foodislove

In the board game Warhammer there is the tale of the Dwarves strongholds. They forever remembered grudges. Even over the course of time, when the nature of the grudge was forgotten, they still held on to the ill will. This article is well reasoned, researched, and makes sense to a Chinese speaker. However, this will be dismissed like the UN Tribunal simply because the result contradicts the official narrative promoted by China.

There is simply too much nationalism and national pride locked up with the whole South China Sea and Taiwan that no amount of logic and truth can change how it is perceived in China.

The South China Sea dispute has nothing to facts like these, and all about geopolitics and power within China. Like with the Austria pre-ww2, if the Chinese were to invade and conquer Taiwan and control the entire SCS, they'll magically find other "distractions" and "conflicts" to distract people away from their own misrule and corruption.

With Putin's Russia and the CCP, there must always be enemies (both internal and external). If they don't exist, you create one (think FalunGong)

This proves the point. I added the "bimbo of a wife" comment as an example. If you look on web forums, there are unmitigated attacks of similar calibre towards Tsai (President of Taiwan) calling her a "old whore", "old maid", "japanese collaborator", and such.

The first time you see such nonsense like the "bimbo" reference, you call it out. However, after you see it 50 times, you just ignore it. For you, you ignore it, but since nobody calls it out, it is gradually asserted as fact. This is the same trend online by the organized trolls whereby nobody even bothers to call them out when they pretend Taiwan is part of China; that the South China Sea belongs to China; and that Xi Jinping is the new Kim Jong Il.

The first time you see something like this attack, you call it out. By the time you see it 200 times from 20 different people, you'll be indifferent.

I should write a better 50c algorithm that spews Peng is a stupid bimbo until everyone on the internet accepts it.

Note. I don't think she is a bimbo, but the point stands none the less

I'm sorry. Where were you when your counterparts kept calling Michelle Obama a "monkey" or Tsai, the President of Taiwan a "old maid", "japanese collaborator" and other things?

The Chinese global trollism is getting worse. From Airlines who don't label Taiwan under China to kids in primary school in Australia who paint a Taiwanese flag on a bull, the Chinese are really becoming more and more belligerent. The Chinese internet army of "hurt feelings" and stupid whataboutism and fake moral equivalence is entering HN as well.

Whenver there is any negative story about china, the downvotes happen immediately and "defends of the honor of china" pop up magically throwing dirt everywhere.

I'm sure when PG made this, having nationalistic Chinese trolls degrade the forum with their "China is always right" bs was probably not on the top of his mind.

I wonder if we can ask the mods. Is there a pattern of downvotes whenver there isa negative story about China? I wonder if a bunch of Tencent/Alibaba "patriotic chinese" simply created lots of accounts and upvoted themselves to get to the point they can downvote across their accounts to "keep the internet clean" of anything that embarasses Xi Jinping and his stupid uneducated bimbo of a wife

Yes. Most of the time, all you need is a basic computer and internet to SSH into a more powerful VM in the cloud. I don't host my dev stack on my computer so local computing power is mute. It's strange but a celeron chromebook is all I need.

When I travel, I don't take my heavy Macbook Pro. I take my old Acer C720 because it has Bash, a Cloud IDE, and everything I need to code. Just in case I need to do more, I have KDE on chroot for when I need more tools.

Or they throw money into sectors that they can't win thereby depleting resources away from areas they can. It can seem the Chinese are advancing in every field, but their unfavorable demographics and inability to attract overseas talent will eventually catch up.

This reads like an investment bank's disclaimer that's 5 pages long in tiny print at the back when they sell you questionable risky investments.

It's designed to make it look like there is a full vetted and functioning process when at the end of the day, it's just a human mod who makes the call.

Like with banks and other customer care agents, the only times these actions can really be challenged or changed is if there is a furore that affects FB's image.

There is just so much trolling and bullying on fb that if they had a real appeal process, it'll quickly become a flood because if they take Hate speech seriously, then the slippery slope leads them to monitor other online problems that is caused by FB.

So no. I think this is just a nice sounding disclaimer for a process that'll only be used when the next storm hits fb but won't actually help clean up all the hate and evil on fb.

I've been making my own movements for fun for a while. Most of the parts you can print/order, but for accuracy purposes I tend to use an existing balance spring (generally sourced from any old Seiko movement).

I recommend 2 books if you want to make your own movements

1) Watchmaking by George Daniels 2) Practical Watch Repairing by Donald de Carle

The first is a textbook and second deals with repairing, but actually taught me the more practical side of how to assemble & regulate a watch, and what makes a movement accurate.

I've made my own hand-winding movement. It is within COSC specs but only when it's more than 75% wound, perfectly flat, and in a cool place. Oh did I mention it's the size of a ping pong bat. It makes me appreciate ETAs and their reliability even more now. It's time consuming and drives me nuts at times but totally worth it.

Exactly. That's how we prepped for Putnam

That writing programs to solve problems that someone else has solved elsewhere? That's called IBM Watson and Jeopardy.

Agreed

The Gaokao reference you make is interesting. One of the biggest complains about standardized testing in the States is that it pushes teachers to "teach to the test". The Gaokao takes that to the extreme. It's much harder than the SAT quant, but the way my cousin and her class prepped for years is literally prepping for the test.

Imagine the SAT quant prep book with its "These are they types of questions you will encounter in the test" and take that a few steps further. Wayy higher level maths and more, but not infinite, models of questions on which they prep for every day and night for years.

Your last paragraph "blocking tech will prompt China to intensify their efforts to develop their own technologies" is exactly my point. It's much easier and less time consuming to have someone give it to you than to develop it from scratch :)

I can tell you are Chinese and extremely proud of her achievements. Saying as a whole, the education system in China produces less on creativity should not be viewed as an insult to national honor. There's nothing wrong with admitting that things are not the best. Otherwise, how can you improve?

Historically speaking, the only significant peaceful comparison would be the British -> US circa 1950s.

To be fair, people asked the same question in the 1900s. With the world getting so interconnected thanks to steamships and telegraphs, perhaps the age of major conflict had passed (this was right before ww1).

Also, global connectivity doesn't mean much when the great firewall creates 2 distinctly different internets. If you take Chinese state media as a barometer of public opinion, you clearly see there is very little affinity towards the rest of the world. The xenophobia and nationalism, if anything, is more likely to lead to conflict because nationalism is a double edged sword.

Best case scenario is the status quo. Even though China wants a bigger say in global affairs, they realize they have benefited from a peaceful international system over the last half-century and it's in their interest to preserve it largely intact. They have some long-term plays like "one belt" infrastructure, but that's something to supplement the existing system rather than to replace.

Personally I think the most likely risk is economic. No country can escape the laws of economics forever. At some point, the economy will have a downturn. Like with Putins Russia, when things are bad domestically, there is pressure to create conflict abroad (aka Ukraine) to distract their people which if managed badly, could turn out quite ugly

It's not.

It's the zero-sum thinking of a totalitarian dictatorship that's a problem. For example, simply letting the Taiwanese live their own free and happy lives is too much of "a problem" to let go without threatening invasion on a weekly basis :)

Also, there is geopolitics at play. The Thucydides Trap is real.

People see a cold war as a rivalry between equals. That's not the case. The Chinese are more adept at adopting existing tech and adding scale than creating it. This cold war is mostly one way. Their tech champions' strengths come from a potent mix of state-funded and support with local business acumen.

The attempts by the government to shift growth away from low-level manufacturing towards tech requires tech and innovation. Things that require the sort of the people the rigid propoganda infused education system is ill-equipped to produce.

The shortcut is to simply to let others develop tech, then copy. That's the essence of the forced technology transfers.

20 years ago, companies and governments believed them that the forced transfers is purely for the Chinese market and a fair deal. After that turned not to be true (read: forced tech transfers for the bullet train that China now uses to undercut the original in foreign markets), but that's not the case today.

If Trump, who I detest, can get the key European tech countries + Japan on board, they can dramatically increase the time and cost for the Chinese to pivot their economy. Delay enough and China's demographic time bomb of rapidly ageing people plus Xi Jinping's Maoist madness could well result in the Chinese economy stalling similar to the Japanese circa 1980s or worse. We'll have to wait and see it all turns out

That is simply not true. Maybe your friend lived in a different Hukou area. Either way, just because your friend can, does not mean every can.

This is the problem with China. Just because the system works for Jack Ma, and Xi Jinping's family, doesn't mean it works for everyone

The fact that you think you need to create a throwaway account speaks to how much the climate has changed for us. There is a real fear considering how totalitarian and intrusive the government has become, that they will target anyone who disagrees even on a benign forum like this.

I'm sure one of the many pro-china robots will cite something liek "THE NSA IS JUST AS BAD" but the reality is China is 1000000 times worse.

Just mention how Taiwan is in reality an independent country and they go full retard.

Most "Chinese" online seem to be paid trolls who deliberately feed misleading and false information. Either that or they have a switch in the brain where any critisism of China leads to a nationalistic brain freeze where they regurgitate silly propoganda.

The Hukou system is broken and inconsistent. Getting mine revoked was the biggest pain the ass. I'm sure there are anecdotal evidence to support your view, but the reality is the law is very differently applied depending on where you are in China. I know from first had experience the the original poster is correct.

I had similar experiences with my Noodler ink. They have a blue that is imo the nicest dark Prussian blue on the market. Unfortunately, it gave my Water Kultur, then Lamy 2000 endless clogging problems. The Pilot Ishigaki line of inks is probably the best compromise between color and reliability.

I once lost bitcoins in my Mt Gox account when I clicked on a dodgy popup while logged into my account.

This specific problem is easily mitigated. However, for most people who dabble in cryptocurrencies, they don't realize relying on security and setting defaults is just asking for trouble.

This makes sense. With average enrollment going up at the top, with the market growth in applicants less than that, eventually the bottom will lose out. Maybe there is nostalgia for some colleges be it history, alums, or what not. At the end of the day, students vote with their feet and if a college is not good enough, then it should go out of business.

He is not in bio and he has personal reasons to do what he does, but hey, don't let that stop you and your recently created throwaway account from throwing unfounded and wrong accusations around just like the paid pro china trolls.

I wonder if the title is intentional. The "great leap forward" was a failed economic and social policy where the communists decided to fast forward development by skipping directly to industrialization. It didn't quite work and tens of millions of people died of famine as a result.

What the article actually says, is that China is investing a lot in basic science. What is true is that while the quality of research per researcher in China is not that high, the sheer investment and focus coupled with quantity has led to a lot of scientific progress.

My father is part of that thousand research program to lure specialists back to China. Having seen how he works in China compared to Australia, what the real advantage China has for researchers is that they give virtual free reign and all the resources needed (read: $$$, labs and all the grad students you want) to conduct research.

For those who've never worked in academia, even though there is more academic freedom outside of China, there are whole loads of red tape (mostly well-intentioned) that slow things down. For example, at Princeton, any social science experiment involving people requires a panel to approve the ethics. A similar experiment in a Chinese university does not have the same requirements. Even if they did on paper, it would not be as rigorous.

The same goes for expenditures. I remember my father complaining years ago about how for an Australian research project, spending research money on a special type of computer required additional approval even though the money for research was already granted. That's not the case in China.

The net effect is that shockingly enough, the Chinese have managed to create almost a startup-like sandbox environment for researchers. In fields, particularly biotech, where there are ethical, and other red-tape considerations, the Chinese have an edge in producing results faster.

Of course, this just means to get one cloned monkey, hundreds of independent teams mostly likely inhumanely murdered many multiples of monkeys to get to this result.

What is important is to realize that for the Chinese, this sort of Stanlinist "only the results matter" approach is perfectly acceptable, if not encouraged. Most people would balk at the ethical and human cost, I know I do, but there is no doubt that it provides an advantage to Chinese scientists over those in the developed world. Multiply in the sheer number of Chinese scientists and you have results. Progress at any cost.

Completely agree. It's a Nash equilibrium. If nobody visits, the destination stays the same. If only I visit, then the destination stays the same yet I derive immense enjoyment. If everyone visits, the place goes down the drain and everyone loses.

The first time my mother took me to Beijing, it was a mess. There were few streetlights, few shops that sold western amenities, yet I loved it. It was different. There was no Starbucks, yet every little alleyway there were stalls that sold dumplings to deep fried dough to stinky tofu.

Now, all the alleyways have been closed down. Starbucks, KFC, Macdonald's and other generic shops dot the landscape. Every major city now serves Starbucks styled over-roasted coffee along with obligatory Gucci, Toyota, and Apple shops.

It takes a lot of effort to really experience something different. Perhaps the author is right that it's about brownie points these days, but I'm an old school romantic and I still love that feeling of visiting a city or town that I've only heard before in books.

If I'm lucky, a place turns out to be better in real life than my dreams. No doubt there are real costs for mass travel and the impact is often negative. But that's the by product of a Nash equilibrium whereby I do want to see the world and all its wonders.

Most commenters seem not to have read the actual case. This is not about Steam "preventing abuse".

The case here is purely about Steam MISLEADING buyers about what their rights are. The law is very specific here. For example, if you buy a game off Steam that says it's compatible with Mac, but turns out not to be, you are entitled to a refund. This case is about the fact that Steam's policies misleading people by saying there are no refunds even though consumer protection law in Australia states so.

This is a warning to companies who sell software- don't tell people they don't have rights and protections when they actually do.

Even if you know your startup isn't the right fit or you and team are not the YC type, the application is hugely valuable because it makes you think long and hard about what you are doing.

We never got into YC, but we did end up with another accelerator. The one question that YC asks, that sets it apart is the question at the end: "what do you know about your industry or business that other people don't".

It's a simple question with a lot of meaning. I found that working out a concise answer to that question turned out to be key to our fundraising and product positioning. If you don't have a ready answer to that question, most investors and accelerators will just make their own assumptions about what you do. Our industry is NOT the most exciting and hot trend so having that answer left and center turned out to be key to presenting what we do in a good light.

Do the application even if you know you won't get in.

This is why I don't want Mark Zuckerberg in any public office. I really think the guy has no moral compass because all his actions point to a very sinister "money is everything" attitude and that everything has a price.

Protectionism with Chinese Characteristics

It's a pretty common tactic. Cite "national security" or any other vaguely plausible reason to deny access to non-favored firms (foreign companies, and local companies who don't have the "connections"). If anyone complains, government spokesperson and 50 cent mafia generate lots of angry nationalistic crying. If another country retaliates, same spokesperson and 50 cent mafia will then decry with a straight face how hypocritical "democracies" are and how great Xi Jinping is.

The game plan is simple. Buy and/or steal tech. Rebadge as Chinese, then bankrupt the original creators by leveraging government subsidies and underpaid workers ie Segway.

So a foreigner who talks to some people while doing remote work is presenting himself as an authority on the views of people of said country. Well then, I've visited Cancun on a number of occasions. I can say for a fact, that all Mexicans drink Corona beer.

What is baffling is how someone who has no idea what they are talking about, does nothing but make Trump like complaints about bias and how "everyone" likes the dictator etc etc. Troll