Jekyll2025-07-28T14:42:33-04:00https://andrewwhitby.com/feed.xmlAndrew is an Australian data scientist and economist living in New York. He is particularly interested in technology, creativity, innovation and growth.2022-11-17T00:00:00-05:002022-11-17T00:00:00-05:00https://andrewwhitby.com/2022/11/17/longtermism-and-effective-altruism

Coming back to edit and publish this post, I had to check the original file creation date: October 26, for what it’s worth. On that date effective altruism (EA) was a movement in the ascendent, with a charismatic leader fresh off a well-funded (hmm) book tour. Today it is the Do-Gooder Movement that Shielded Sam Bankman-Fried from Scrutiny while the EA-adjacent are rapidly distancing themselves.

2022-02-06T00:00:00-05:002022-02-06T00:00:00-05:00https://andrewwhitby.com/2022/02/06/review-freedoms-forge

B24-E Liberator bombers under production at Ford’s Willow Run plant, Michigan Photo credit: Howard R. Hollem via LOC

2022-01-02T00:00:00-05:002022-01-02T00:00:00-05:00https://andrewwhitby.com/2022/01/02/books-last-year

2021-03-14T00:00:00-05:002021-03-14T00:00:00-05:00https://andrewwhitby.com/2021/03/14/questions-about-NFTs

A digital image sold for $69 million using “non-fungible token” technology. What does this all mean?

2021-03-06T00:00:00-05:002021-03-06T00:00:00-05:00https://andrewwhitby.com/2021/03/06/errors-data-products

The First “Computer Bug,” a moth “found trapped between points at Relay #70, Panel F, of the Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator while it was being tested at Harvard University, 9 September 1945.” Photo credit: Naval History and Heritage Command NH 96566-KN

2021-01-08T00:00:00-05:002021-01-08T00:00:00-05:00https://andrewwhitby.com/2021/01/08/borgen-kharun

I have come very late to the Borgen phenomenon, with the Netflix crowd. Still, I’m enjoying this Scandinavian West Wing with its occasional flashes of Frank Underwood ruthlessness.

2021-01-08T00:00:00-05:002021-01-08T00:00:00-05:00https://andrewwhitby.com/2021/01/08/the-right-country-codes

If you’re storing countries in a database, you should use codes of some kind. Country names might seem okay, but they:

2020-12-25T00:00:00-05:002020-12-25T00:00:00-05:00https://andrewwhitby.com/2020/12/25/if-you-want-to-go-fast

tl;dr It’s unclear. There’s a clear English-language lineage, but there really are similar African proverbs and it’s hard to rule out cross-pollination.

2020-12-23T00:00:00-05:002021-02-19T00:00:00-05:00https://andrewwhitby.com/2020/12/23/apple-silicon-m1-setup

2020-12-18T00:00:00-05:002020-12-18T00:00:00-05:00https://andrewwhitby.com/2020/12/18/goodbye-wordpress-hello-jekyll

I like to think I’m an early adopter of technology. Sometimes I am—I recently ordered a Macbook Air M1. But sometimes I’m not—it’s replacing Macbook Pro that’s seven years old. All of which is to say: Have you heard about this static-site-from-markdown thing? Seems like it could be a big deal…