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hlfy_hn

-9 karma · joined July 27, 2020

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hlfy_hn··on Why cancer cells waste so much energy
Dichloroacetate influences NAD+ level (but increases)
hlfy_hn··on The longest train ride in the world (2019)
"The longest train ride in the world"

Longest bullshit post. With changing trains, it does not mean much. BTW, the China - Thailand Railway opens soon. Then you can go to Singapore from Lisbon. Or from Marrakesh to Beijing if you take the ferry to Spain.

"All prices were hastily sourced from various travel sites."

TLDR: No idea what I am writing about, but I collected some stuff from the internet.

For some real world experience: https://www.seat61.com

hlfy_hn··on Jeffrey Epstein’s Harvard connections show how money can distort research
I stated a legal fact, without any judgment. That this gets downvoted says very little about me. It says a lot about Hackernews.
hlfy_hn··on Samsung to halt production at its last computer factory in China
"Literacy != education."

Irrelevant for many jobs. What to do with people who can not read?

"Certainly helpful, when used correctly. Definitely drives the cost of labor lower, though"

Why should this be the case? The labor is probably lower in Benin. Yet, nobody moves there.

">3. Infrastructure and clustering. To an extent, sure"

No. In fact there was a study from a business school that showed that this is the most important point about China. Clustering. All the suppliers and sub-suppliers that can work hand in hand.

">4. The political will to move forward. This is the primary point I would say is wrong. We have plenty of political will in the USA."

As a immigrant in both systems and a naturalized US citizen I tell you that this is not my impression.

hlfy_hn··on Ask HN: I have $450K cash, what should I do to maximize my return?
"I have about $50K in an index fund, own land worth $150K (paid off) and another $200K in industrial real estate investments."

1. I don't like Index funds. They were a great investment in the past. They may be a disaster in the future.

2. "buy land they stopped making it" Mark Twain

3. "industrial real estate" could be top, could be a disaster, depending on what "industrial" means. Technology heavy REIT (IT, server, g5 infrastructure) could be okay.

You could go contrarian and keep it cash. You could diversify in foreign currencies. In the end, HN is not the right place to ask. I just recently invested in some Asian utilities companies. They pay 5-10% divendends. Have a telecom investment that pays 45% dividends. No kidding.

One word of wisdom: Do not do VC investments. I sunk a ton of money there. In for a penny, in for a dime and it will start sucking a tremendous amount of time out of you.

hlfy_hn··on Samsung to halt production at its last computer factory in China
Nut sure why this is also downvoted. Feel free to disagree. I have a PhD in a STEM field and live in China. I think my opinion has some value.
hlfy_hn··on Samsung to halt production at its last computer factory in China
Sorry, I am not a native speaker.
hlfy_hn··on Samsung to halt production at its last computer factory in China
China's strength was never cheap labour.

1. Educated people (most former communist countries have fewer analphabets than the US)

2. Tons of people

3. Infrastructure and clustering.

4. The political will to move forward.

You won't see this in Africa. India is possible but unlikely.

hlfy_hn··on What I learned from doing over 60 technical interviews in 30 days
Job hunting advice and I know this will get downvoted.

When called for an interview, ask as a first question why they think you are a good candidate for the job. It is clear by my resume and elaborated by my cover letter, but you would be surprised how many people are thrown off guard by this. Why? They got your resume from HR and never bothered to look at it. This saves time. For you and for the company.

hlfy_hn··on Apple surpasses Saudi Aramco to become the most valuable company
"Between 2003 and 2014, the European Commission found, Apple had lowered its effective corporate tax rate from 1% to just 0.005%."

https://observer.com/2019/09/apple-ireland-tax-lawsuit-europ...

1. I don't know why I get downvoted

2. I would not say a corporate tax rate of 0.005% is high.

hlfy_hn··on Glucosamine Supplementation Reduces All-Cause Mortality: Study
Would you be so kind to tell me

1. The amount and frequency of glucosamine you give to your dog

2. The size of your dog (kg/pound)

hlfy_hn··on Apple surpasses Saudi Aramco to become the most valuable company
Because they don't pay taxes.

Apple designs an iPhone, has it produced in China, sold to Apple HK, then sold to Germany.

Profit margin in China by Foxcon? Small Profit margin in the offshore jurisdiction (e.g. Hongkong). Big. Taxes in HK for this transaction: Zero

This transaction also does not show up in the US trade balance. ("Black matter in accounting")

hlfy_hn··on ITER: World's largest nuclear fusion project begins assembly
"It's an odd choice to use global accumulated wealth rather than the global equivalent of GDP (GWP)"

No, it isn't. If you own a house that has already been build it does not influence GDP. Yet you need to finance repairs and maintenance (and therefore Energy).

The problem with most infrastructure is actually not to build it but to sustain it.

hlfy_hn··on Scent dog identification of samples from Covid-19 patients – a pilot study
Such a do should cost you about USD$ 10k, possibly more for a Corona detection dog since it has to be trained in a dangerous environment. You need a dog handler. The dog is not able to work 8h a day and sniff out samples non-stop. Honestly I don't know how many hours a day the dog could perform. 3 hours may be realistic. So how many people can the dog smell in an hour? 60?

Taking into account he costs (dogs, transport, dog handler etc.) it does not seem to be a cost effective solution. Yes, fogs were used to detect pregnancies but we don't do this anymore.

hlfy_hn··on Scent dog identification of samples from Covid-19 patients – a pilot study
AFAIK most dogs can't get Corona (for now). Dogs that have tested positive for corona are rare. There is no report from Dog to human infection.
hlfy_hn··on Scent dog identification of samples from Covid-19 patients – a pilot study
"It's hard to imagine a cheaper test than this! "

ROTFL. Do you know what a working dog costs? Good luck with that. But you could try to build an artificial nose based on the headspace.

hlfy_hn··on Cracking down on research fraud
Makes me think of Hans Lehrach. Dunno why

https://www.molgen.mpg.de/hans-lehrach