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iacvlvson How to found a company in Germany: 14 "easy" steps and lots of pain

Why?

There’s always a lot of hand-wringing and FUD around giving people ID numbers, but never a coherent rational argument. What makes it a big brother nightmare for all humans?

iacvlvson Anatomy of a credit card rewards program

I assume it’s a simple accidental transposition of “case in point”, an instance or example that supports, or is relevant or pertinent to, what is being discussed.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/usage-of-case-in-po...

iacvlvson Companies embracing SMS for account logins should be blamed for SIM-swap attacks

I use 1password with Fastmail integration to create unique email addresses for each login. This new “sipping from thimbles” approach to authentication breaks that because iOS and/or 1pass don’t recognise it as a login until the password screen, so I’m swapping and searching and copying and pasting just to log in. I viscerally hate that sort of user hostile design of the auth/login.

iacvlvson ‘Broken’ solar panels manufactured to deter criminals in South Africa

South Africa’s violent crime problem isn’t despite its wealth, it’s because of the wealth and, crucially, the inequality in its distribution. Higher inequality is associated with higher crime and lower social trust.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-80897-8

iacvlvson Police sue rapper Afroman for using footage of home raid in his music videos

In many police departments in the US the problem is essentially that there are so many bad apples that every good apple that comes is spoiled or cannot do good. This can only be changed be decisive action from the top.

How many bad apples does it take, to spoil the whole barrel?

I'm not disagreeing with the comment I'm replying to, just trying to challenge the perception that there's anything ok with "just" a few bad apples. The acceptable number of bad apples is zero.

iacvlvson 'Securing Open Source Software Act' introduced to US Senate

> Debian doesn't ask people before including their packages, and ex. nixos pulls directly from those "non-distribution" channels.

Then Debian (or NixOS) are publishing the code for distribution, and Debian (or NixOS) should be morally obligated to do the bare minimum to make the code acceptable for others to use.

iacvlvson Responding to recruiter emails with GPT-3

https://index.medium.com/career-advice-nobody-gave-me-never-...

iacvlvson Civet coffee: why it's time to cut the crap

It is fundamental to all markets in the real world. It is also a defining trait of the platonic ideal of a free market, and one of the reasons why the platonic ideal absolute free market is unrealisable. Markets can be more or less free, but never entirely so. Regulation by non-market forces is one way that markets are made less free. Such regulation is often intended to counteract or offset other things that make the market in question less free.

iacvlvson Civet coffee: why it's time to cut the crap

There is no true free market in the world. One of the defining characteristics of a free market is perfect information. This is one of the downsides of market imperfections.

iacvlvson Stealth Wear Aims to Make a Tech Statement

From TFA: "In theory, this limits one’s visibility to aerial surveillance vehicles employing heat-imaging cameras to track people on the ground."

iacvlvson PRISM kills the cloud

I agree with the point you are making. In the spirit of agreement, I would suggest that the right question is "what is it about your relative's blood test that you specifically want to bring to the attention of the NSA, government, contractors, and lobbyists."

Privacy should be the default state and expectation, and disclosure should be by exception when necessary, for exactly the reasons outlined in your post. The argument that privacy only matters if you have something to hide conceals a number of assumptions, and misses the fact that one doesn't know what one might one day wish one had hidden.

iacvlvson US Government Takes Down 3D Printed Gun Plans

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."

iacvlvson Back up your precious files on ordinary paper

Would turning your computer off, help? I can see it helping for normal EM interference, but in an apocalyptic EM pulses scenario I thought the induced current would be enough to damage components.

iacvlvson Drug resistant malaria takes new ground, raising fears of global spread

We're already working on a mosquito genocide solution. Ever since the Nature article ( http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100721/full/466432a.html ) about how the ecosystem would be fine without mosquitoes I've seen a number of mosquito genocide solutions that just yell "mad scientist".

We're using lasers http://www.physorg.com/news185463943.html

We're using smelly socks http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-07/sock-science-f...

We're tricking them into drinking poison http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/health/27mosquito.html

We're even genetically engineering them to self destruct http://gizmodo.com/5852703/mosquitoes-genetically+engineered...

It's a bad time to be a mosquito.

(Also, I think this is how a Starship Troopers / Ender's Game scenario starts.)

iacvlvson Notch gives his $3,000,000 Minecraft dividend to his employees

iirc, Steve Wozniak did something similar: when Apple went public without giving anything to the early employees, Woz basically gave/sold (cheaply) them stock from his own holdings.

iacvlvson Sony Finally Fully Unveils Its Android Tabs, The Sony S and P

It's so good to know I'm not the only one still boycotting them! I was actually starting to reconsider it when the GeoHot thing happened and renewed my resolve. In this case, I don't think we're missing out on anything: if their Android tablets are anything like their Android phones they're going to be locked down to the point of uselessness and crammed to the rafters with proprietary rubbish.

iacvlvson Why is there only one human species?

If we killed off other humanlike species because they terrified us, wouldn't we have also killed off other species that terrify us, like snakes, rats, cockroaches and spiders?

I can't find a reference right now but I remember reading somewhere that European Homo Sapiens contain genetic evidence of interbreeding with Neanderthals, and Asian Homo Sapiens contain genetic evidence of a second, later round of more interbreeding with Neanderthals. I think that suggests we didn't find them all that horrifying :)

iacvlvson Why is there only one human species?

And hobbits! The BBC article Homo Floresiensis. From Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_floresiensis )

Homo floresiensis ("Flores Man", nicknamed "hobbit") is a possible species, now extinct, in the genus Homo

iacvlvson Why is JSON so popular? Developers want out of the syntax business

I've worked with worse:

  <PERSON>
    <PERSON_HEADER_1>
      <PERSON_HEADER_1_NAME>
        <PERSON_HEADER_1_NAME_FIRST_NAME>John</PERSON_HEADER_1_NAME_FIRST_NAME>
        <PERSON_HEADER_1_NAME_LAST_NAME>Smith</PERSON_HEADER_1_NAME_LAST_NAME>
      </PERSON_HEADER_1_NAME>
      <PERSON_HEADER_1_ADDRESS>
        <PERSON_HEADER_1_ADDRESS_1>123 Some Street</PERSON_HEADER_1_ADDRESS_1>
        <PERSON_HEADER_1_ADDRESS_2>Blah</PERSON_HEADER_1_ADDRESS_2>
        <PERSON_HEADER_1_ADDRESS_3>Blah</PERSON_HEADER_1_ADDRESS_3>
        <PERSON_HEADER_1_ADDRESS_4>Blah</PERSON_HEADER_1_ADDRESS_4>
      </PERSON_HEADER_1_ADDRESS>

... and so on. I can't think of any advantage to (or excuse for) doing it this way. The only possible reason for it that I can think of, is rather comprehensive ignorance of how XML and related standards work.

iacvlvson Human eye protein senses Earth's magnetism

I know the opposite has been done, on a grand scale. A group of residents in a local suburb were complaining that a iBurst's (a local wisp) newly erected tower was causing headaches, nausea, tinnitus, dry burning itchy skins, totally disrupted sleep patterns, gastric imbalances and bouts of nausea and retching. They claimed that for these symptoms to subside took up to six weeks away from the broadcasting tower. At a meeting where concerns residents confirmed they were still experiencing symptoms. iBurst then revealed they had shut down the tower more than six weeks earlier. Unfortunately, if you're hoping to cure a psychosomatic illness, evidence alone just won't do it. Last I heard, residents were looking at a solution through the Department of Environmental Affairs. Full story at http://goo.gl/8UxNI

iacvlvson Some weekend work that will (hopefully) enable more Egyptians to be heard

I can't listen to it right now. Could someone please transcribe it?

iacvlvson Mathematically correct but psychologically wrong

I have a friend who used to use what he called "the hat system": when a creditor phoned to complain about his account, he'd explain that every month, he put the names of everyone he owed money to in a hat, and then draw names and pay them until his debt paying budget was used up -- and everyone who phones to complain doesn't go in the hat that month.

iacvlvson Ask HN: Who Is Hiring Remote Workers? (First Edition, November 2010)

For what it's worth, I understand the point you are trying to make. I understand that you are not looking for a job. I understand that you do not hope to work for the company that requires a DOC/PDF/etc. document submission.

I agree that requiring a PDF/DOC/etc. is annoying and horrible UI and probably drives off some brilliant prospective employees.

And I have also had the experience you're having now, where it seems like everyone has agreed to ignore the point and belabour ad nauseum some other, tangentially related issue.

iacvlvson So I made something that's pretty stupid but had fun doing it

The Degree of Hitler for Kevin Bacon is: 2

The Path: Great Depression Adolf Hitler

iacvlvson Scott Adams: Phone

"Leave a missed call" was so popular in South Africa that the networks implemented "Send a call me", where you send a GSM code with the target person's phone number and the network sends that person an sms message from your number with the text "please call me", your number, and an advertisement. Normally sending messages attracts a charge per SMS but a "please call me" is free, advertiser supported and limited in how many one can send per day.

iacvlvson Letters of Note: Be an unbeatable person and avenge my death

I think he was following his values. He was willing to give up his life to help (his) people live. I believe his goals, intention and ideals were noble. His actions, on the other hand, were horrific. That's why they say war is hell.

iacvlvson 0 degrees celsius + 0 degrees celsius -

No.

It's converting EVERYTHING to K, then doing the arithmetic, then converting the result to C.

0C + 0C = 273K + 273K = 546K = 273C

0C + 0C - 0C = 273K + 273K - 273K = 273K = 0C

0C - 0C => 273K - 273K = 0K

0C + 0K = 273K + 0K = 273K = 0C

iacvlvson Do you have a different personality when you speak a different language?

And Afrikaans: jy (familiar), u (ever so formal), but u is (or seems to be) falling out of common use.

iacvlvson Ask HN: How did you quit smoking?

Every time someone would tell me that they used to smoke or that they'd quit, I'd ask them how they managed it. Over time some started smoking again, some didn't, and a pattern emerged.

The critical factors I identified were a public commitment to stop smoking and a definite future date to quit.

Having the date set in advance, a few months away, gives you time to mentally prepare yourself, gets you used to the idea of becoming a non-smoker, and adds a very helpful fallback of "I really want to smoke, but I'm not going to throw away all those months of effort".

Making a public commitment (i.e. telling everyone who'll listen that you'll be quitting on [date]) makes your quitting date a bit more important, meaningful and harder to change your mind about as it approaches. It also increases the cost of recidivism: you'd have to admit you failed.

My doctor was one of the people I told about my intention to quit. He offered to prescribe a course of Zyban and I believe it made a huge difference. Just make sure you find out how long you're supposed to take the Zyban before quitting, and start taking it sufficiently in advance of quitting day.

Good luck!

iacvlvson Ask HN: What are the chances that Paul the Octopus could have 100% accuracy?

I heard someone mention that octopodes are attracted to the colour red. I don't know if that's true, but it would explain why Paul picked the German flag, with its red central stripe, and the Spanish flag, with more red than Germany's.

Or maybe he's in league with the Great Old Ones...