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memnips

161 karma · joined September 23, 2011

Founder & Investor (Cars & Bids, Eido Studios, SweetLabs)
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memnips··on Bitcoin and quantum computing
Somewhat ironic question, but as ETFs holdings of BTC continue to grow, is there a possibility that the custodians of those ETFs start to have a backup plan for ETF holders or create an alliance to push a fork forward? The management fee those companies generate is non-trivial, so they're incentivized to stay ahead of this.

Now, of course, the irony here would be traditional finance infrastructure winning out over decentralized, which could definitely deal a psychological blow to BTC's perceived value... but it's something I've been thinking about lately as this existential threat rises on the horizon.

memnips··on Private Welsh island with 19th century fort goes on the market
What I find impressive is that he somehow managed to renovate this property for only $2.7M?! Including 350 helicopter trips over two days!
memnips··on What can defend against off-the-shelf drone weapons?
Serious question: why is it hard to make small, anti-drone missiles? I assume it needs to only be within X distance of target and detonate to disable a drone.
memnips··on Toyota Research Institute head says full autonomous driving is “not even close”
And it's also called "Autopilot" which sets an extremely different tone and expectation than other driver-assistance/safety technologies.
memnips··on The End of Arduino 101: Intel Leaves Maker Market
Can you share some of the design houses you are recommending or are aware of? Thanks!
memnips··on Snap Inc. S-1
Relevant Money Stuff on the subject: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-01-17/snap-vote...
memnips··on Are Rotisserie Chickens a Bargain?
BUT what about the psychological value of _feeling_ like you're getting a deal, even if you aren't actually getting one?

E.g. People from this research actually experience more pleasure when they believe a wine is expensive: http://time.com/money/3846874/expensive-price-tag-cheap-wine...

> “Expectations truly influence neurobiological responses,” write the authors.

memnips··on A $700 Juicer for the Kitchen That Caught Silicon Valley’s Eye
You lose a lot more than just fiber in the juicing process: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/juicing-removes-more-than-ju...
memnips··on Fake Meetings for People with Too Many Real Meetings
Once I connected my calendar I actually had trouble distinguishing my real meetings from the decoy meetings. Impressive and frightening.
memnips··on Tay – Microsoft A.I. chatbot
I'm surprised by the design of "her" avatar and the site. To me, the digital artifacts give it a slightly frightening and negative feel. Am I alone?
memnips··on Microsoft Launches Visual Studio Code, a Free Cross-Platform Code Editor
It almost feels as though the "Developers! Developers! Developers!" Ballmer mantra is back! [0]

Microsoft has realized that it can't afford to lose anymore developer mindshare and it's creating some really spectacular results. This is a Microsoft I can be excited about!

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8To-6VIJZRE

memnips··on The load-balanced capture effect
HAProxy absolutely can support an HTTP response code health check, but in my experience out of the box it just makes sure the port (say 80) is open. I learned this once the hard way and will never make that mistake again... ;)
memnips··on Microsoft to invest in Cyanogen
I look forward to seeing Android devices powered by Microsoft apps/services in the future just so Google has a wee bit of competition!

We (at SweetLabs) have been proponents of this "Windroid" concept for some time, and I think Cyanogen is a very smart way for Microsoft to move forward. Our "Windroid" thoughts were written up last year if anyone is interested: http://venturebeat.com/2014/01/01/windroid-what-if-microsoft...

memnips··on Evan Spiegel's Email Memo
> One thing I did not understand is where all the mobile money on facebook is coming from. Looks like it is from app installs (don’t think FB breaks it out) which in turn is created by VC funding bubble.

In July re/code put the App Install Ads at $400-$800m in revenue per quarter. I'd guess it's on the upper-end of that spectrum and is out-pacing other revenue lines. It's not unusual for a top tier game to pay up to $3-5 for a US install.

This is why Twitter is so keen (desperate?) to replicate what FB is doing.

http://recode.net/2014/07/24/why-doesnt-facebook-want-to-bra...

memnips··on Amazon Echo
I'm surprised by the privacy backlash in this thread! I understand why this product is so scary for someone who is concerned about privacy, but how is this that much worse than all the other devices you use?

You carry a smart-phone that presumably has GPS, a microphone, and a camera everywhere you go. There's a camera and microphone on your laptop too. Both are cloud connected. If the NSA (or any other super-power) wants to spy on you, they can and will. I believe we've learned that if nothing else w/ all of Snowden's revelations.

IMO if you detest this device's privacy it can only because either: A) You take your privacy VERY seriously, to the point you avoid most mainstream technology and exclusively use burner feature-phones and Tor B) You trust Amazon less than you trust Google, Apple, or others.

I am going to assume it's more the latter than the former. (If not, you really do not represent the mainstream and this audience isn't what I expected).

So assuming B, question for you: why don't you trust Amazon? I actually trust Amazon more than I trust Google or Apple. They have always delivered for me as a customer, and I believe they've always put me first.

*Edited to correct former/latter reversal.

memnips··on Become Estonia’s e-resident
Is there a tax advantage here? Estonia's tax system is supposed to be very simple, and allows for a 0% corporate income tax on all profits that are re-invested into the corporation (source: http://www.incorporate.ee/why-estonia/low-tax-jurisdiction).

Does this mean I can form a corporate entity in Estonia and gain all the tax benefits without any physical presence?

memnips··on Yahoo Nears Investment in Snapchat
As someone of the "Facebook generation", I have to say my mind was blown by this video. Thanks for sharing.

I feel there is clearly a trend line one could draw here in the evolution of social networking and social media. Since the initial era of social networking, friction was reduced (e.g. Instagram / Twitter) and now it's moving to be both frictionless and ephemeral (Snapchat).

It's interesting because the trend almost leads you something like life broadcasting (e.g. Justin.tv) - but we've already been there. I wonder what the next phase will be.

memnips··on GitHub search for 84600 seconds. Oops.
86400 seconds is 24 hours. It is surprisingly commonly mis-entered as 84600 seconds, as evidenced by this search. As such, many unintended consequences can ensue.
memnips··on LinkedIn's Series B Pitch to Greylock: Pitch Advice for Entrepreneurs
I would love to see a visual representation of the relationship between pitch deck length and successful raise. I was surprised by the length of this deck.
memnips··on Sweden Runs Out of Garbage With Waste-to-Energy
For a different perspective I found this older article which ponders the economic impact of forcing 9 million people to spend time and energy sorting their trash: http://mises.org/daily/2855
memnips··on Under the hood of Windows 8, or why desktop users should upgrade from Windows 7
>> In all, I can see 41 app tiles without scrolling, both large and small, all of them are easily identifiable and relatively easy to reach.

In practice, I find seeing so much quite overwhelming. Is seeing 41 app tiles - many animated - actually a good thing? My ability to scan and make sense of the Start Screen is quite low. I find it grades on my senses as time passes and every visit to the Start Screen becomes less and less pleasant.

And regarding scrolling, on the desktop are we not used to vertical scrolling? I find it odd when my vertical scroll wheel action results in a horizontal scroll. It's harder to scan while scrolling.

Lastly, regarding have to "dexterously following a series of menus" using a mouse - is it really that hard? Did the MS research say users are unable to use a mouse effectively? I assumed the tiles are huge because a finger is much larger than a mouse pointer, and the Start Screen UI is designed as a touch-first experience.

memnips··on Under the hood of Windows 8, or why desktop users should upgrade from Windows 7
In regard to #1, Microsoft wants to leverage their desktop monopoly to force users into the Metro ecosystem thus forcing developers to build Metro apps.

I don't believe it's to get users comfortable with Microsoft's interface on mobile offerings though that is clearly a side-effect.

memnips··on Startup = Idea
IMO a startup is a company trying to discover and prove a new business model or a radically altered existing business model.
memnips··on Updated iOS 6 devices don't connect to WIFI
What if the URL gets successfully DDOS'd?
memnips··on Vinod Khosla: “I Feel Sad Sometimes For YC Companies That Get So Much Hype”
And your current investment thesis is...? :)
memnips··on Mailgun (YC W11) is being acquired by Rackspace
Congrats! I love the service.
memnips··on Toro - a php micro-router with great examples
In lighttpd, enable mod rewrite and:

url.rewrite-once = ( "^/(.*)$" => "index.php/$1" )

memnips··on Toro - a php micro-router with great examples
I've used Toro for about six months. It's excellent.
memnips··on FTC Approves Instagram Acquisition
I guess I'm still missing it. I think measuring economic deals in dollars is pretty sensible. I'm not implying the terms of the deal have changed, however the value of the deal has changed MATERIALLY since it was announced to approved.
memnips··on Hacking Instagram: release your photos under Creative Commons
I'm a little slow today. Does this actually utilize an Instagram API to change the license on their side? If so I'm curious as to what the API call is as I believe it's undocumented.
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