j2d3

I think BitCoin could be a great answer to the global dissatisfaction with the dollar as the world reserve currency. Why not use bitcoin as a non-political global reserve currency, and as an intermediary between national currencies, rather than as an everyday currency that intends to replace anything.

Don't know why this in on HN, but I enjoyed reading it. Hot stuff! This discussion about it looks pretty lame - arguing over whether or not Kennedy was abusing his power or sexually abusing this woman is ridiculous as it robs this woman of both her agency as an 18 year old and now. At 18, like it or not, she was an adult. There is not any "raping" described, and she acknowledges having thought deeply about why she agreed to do this or that. She used her own adult (teen, yes, but also adult) mind to decide what to do. Sure there is a power differential, and in this case an extreme one, but so what... THERE ALWAYS IS! All relationships, especially sexual relationships, involve a power differential / dynamic. This is what makes it fun. Each person is trying to achieve a certain level of "control" over the other, even if that is done counterintuitively by ceding that sense of control to the other. If one brutally and forcibly wrests control over the other, then it is rape. But, if both people are adults making their own decision, then it's simply a typical human sexual relationship!

What seems missing from this HUGE discussion about "the end of antibiotics" is vaccination.

There is work in progress toward a MRSA vaccine[1,2,3], though it won't be easy. Nevertheless, the way I see it, vaccines are a strategic approach, while antibiotics are tactical.

Obviously we need to continue to pursue both, but I just think it's important to consider and even maybe refocus our efforts to deal with MRSA and other tricky fast evolving bacteria that become widespread and problematic in our communities by pushing hard for vaccine development.

[1] http://www.trefis.com/stock/pfe/articles/205872/pfizers-vacc...

[2] http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/02/15/scientists-create...

[3] http://www.fiercevaccines.com/story/pfizer-glaxo-and-novadig...

(did you know there was a website called "fiercevaccines.com"???)

Great user experience often is / should be the product.

Admittedly skimmed this once I saw it is a list of "remedies" that will, unfortunately, never happen.

This article is a just a huge HN troll.

Arbeit macht frei

This story does not add up. It makes no sense, and I don't believe it.

Robot pilots.

Like this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2324358/Welco...

Towing is a service that is provided to the city, not to you. It is provided to the city in order that they may conveniently and cost-effectively enforce the laws on the books. You took a calculated risk (which you admit), and you lost. I don't think $520 is unreasonable at all for someone who broke a law because he was (admittedly) too lazy / tired to care.

The city (unlike the mafia) does provide protection (a real police force and much more!) as well as many many many other services and benefits. One of those is having clear streets with available parking, and usable, clear private driveways for those who own property and pay taxes to the city.

Your self-described actions and your reaction to the situation strike me as incredibly... douchebaggy.

reddit?

we do know that we are not allowed to know that

I don't post (much, though not nothing) about my son online, but for different reasons. The idea that you're going to realistically provide some kind of anonymity capability by not posting pics of your kid of FB is a fantasy. Facial recognition is going to be part of reality due to state, private, and personal facial recognition capabilities. At school, in public, at work, facial recognition technologies will track everyone - there will be no opting out and it won't matter what you did or didn't post on FB.

Resistance is futile.

This is some interesting copy from a company called "safevote" I came across when googling whether there were any laws against online voting... because I almost said, "It's not like there are any laws preventing US citizens from voting online..." but I wanted to be sure. Anyway the link:

http://safevote.com/internetvoting.htm

So, we can be voting online. Yes we can! hahaha. groan.

Because the US has no national voting system, and because there are over 4600 voting jurisdictions in the US, and because the mechanics and rules and procedures around voting are left to the states and local municipalities, it seems to me that if someone put code up on github that could theoretically enable secure, anonymous online voting, and then, if a certain voting jurisdiction were interested, they could set it up for their voters and offer it as an option to them. Seems that some plucky voting jurisdictions needs to just try it out. It seems like a big problem, but it's not really, it's just about getting a few jurisdictions that rely heavily on absentee ballots to offer an online option, one that is secure and implemented in a transparent way.

A powerful version of this is central to the plot of Gamer (2009).

Animals can talk --- to each other.

I alternately get the message "Hacked by the SEA" (to my dismay I've been informed this is the Syrian Electronic Army, not the Symbionese Electronic Army...), or a redirect to http://www.boxsecured.com/high_cpu.html - a 404 error saying hi_cpu.html is not found.

Hacked by the SEA

Home Depot's tool rentals are not cheap, they do not get delivered, and they are only for tools that are VERY expensive and usually large and bulky otherwise - things like stumpgrinders and trenchers, concrete saws and jackhammers.

This is why a tool sharing service could work. Users would only be paying for the inventory management (an automated system, an app that keeps track of which tool is in which users' home), and - optional delivery - via an uber like service. They would willingly contribute tools they already own to the library of available tools. The capital used to buy the tools will have already been contributed by the users who own the tools they share. In exchange for sharing, they get to borrow tools they don't have. Those who have no tools to offer to the pool would have to pay a little more, and the service could use collected money from those who don't have any "credits" for contributing tools to purchase the most requested but unavailable tools to add to the sharing pool. There would be no central place where the tools are stored, they will just be stored in the homes of subscribers to the service.

Your desk looks really beautiful :) What species of wood did you use, and what did you stain it with?

The drill example is a good one. I'm currently building a pergola. It's nearly complete, but I need to cut a few more pieces from 4x4s at a 45 degree angle. Somehow I did a decent job of this already on a few pieces with my handheld circular saw, but it's just not the right tool for the job. I screwed up a few times trying last night. What I really need is a chopsaw that will cut @ 45 degrees perfectly well.

I could go buy a chopsaw. I will probably keep using it on occasion. But it's another $200 or so and - I'd rather just borrow one from a friend. But I don't really know who of my friends has a chopsaw I can borrow, I don't want to invest the time to figure that out and then go and get it, and tool rental is ridiculously expensive, and it doesn't generally deliver without even more ridiculous expense.

I also need a nail gun, and the good ones are all air powered, which means I need a compressor, too. Again, I could go rent this stuff, but I want it delivered, and I don't want to pay a price that is pretty close to what it would cost to just buy the tool!

I have several power tools I rarely use. If I could sign up for a service that would let me loan my tools out and borrow tools from others that also join the service, and if the tool sharing service delivered and picked up tools from my home and I requested what I want and made known what I have via an app, I'd sign up right away.

I think it could be done with little cost to the end user.

So - Uber for everything - yes - and Uber for powertools - give it to me now!

The greatest damage done by 9/11 was not the actual destruction of the towers and the deaths of all those people, but the (sadly predictable) reaction of our government, particularly the Patriot Act, the creation of the TSA and the Dept. of Homeland Security, and the emboldening of the NSA, CIA, FBI, and the NYPD.

"At the same time, the U.S. is rapidly degenerating into something that isn't quite the sinister oppressive regime, but getting close to the point where it could become one, if a wrong leader gets elected."

I think it has little to do with any leader who gets "elected." The actual leadership is safe behind the scenes, busy "electing" people with well placed capital. The faces change, but not what's underneath. I think we passed the point you worry we are getting close to, and I think the wrong leaderS have been "elected" for long enough that we're... just totally screwed.

"It's scary."

Yep.

You're right, he was convicted of obstructing the investigation about how Valerie Plame's identity was leaked... so it's not fair to say that he leaked it himself. He just protected Dick Cheney, who - semantics aside - was likely the actual leaker (in terms of responsibility for the leak and directing that the leak occur).

I thought he exposed the identity of an undercover CIA agent. That seems like a fact that was supposed to be secret, which he leaked (supposedly.)

Some ways to take comfort here:

1) This is not the final word on Bradley Manning's fate. His supporters, who have already raised over $300,000 in his defense thus far, will not stop here.

2) 35 years is bad, but not as bad as it could have been. At least his defense successfully got rid of the "aiding the enemy" charge.

3) This will be appealed something like this, IIRC:

   (a) Appeal to the convening authority (a military officer who has the power to reduce the sentence or overturn the conviction all together). This is the method that has allowed (more than one) convicted rapist go free: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/13/senators-critical-military-convening-authority - so if this were used to free Bradley Manning or reduce his sentence, it could help the Military defend the process in the court of public opinion! (However, this is EXTREMELY UNLIKELY!!!)

   (b) Appeal to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals (ACCA)

   (c) Appeal to Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces

   (d) Appeal to the US Supreme Court

There is an article here that explains all the possibilities:

http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/08/21/bradley-mannings-senten...

(Edit: formatting)

There is just a huge divide between what any politician will say to get elected and what he believes he is compelled to actually do once elected. I don't think he's "beginning to understand" anything. I think he fully understands the crazy ass chess game he's been playing all along. Actually creating the most transparent administration in US history is - well - an extremely subjective and pretty much immeasurable / untestable sort of claim to make in the first place. TONS of wiggle room. Also it's his last term, he doesn't have to do shit except finish out and collect public speaking fees and board compensation checks for - forever.

It may be that one set of rules (the UCMJ) requires him to lie (about this particular topic), while another set of rules make lying to congress illegal.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" often put people into paradoxes where they were required by one set of rules to not disclose their sexuality while another set of circumstances + rules required them to disclose it (ie., not lie), or face penalties.