Category Archives: Geeky Musings

Thinking aloud about all manner of voodoo and geekery from resident Club Troppo geeks.

Computer game bludgers: SHOCK

Posted on July 3, 2017 by Nicholas Gruen

Leisure Luxuries and the Labor Supply of Young Men by Mark Aguiar, Mark Bils, Kerwin Kofi Charles, Erik Hurst Abstract: Younger men, ages 21 to 30, exhibited a larger decline in work hours over the last fifteen years than older … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural Critique, Economics and public policy, Geeky Musings, Innovation, IT and Internet | 9 Comments

Quirky cultural customs: the causes of death

Posted on June 28, 2017 by Paul Frijters

Have you ever reflected on what a strange concept the notion of a ’cause of death’ really is? We use the term so often that it wouldn’t quickly register as a cultural oddity, but it really is a quirky beast … Continue reading →

Posted in Death and taxes, Ethics, Geeky Musings, Health, History, Libertarian Musings, Medical, Science, Social Policy | 9 Comments

Hoisted from comments: Copyright, the Google Settlement and torching the second library of Alexandria

Posted on May 2, 2017 by Nicholas Gruen

One of the privileges of access to what we cool kids call the “back end” of Troppo is that when I write a long, long comment, in an old thread that has taken a new direction, I can make it … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural Critique, Economics and public policy, Geeky Musings, Intellectual Monopoly Privileges, Intellectual Property, IT and Internet, Political theory | 54 Comments

Google Calendar and Time Zones

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Nicholas Gruen

Setting appointments I’ll be attending in London next week on Google Calendar has reminded me of a problem that online calendars haven’t sorted out – at least to my satisfaction (or perhaps knowledge); how to handle appointments when there are … Continue reading →

Posted in Geeky Musings, IT and Internet | 6 Comments

Yes Minister: hilarious, truthful, too good to be true.

Posted on July 24, 2016 by Paul Frijters

Here at Troppo we have referred to the ‘Yes Minister series’ many times because of its brilliant commentary on the timeless issues of government, exemplified in the skit above. I have gone through three phases with the series: when it … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural Critique, Democracy, Economics and public policy, Ethics, Geeky Musings, Humour, Journalism, Libertarian Musings, Life, Philosophy, Political theory, Review, Society | 12 Comments

Techno crystal ball gazing

Posted on June 2, 2016 by Ken Parish

As some may have noticed, I’ve been musing of late about the likely future social and economic effects of the increasingly rapid and interconnected development of ICT, artificial intelligence and robotics. This article is a bit silly in some respects … Continue reading →

Posted in Geeky Musings, Social Policy | 9 Comments

Would sortition help against corruption?

Posted on May 11, 2016 by Paul Frijters

Political parties and institutions in Australia and the US are increasingly dominated by interest groups representing the few, leading to a large policy-induced increase in inequality in recent decades and a long raft of new policies favouring the few by … Continue reading →

Posted in bubble, Cultural Critique, Economics and public policy, Ethics, Geeky Musings, History, Information, Law, Libertarian Musings, Life, Philosophy, Political theory, Politics - national, Public and Private Goods, regulation, Social Policy, Society | 64 Comments