howlingfantods

I used to paint old masters portraits as a hobby (including Rembrandt). I think it's a bit disingenuous to describe this as 'painting'. On top of ma2rten's criticism that it basically photoshopped previous examples to create a most representative work, I'd add that 3D printing with texture is not painting. Rembrandt, in particular, was known for painting with countless layers of semi transparent glazes to give his paintings a sense of depth and an ethereal glow. He'd also mix his pigments with bindings aside from pure linseed oil, sometimes adding chalk or glass. 3D printing the final result with none of that process makes for a very limited reproduction.

Also, I'll add that I think it's very impressive, but I think they're overselling it here.

You're absolutely right that the savings on interest is post tax. However the tax deductibility of interest creates a substantial tax shield and in general, has a net positive value for the company since changing the capital structure by increasing debt decreases the weighted average cost of capital. Studies suggest that debt, because of the deductibility of interest, on average leads to ~1 dollar of additional company value for every 10 dollars of debt financing (vs equity financing).

Also, companies that borrow money to finance stock purchases (eg Apple) also save on their taxes because interest expense on debt is tax deductible.

The thesis is that because Fidelity doesn't have full access to a company's newest finances, its valuations are largely unreliable and insubstantial.

But I'd rather take the fair value valuation of a passive third party over the fanciful valuations of a management team incentivized to project sky high revenues.

The KFC underneath my office in Shanghai doesn't even take credit card anymore. They only accept cash and WeChatPay/Alipay.

BTW, this warriors-jazz game is crazy right now.

Lacob gives himself too much credit for the fact that his injured point guard trained himself into the greatest shooter in NBA history.

Well to be fair, I live in Shanghai. Xiaomi's valuation is based primarily on their business prospects in China.

I think viewing Xiaomi purely based on its smartphone sales is a bit shortsighted. I don't own a Xiaomi phone but I do have 3 Xiaomi air filters, several smart plugs, wifi router, digital thermometer, digital scale, etc. When I buy a new TV, it'll certainly be a Xiaomi TV along with a Xiaomi router which allows me access to the Xiaomi streaming service. The stuff they're doing with smart home devices is probably what's going to drive their valuation in the future.

You do. HSBC was fined billions of dollars for money laundering. Although some argue that convictions of individuals would be better.

The developer of Hudson Yards has an entire office in Shanghai dedicated to selling these apartments to wealthy Chinese people. The pitch is that each apartment comes with a USA green card under the EB-5 program. Apparently they're selling like hotcakes.

Try Headspace. I've been using it for a while and I find it helpful.

Among my group of friends, I've found that everyone's favorite Murakami book is always the first or second they read. After you read a couple, they all start sounding the same. Another angsty young man searches for a girl with serious emotional issues, and there's some metaphor heavy dream sequences and talking animals along the way. I haven't read his recent books but I've read five books of his and it was really tiresome, repetitive reading after book 2-3.

Yihao Zhuan Che is actually owned by Didi And Kuaidi, but all three are standalone apps. It's interesting how much internal cannibilization there is.

I use headspace every day. It's easy to follow and extremely helpful. It's a fad right now, sure, but at least it's a useful fad.

Pro tip: if you VPN onto their site from a European server, you'll get the Euro prices, which are significantly cheaper than USD prices.

Enterprise value (total value of sold that day) is generally only used for liquidation scenarios.

Usually for a going concern, the share price is calculated as the net present value of all future cash flows (dividends or sometimes earnings), usually as some variation of the dividend discount model.

It's interesting to read the Chinese social media reactions to the stock market crash. In the beginning it was mostly hopeful mixed with a bit of schadenfreude. Then it was resigned with a lot of morbid jokes.

Now, there is a degree of anger you didn't see before. There is even a streak of nationalism with some rumors claiming western forces are conspiring to bring down the Chinese market. Some social media posts are literally "buy stocks if you love our motherland."

In China the taxi oligopolies are very strong and the taxis are notorious for poor service. In Beijing, they come with their doors locked and roll the windows down to ask you where you want to go, to see if they feel like going in that direction.

It's probably not gaining traction because much of Jho Low's wealth comes from (allegedly) the embezzlement and misappropriation of money from a state-funded Malaysian investment fund. Just google Jho Low and 1MDB. The case currently threatens to destabilize the Malaysian government.

I wouldn't say I'm presuming Asians are nerdier. Since I'm a nerdy Asian, I can only speak to the type of people I know. What I meant is: "if I were in school with only people who were like myself."

I studied at Harvard some years ago and I wholeheartedly support the holistic admissions process. Good grades are a great predictor of your ability to get good grades, not much more than that.

As a nerdy Asian, if 50% of my classmates were nerdy Asians, my experience would have been much less fulfilling. Much of the education at college comes from the friends you meet along the way so a diverse, multifaceted class is an invaluable part of the experience. I have a friend who was an armed guerrilla against Iran and another friend who was forced into exile in Egypt after a coup in Sudan. These are the perspectives that expand a young 18-year-old's worldview. Both of them had a SAT score much lower than mine, but I would argue they deserved their spots at Harvard more than I did.

I usually just flip a coin. If I have considered a problem for a significant amount of time and still have not come to a conclusion, it probably means that the two sides of an argument probably has equal weight and it doesn't matter which I choose. On the other hand, if I see the coin has landed on heads and I suddenly don't want to go through with the coin's choice, it probably means that I knew all along which was the better choice for me.

It's not your job to care about the emotions or inner world of anyone around you. But you'll find that life works much better if you do.

Everyone should watch Grave of the Fireflies. And then cry for a week.

>It's not something I ever consciously thought about

I think that's the point. Perhaps it's something that you might want to think about. Institutional bias is insidious because it's so pervasive as to be normal, banal. No one gives it a second thought.

Bias is perfectly rational, just like murdering your neighbor for his land. That's why we have a social contract, to prevent things that are individually rational yet socially ruinous.

Did you read the article? It's written by a 12 year old girl pointing out that many popular games lack an option to select a female character.

Nowhere does it imply men are chauvinist pigs out to further a male-dominated agenda. The fact that you have extrapolated as such is probably more indicative of your own personality and prejudices than anything else.

No one is saying men should be sorry for being men. My takeaway is that the world would run a bit better if we all had a bit more empathy and more awareness of how our actions might perpetuate institutionalized biases.

Chinese airspace is highly regulated, especially in the cities mentioned. Theoretically, every single drone flight has to be reported and registered with multiple military and civil agencies.

Enforcement is a different story.

I live in China. An electric scooter here is 500 USD, and that's the nice model that expatriates buy.