(edit: I am going to be late, eta about 7, sorry)
When: Thursday, September 26, 6:30 PM
Where: Burns Park, near the Warming Hut.
Why: I’ll be in Ann Arbor as part of the Meetups Everywhere tour
Who: Anyone who wants. Please feel free to come even if you feel awkward about it, even if you’re not “the typical SSC reader”, even if you’re worried people won’t like you, etc.
How: For more info, contact algo2217[at]gmail
AISafety.com hosts a Skype reading group Wednesdays at 19:45 UTC, reading new and old articles on different aspects of AI Safety. We start with a presentation of a summary of the article, and then discuss in a friendly atmosphere.
Altruisto is a browser extension so that when you shop online, a portion of the money you pay goes to effective charities (no extra cost to you). Just install an extension and when you buy something, people in poverty will get medicines, bed nets, or financial aid.
80,000 Hours researches different problems and professions to help you figure out how to do as much good as possible. Their free career guide show you how to choose a career that's fulfilling and maximises your contribution to solving the world's most pressing problems.
B4X is a free and open source developer tool that allows users to write apps for Android, iOS, and more.
The COVID-19 Forecasting Project at the University of Oxford is making advanced pandemic simulations of 150+ countries available to the public, and also offer pro-bono forecasting services to decision-makers.
Substack is a blogging site that helps writers earn money and readers discover articles they'll like.
Jane Street is a quantitative trading firm with a focus on technology and collaborative problem solving. We're always hiring talented programmers, traders, and researchers and have internships and fulltime positions in New York, London, and Hong Kong. No background in finance required.
Beeminder's an evidence-based willpower augmention tool that collects quantifiable data about your life, then helps you organize it into commitment mechanisms so you can keep resolutions. They've also got a blog about what they're doing here
Norwegian founders with an international team on a mission to offer the equivalent of a Norwegian social safety net globally available as a membership. Currently offering travel medical insurance for nomads, and global health insurance for remote teams.
Giving What We Can is a charitable movement promoting giving some of your money to the developing world or other worthy causes. If you're interested in this, consider taking their Pledge as a formal and public declaration of intent.
The Effective Altruism newsletter provides monthly updates on the highest-impact ways to do good and help others.
MealSquares is a "nutritionally complete" food that contains a balanced diet worth of nutrients in a few tasty easily measurable units. Think Soylent, except zero preparation, made with natural ingredients, and looks/tastes a lot like an ordinary scone.
Metaculus is a platform for generating crowd-sourced predictions about the future, especially science and technology. If you're interested in testing yourself and contributing to their project, check out their questions page
Dr. Laura Baur is a psychiatrist with interests in literature review, reproductive psychiatry, and relational psychotherapy; see her website for more. Note that due to conflict of interest she doesn't treat people in the NYC rationalist social scene.
Support Slate Star Codex on Patreon. I have a day job and SSC gets free hosting, so don't feel pressured to contribute. But extra cash helps pay for contest prizes, meetup expenses, and me spending extra time blogging instead of working.
Seattle Anxiety Specialists are a therapy practice helping people overcome anxiety and related mental health issues (eg GAD, OCD, PTSD) through evidence based interventions and self-exploration. Check out their free anti-anxiety guide here
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If you’ll pardon a comment not related to Ann Arbor, I’d like to follow up on something discussed an earlier meetup. I want to make a large printout of the Slate Star Codex logo to use as a meetup sign, and will pay $100 to anyone who can make a scalable or high-res version that looks nice when printed on an 8.5×11″ page.
When I’ve had the problem of low-rez things I want to scale, I signup for a free trial of “vector magic” and get the file turned into a vector file with surprising effectiveness. Then you can scale it well. I have used shortrunposters for cheap signs >8.5×11
I made a letter size 600 dpi image. I traced and interpolated from the logo; it looks like it would be a good sign but a bad flag. What’s the best way to get you the image file? Email’s best for me.
I want Scott’s permission before I’d take money for it.
Thanks! Can I see the image? My email address is in the DC meetup thread. Or append ’94@gmail.com’ to my username here.
Thanks! May I see it? My email address is in the DC meetup thread.
Permission given.
Thank you.
Hi, I have created a meetup for future Ann Arbor SSC / Rationalist meetups. Our next meeting will be October 30th at 6:30pm in the River Birch Room at the Malletts Creek branch of the Ann Arbor Public Library.
Link for the event is here: https://www.meetup.com/Ann-Arbor-SSC-Rationalist-Meetup-Group/events/265239580
I also emailed everyone who I had contact info for from the first meetup, but I think I didn’t understand some people’s addresses as I’ve had a few bounce back already.