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josh_fyi

1,481 karma · joined October 11, 2012

More on me at joshuafox.com

my public key: https://keybase.io/joshuafox; my proof: https://keybase.io/joshuafox/sigs/JRJfekVO5w7_4hxoaGrR32o3DRdFgdk5ztUlr3aqpDM ]

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josh_fyi··on Are rainy days ahead for cloud computing?
As DHH himself says here: The cloud allows flexibility, which is essential when you are figuring out what you are doing, as in a startup. If you are large and stable and know what you want, then yes, you can go on-prem. But note that the cloud providers will negotiate significant discounts for large customers.
josh_fyi··on Device stopped working because your medical prescription has expired
They are probably doing it in an attempt to get coverage by insurance (even if that is now not available). They can then raise the price manyfold.

See this discussion of prescription-only smartphone apps. https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/welcome-to-the-terrible-wor...

josh_fyi··on Trapped in the Ivory Basement (2021)
Why do these teachers take on such a life? You could say that the long-timers were fooled, they are now in too deep, and can't start a new career, but those deciding whether to do a PhD must know what they are facing, no? This sort of article has been going around for many years.
josh_fyi··on IBM scraps rewards program for staff inventions, wipes away cash points
"IBM and the Holocaust", Edwin Black, 2001.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust

josh_fyi··on IBM scraps rewards program for staff inventions, wipes away cash points
When I was at IBM around 2010, they offered $250 for filing patent, then $750 when the patent office approved it, usually after 3-8 years -- if you were still at IBM.

Then after a few years, they swapped those numbers around, so that if you'd been waiting for your $750 bonus, you'd get $250.

josh_fyi··on The United Arab Emirates' takeover of African forests
That's great! Liberia can't afford to protect its forest, and this deal allows that.
josh_fyi··on Best Practices for Time Travelers (2003)
I was hoping to see "Best Practices for Time Travelers (2043)"
josh_fyi··on Smoking Marijuana in Canada Is Now Legal–But Not for Citizens of South Korea
Eritrea is the only other country to tax non-residents.
josh_fyi··on Why the binding arbitration game is rigged against customers (2019)
Thank you. That does make sense. But do lawsuits against arbitrators happen with any non-trivial frequency? From the little I know, lawsuits against arbitrators are not a serious threat that arbitrators face.

But even so, all an arbitrator need to do is rule in favor of the corporation whether there is a thread of an argument in their favor, then ruling against the corporation in the remaining tiny fraction of cases.

josh_fyi··on Why the binding arbitration game is rigged against customers (2019)
Thank you. That does make sense. But as pointed out by the article, typical consumers/workers have no idea about how to choose an arbitrator and do not hire a lawyer.
josh_fyi··on Why the binding arbitration game is rigged against customers (2019)
The points in the article seem quite obvious. I wonder then, why do arbitrators ever rule against the companies that pay their fees?

I asked on Law Stack Exchange, but the answers were not quite convincing.

https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/87589

josh_fyi··on [dead]
It is briefly mentioned here that the major driver of the high-end of their tech industry (mostly near Ramallah rather than in Gaza) is Israeli entrepreneurs, who hire teams and also encourage entrepreneurship.
josh_fyi··on Ask HN: Why have people started including GPT in their usernames?
Perhaps it's a symbolic statement that their data should not be used for training, in the thought that these ML systems are configured to avoid training on AI-generated data.
josh_fyi··on Prophetic Perfect Tense
It's like saying "That's already done" when undertaking to do a task, as a sort of guarantee, asking for the thing to be considered done, similar to "consider it done".
josh_fyi··on Why don't we get our drinking water by taking salt out seawater? (2008)
Even the recycled wastewater is potable, but it is use for agriculture to satisfy people's sensibilities.
josh_fyi··on Why don't we get our drinking water by taking salt out seawater? (2008)
In Israel they add minerals back in because the desalinated water is too pure.
josh_fyi··on Why don't we get our drinking water by taking salt out seawater? (2008)
Not nothing or nominal, but cheap enough that it is feasible, and about the same as other options. We also recycle 80% of the water, first in the world. The second-place country does 15%,
josh_fyi··on My PhD took a long time and there’s no shame in that
Or the humanities need to tighten up, to build a system that encourages and enables students to get on with their lives.
josh_fyi··on Why do Ivy League students self-sabotage?
They imagine themselves as an aristocracy of talent, whose brilliance let's them live the life of the aristocracy of bloodlines.
josh_fyi··on Why do Ivy League students self-sabotage?
> reads a new book once per week" type of discipline that the average ivy leaguer tends to have

I got two degrees and spent five years at Harvard, and -- no, they don't.

josh_fyi··on Why do Ivy League students self-sabotage?
I studied at Harvard and the answer is that they want to pretend to be so smart and talented that they don't need to work. The image is of the effete aristocrat who enjoys life without lifting a finger.

Think of George W. Bush: Got into Yale (Harvard too!) because his blue-blood line always did. Mediocre grades. Lots of alcohol and drugs. (Quit that later.) Avoided Vietnam with the cushiest fun job as a fighter pilot who never flies out of Texas skies (and mostly skipped that too). Led some companies funded by his rich family. President twice.

Who wouldn't want that?

josh_fyi··on NASA just recycled 98% of all astronaut pee and sweat on the ISS
What is the time period? Is that 98% per day, per month, etc? If there is a loss of 2% a day, then in a month, about half is lost.
josh_fyi··on Ask HN: Does your company have a engineering blog? Any tips for starting one?
The key is to have no involvement from marketing and other executives, other than the engineering department. The approval process should be very very fast and easy. For example, just the CTO needs to approve and he does this almost always, and within a day.

Even the slightest friction makes the engineers not want to bother.

We've made a pretty successful engineering blog at blog.doit.com. I've published more there by far than in any comparable period of my career

josh_fyi··on Psychiatric detentions rise in first year of 988 hotline
The people being involuntarily detained have to pay the hospital bill, and in the US that is expensive.
josh_fyi··on Udemy to pay $4M to settle a case alleging it advertised fake discounts
The discounts vary randomly, and the publically advertised discount prices often disappear the moment you log in. (They would say these are for new customers only.) This incentivizes creating an account per course under different email variants.)
josh_fyi··on Starbucks CEO will work a shift at the company’s cafes once a month
Any employees at those shifts are going to be terrified...
josh_fyi··on Moscow Metro launches longest metro circle line
Two new sections were opened in the Moscow Metro in 1943! Just when the country was burning all its resources on total war. I don't really understand how it was even possible.
josh_fyi··on The Biggest Penguin That Ever Existed
H.P. Lovecraft "At the Mountains of Madness", 1931 describes these creatures from an ancient civilization in Antartica, millions of years ago: a "penguin... of a huge, unknown species larger than the greatest of the known king penguins, and monstrous in its combined albinism and virtual eyelessness."

Lovecraft was inspired by scientific expeditions to Antarctica that were in the news at the time, but the ancient, giant penguins are all his...

https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/mm.aspx

josh_fyi··on Why I’m making my family German (2017)
The Law of Return does not distinguish patrilineal from matrilineal descent. Indeed, most such immigrants are not Jewish by religious law, even if ethnically they have that connection.
josh_fyi··on U.S. military-run slot machines earn $100M a year from service members
They are military. They signed up to live under military discipline. So how about imposing on them the discipline of not gambling, at least on base? The Navy has strict rules banning alcohol on ship: strict rules are not impossible
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