reviewing videogames years after they come out are that you can pick them up really cheap, and you can talk about the endings without worrying about spoiling it for anyone. I was probably the last person in the world to play Assassin'

Cold War Fallout

No, not that kind. Titanic was on the television today, and I recalled that the Titanic was found by Robert Ballard when he was actually searching for the wrecks of the USS Thresher and USS Scorpion. As Project Azorian demonstrates, the US spent enormous sums of money during the Cold

Remember Dien Bien Phu

Dale Shewalter often remarked on the epic battle the French waged at Dien Bien Phu. At that time, all I knew was the French had lost. What I only appreciated later, was how they almost won. A brief read, but well worth your time. Marcel Bigeard, who died on June

She book review

She book review

She A History of Adventure by H. Rider Haggard World's Popular Classics, Art-Type Edition An interesting book indeed. This book, along with King Solomon's Mines, established the universe in which seemingly every subsequent adventure story would be set. Everything you need is here, the Victorian era,

Lean Manufacturing

As I mentioned yesterday, lean manufacturing didn't really take off in the US until the 1980s, despite being developed here first. I wonder whether this may be due to the baleful influence of Frederick Winslow Taylor. Taylor is an influential figure in US managament theory, but while he