All posts by Jeff Reifman

Jeff is a technology consultant based in the Pacific Northwest.

Teaching Robots to Walk

This is an excellent demonstration of artificial intelligence, robots made from tree branches learn to walk through use of deep learning reinforcement (DRL), via BoingBoing. Here’s the abstract from the research paper: We present a study in the creative design...

/ July 29, 2019
why is biking dangerous

Why Am I Scared to Ride a Bike?

For the most part, I’ve stopped biking in Seattle. The density of vehicles and aggressiveness of drivers has surpassed my comfort level. I appreciated Vreni’s visual guide to why biking has become so dangerous and how it could be made...

/ July 29, 2019

How Fighting Your Health Insurer is Rigged in Washington State

Six Independent Review Organizations Rule with Insurers in 80 to 89% of Cases

/ July 3, 2019
Molina healthcare fined

Molina Healthcare Fined $600,000 by Washington State

IMPORTANT: If you’ve had serious problems with Molina, please fill out this short survey to help me gather information about the company’s harms. You can read more about this below. On May 2nd, 2019, Washington State’s Office of the Insurance...

/ June 20, 2019
noam chomsky filters mass media machine

Stop Watching the News, Despise All Propaganda and Resist Manufactured Consent

Listen to Morrissey on propaganda and watch this wonderful animation of Manufactured Consent.

/ March 13, 2019
type d killer whale

Possible Type D Killer Whale

Scientists have video of an elusive, potentially new species of Orca, the Type D Killer Whale

/ March 13, 2019

IRS Free File Provides Free Tax Software for Most Americans

70 Percent of Taxpayers Qualify for IRS Free File If you have an adjusted gross income that’s less than $66,000, you are eligible to use IRS Free File and gain access to free tax filing software from major vendors. The...

/ March 13, 2019