Jarno Virtanen

"You'd think that they made sure that this system is safe" is phrase similar to which you often hear when some critical system malfuctions to which I always think "no, I would not think that." I think systems always barely work at all and safety comes not from careful design but from human operators

No sane person believes in any mentalist hogwash, but this is still an amazing breakdown of Oz Pearlman's gimmicks and tricks: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnwc...

Asking for book recommendations is not a good idea. If it turns out that you hate any one of those recommended books, then you either have to torture yourself by reading through it or you hate yourself for not reading it.

A piece of my soul dies every time I read an otherwise excellent book that makes a (mistaken) reference to Dunning-Kruger effect. This time it was C. Thi Nguyen's wonderful The Score. D-K refs don't ruin the book for me anymore, I have accepted the every single pop-sci has to make this same mistake.

A corollary to the Conway's law should state that in addition to shaping the architecture of (software) systems by structuring the company, the upper management also determines the approach to handling increasing technical demands by applying direct pressure to the mgmt hierarchy below.

Whatever seems to work, at least for a while, say over-provisioning of resources, gets prioritized instead of the normal exploration of bottlenecks and understanding the system in a holistic manner. You're not rewarded for understanding, but for simplistic solutions that work in the short term.

A corollary to the Conway's law should state that in addition to shaping the architecture of (software) systems by structuring the company, the upper management also determines the approach to handling increasing technical demands by applying direct pressure to the mgmt hierarchy below.

Reminder to all non-Finnish people: going to sauna is a reward, not a punishment. It might feel awkward and even distressing at first, sure, but eventually you go to sauna, because it's one of the best things you can do in life. If going to sauna didn't make me feel great, I wouldn't go there.

I use the iPhone's built-in screen reader to listen to web pages and blog posts. You can start the screen reader by swiping with two fingers from the top of the screen downward. (It takes a while to hit that particular gesture.) For my surprise, it has gotten better in the iOS 26!

I use the iPhone's built-in screen reader to listen to web pages and blog posts. You can start the screen reader by swiping with two fingers from the top of the screen downward. (It takes a while to hit that particular gesture.) For my surprise, it has gotten better in the iOS 26!

It annoys me to no end that people who refuse to look anything other than meta-reviews when it comes to scientific evidence are perfectly willing to spread around the caricature version of Dunning-Kruger without even cursory look at the original paper, let alone demanding that it should replicate.

A discussion about the efficacy of social media posting on, say, Gaza or Ukraine reminds me about the late Aaron Swartz's post Theory of Change (www.aaronsw.com/weblog/theor...). Now, ending a war isn't something you "just do" by adopting the theory, but I think the framing still brings clarity.

"Powers' manuscript...is among the most exciting I have read in some time. The problems are of vast importance, and not only to psychologists; the achieved synthesis is thoroughly original and the presentation is often convincing and almost invariably suggestive. ..." -Thomas Kuhn

Must have been nice to get a blurp from Thomas Kuhn.