Vi Hart and Nicky Case created a brilliant "playable post" that challenges you to arrange two groups of polygons to make them "happy" by ensuring that no more than 2/3 of their neighbors are different.

What the simulations demonstrates is that a very slight bias against difference very quickly leads to near-total segregation. It's an update of the classic 1971segregation math of Thomas Schelling.

These little cuties are 50% Triangles, 50% Squares, and 100% slightly shapist. But only slightly! In fact, every polygon prefers being in a diverse crowd.

You can only move them if they're unhappy with their immediate neighborhood. Once they're OK where they are, you can't move them until they're unhappy with their neighbors again. They've got one, simple rule: "I wanna move if less than 1/3 of my neighbors are like me."

Harmless, right? Every polygon would be happy with a mixed neighborhood. Surely their small bias can't affect the larger shape society that much? Well…

Parable of the Polygons – a playable post on the shape of society

(viaVi Hart)

• Frontier, a terrible company, is going bankrupt

  Frontier is the bottom-rung of the top-tier of US ISPs, serving customers in 29 states. Despite enjoying monopoly control over its customers' online lives, and despite massive government handouts and…READ THE REST

• Schneier: "It's really too late to secure 5G networks"

  Bruce Schneier's Foreign Policy essay in 5G security argues that we're unduly focused on the possibility of Chinese manufacturers inserting backdoors or killswitches in 5G equipment, and not focused enough…READ THE REST

• Something Awful's "Fuck You and Die" forum went from freewheeling jokesters to Nazi shitposters, so it's dead

  Long before 4chan and other anything-goes forums existed, every major online community had a similar community: the Well had its "weird" forum, Usenet had alt.syntax.tactical (among others), and Something Awful…READ THE REST

• This PDF Editor is now only $25 for life

  TL;DR: This PDF Converter and Editor can split, delete, merge, convert, and compress files with ease, and lifetime access is now only $24.99 (reg. $99.99). PDFs are like cats. They ignore commands,…READ THE REST

• EDU Unlimited: Amp up your skills without losing your mind (or money—it's just $20)

  TL;DR: EDU Unlimited by StackSkills gives lifetime access to 1,000+ courses from blockchain and coding to writing and design for just $19.97 (reg. $600). Life gets hectic — schedules clash, deadlines creep,…READ THE REST

• 81% off a MacBook Air? Here's why you'll never regret going refurbished

  TL;DR: Get a refurbished Apple MacBook Air for just $179.97 (Reg. $999). The price of everything is going up. First of all, there's inflation. There's also a cost-of-living crisis thanks to stagnant wages…READ THE REST