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paypalcust83

195 karma · joined April 16, 2020

PayPal soon-to-be-former customer
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paypalcust83··on Ask HN: I'm a software engineer diagnosed with Alzheimer's,how should I prepare?
The current best scientific guesstimate is that there is no panacea. A suite of lifestyle changes and maybe some medications would be the mostly likely way to increase quality of life until there's an amyloid removal technique or vaccine.
paypalcust83··on Using an iPad as the main display for a Mac Mini
SideCar (using the enabler trick) between a Mac mini (Late 2012) and an iPad Pro 10.5 was very laggy over USB. It wouldn't work over wireless. I'd rather try an app instead.

I've been trying the built-in screen sharing VNC, and that too is very laggy.

The Mac mini has tested fast (iperf3.. latency and bandwidth are good) over WiFi, so I think an app has the potential to be fast.

paypalcust83··on Backblaze Hard Drive Stats Q1 2020
I recently bought 4x WD HGST WUH721414ALE6L4 512e 14TB. The 4Kn's were the same price but on lengthy backorder/dropship from WD, so that wasn't going to work. Also, I absolutely refuse to buy the WD Gold (WD141KRYZ) that is effectively the same product but at a much higher price ($480 vs. $346). Marketing people can take a long walk from a short pier.
paypalcust83··on Musk dares county officials to arrest him as he reopens Fremont factory
No, it's intentional and with a goal. "Brave" in his overt disregard for the lives of others in the name of money. There is, as of yet, no vaccine and there is no cure, and the pandemic curve will restart and kill more people if reopening happens too soon. Lockdowns certainly aren't ideal, but they won't kill nearly as many people as horribly as hunkering-down for as long as possible and when the government should be doing more UBI to help people. Dying alone by drowning on a respirator is a terrible way to go.
paypalcust83··on Uber lays off 3700 employees via Zoom
For-profit corporations without employee ownership and regular employees on the board of directors will inevitably treat employees like disposable cogs or dirt. The mistake many people repeatedly make is the line-up to be abused when they should form their own business ventures with civilized, humane, and Golden Rule treatment of others rather than rent-seeking investors to squeeze blood money out of them and cheat them out of livable wages.
paypalcust83··on Uber lays off 3700 employees via Zoom
You're making some assumptions here and taking third-hand information as gospel. It depends on what "generous" means in fact, how much notice they were given, and their prospects or help to get other jobs in a job climate that is worse than the Great Depression. What if it were you?
paypalcust83··on Uber lays off 3700 employees via Zoom
Yep, in a Niemöller-ignorant, selfish manner.[0]

And "Russian roulette" would imply suicidal gambling of one's own volition so that is an improper metaphor.

0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_...

paypalcust83··on $70k for Zoom classes? Virus crisis leaves US students miffed
HR departments will still require degrees. Dropping out won't change that. Either get a degree that is necessary for a desired job, or don't bother wasting time and money on any of it.
paypalcust83··on Bullshit Ability as an Honest Signal of Intelligence
Nope. An honest man of integrity already knows how to play the bagpipes and doesn't need to lie or name-drop to seem important. Bullshit is only appropriate to save the face or lives of others, or as entertainment amongst people already savvy enough to see through it.
paypalcust83··on Having a Garden Linked to Better Health and Well-Being
It's difficult or impossible for dual parent households working 2-3 minimum wage jobs each to have time to plant a garden or do anything else but drop dead asleep every 18 hours only to do it all over again the following day.
paypalcust83··on German man living at Delhi airport since March 18
When poverty or existence becomes a crime.
paypalcust83··on A Lesson from the Spanish Flu: Don’t End Restrictions Too Soon
And don't call it the "Spanish Flu," it's the "Kansas Flu."
paypalcust83··on Wirelessly charging electric cars as they drive
wireless power transfer (WPT) technology

https://mst.org/news_items/media-invitation-cord-cutting-for...

paypalcust83··on Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
I can almost hear it: Where oh where will I buy a fluorescent fuchsia sports coat for $8000 now?

Amazon and similar are no good for luxury goods because of the lack of service that luxury shoppers expect. Perhaps they need to shift to an online-first model with video-conferenced personal shoppers who can browse store-like inventory while serving qualified shoppers who can concurrently navigate their wardrobe?

Personally, I like Neimy's, but not as a go-to retailer but as a once-every-twenty-years-buy-something-nice-and-crazy; their service is/was fantastic, they know their products/fashion, and their employees aren't/weren't like standard American retail salespeople. Ordinarily, I go to Salvation Army and Goodwill for outer clothing only, and eBay for new-but-discontinued b-stock or liquidated inventory of other clothing that I can no longer find.

paypalcust83··on The Cost of Free Doughnuts: 70 Years of Regret
Both of my grandfathers retired SMSgts and I have two veteran flag cases above the monitor where this was typed.

According to my late paternal grandparents, who went through WWII, Korea, and Vietnam on active duty (and arguably the wives did as well), the American Red Cross had not-so-nice aspects to it that didn't get much press.

Perhaps national governments should support apolitical, non-religious volunteer nonprofits more, but I can also understand the need for nonprofits to survive (which may often entail charging small fees). Charging people for doughnuts who don't make much money to begin with, are first-responders, active-duty military, or individuals who just went through a disaster seems kind of uncool where I come from.

It's difficult to say how good they are today without first-hand and multiple accounts of experience. The available data shows they presently spend 3.5% ($104m) on admin and 6% ($177m) on fundraising. https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summar...

As an example, Feeding America, although they pay their CEO 16% more ($100k+), is a mostly better charity on paper.

paypalcust83··on Zoom Acquires Keybase
The just get disappeared into Belmarsh and extradited to who knows where for telling the truth about the US military murdering civilians including journalists from a helicopter gunship.
paypalcust83··on Coronavirus survivors banned from joining the military
True. There are three main aspects from the military's side to consider when a candidate tests positive for IgM anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies:

0. Immunity - Possibility of not lifelong immunity.

1. Carriers - Possibility of continuing to shed viruses and infect other personnel. (It costs too much to conduct rtPCR tests, it's worth just playing it safe and hoping determined candidates reapply or ask for waivers when more scientific evidence is available.)

2. Organ damage - Potential for permanently-reduced lung capacity due to damage from COVID-19, which reduces operational effectiveness. Also, the potential for kidney, liver, and heart damage.. this raises potential ongoing healtcare liabilities (TRICARE).

paypalcust83··on Ask HN: Where to Host Dedicated Servers?
If it's for personal or pilot projects: find a third-tier, cheap co-lo within 100 mi / 161 km of your usual location. Buy some used enterprise boxes off eBay / UNIX Surplus / etc. that don't draw too much power. Data is cheap (unless you're being screwed or you don't lease your own glass). It's electricity that costs $$$.

If it's for something that makes some, but not a metric ton of, money: find a second-tier co-lo within about 50 mi / 80 km of your usual location.

If it's for something that makes a metric f-ton of money: stick to a hybrid, well-managed mix of VPS and co-lo, preferably from a good vendor.

Currently, I have a home virtualization/workstation box:

- 2x EPYC 7402 + Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 (dual fans)

- Supermicro H11DSi v2 (-NT works too if you want dual 10 GbE or NVMe OCuLink)

- 512 GiB Samsung RAM

- 4x HGST 14 TB HDD

- 2x FireCuda 520 1 TB

- Thermaltake Core V71 TG case w/ default fans & fan controller removed, modded with extra holes to support the board

- 4x 200mm Noctua fans modded to fit within the top and front panels

- 5.25" fan controller + 4 temp probes + 4 temp alarms

- 2U/tower Smart UPS 1500 with quality new batteries, NMC 2 w/ env monitoring, 2nd temp/humidity sensor and a WiFi bridge (TL-WR802N v4; overkill maximus)

- Looking at Intel Optanes for ZIL and some Samsungs for L2ARC

- Also looking at a 4U Supermicro 36x 3.5" bay for FreeNAS usage

When you need an OpenBSD or opn/pfSense jumpbox/VPN(es), find (a) minimal, supported good box(es) and stick an Intel X710 series card in it because virtualized jumpboxes maybe too converged for some use-cases. Also, Intel QAT cards can be helpful for TLS termination, edge firewall, and some VPN/SSH jumpboxes in use-cases where (mostly older) CPUs can't push accelerated crypto bits fast enough.

Off the top of my head, some of the colo's I've used:

- Bytemark

- Rackspace

- Pair

- Equinix ($$ IIRC)

Also, random ones in SF, SJC, Sacramento, and other cities that escape me right now.

paypalcust83··on Using human brain tissue in lab, researchers show herpes link to Alzheimer’s
I worked with a guy researching the functional basis of Alzheimer's synthesizing many radiological technologies.

It is likely a multi-factor pathological degenerative condition with many, many potential precipitating (no pun intended) causes, both nature and nurture.

"The cure" is more than likely a holistic combination of many early lifestyle modifications including, but not limited to: diet, sleep, exercise, gene therapy, immunotherapy, medications, and supplements.

paypalcust83··on I Cut My Hair with a Vacuum Cleaner and Oh Man, I Think I
All I can think about is the Suck Kut.

https://youtu.be/7LrJDt-fPQI

Here's another video about the Flowbee that mentions the Suck Kut too. https://youtu.be/VyZgZDhsOz4

paypalcust83··on Never Send Your CV via Gmail
Yup, that's a sensible conclusion. The article could be an expression of sour grapes bikeshedding.
paypalcust83··on Never Send Your CV via Gmail
Mail it to them in a legal-sized envelope on dead tree carcasses. Harder to ignore, they'd print it anyhow for candidate finalists, and virus FUD is a non-issue. Send them an email copy as a backup or in-case they need an electronic version too.
paypalcust83··on Ask HN: I've saved up $80k USD. What should I do with it?
Find a fiduciary financial adviser / asset manager perhaps who gets paid based on service rather than periodic commissions.
paypalcust83··on Don’t Be Fooled by America’s Flattening Curve
I got the heck out the SF Bay Area to semi-rural NorCal, and have a good 12 months of food that would normally get eaten anyhow. Curiously, I frequently see drivers speeding down the street here with their vehicle windows down, no masks, and acting like there's no such thing as a virus. One of the adjacent properties is constructing a house and multiple neighbors have been chainsawing pines and oaks nonstop for the past month. In 3 months, I've only been off-property once for an emergency dental visit.

I don't think there is, or ever will be, sufficient testing evidence to justify similar-to-past public interaction until if or when there is a safe and effective vaccine deployed that covers all strains. The prevalence is basically unknown and will only be worse when there is no longer mindshare or patience to keep up the fight... I think nearly all of this socioeconomic pain will be for naught because of the endgame.

paypalcust83··on Spy Dust (Nitrophenyl Pentadienal)
People don't necessarily touch, especially anymore and unlikely any longer.

MEMS camera "dust" with a/v recording, storage, and GNSS would be nice.

paypalcust83··on Spy Dust (Nitrophenyl Pentadienal)
A safety match would do this in the real world and be much cheaper.
paypalcust83··on Spy Dust (Nitrophenyl Pentadienal)
Steel or steal?

Isn't Bluestar better than Luminol?

paypalcust83··on Retrofuturism
What then is the converse of retrofuturism where the present or future is represented with a mix of obsolete technologies along with contemporary and/or hypothetical future ones?
paypalcust83··on Surveillance plane starts flying over Baltimore
Technologies used in neocolonial occupation and conquest will eventually be applied domestically. It's only a matter of time before the US government elites have a real-time panopticon like China and Reapers fire weapons from the air at civilians.
paypalcust83··on MTV VHS Recordings 1981 to 1989 [video]
Back when music videos were awesome works of cinematography, production, visual, and musical art:

Dire Straits - Money For Nothing (complete with CG and 80's pastel graphics on live video) - https://youtu.be/csje_Tb0U0c

Here's a playlist of 80's MTV videos, starting with the Space Shuttle and Apollo launches followed by landing the MTV flag on the moon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NBhuf1g-rY&list=PLDHCLXs2vT...

Like most things on Internet Archive, individual videos are not annotated very well so you have no idea what's in the content. Digging through it would be, sadly, mostly a waste of time. It would be more useful with annotations.

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