2026-03-21 00:33:08
From xkcd, a map sketch of why the landscape is what it is in the United States.
2026-03-20 18:41:26
In most places, property lines stop at the street, but in North Oaks, Minnesota, property lines extend to the middle of the street. This makes the entire city private property, which prohibits Google and other mapping companies from driving through to take street-level photos. Chris Parr figured out how residents achieved this block (mostly money) and then found a way to map the area himself.
[via 404 Media]
Tags: Chris Parr, Google Streetview, privacy
2026-03-19 23:45:01
Emanuel Fabian, a military correspondent for the Times of Israel, received death threats from Polymarket gamblers after he reported a missile strike in Israel.
“You have no idea how much you’ve put yourself at risk. Today is the most significant day of your career. You have two choices: either believe that we have the capabilities, and after you make us lose $900,000 we will invest no less than that to finish you. Or end this with money in your pocket, and also earn back the life you had until now.”
After I didn’t respond, as I was asleep, Haim sent me another series of messages: “You are choosing to go to war knowing that you will lose your life as you’ve grown accustomed to it — for nothing.”
On Sunday morning, he messaged me again: “You have exactly a few hours left to fix your attempt at influencing [the market]. It would be stupid of you to ignore this.”
It seems the wisdom of crowds also goes the other direction.
Tags: crowds, Polymarket, prediction market, threats
2026-03-19 21:06:23
Hi everyone. Welcome to the Process, the newsletter for FlowingData members where we visualize and analyze data beyond defaults. This is issue No. 380. I’m Nathan Yau. This week we have conflicting views and a search for honesty in charts.
Become a member for access to this — plus tutorials, courses, and guides.
2026-03-18 17:03:25
John Rush has been scanning his receipts for 25 years. He did something with the collection this year.
Everyone needs a rewarding hobby. I’ve been scanning all of my receipts since 2001. I never typed in a single price – just kept the images. I figured someday the technology to read them would catch up, and the data would be interesting.
This year I tested it. Two AI coding agents, 11,345 receipts. I started with eggs. If you can track one item across 25 years of garbled thermal prints, OCR failures, and folder typos, you can track anything.
This made me think about those science fiction stories with people who freeze themselves hoping to wake in an era when cures to their terminal disease become available. It’s the sales receipt data version. Twenty-five years is a long time to collect data.
[Thanks, Charlotte]
2026-03-18 00:51:10
Researchers at GovAI and Brookings estimated vulnerability to job displacement due to AI. For the Washington Post, Kevin Schaul and Shira Ovide charted the estimates on two dimensions: exposure and adaptability.
Estimating vulnerability is difficult, because a single factor like exposure isn’t enough. A job might have high exposure to AI tools, but that doesn’t always mean the job is at risk. You might just have new responsibilities and use the tools more.
I don’t think firefighting is in the cards for me. Maybe I’ll get into manicures. Although “other mathematical science occupations” has lowest vulnerability and high adaptability so maybe I have a few years left.
Tags: Brookings, GovAI, Washington Post, work
