ptero

8 ms·

1.
by ptero 10d ago
> the right to accurate information from public officials, I thought that was indeed an absolute and basic right in a democracy In many countries, both democratic and not, police can lie (e.g. to try to get a suspect make a mistake and e
2.
by ptero 29d ago
> Read his comment again. He says he rejected the $100 and then started arguing and threatening to go to court. Going to court is the standard, and usually the only, path for resolving disagreements that parties cannot easily resolve bet
3.
by ptero 29d ago
I read the main objection as being with an airline exploring option to put a traveler on a no-fly list. Not due to anything related to security, but purely as a punishment for exploring compensation options. This, in my book, is VERY bad
4.
by ptero 1mo ago
If the govvies (any govvies; there is nothing specific to EU here) drive that process of forking a large, powerful, universally used system you will end up with more surveillance, not less. Because kids, because pornography, because terrori
5.
by ptero 1mo ago
> There's now a gargantuan amount of documentation about their impact: - insane noise levels 24/7, you can hear them even at miles away Can you share a link or two to this? Hearing a data center from miles away sounds suspiciou
6.
by ptero 1mo ago
The linked article claims that sound can be heard "hundreds of feet from the data center". That is a very short range. As much as I doubt that spreading of the data centers is a good thing, noise is not the weapon to wield. Unless
7.
by ptero 3mo ago
This. Linux is my primary OS for both work and home, but I have a Mac laptop for travel as the battery life of any Linux laptop I tried is very bad. And this includes a modern System 76, supposedly Linux-friendly with drivers, which drains
8.
by ptero 4mo ago
While the fully burdened cost of an engineer being double his salary sounds suspicious, this is indeed broadly the case. It has been (sometimes significantly) more than double in the case in every US employer where I worked and where I saw
9.
by ptero 4mo ago
On US being more meritocratic in tech -- completely agree. US tech space is very dynamic and very competitive which gives many younger folks a leg up. But pure tech is a small part of all white collar jobs (the linked article references &
10.
by ptero 4mo ago
The fact that 1 in 4 white collar workers are not getting raises or promotions might not be a bad thing. As white collar workers get older they frequently stop optimizing for money and start optimizing for time, flexibility and other things
11.
by ptero 4mo ago
> So just give up because something is hard? No, but a good first step would be to widely acknowledge that the problem is hard. And thus is not solvable by a quick fix of a type "let's ban <something>". Otherwise we
12.
by ptero 4mo ago
The problem is not with the state actually prosrcuting all, or even many vpn "offences". The problem is that the legislation gives states another powerful tool to prosecute people they find annoying but cannot easily punish for cl
13.
by ptero 4mo ago
In the last 25-50 years the universities pivoted from providing an education to focusing on research and viewing students as pesky legacy, whose education is delegated to grad students. Even at large public universities, very few tenured pr
14.
by ptero 4mo ago
A lot of companies have Microsoft or Google as primary service providers. Which means all their documents are cloud first. Anthropic is just another provider there. The model of "everything is online" is the same.
15.
by ptero 4mo ago
IMO the last point is a definitely plus. Defense procurement is a feeding trough for the incumbents. Exposing the current state is a required first step for any meaningful transition (not sufficient and will probably not happen this time, b
16.
by ptero 5mo ago
> The cuts were exacerbated by state Republicans getting a proposed payroll tax repeal onto the ballot next month Sorry to nitpick, but why is the next month's ballot (and in general the issues that have not been voted on yet) affec
17.
by ptero 5mo ago
> what's the point of cryptocurrencies for most people? Why not just use the "tradfi" and "fiat currencies" Maybe because otherwise for a significant portion of the world population their own fiat is the only gam
18.
by ptero 5mo ago
Sorry, and no offense intended, but can you be clearer? What exactly is your main concern that you allude to above? And how, in your view, the Lightning compares with the alternatives in that specific regards? Most people who use Lightning
19.
by ptero 5mo ago
Very easy. If the merchant supports it, it is extremely easy; equivalent to pointing your phone at a reader to pay with GooglePay. Between people -- a QR or similar.
20.
by ptero 5mo ago
Sorry, I do not understand your comment. Can you clarify. What does "a lot more centralized in practice" mean? > What's the point of it all in this case? Lightning is an L2 protocol, highly scalable and used for low cost p
21.
by ptero 5mo ago
> that seems like the exact same usage as here: tying a pseudonym to an IRL for purposes of law enforcement. I disagree. Tying a pseudonym to an IRL persona for purposes of law enforcement is a part of an official investigation. Doxxing
22.
by ptero 5mo ago
Virtually everyone everywhere can find free 30 minutes. And turn their devices off. Those who think they cannot would do well getting to a state where they can do this, at least 6, preferably 7 days a week. Skipping screen time between waki
23.
by ptero 6mo ago
I agree with your "sensationalism is bad" take; especially as meaningful, non-incendiary comments now often get quickly downvoted for viewpoint, not tone (IMO downvoting should cost 0.1-0.3 karma). But not with "nothing to se
24.
by ptero 6mo ago
I do not think so. The Windows - OS/2 war was a big fight that Microsoft won on merits. Windows 95 was revolutionary at the time, folks queued at the malls on the release day to get it, bugs and all. They fought the compiler wars with
25.
by ptero 6mo ago
Microsoft lost its way much earlier than 4 years ago. It abused users at the time of Netscape wars and forcing Internet Explorer down people's throats. But they hit an infinite gold mine with government adoption and for the last 30 yea
26.
by ptero 6mo ago
PhD programs are very different. The environment Karpathy describes is fairly similar to what I saw as a math PhD in a good school, but not an ivy. My theoretical physics PhD friends had the same setup as I had, but experimentals lived in a
27.
by ptero 7mo ago
Wherever it starts, it requires both sides willingness to go beyond the level of "quite a weather, huh". Without which the right approach is a quick and graceful exit. My 2c.
28.
by ptero 7mo ago
In some age groups/environments, sure; but not in general. And if folks crave interaction they want it to be deeper than a surface level. That's not saying you should not try, but learn to recognize early signs of folks not being
29.
by ptero 7mo ago
I cannot agree with that. Do not be shy about trying, but do not be a pest either. There are many times when interruptions are not good for both sides. My 2c.
30.
by ptero 7mo ago
Register your own domain, use a third-party provider to handle actual sending and receiving (I use proton, which makes the setup very easy), forward your Gmail to your personal domain address and as renewals and reminders come in switch you

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