By repeatedly rolling three dice (or one die three times), you can generate a high-security password; see the tables under “Dice Tables.” See also the Diceware site or word list for converting six-dice rolls into pass phrases.
Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category
Dice-Generated Passwords
Wednesday, January 20th, 2021Michael Munger on Academic Publishing
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2020Economist Michael Munger has a video series out on academic publishing.
He also has an essay, “The Future of Academic Publishing.”
See also Jason Brennan’s book, Good Work If You Can Get It: How to Succeed in Academia.
How to Be a Law Professor
Thursday, June 18th, 2020William Baude explains what people should do in law school if they want to become a law professor. He says: “Go to a law school that produces law professors,” “get good grades,” “read widely,” “start writing,” “get to know your professors.” Ilya Somin emphasizes the parts about writing and developing professional relationships.
Somin on Writing an Academic Book
Sunday, June 14th, 2020Ilya Somin has a nice article out about writing an academic book, and much of the advice is relevant to writing any nonfiction book.
Update: See also Somin’s second part, mainly about publishers. He writes, “Even the most famous presses publish some mediocre books (or worse). And there are truly outstanding books that get published by little-known presses. On average, however, there is a rough correlation between the ranking of the publisher and the quality of books and authors they typically get, even if that correlation is far from perfect.”
Fileva on Self-Sabotage
Monday, June 8th, 2020Iskra Fileva discusses self-sabotage, writing, “Self-sabotage may have to do with what we think we deserve. Even if we do not see ourselves as deserving of punishment, we may not believe we are worthy of success and happiness either. What often passes for insecurity and self-doubt may, at bottom, be a belief that we have not and perhaps cannot earn the right to get what we want: ‘I am not the kind of person who will ever be happy, loved, successful, etc,’ is a common attitude among self-saboteurs.”
She also points out that people can, due to self-doubt, “slide into a cycle of self-sabotage little by little, imperceptibly.” She gives the example of someone trying to become a painter but who starts, little by little, spending more time screwing around and less time actually painting. But people can also pull themselves out of self-sabotage, one productive act at a time.
Incidentally, Fileva’s article squares nicely with what Ayn Rand and Nathaniel Branden have written about self-esteem.
Do More than You Are Paid For
Friday, June 5th, 2020Think Daily: A project manager hired some people and let others go. “What made the difference? Diligence, hard work, and good communication. The guys who were let go would take most opportunities to stand around when they weren’t being watched. The guys who were hired permanently were always moving and looking for results and asking ‘What’s next?’ It’s pretty simple. Do more than you are paid for, and you will get more opportunities and eventually be paid for what you do. There is no other way. If you do less than you are paid for or only what you are paid for, you will not get a chance to do more and be paid more.”