Medium Lights var siteUrl = 'https://www.cold-takes.com'; var localTheme = localStorage.getItem('dawn\_theme'); switch (localTheme) { case 'dark': document.documentElement.classList.add('theme-dark'); break; case 'light': document.documentElement.classList.add('theme-light'); break; default: break; } { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Cold Takes", "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/favicon.ico", "width": 48, "height": 48 } }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Holden Karnofsky", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/07/HK-headshot-current---compressed-1.jpg", "width": 1600, "height": 1067 }, "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/author/holden/", "sameAs": [ "https://www.cold-takes.com/about/" ] }, "headline": "Medium Lights", "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/medium-lights/", "datePublished": "2021-09-08T16:26:46.000Z", "dateModified": "2021-11-21T03:13:07.000Z", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/09/floater-annotated-1.png", "width": 1550, "height": 772 }, "keywords": "sports", "description": "I like this basketball substack called Medium Lights
[https://mediumlights.substack.com/] that explains all kinds of cool basketball
plays the announcers wouldn't necessarily comment on. Unlike most sites like
this, it usually explains in enough detail that I can actually follow what's
cool about the play. It really highlights how much more interesting games could
be with good announcers.

A few I've especially enjoyed:
[https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/lebron-baits-kirk-hinrich]

 \* LeBron ", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.cold-takes.com/" } } .gh-post-upgrade-cta-content, .gh-post-upgrade-cta { display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; text-align: center; width: 100%; color: #ffffff; font-size: 16px; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta-content { border-radius: 8px; padding: 40px 4vw; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta h2 { color: #ffffff; font-size: 28px; letter-spacing: -0.2px; margin: 0; padding: 0; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta p { margin: 20px 0 0; padding: 0; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta small { font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: -0.2px; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta a { color: #ffffff; cursor: pointer; font-weight: 500; box-shadow: none; text-decoration: underline; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta a:hover { color: #ffffff; opacity: 0.8; box-shadow: none; text-decoration: underline; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta a.gh-btn { display: block; background: #ffffff; text-decoration: none; margin: 28px 0 0; padding: 8px 18px; border-radius: 4px; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta a.gh-btn:hover { opacity: 0.92; } .shaded-table { color: #000000; border: 1px solid; vertical-align: top; } .shaded-table a { color: #0000dd; } .sticky-subscribe-div { z-index: 1000; position: fixed; bottom: 25px; right: 25px; max-width: 500px; overflow: hidden; opacity: 1; } .sticky-subscribe-button { cursor: pointer; padding: 20px; background: var(--brand-color); color: var(--white-color); border-radius: 50px; border-style: none; } .subscribe-overlay { position: fixed; top: 0; right: 0; bottom: 0; left: 0; z-index: 2000; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; background: var(--white-color); opacity: 0; transition: opacity 0.3s ease-in; pointer-events: none; } .subscribe-overlay:target { z-index: 2001; opacity: 0.95; pointer-events: auto; } .subscribe-form { margin: 1.5em 0; padding: 6.5vh 7vw 8vh; border-style: solid !important; border: var(--mid-gray-color); border-radius: 10px; text-align: center; } .subscribe-overlay-title { display: inline-block; margin: 0 0 10px 0; font-size: 3rem; line-height: 1.15em; color: var(--darker-gray-color); } .subscribe-overlay-description { margin: 0 auto 50px; max-width: 500px; color: var(--darker-gray-color); font-size: 2rem; line-height: 1.3em; opacity: 0.8; } .subscribe-form .form-group { align-self: stretch; display: flex; } .subscribe-email { padding: 10px; border: 1px solid; border-color: var(--darker-gray-color); font-size: 1.8rem; line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; user-select: text; transition: border-color 0.15s linear; -webkit-appearance: none; } .subscribe-form .subscribe-overlay-button { word-break: normal; position: relative; display: inline-block; margin: 0 0 0 10px; padding: 0 20px; height: 43px; outline: none; font-size: 1.5rem; line-height: 39px; font-weight: 400; background: var(--brand-color); border-radius: 5px; color: var(--white-color); } .subscribe-form .button-loader, .subscribe-form .message-success, .subscribe-form .message-error { display: none; } .subscribe-form .loading .button-content { visibility: hidden; } .subscribe-form .loading .button-loader { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 50%; display: inline-block; margin-left: -19px; transform: scale(0.7); } .subscribe-overlay .loading .button-loader { top: 5px; } .subscribe-form .button-loader svg path, .subscribe-form .button-loader svg rect { fill: var(--white-color); } .subscribe-form .success .message-success, .subscribe-form .invalid .message-error, .subscribe-form .error .message-error { display: block; margin: 1em auto 0; max-width: 400px; color: var(--red-color); font-size: 1.6rem; line-height: 1.5em; text-align: center; } .subscribe-form .success .message-success { display: block; color: var(--darker-gray-color); } .subscribe-form .invalid .message-error, .subscribe-form .error .message-error { display: block; } @media (max-width: 650px) { .subscribe-form-title { font-size: 2.4rem; } .subscribe-form-description { font-size: 1.6rem; } } @media (max-width: 500px) { .subscribe-form form { display: flex; flex-direction: column; } .subscribe-form .subscribe-overlay-button { margin: 0 0 0 0; } .subscribe-form .form-group { display: flex; flex-direction: column; width: 100%; } .subscribe-form button { display: flex; margin: 0 0 0 0; width: 100%; } } .subscribe-close-button { position: absolute; top: 16px; right: 20px; z-index: 2000; display: block; width: 40px; height: 40px; } .subscribe-close-button:before { content: ""; position: absolute; top: 20px; right: 4px; display: block; width: 32px; height: 1px; background: var(--darker-gray-color); opacity: 0.8; transform: rotate(45deg); } .subscribe-close-button:after { content: ""; position: absolute; top: 20px; right: 4px; display: block; width: 32px; height: 1px; background: var(--darker-gray-color); opacity: 0.8; transform: rotate(-45deg); } .subscribe-close-button:hover { cursor: default; } /\*.message-success, .message-error, .message-loading { display: none; }\*/ /\*.message-success .success { visibility: visible; display: block; opacity: 1; } .message-error.error { visibility: visible; display: block; opacity: 1; }\*/ /\*.success .message-success, .error .message-error, .loading .message-loading { visibility: visible; display: block; opacity: 1; }\*/ /\*For TOC\*/ @media (min-width: 1200px) { .sticky-visible .sticky-toc { visibility: visible; opacity: 1; transform: translateY(0); } .toc-opened .sticky-toc { visibility: hidden; } } /\*.gh-portal-triggerbtn-iframe { } .gh-portal-triggerbtn-wrapper { background: #0000ff !important; } .gh-portal-triggerbtn-container { background: #0000ff !important; height: 10px !important; } \*/ .theme-dark:root { \--green-color: #66ff33 !important; \--orange-color: #ff5c33 !important; \--red-color: #ff3333 !important; \--purple-color: #ff00ff !important; \--brand-color: #5ceaff !important; \--white-color: #18141f !important; \--primary-text-color: #fff !important; \--secondary-text-color: #fff !important; } .feed-visibility-false { display: none; } /\*.feed-visibility-true { display: none; }\*/ :root { \--brand-color:#0000dd; \--white-color:#ffffff; \--primary-text-color:#1a1a1a; \--secondary-text-color:#1a1a1a; \--orange-color: #ff6600; \--purple-color: #cc33ff; } blockquote { font-weight: unset; letter-spacing: normal; font-style: normal; text-align: inherit; } table { border: 1px solid; border-collapse: collapse; white-space: unset !important; width=200px !important; } table td { border: 1px solid; border-collapse: collapse; } .theme-dark .CT-thumb { transform: translate(20px,0px); } .theme-light .CT-thumb { transform: translate(0px,0px); } /\*.u-text-format h3 { color: var(--darker-gray-color) ; }\*/ //Detect theme var existingTheme = localStorage.getItem('dawn\_theme'); if (!existingTheme) { if(navigator.platform.indexOf('Win') > -1) { existingTheme = "light"; } else if(window.matchMedia && window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)').matches) { existingTheme = "dark"; } else if(window.matchMedia && window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: light)').matches) { existingTheme = "light"; } } //Implement light/dark theme if(existingTheme == "dark") { ctdark(); } else if(existingTheme == 'light') { ctlight(); } window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-TZK0WDB1DH'); var clicky\_site\_ids = clicky\_site\_ids || []; clicky\_site\_ids.push(101323562); ![Clicky](//in.getclicky.com/101323562ns.gif) :root {--ghost-accent-color: #888888;} [Cold Takes](https://www.cold-takes.com) [About (+highlights)](https://www.cold-takes.com/about/) [Most Important Century](https://www.cold-takes.com/most-important-century/) [About (+highlights)](https://www.cold-takes.com/about/) [Most Important Century](https://www.cold-takes.com/most-important-century/) [Subscribe (free)](#subscribe) [Subscribe (free)](#subscribe) [Subscribe (free)](#subscribe) [Cold Takes](https://www.cold-takes.com) - Medium Lights By [Holden Karnofsky](https://www.cold-takes.com/about/ "Holden Karnofsky") Sep 8, 2021 2 min read [sports](/tag/sports/) Medium Lights ============= ![Medium Lights](/content/images/size/w960/2021/09/floater-annotated-1.png) I like this [basketball substack called Medium Lights](https://mediumlights.substack.com/) that explains all kinds of cool basketball plays the announcers wouldn't necessarily comment on. Unlike most sites like this, it usually explains in enough detail that I can actually follow what's cool about the play. It really highlights how much more interesting games could be with good announcers. A few I've especially enjoyed: * [LeBron lets people drive past him so he can block their shot from behind](https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/lebron-baits-kirk-hinrich). * [LeBron also will watch the defense on a failed offensive possession, then start a future possession the same way to get the same behavior and exploit it](https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/lebron-reads-the-defense). * Daniel Theis's "[paint seal](https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/daniel-theis-paint-seal)," the sort of thing I'd never notice just by watching. * [Nikola Jokic's water polo pump fake](https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/nikola-jokics-water-polo-pump-fake). * [A collection of absurdly high-arcing shots](https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/tyler-herros-high-arching-floater). * "[Dwyane Wade's sneaky baseline cuts: an appreciation for one of the best off-ball players of all time](https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/dwyane-wades-sneaky-baseline-cuts)" * A walkthrough of [Draymond Green guarding all five opposing players on one possession](https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/draymond-guards-five-players-on-one). * This one is just silly (but top notch silly): [Robin Lopez makes everyone proud](https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/robin-lopez-makes-everyone-proud)* [Draymond "throwing Steph Curry open."](https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/draymond-green-throws-steph-curry) "honestly, my only reaction when i saw it the first time was 'what...?' ... [Curry's] whole body is turned towards his own basket when the ball is already halfway to him ... i don't really have any words for this. i guess this is what happens when two guys play together for a long time - the chemistry is there and cool shit just happens." (To understand "throwing someone open" you can see [this Reddit post](https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/96akdt/oc_what_is_throwing_a_guy_open_and_why_does_it/), though I have to say ... watching [this example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG4DKNasoPU&t;=36s), I wondered if it is an "amazing successful pass" that just had a 50-50 chance of being an "embarrassing intercepted pass.") It's great when someone is able to walk you through why they're this amazed and impressed with something you wouldn't have noticed. [![Twitter](https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/06/ct-twitter-square.png)](https://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/twitter/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cold-takes.com%2Fmedium-lights%2F&pubid;=ra-60a178324cffc42e&title;=Cold%20Takes%20-%20Medium%20Lights&ct;=1) [![Facebook](https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/06/ct-facebook-square.png)](https://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/facebook/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cold-takes.com%2Fmedium-lights%2F&pubid;=ra-60a178324cffc42e&title;=Cold%20Takes%20-%20Medium%20Lights&ct;=1) [![Reddit](https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/06/ct-reddit-square.png)](https://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/reddit/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cold-takes.com%2Fmedium-lights%2F&pubid;=ra-60a178324cffc42e&title;=Cold%20Takes%20-%20Medium%20Lights&ct;=1) [![More](https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/06/ct-addthis-square.png)](https://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/menu/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cold-takes.com%2Fmedium-lights%2F&pubid;=ra-60a178324cffc42e&title;=Cold%20Takes%20-%20Medium%20Lights&ct;=1) [Subscribe](#subscribe) [Feedback](https://www.guidedtrack.com/programs/4kal2ue/run?posttitle=Medium%20Lights) ###

Medium Lights var siteUrl = 'https://www.cold-takes.com'; var localTheme = localStorage.getItem('dawn\\_theme'); switch (localTheme) { case 'dark': document.documentElement.classList.add('theme-dark'); break; case 'light': document.documentElement.classList.add('theme-light'); break; default: break; } { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Cold Takes", "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/favicon.ico", "width": 48, "height": 48 } }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Holden Karnofsky", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/07/HK-headshot-current---compressed-1.jpg", "width": 1600, "height": 1067 }, "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/author/holden/", "sameAs": [ "https://www.cold-takes.com/about/" ] }, "headline": "Medium Lights", "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/medium-lights/", "datePublished": "2021-09-08T16:26:46.000Z", "dateModified": "2021-11-21T03:13:07.000Z", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/09/floater-annotated-1.png", "width": 1550, "height": 772 }, "keywords": "sports", "description": "I like this basketball substack called Medium Lights\n[https://mediumlights.substack.com/] that explains all kinds of cool basketball\nplays the announcers wouldn't necessarily comment on. Unlike most sites like\nthis, it usually explains in enough detail that I can actually follow what's\ncool about the play. It really highlights how much more interesting games could\nbe with good announcers.\n\nA few I've especially enjoyed: \n[https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/lebron-baits-kirk-hinrich]\n\n \\* LeBron ", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.cold-takes.com/" } } .gh-post-upgrade-cta-content, .gh-post-upgrade-cta { display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; text-align: center; width: 100%; color: #ffffff; font-size: 16px; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta-content { border-radius: 8px; padding: 40px 4vw; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta h2 { color: #ffffff; font-size: 28px; letter-spacing: -0.2px; margin: 0; padding: 0; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta p { margin: 20px 0 0; padding: 0; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta small { font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: -0.2px; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta a { color: #ffffff; cursor: pointer; font-weight: 500; box-shadow: none; text-decoration: underline; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta a:hover { color: #ffffff; opacity: 0.8; box-shadow: none; text-decoration: underline; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta a.gh-btn { display: block; background: #ffffff; text-decoration: none; margin: 28px 0 0; padding: 8px 18px; border-radius: 4px; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta a.gh-btn:hover { opacity: 0.92; } .shaded-table { color: #000000; border: 1px solid; vertical-align: top; } .shaded-table a { color: #0000dd; } .sticky-subscribe-div { z-index: 1000; position: fixed; bottom: 25px; right: 25px; max-width: 500px; overflow: hidden; opacity: 1; } .sticky-subscribe-button { cursor: pointer; padding: 20px; background: var(--brand-color); color: var(--white-color); border-radius: 50px; border-style: none; } .subscribe-overlay { position: fixed; top: 0; right: 0; bottom: 0; left: 0; z-index: 2000; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; background: var(--white-color); opacity: 0; transition: opacity 0.3s ease-in; pointer-events: none; } .subscribe-overlay:target { z-index: 2001; opacity: 0.95; pointer-events: auto; } .subscribe-form { margin: 1.5em 0; padding: 6.5vh 7vw 8vh; border-style: solid !important; border: var(--mid-gray-color); border-radius: 10px; text-align: center; } .subscribe-overlay-title { display: inline-block; margin: 0 0 10px 0; font-size: 3rem; line-height: 1.15em; color: var(--darker-gray-color); } .subscribe-overlay-description { margin: 0 auto 50px; max-width: 500px; color: var(--darker-gray-color); font-size: 2rem; line-height: 1.3em; opacity: 0.8; } .subscribe-form .form-group { align-self: stretch; display: flex; } .subscribe-email { padding: 10px; border: 1px solid; border-color: var(--darker-gray-color); font-size: 1.8rem; line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; user-select: text; transition: border-color 0.15s linear; -webkit-appearance: none; } .subscribe-form .subscribe-overlay-button { word-break: normal; position: relative; display: inline-block; margin: 0 0 0 10px; padding: 0 20px; height: 43px; outline: none; font-size: 1.5rem; line-height: 39px; font-weight: 400; background: var(--brand-color); border-radius: 5px; color: var(--white-color); } .subscribe-form .button-loader, .subscribe-form .message-success, .subscribe-form .message-error { display: none; } .subscribe-form .loading .button-content { visibility: hidden; } .subscribe-form .loading .button-loader { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 50%; display: inline-block; margin-left: -19px; transform: scale(0.7); } .subscribe-overlay .loading .button-loader { top: 5px; } .subscribe-form .button-loader svg path, .subscribe-form .button-loader svg rect { fill: var(--white-color); } .subscribe-form .success .message-success, .subscribe-form .invalid .message-error, .subscribe-form .error .message-error { display: block; margin: 1em auto 0; max-width: 400px; color: var(--red-color); font-size: 1.6rem; line-height: 1.5em; text-align: center; } .subscribe-form .success .message-success { display: block; color: var(--darker-gray-color); } .subscribe-form .invalid .message-error, .subscribe-form .error .message-error { display: block; } @media (max-width: 650px) { .subscribe-form-title { font-size: 2.4rem; } .subscribe-form-description { font-size: 1.6rem; } } @media (max-width: 500px) { .subscribe-form form { display: flex; flex-direction: column; } .subscribe-form .subscribe-overlay-button { margin: 0 0 0 0; } .subscribe-form .form-group { display: flex; flex-direction: column; width: 100%; } .subscribe-form button { display: flex; margin: 0 0 0 0; width: 100%; } } .subscribe-close-button { position: absolute; top: 16px; right: 20px; z-index: 2000; display: block; width: 40px; height: 40px; } .subscribe-close-button:before { content: ""; position: absolute; top: 20px; right: 4px; display: block; width: 32px; height: 1px; background: var(--darker-gray-color); opacity: 0.8; transform: rotate(45deg); } .subscribe-close-button:after { content: ""; position: absolute; top: 20px; right: 4px; display: block; width: 32px; height: 1px; background: var(--darker-gray-color); opacity: 0.8; transform: rotate(-45deg); } .subscribe-close-button:hover { cursor: default; } /\\*.message-success, .message-error, .message-loading { display: none; }\\*/ /\\*.message-success .success { visibility: visible; display: block; opacity: 1; } .message-error.error { visibility: visible; display: block; opacity: 1; }\\*/ /\\*.success .message-success, .error .message-error, .loading .message-loading { visibility: visible; display: block; opacity: 1; }\\*/ /\\*For TOC\\*/ @media (min-width: 1200px) { .sticky-visible .sticky-toc { visibility: visible; opacity: 1; transform: translateY(0); } .toc-opened .sticky-toc { visibility: hidden; } } /\\*.gh-portal-triggerbtn-iframe { } .gh-portal-triggerbtn-wrapper { background: #0000ff !important; } .gh-portal-triggerbtn-container { background: #0000ff !important; height: 10px !important; } \\*/ .theme-dark:root { \--green-color: #66ff33 !important; \--orange-color: #ff5c33 !important; \--red-color: #ff3333 !important; \--purple-color: #ff00ff !important; \--brand-color: #5ceaff !important; \--white-color: #18141f !important; \--primary-text-color: #fff !important; \--secondary-text-color: #fff !important; } .feed-visibility-false { display: none; } /\\*.feed-visibility-true { display: none; }\\*/ :root { \--brand-color:#0000dd; \--white-color:#ffffff; \--primary-text-color:#1a1a1a; \--secondary-text-color:#1a1a1a; \--orange-color: #ff6600; \--purple-color: #cc33ff; } blockquote { font-weight: unset; letter-spacing: normal; font-style: normal; text-align: inherit; } table { border: 1px solid; border-collapse: collapse; white-space: unset !important; width=200px !important; } table td { border: 1px solid; border-collapse: collapse; } .theme-dark .CT-thumb { transform: translate(20px,0px); } .theme-light .CT-thumb { transform: translate(0px,0px); } /\\*.u-text-format h3 { color: var(--darker-gray-color) ; }\\*/ //Detect theme var existingTheme = localStorage.getItem('dawn\\_theme'); if (!existingTheme) { if(navigator.platform.indexOf('Win') > -1) { existingTheme = "light"; } else if(window.matchMedia && window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)').matches) { existingTheme = "dark"; } else if(window.matchMedia && window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: light)').matches) { existingTheme = "light"; } } //Implement light/dark theme if(existingTheme == "dark") { ctdark(); } else if(existingTheme == 'light') { ctlight(); } window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-TZK0WDB1DH'); var clicky\\_site\\_ids = clicky\\_site\\_ids || []; clicky\\_site\\_ids.push(101323562); ![Clicky](//in.getclicky.com/101323562ns.gif) :root {--ghost-accent-color: #888888;} [Cold Takes](https://www.cold-takes.com) [About (+highlights)](https://www.cold-takes.com/about/) [Most Important Century](https://www.cold-takes.com/most-important-century/) [About (+highlights)](https://www.cold-takes.com/about/) [Most Important Century](https://www.cold-takes.com/most-important-century/) [Subscribe (free)](#subscribe) [Subscribe (free)](#subscribe) [Subscribe (free)](#subscribe) [Cold Takes](https://www.cold-takes.com) - Medium Lights By [Holden Karnofsky](https://www.cold-takes.com/about/ "Holden Karnofsky") Sep 8, 2021 2 min read [sports](/tag/sports/) Medium Lights ============= ![Medium Lights](/content/images/size/w960/2021/09/floater-annotated-1.png) I like this [basketball substack called Medium Lights](https://mediumlights.substack.com/) that explains all kinds of cool basketball plays the announcers wouldn't necessarily comment on. Unlike most sites like this, it usually explains in enough detail that I can actually follow what's cool about the play. It really highlights how much more interesting games could be with good announcers. A few I've especially enjoyed: * [LeBron lets people drive past him so he can block their shot from behind](https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/lebron-baits-kirk-hinrich). * [LeBron also will watch the defense on a failed offensive possession, then start a future possession the same way to get the same behavior and exploit it](https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/lebron-reads-the-defense). * Daniel Theis's "[paint seal](https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/daniel-theis-paint-seal)," the sort of thing I'd never notice just by watching. * [Nikola Jokic's water polo pump fake](https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/nikola-jokics-water-polo-pump-fake). * [A collection of absurdly high-arcing shots](https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/tyler-herros-high-arching-floater). * "[Dwyane Wade's sneaky baseline cuts: an appreciation for one of the best off-ball players of all time](https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/dwyane-wades-sneaky-baseline-cuts)" * A walkthrough of [Draymond Green guarding all five opposing players on one possession](https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/draymond-guards-five-players-on-one). * This one is just silly (but top notch silly): [Robin Lopez makes everyone proud](https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/robin-lopez-makes-everyone-proud)* [Draymond "throwing Steph Curry open."](https://mediumlights.substack.com/p/draymond-green-throws-steph-curry) "honestly, my only reaction when i saw it the first time was 'what...?' ... [Curry's] whole body is turned towards his own basket when the ball is already halfway to him ... i don't really have any words for this. i guess this is what happens when two guys play together for a long time - the chemistry is there and cool shit just happens." (To understand "throwing someone open" you can see [this Reddit post](https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/96akdt/oc_what_is_throwing_a_guy_open_and_why_does_it/), though I have to say ... watching [this example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG4DKNasoPU&t;=36s), I wondered if it is an "amazing successful pass" that just had a 50-50 chance of being an "embarrassing intercepted pass.") It's great when someone is able to walk you through why they're this amazed and impressed with something you wouldn't have noticed. [![Twitter](https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/06/ct-twitter-square.png)](https://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/twitter/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cold-takes.com%2Fmedium-lights%2F&pubid;=ra-60a178324cffc42e&title;=Cold%20Takes%20-%20Medium%20Lights&ct;=1) [![Facebook](https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/06/ct-facebook-square.png)](https://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/facebook/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cold-takes.com%2Fmedium-lights%2F&pubid;=ra-60a178324cffc42e&title;=Cold%20Takes%20-%20Medium%20Lights&ct;=1) [![Reddit](https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/06/ct-reddit-square.png)](https://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/reddit/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cold-takes.com%2Fmedium-lights%2F&pubid;=ra-60a178324cffc42e&title;=Cold%20Takes%20-%20Medium%20Lights&ct;=1) [![More](https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/06/ct-addthis-square.png)](https://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/menu/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cold-takes.com%2Fmedium-lights%2F&pubid;=ra-60a178324cffc42e&title;=Cold%20Takes%20-%20Medium%20Lights&ct;=1) [Subscribe](#subscribe) [Feedback](https://www.guidedtrack.com/programs/4kal2ue/run?posttitle=Medium%20Lights) ###


Cold Links: Useful var siteUrl = 'https://www.cold-takes.com'; var localTheme = localStorage.getItem('dawn\_theme'); switch (localTheme) { case 'dark': document.documentElement.classList.add('theme-dark'); break; case 'light': document.documentElement.classList.add('theme-light'); break; default: break; } { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Cold Takes", "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/favicon.ico", "width": 48, "height": 48 } }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Holden Karnofsky", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/07/HK-headshot-current---compressed-1.jpg", "width": 1600, "height": 1067 }, "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/author/holden/", "sameAs": [ "https://www.cold-takes.com/about/" ] }, "headline": "Cold Links: Useful", "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/cold-links-useful/", "datePublished": "2021-09-02T19:53:32.000Z", "dateModified": "2021-09-24T19:08:02.000Z", "description": "These are assorted links that I expect readers to maybe find useful on a
personal basis. Don't worry, this won't be too frequent an occurrence - I aim
for 99% of this blog to be about the last 100-10,000 years and the next 100-10
zillion years.

Ben Kuhn's tips for the most immersive video calls [https://www.benkuhn.net/vc/]
- the most comprehensive guide I've seen to good Zooming.

Some tips on how to make sure you have good wifi at your hotel/AirBNB
[https://thepointsguy.com/2018/03/how-to-fi", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.cold-takes.com/" } } .gh-post-upgrade-cta-content, .gh-post-upgrade-cta { display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; text-align: center; width: 100%; color: #ffffff; font-size: 16px; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta-content { border-radius: 8px; padding: 40px 4vw; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta h2 { color: #ffffff; font-size: 28px; letter-spacing: -0.2px; margin: 0; padding: 0; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta p { margin: 20px 0 0; padding: 0; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta small { font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: -0.2px; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta a { color: #ffffff; cursor: pointer; font-weight: 500; box-shadow: none; text-decoration: underline; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta a:hover { color: #ffffff; opacity: 0.8; box-shadow: none; text-decoration: underline; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta a.gh-btn { display: block; background: #ffffff; text-decoration: none; margin: 28px 0 0; padding: 8px 18px; border-radius: 4px; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta a.gh-btn:hover { opacity: 0.92; } .shaded-table { color: #000000; border: 1px solid; vertical-align: top; } .shaded-table a { color: #0000dd; } .sticky-subscribe-div { z-index: 1000; position: fixed; bottom: 25px; right: 25px; max-width: 500px; overflow: hidden; opacity: 1; } .sticky-subscribe-button { cursor: pointer; padding: 20px; background: var(--brand-color); color: var(--white-color); border-radius: 50px; border-style: none; } .subscribe-overlay { position: fixed; top: 0; right: 0; bottom: 0; left: 0; z-index: 2000; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; background: var(--white-color); opacity: 0; transition: opacity 0.3s ease-in; pointer-events: none; } .subscribe-overlay:target { z-index: 2001; opacity: 0.95; pointer-events: auto; } .subscribe-form { margin: 1.5em 0; padding: 6.5vh 7vw 8vh; border-style: solid !important; border: var(--mid-gray-color); border-radius: 10px; text-align: center; } .subscribe-overlay-title { display: inline-block; margin: 0 0 10px 0; font-size: 3rem; line-height: 1.15em; color: var(--darker-gray-color); } .subscribe-overlay-description { margin: 0 auto 50px; max-width: 500px; color: var(--darker-gray-color); font-size: 2rem; line-height: 1.3em; opacity: 0.8; } .subscribe-form .form-group { align-self: stretch; display: flex; } .subscribe-email { padding: 10px; border: 1px solid; border-color: var(--darker-gray-color); font-size: 1.8rem; line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; user-select: text; transition: border-color 0.15s linear; -webkit-appearance: none; } .subscribe-form .subscribe-overlay-button { word-break: normal; position: relative; display: inline-block; margin: 0 0 0 10px; padding: 0 20px; height: 43px; outline: none; font-size: 1.5rem; line-height: 39px; font-weight: 400; background: var(--brand-color); border-radius: 5px; color: var(--white-color); } .subscribe-form .button-loader, .subscribe-form .message-success, .subscribe-form .message-error { display: none; } .subscribe-form .loading .button-content { visibility: hidden; } .subscribe-form .loading .button-loader { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 50%; display: inline-block; margin-left: -19px; transform: scale(0.7); } .subscribe-overlay .loading .button-loader { top: 5px; } .subscribe-form .button-loader svg path, .subscribe-form .button-loader svg rect { fill: var(--white-color); } .subscribe-form .success .message-success, .subscribe-form .invalid .message-error, .subscribe-form .error .message-error { display: block; margin: 1em auto 0; max-width: 400px; color: var(--red-color); font-size: 1.6rem; line-height: 1.5em; text-align: center; } .subscribe-form .success .message-success { display: block; color: var(--darker-gray-color); } .subscribe-form .invalid .message-error, .subscribe-form .error .message-error { display: block; } @media (max-width: 650px) { .subscribe-form-title { font-size: 2.4rem; } .subscribe-form-description { font-size: 1.6rem; } } @media (max-width: 500px) { .subscribe-form form { display: flex; flex-direction: column; } .subscribe-form .subscribe-overlay-button { margin: 0 0 0 0; } .subscribe-form .form-group { display: flex; flex-direction: column; width: 100%; } .subscribe-form button { display: flex; margin: 0 0 0 0; width: 100%; } } .subscribe-close-button { position: absolute; top: 16px; right: 20px; z-index: 2000; display: block; width: 40px; height: 40px; } .subscribe-close-button:before { content: ""; position: absolute; top: 20px; right: 4px; display: block; width: 32px; height: 1px; background: var(--darker-gray-color); opacity: 0.8; transform: rotate(45deg); } .subscribe-close-button:after { content: ""; position: absolute; top: 20px; right: 4px; display: block; width: 32px; height: 1px; background: var(--darker-gray-color); opacity: 0.8; transform: rotate(-45deg); } .subscribe-close-button:hover { cursor: default; } /\*.message-success, .message-error, .message-loading { display: none; }\*/ /\*.message-success .success { visibility: visible; display: block; opacity: 1; } .message-error.error { visibility: visible; display: block; opacity: 1; }\*/ /\*.success .message-success, .error .message-error, .loading .message-loading { visibility: visible; display: block; opacity: 1; }\*/ /\*For TOC\*/ @media (min-width: 1200px) { .sticky-visible .sticky-toc { visibility: visible; opacity: 1; transform: translateY(0); } .toc-opened .sticky-toc { visibility: hidden; } } /\*.gh-portal-triggerbtn-iframe { } .gh-portal-triggerbtn-wrapper { background: #0000ff !important; } .gh-portal-triggerbtn-container { background: #0000ff !important; height: 10px !important; } \*/ .theme-dark:root { \--green-color: #66ff33 !important; \--orange-color: #ff5c33 !important; \--red-color: #ff3333 !important; \--purple-color: #ff00ff !important; \--brand-color: #5ceaff !important; \--white-color: #18141f !important; \--primary-text-color: #fff !important; \--secondary-text-color: #fff !important; } .feed-visibility-false { display: none; } /\*.feed-visibility-true { display: none; }\*/ :root { \--brand-color:#0000dd; \--white-color:#ffffff; \--primary-text-color:#1a1a1a; \--secondary-text-color:#1a1a1a; \--orange-color: #ff6600; \--purple-color: #cc33ff; } blockquote { font-weight: unset; letter-spacing: normal; font-style: normal; text-align: inherit; } table { border: 1px solid; border-collapse: collapse; white-space: unset !important; width=200px !important; } table td { border: 1px solid; border-collapse: collapse; } .theme-dark .CT-thumb { transform: translate(20px,0px); } .theme-light .CT-thumb { transform: translate(0px,0px); } /\*.u-text-format h3 { color: var(--darker-gray-color) ; }\*/ //Detect theme var existingTheme = localStorage.getItem('dawn\_theme'); if (!existingTheme) { if(navigator.platform.indexOf('Win') > -1) { existingTheme = "light"; } else if(window.matchMedia && window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)').matches) { existingTheme = "dark"; } else if(window.matchMedia && window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: light)').matches) { existingTheme = "light"; } } //Implement light/dark theme if(existingTheme == "dark") { ctdark(); } else if(existingTheme == 'light') { ctlight(); } window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-TZK0WDB1DH'); var clicky\_site\_ids = clicky\_site\_ids || []; clicky\_site\_ids.push(101323562); ![Clicky](//in.getclicky.com/101323562ns.gif) :root {--ghost-accent-color: #888888;} [Cold Takes](https://www.cold-takes.com) [About (+highlights)](https://www.cold-takes.com/about/) [Most Important Century](https://www.cold-takes.com/most-important-century/) [About (+highlights)](https://www.cold-takes.com/about/) [Most Important Century](https://www.cold-takes.com/most-important-century/) [Subscribe (free)](#subscribe) [Subscribe (free)](#subscribe) [Subscribe (free)](#subscribe) [Cold Takes](https://www.cold-takes.com) - Cold Links: Useful By [Holden Karnofsky](https://www.cold-takes.com/about/ "Holden Karnofsky") Sep 2, 2021 3 min read Cold Links: Useful ================== These are assorted links that I expect readers to maybe find useful on a personal basis. Don't worry, this won't be too frequent an occurrence - I aim for 99% of this blog to be about the last 100-10,000 years and the next 100-10 zillion years. Ben Kuhn's [tips for the most immersive video calls](https://www.benkuhn.net/vc/) - the most comprehensive guide I've seen to good Zooming. Some [tips on how to make sure you have good wifi at your hotel/AirBNB](https://thepointsguy.com/2018/03/how-to-find-lodging-with-good-wi-fi/). It shocks me that AirBNB doesn't do more to help (e.g., nudging hosts to verify and list their speeds and networking equipment, allowing guests to filter by this). Some of the tips here are obvious, some I didn't know, but it seems like a good checklist. I strongly endorse this [advice on PowerPoint presentations](http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2018/04/words-on-slides.html). Interesting [argument against wearing a bike helmet](https://www.howiechong.com/journal/2014/2/bike-helmets?fbclid=IwAR3KRBESvDwgxEItuRK-0uwo3dEqtjSQXFTpy7Adu_Iu9u41jQdl341eKDY). I wear one because I don't want to look reckless and actively enjoy looking dorky, but ¯\\_(ツ)\_/¯ I recommend traveling with an [octopus plug](https://smile.amazon.com/Leviton-692-W-Triple-Grounding-Adapter/dp/B000P9SXTG/) so you never have to fight over an airport charger (instead, you're a hero!) [FiveThirtyEight](http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/which-diet-will-help-you-lose-the-most-weight/) looks at a recent review of randomized studies on which diets work best. The effect sizes seem pretty good - ~15lbs avg weight loss after a year - compared to what I expected based on previous coverage of this topic. Atkins doesn't win, Ornish (very traditional approach to dieting) does, though they're all extremely close, consistent with my general view that "any diet you can stick to will probably help because it will be different from eating whatever you feel like." Paleo isn't included in the analysis. Basic take, but important. WSJ: [The Man Who Wrote Those Password Rules Has a New Tip: N3v$r M1^d!](https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-man-who-wrote-those-password-rules-has-a-new-tip-n3v-r-m1-d-<PHONE>) "Bill Burr's 2003 report recommended using numbers, obscure characters and capital letters and updating regularly—he regrets the error." Not surprising at all - it's bad advice that websites still enforce today, and [XKCD's take is spot on](https://xkcd.com/936/). I recommend LastPass and maximal use of two-factor authentication. Here's an [excruciatingly detailed guide](http://www.kalzumeus.com/2017/09/09/identity-theft-credit-reports/) to filing a complaint with a credit reporting agency that actually gets acted on. Key advice is to stay away from online and phone communications and use certified mail for everything, which shows them you're collecting a paper trail and scares them; key incredible fact is that you're not allowed to use form letters because ... well, because credit reporting agencies don't want you to and they've lobbied to prohibit it. (Even though they use form letters.) I found this whole long thing weirdly fun to read. Just thinking about confronting one of these awful bureaucracies and knowing how to get good results made me smile. Advice may also have applications for dealing with bureaucracies more generally. [How to recognize when a child is drowning](https://slate.com/technology/2013/06/rescuing-drowning-children-how-to-know-when-someone-is-in-trouble-in-the-water.html). If you donate to effective global health charities to save children's lives, then you need to know how to do this too in order to be consistent.[1](#fn1) [![Twitter](https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/06/ct-twitter-square.png)](https://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/twitter/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cold-takes.com%2Fcold-links-useful%2F&pubid;=ra-60a178324cffc42e&title;=Cold%20Takes%20-%20Cold%20Links%3A%20Useful&ct;=1) [![Facebook](https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/06/ct-facebook-square.png)](https://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/facebook/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cold-takes.com%2Fcold-links-useful%2F&pubid;=ra-60a178324cffc42e&title;=Cold%20Takes%20-%20Cold%20Links%3A%20Useful&ct;=1) [![Reddit](https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/06/ct-reddit-square.png)](https://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/reddit/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cold-takes.com%2Fcold-links-useful%2F&pubid;=ra-60a178324cffc42e&title;=Cold%20Takes%20-%20Cold%20Links%3A%20Useful&ct;=1) [![More](https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/06/ct-addthis-square.png)](https://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/menu/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cold-takes.com%2Fcold-links-useful%2F&pubid;=ra-60a178324cffc42e&title;=Cold%20Takes%20-%20Cold%20Links%3A%20Useful&ct;=1) [Subscribe](https://www.cold-takes.com/cold-links-useful/#/portal/signup/free) [Feedback](https://www.guidedtrack.com/programs/4kal2ue/run?posttitle=Cold%20Links%3A%20Useful) \--- Footnotes \--------- 1\. This is a joke. If you don't get it, don't worry about it. [↩](#fnref1) Powered by [Ghost](https://ghost.org/) #### Popular tags [sports](/tag/sports/) [innovationstagnation](/tag/innovationstagnation/) [2star](/tag/2star/) [utopia](/tag/utopia/) Subscribe to Cold Takes ======================= For audio version, search for "Cold Takes Audio" in your podcast app Subscribe **Great!** Check your inbox and click the link to confirm your subscription. **If you don't see it, check your spam!** Please enter a valid email address! $("#lower-right-subscribe").click(function(f) { clicky.goal('1458'); /\*LO.events.track('Subscribe-LR');\*/ setTimeout(function(){$("#subscribe-input").focus();},500); }); $("#upper-right-subscribe-1").click(function(f) { clicky.goal('1471'); /\*LO.events.track('Subscribe-LR');\*/ setTimeout(function(){$("#subscribe-input").focus();},500); }); $("#upper-right-subscribe-2").click(function(f) { clicky.goal('1471'); /\*LO.events.track('Subscribe-LR');\*/ setTimeout(function(){$("#subscribe-input").focus();},500); }); $("#cover-subscribe").click(function(f) { clicky.goal('1472'); /\*LO.events.track('Subscribe-LR');\*/ setTimeout(function(){$("#subscribe-input").focus();},500); }); $("#footer-subscribe").click(function(f) { clicky.goal('1473'); /\*LO.events.track('Subscribe-LR');\*/ setTimeout(function(){$("#subscribe-input").focus();},500); }); $("#final-subscribe").click(function(f) { clicky.goal('1474'); }); //When someone clicks an anchor link, I want the sticky nav to go away. $("a").click(function(f) { body.removeClass('sticky-visible'); lastSt = 9999999999999}); function ctlight() { html.removeClass('theme-dark').addClass('theme-light'); localStorage.setItem('dawn\_theme', 'light'); //$(".gh-portal-triggerbtn-container").css("background","#0000dd"); /\* document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--brand-color', '#0000dd'); document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--white-color', '#ffffff'); document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--primary-text-color', '#1a1a1a'); document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--secondary-text-color', '#1a1a1a');\*/ // $("#CT-thumbID").css("transform","translate(0px,0)"); // $(".single-content").css("font-weight","400"); existingTheme = "light"; } function ctdark() { html.removeClass('theme-light').addClass('theme-dark'); localStorage.setItem('dawn\_theme', 'dark'); /\*document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--brand-color', '#5ceaff'); document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--white-color', '#18141f'); document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--primary-text-color', '#fff'); document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--secondary-text-color', '#fff');\*/ //document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--white-color', '#14101b'); //document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--white-color', '#121212'); //document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--white-color', '#282c35'); //$(".single-content").css("font-weight","300"); // $("#CT-thumbID").css("transform","translate(19px,0)"); existingTheme = "dark"; } //For light/dark toggle $(".CT-toggle").click(function(g) { g.preventDefault(); if(existingTheme == "dark") { ctlight(); } else if(existingTheme == 'light') { ctdark(); } } ); // Parse the URL parameter, then log goal if it is a completed subscription. Weird that it takes this much code to do this. function getParameterByName(name, url) { if (!url) url = window.location.href; name = name.replace(/[\[\]]/g, "\\$&"); var regex = new RegExp("[?&]" + name + "(=([^&#]\*)|&|#|$)"), results = regex.exec(url); if (!results) return null; if (!results[2]) return ''; return decodeURIComponent(results[2].replace(/\+/g, " ")); } // Give the parameter a variable name var action = getParameterByName('action'); var success = getParameterByName('success'); $(document).ready(function () { // Success === null is here for backwards compatibility if (action == 'subscribe' && (success === null || success == 'true')) { clicky.goal('1476'); } });

Cold Links: Useful var siteUrl = 'https://www.cold-takes.com'; var localTheme = localStorage.getItem('dawn\\_theme'); switch (localTheme) { case 'dark': document.documentElement.classList.add('theme-dark'); break; case 'light': document.documentElement.classList.add('theme-light'); break; default: break; } { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Cold Takes", "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/favicon.ico", "width": 48, "height": 48 } }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Holden Karnofsky", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/07/HK-headshot-current---compressed-1.jpg", "width": 1600, "height": 1067 }, "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/author/holden/", "sameAs": [ "https://www.cold-takes.com/about/" ] }, "headline": "Cold Links: Useful", "url": "https://www.cold-takes.com/cold-links-useful/", "datePublished": "2021-09-02T19:53:32.000Z", "dateModified": "2021-09-24T19:08:02.000Z", "description": "These are assorted links that I expect readers to maybe find useful on a\npersonal basis. Don't worry, this won't be too frequent an occurrence - I aim\nfor 99% of this blog to be about the last 100-10,000 years and the next 100-10\nzillion years.\n\nBen Kuhn's tips for the most immersive video calls [https://www.benkuhn.net/vc/] \n- the most comprehensive guide I've seen to good Zooming.\n\nSome tips on how to make sure you have good wifi at your hotel/AirBNB\n[https://thepointsguy.com/2018/03/how-to-fi", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.cold-takes.com/" } } .gh-post-upgrade-cta-content, .gh-post-upgrade-cta { display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; text-align: center; width: 100%; color: #ffffff; font-size: 16px; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta-content { border-radius: 8px; padding: 40px 4vw; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta h2 { color: #ffffff; font-size: 28px; letter-spacing: -0.2px; margin: 0; padding: 0; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta p { margin: 20px 0 0; padding: 0; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta small { font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: -0.2px; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta a { color: #ffffff; cursor: pointer; font-weight: 500; box-shadow: none; text-decoration: underline; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta a:hover { color: #ffffff; opacity: 0.8; box-shadow: none; text-decoration: underline; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta a.gh-btn { display: block; background: #ffffff; text-decoration: none; margin: 28px 0 0; padding: 8px 18px; border-radius: 4px; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; } .gh-post-upgrade-cta a.gh-btn:hover { opacity: 0.92; } .shaded-table { color: #000000; border: 1px solid; vertical-align: top; } .shaded-table a { color: #0000dd; } .sticky-subscribe-div { z-index: 1000; position: fixed; bottom: 25px; right: 25px; max-width: 500px; overflow: hidden; opacity: 1; } .sticky-subscribe-button { cursor: pointer; padding: 20px; background: var(--brand-color); color: var(--white-color); border-radius: 50px; border-style: none; } .subscribe-overlay { position: fixed; top: 0; right: 0; bottom: 0; left: 0; z-index: 2000; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; background: var(--white-color); opacity: 0; transition: opacity 0.3s ease-in; pointer-events: none; } .subscribe-overlay:target { z-index: 2001; opacity: 0.95; pointer-events: auto; } .subscribe-form { margin: 1.5em 0; padding: 6.5vh 7vw 8vh; border-style: solid !important; border: var(--mid-gray-color); border-radius: 10px; text-align: center; } .subscribe-overlay-title { display: inline-block; margin: 0 0 10px 0; font-size: 3rem; line-height: 1.15em; color: var(--darker-gray-color); } .subscribe-overlay-description { margin: 0 auto 50px; max-width: 500px; color: var(--darker-gray-color); font-size: 2rem; line-height: 1.3em; opacity: 0.8; } .subscribe-form .form-group { align-self: stretch; display: flex; } .subscribe-email { padding: 10px; border: 1px solid; border-color: var(--darker-gray-color); font-size: 1.8rem; line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; user-select: text; transition: border-color 0.15s linear; -webkit-appearance: none; } .subscribe-form .subscribe-overlay-button { word-break: normal; position: relative; display: inline-block; margin: 0 0 0 10px; padding: 0 20px; height: 43px; outline: none; font-size: 1.5rem; line-height: 39px; font-weight: 400; background: var(--brand-color); border-radius: 5px; color: var(--white-color); } .subscribe-form .button-loader, .subscribe-form .message-success, .subscribe-form .message-error { display: none; } .subscribe-form .loading .button-content { visibility: hidden; } .subscribe-form .loading .button-loader { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 50%; display: inline-block; margin-left: -19px; transform: scale(0.7); } .subscribe-overlay .loading .button-loader { top: 5px; } .subscribe-form .button-loader svg path, .subscribe-form .button-loader svg rect { fill: var(--white-color); } .subscribe-form .success .message-success, .subscribe-form .invalid .message-error, .subscribe-form .error .message-error { display: block; margin: 1em auto 0; max-width: 400px; color: var(--red-color); font-size: 1.6rem; line-height: 1.5em; text-align: center; } .subscribe-form .success .message-success { display: block; color: var(--darker-gray-color); } .subscribe-form .invalid .message-error, .subscribe-form .error .message-error { display: block; } @media (max-width: 650px) { .subscribe-form-title { font-size: 2.4rem; } .subscribe-form-description { font-size: 1.6rem; } } @media (max-width: 500px) { .subscribe-form form { display: flex; flex-direction: column; } .subscribe-form .subscribe-overlay-button { margin: 0 0 0 0; } .subscribe-form .form-group { display: flex; flex-direction: column; width: 100%; } .subscribe-form button { display: flex; margin: 0 0 0 0; width: 100%; } } .subscribe-close-button { position: absolute; top: 16px; right: 20px; z-index: 2000; display: block; width: 40px; height: 40px; } .subscribe-close-button:before { content: ""; position: absolute; top: 20px; right: 4px; display: block; width: 32px; height: 1px; background: var(--darker-gray-color); opacity: 0.8; transform: rotate(45deg); } .subscribe-close-button:after { content: ""; position: absolute; top: 20px; right: 4px; display: block; width: 32px; height: 1px; background: var(--darker-gray-color); opacity: 0.8; transform: rotate(-45deg); } .subscribe-close-button:hover { cursor: default; } /\\*.message-success, .message-error, .message-loading { display: none; }\\*/ /\\*.message-success .success { visibility: visible; display: block; opacity: 1; } .message-error.error { visibility: visible; display: block; opacity: 1; }\\*/ /\\*.success .message-success, .error .message-error, .loading .message-loading { visibility: visible; display: block; opacity: 1; }\\*/ /\\*For TOC\\*/ @media (min-width: 1200px) { .sticky-visible .sticky-toc { visibility: visible; opacity: 1; transform: translateY(0); } .toc-opened .sticky-toc { visibility: hidden; } } /\\*.gh-portal-triggerbtn-iframe { } .gh-portal-triggerbtn-wrapper { background: #0000ff !important; } .gh-portal-triggerbtn-container { background: #0000ff !important; height: 10px !important; } \\*/ .theme-dark:root { \--green-color: #66ff33 !important; \--orange-color: #ff5c33 !important; \--red-color: #ff3333 !important; \--purple-color: #ff00ff !important; \--brand-color: #5ceaff !important; \--white-color: #18141f !important; \--primary-text-color: #fff !important; \--secondary-text-color: #fff !important; } .feed-visibility-false { display: none; } /\\*.feed-visibility-true { display: none; }\\*/ :root { \--brand-color:#0000dd; \--white-color:#ffffff; \--primary-text-color:#1a1a1a; \--secondary-text-color:#1a1a1a; \--orange-color: #ff6600; \--purple-color: #cc33ff; } blockquote { font-weight: unset; letter-spacing: normal; font-style: normal; text-align: inherit; } table { border: 1px solid; border-collapse: collapse; white-space: unset !important; width=200px !important; } table td { border: 1px solid; border-collapse: collapse; } .theme-dark .CT-thumb { transform: translate(20px,0px); } .theme-light .CT-thumb { transform: translate(0px,0px); } /\\*.u-text-format h3 { color: var(--darker-gray-color) ; }\\*/ //Detect theme var existingTheme = localStorage.getItem('dawn\\_theme'); if (!existingTheme) { if(navigator.platform.indexOf('Win') > -1) { existingTheme = "light"; } else if(window.matchMedia && window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)').matches) { existingTheme = "dark"; } else if(window.matchMedia && window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: light)').matches) { existingTheme = "light"; } } //Implement light/dark theme if(existingTheme == "dark") { ctdark(); } else if(existingTheme == 'light') { ctlight(); } window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-TZK0WDB1DH'); var clicky\\_site\\_ids = clicky\\_site\\_ids || []; clicky\\_site\\_ids.push(101323562); ![Clicky](//in.getclicky.com/101323562ns.gif) :root {--ghost-accent-color: #888888;} [Cold Takes](https://www.cold-takes.com) [About (+highlights)](https://www.cold-takes.com/about/) [Most Important Century](https://www.cold-takes.com/most-important-century/) [About (+highlights)](https://www.cold-takes.com/about/) [Most Important Century](https://www.cold-takes.com/most-important-century/) [Subscribe (free)](#subscribe) [Subscribe (free)](#subscribe) [Subscribe (free)](#subscribe) [Cold Takes](https://www.cold-takes.com) - Cold Links: Useful By [Holden Karnofsky](https://www.cold-takes.com/about/ "Holden Karnofsky") Sep 2, 2021 3 min read Cold Links: Useful ================== These are assorted links that I expect readers to maybe find useful on a personal basis. Don't worry, this won't be too frequent an occurrence - I aim for 99% of this blog to be about the last 100-10,000 years and the next 100-10 zillion years. Ben Kuhn's [tips for the most immersive video calls](https://www.benkuhn.net/vc/) - the most comprehensive guide I've seen to good Zooming. Some [tips on how to make sure you have good wifi at your hotel/AirBNB](https://thepointsguy.com/2018/03/how-to-find-lodging-with-good-wi-fi/). It shocks me that AirBNB doesn't do more to help (e.g., nudging hosts to verify and list their speeds and networking equipment, allowing guests to filter by this). Some of the tips here are obvious, some I didn't know, but it seems like a good checklist. I strongly endorse this [advice on PowerPoint presentations](http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2018/04/words-on-slides.html). Interesting [argument against wearing a bike helmet](https://www.howiechong.com/journal/2014/2/bike-helmets?fbclid=IwAR3KRBESvDwgxEItuRK-0uwo3dEqtjSQXFTpy7Adu_Iu9u41jQdl341eKDY). I wear one because I don't want to look reckless and actively enjoy looking dorky, but ¯\\\\_(ツ)\\_/¯ I recommend traveling with an [octopus plug](https://smile.amazon.com/Leviton-692-W-Triple-Grounding-Adapter/dp/B000P9SXTG/) so you never have to fight over an airport charger (instead, you're a hero!) [FiveThirtyEight](http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/which-diet-will-help-you-lose-the-most-weight/) looks at a recent review of randomized studies on which diets work best. The effect sizes seem pretty good - ~15lbs avg weight loss after a year - compared to what I expected based on previous coverage of this topic. Atkins doesn't win, Ornish (very traditional approach to dieting) does, though they're all extremely close, consistent with my general view that "any diet you can stick to will probably help because it will be different from eating whatever you feel like." Paleo isn't included in the analysis. Basic take, but important. WSJ: [The Man Who Wrote Those Password Rules Has a New Tip: N3v$r M1^d!](https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-man-who-wrote-those-password-rules-has-a-new-tip-n3v-r-m1-d-1502124118) "Bill Burr’s 2003 report recommended using numbers, obscure characters and capital letters and updating regularly—he regrets the error." Not surprising at all - it's bad advice that websites still enforce today, and [XKCD's take is spot on](https://xkcd.com/936/). I recommend LastPass and maximal use of two-factor authentication. Here's an [excruciatingly detailed guide](http://www.kalzumeus.com/2017/09/09/identity-theft-credit-reports/) to filing a complaint with a credit reporting agency that actually gets acted on. Key advice is to stay away from online and phone communications and use certified mail for everything, which shows them you're collecting a paper trail and scares them; key incredible fact is that you're not allowed to use form letters because ... well, because credit reporting agencies don't want you to and they've lobbied to prohibit it. (Even though they use form letters.) I found this whole long thing weirdly fun to read. Just thinking about confronting one of these awful bureaucracies and knowing how to get good results made me smile. Advice may also have applications for dealing with bureaucracies more generally. [How to recognize when a child is drowning](https://slate.com/technology/2013/06/rescuing-drowning-children-how-to-know-when-someone-is-in-trouble-in-the-water.html). If you donate to effective global health charities to save children's lives, then you need to know how to do this too in order to be consistent.[1](#fn1) [![Twitter](https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/06/ct-twitter-square.png)](https://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/twitter/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cold-takes.com%2Fcold-links-useful%2F&pubid;=ra-60a178324cffc42e&title;=Cold%20Takes%20-%20Cold%20Links%3A%20Useful&ct;=1) [![Facebook](https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/06/ct-facebook-square.png)](https://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/facebook/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cold-takes.com%2Fcold-links-useful%2F&pubid;=ra-60a178324cffc42e&title;=Cold%20Takes%20-%20Cold%20Links%3A%20Useful&ct;=1) [![Reddit](https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/06/ct-reddit-square.png)](https://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/reddit/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cold-takes.com%2Fcold-links-useful%2F&pubid;=ra-60a178324cffc42e&title;=Cold%20Takes%20-%20Cold%20Links%3A%20Useful&ct;=1) [![More](https://www.cold-takes.com/content/images/2021/06/ct-addthis-square.png)](https://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/menu/offer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cold-takes.com%2Fcold-links-useful%2F&pubid;=ra-60a178324cffc42e&title;=Cold%20Takes%20-%20Cold%20Links%3A%20Useful&ct;=1) [Subscribe](https://www.cold-takes.com/cold-links-useful/#/portal/signup/free) [Feedback](https://www.guidedtrack.com/programs/4kal2ue/run?posttitle=Cold%20Links%3A%20Useful) \--- Footnotes \--------- 1\. This is a joke. If you don't get it, don't worry about it. [↩](#fnref1) Powered by [Ghost](https://ghost.org/) #### Popular tags [sports](/tag/sports/) [innovationstagnation](/tag/innovationstagnation/) [2star](/tag/2star/) [utopia](/tag/utopia/) Subscribe to Cold Takes ======================= For audio version, search for "Cold Takes Audio" in your podcast app Subscribe **Great!** Check your inbox and click the link to confirm your subscription. **If you don't see it, check your spam!** Please enter a valid email address! $("#lower-right-subscribe").click(function(f) { clicky.goal('1458'); /\\*LO.events.track('Subscribe-LR');\\*/ setTimeout(function(){$("#subscribe-input").focus();},500); }); $("#upper-right-subscribe-1").click(function(f) { clicky.goal('1471'); /\\*LO.events.track('Subscribe-LR');\\*/ setTimeout(function(){$("#subscribe-input").focus();},500); }); $("#upper-right-subscribe-2").click(function(f) { clicky.goal('1471'); /\\*LO.events.track('Subscribe-LR');\\*/ setTimeout(function(){$("#subscribe-input").focus();},500); }); $("#cover-subscribe").click(function(f) { clicky.goal('1472'); /\\*LO.events.track('Subscribe-LR');\\*/ setTimeout(function(){$("#subscribe-input").focus();},500); }); $("#footer-subscribe").click(function(f) { clicky.goal('1473'); /\\*LO.events.track('Subscribe-LR');\\*/ setTimeout(function(){$("#subscribe-input").focus();},500); }); $("#final-subscribe").click(function(f) { clicky.goal('1474'); }); //When someone clicks an anchor link, I want the sticky nav to go away. $("a").click(function(f) { body.removeClass('sticky-visible'); lastSt = 9999999999999}); function ctlight() { html.removeClass('theme-dark').addClass('theme-light'); localStorage.setItem('dawn\\_theme', 'light'); //$(".gh-portal-triggerbtn-container").css("background","#0000dd"); /\\* document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--brand-color', '#0000dd'); document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--white-color', '#ffffff'); document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--primary-text-color', '#1a1a1a'); document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--secondary-text-color', '#1a1a1a');\\*/ // $("#CT-thumbID").css("transform","translate(0px,0)"); // $(".single-content").css("font-weight","400"); existingTheme = "light"; } function ctdark() { html.removeClass('theme-light').addClass('theme-dark'); localStorage.setItem('dawn\\_theme', 'dark'); /\\*document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--brand-color', '#5ceaff'); document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--white-color', '#18141f'); document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--primary-text-color', '#fff'); document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--secondary-text-color', '#fff');\\*/ //document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--white-color', '#14101b'); //document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--white-color', '#121212'); //document.documentElement.style.setProperty('--white-color', '#282c35'); //$(".single-content").css("font-weight","300"); // $("#CT-thumbID").css("transform","translate(19px,0)"); existingTheme = "dark"; } //For light/dark toggle $(".CT-toggle").click(function(g) { g.preventDefault(); if(existingTheme == "dark") { ctlight(); } else if(existingTheme == 'light') { ctdark(); } } ); // Parse the URL parameter, then log goal if it is a completed subscription. Weird that it takes this much code to do this. function getParameterByName(name, url) { if (!url) url = window.location.href; name = name.replace(/[\\[\\]]/g, "\\\$&"); var regex = new RegExp("[?&]" + name + "(=([^&#]\\*)|&|#|$)"), results = regex.exec(url); if (!results) return null; if (!results[2]) return ''; return decodeURIComponent(results[2].replace(/\\+/g, " ")); } // Give the parameter a variable name var action = getParameterByName('action'); var success = getParameterByName('success'); $(document).ready(function () { // Success === null is here for backwards compatibility if (action == 'subscribe' && (success === null || success == 'true')) { clicky.goal('1476'); } });