Four short links: 11 April 2018
Assignment, Warranties, Data, and Public Goods
- Why Does “=” Mean Assignment — marvellous history lesson.
- Warranty Void if Removed Stickers Are Bull — Federal law says you can repair your own things, and manufacturers cannot force you to use their own repair services. (via BoingBoing)
- TXR — a pattern language and a Lisp variant for data problems.
- Roman Roads and Persistence Development — In some ways, the emergence of the Roman road network is almost a natural experiment—in light of the military purpose of the roads, the preferred straightness of their construction, and their construction in newly conquered and often undeveloped regions. This type of public good seems to have had a persistent influence on subsequent public good allocations and comparative development. At the same time, the abandonment of the wheel shock in MENA appears to have been powerful enough to cause that degree of persistence to break down. Overall, our analysis suggests that a public good provision is a powerful channel through which persistence in comparative development comes about. I wonder whether this kind of analysis is even conceivable with internet public policy like broadband, coding classes, and laws. (via BoingBoing)
