praxeologist

Why are you worried? Don't you think it is even possible that some other form of societal organization will upend democratic majoritarianism? Have you actually read any books on the subject like Caplan's The Myth of the Rational Voter or Hoppe's Democracy: The God that Failed?

There's real arguments behind being anti-democracy, so rather than just complaining about me like a bother, insta-downvoting, and declaring it "simply wrong", maybe you should tackle the issue in a substantive way. It's very "anti-hacker" to just accept democracy as the pinnacle of perfection and think it will last forever.

I liked Balaji's speech but I don't see his example with the diagram of a bunch of people shouting "A" in one box then if you don't like that moving to go shout "B" in another box as really being an exit. What if I don't want to live in a world dominated by legal monopolies who draw arbitrary lines based on military conquest? Bitcoin can be a real exit because it is a paradigm shift. One dimensional views of politics where maybe A or B wins and we define the whole society by that isn't.

I don't think that participating in electoral politics is an effective means in reaching my desired ends. I'm not lazy Mr. Sunde, I'm smart. I know that I have a greater chance of dying in a car wreck on the way to the polling station than my single vote changing an election. I know that once the popularity contest is over, the fundamentally flawed incentive structure of "democratic" systems will take over and the political elite/lobbyists will be in charge again.

I think we need to start viewing law and political ideology as "technologies" themselves rather than something separate and just accepting the status quo. One parliament member who is just going to get outvoted by the majority who tow the line with the IP monopoly lobby is nothing to get excited about. I want to see people demand zones for political/legal/economic experimentation like was suggested recently by Larry Page. Maybe you and I don't agree on the best way to do things, but shouldn't people have a right to innovate and try new systems? True democracy is the ability to secede down to the level of the individual.

>Why does education/intelligence/morality not cull the inner devil of some?

I've seen some study (not handy sorry) that about 5% of people near-totally lack the ability to empathize.

You have to take pictures of the cards. I assume it would work similarly to how I can take photos of checks to deposit them where, within some tolerance, you have the check/card inside of a "frame" allowing the check to be read. Maybe they can also sort of OCR the card name and make sure it matches your own.

Maybe it isn't that far off: http://vimeo.com/51702339

"Imprint Energy aims to reshape the battery landscape. Currently available battery technologies limit the pace of improvement in design and functionality of portable electronic devices. Imprint Energy will address these shortcomings with its breakthrough zinc-based rechargeable battery technology, Zinc Poly™. Zinc Poly™ battery technology removes longstanding limitations on the rechargeability of zinc-based batteries and enables the production of ultrathin, flexible, high energy density rechargeable batteries for significantly lower cost and without the design limitations or safety concerns of other battery technologies."

I think they say the batteries can be printed on modified textile printing equipment. I contacted them recently because I would love to use this tech if it lives up to their claims. They wouldn't give me any sort of details like how much energy is stored in one of the square inch patches they are showing though.

Yup, I am amazed at how people seem to be blind at the scale of money when we are talking about whatever. I can't be arsed to dig up credible sources ATM but my business is ecigs so I pay attention to the lobbying by big tobacco and pharma against ecigs. The federal government isn't supposed to use tax money for lobbying but there are loopholes which essentially allow it. The number I remember is something like $2 billion given to anti-nicotine zealots to end up lobbying even though it is truly said to be for some sort of "social awareness service". There are billions given out for war and Fed thrift plus all sorts of horrible programs but they seem to come up short for $20 million for some sort of space program.

>So clearly, this must be factually true, correct?

I didn't say that. You shouldn't try to put words in someone else's mouth. I was mainly looking for some credible, unbiased facts. A lot of the positive anecdotes seem to be ignoring price reductions due to tax credits or something but I am not sure. Huffington Post's story has a family of 5 getting insurance for $100-something, while I see people saying their family went from like $600 to $1,000+.

>universal affordable health care

I'm not so sure about the affordable part. Maybe all I see is people posting letters about their rates going up though. What is the argument against that from people who still support this legislation? Is it denied that prices have gone up in general or accepted and justified because of increased benefits on the plans?

"In addition to office hours, there are dinners. Dinners are typically catered now, but in the early days, PG would make some goulash for the handful of YC companies."

What sort of stuff did PG cook?

I agree. I like both coffee and tea but even for someone who isn't a fan of brown/green tea I suggest some sort of hibiscus. Maybe I am just obsessed with Tazo's Passion blend right now, but I think people who really aren't into tea will still like this. It is tart and lightly fruity + will often be mixed with something like lemongrass to give it a bit of herbaceousness and/or a touch of tropical flavor.

I'd also suggest Gen Mai Cha as something which is common enough to be in supermarkets or coffehouses but which is a bit different too due to the toasted rice flavor. If you end up in Starbucks, last I went there was a berry-hibiscus "cooler" or something which was decent as well.

I happened to see this on twitter before here and was wondering why I was already following this account..... It wasn't a retweet. I hadn't really used twitter much today and definitely didn't follow it today.

I'm sure that if you posted your app/site here, people could give you plenty of reasons. Ask yourself what you think the reasons are. What would you do to "kick your own ass"?

Technically, I am not buying the "there is no reason" either most of the time. It is probably any number of common reasons like red flags (filled with buzzwords and marketing speak, weak/iterative product, single founder with no history of success) or maybe it is just a bunch of more minor or subtle things. Maybe they don't think there is a huge future for X even though it is popular now; they think Y is on the way up or there are just 10 other applications doing something like X which are more compelling or have a team with a better pedigree than you.

Maybe sometimes it is fairly easy to give a reason, but then it will be expected for everyone and they get a lot of applications now. It would be hugely time consuming to give a detailed evaluation and maybe sometimes too it would be giving away some secrets they don't want to.

It isn't an automatic no. If it was, they would just say that. It is probably an easy no and gets passed by quickly without a really compelling idea/product, some revenue already, past success and you don't really need YC, etc.

Check out http://www.cofounderslab.com/ if you haven't already. It is the one place I know of that seems active at all.

I'm looking too, but I live in PA and would like someone who is more of an expert programmer and/or has experience with the payments industry.

>The dose makes the poision; analyze everything around you and you may find a very small percentage of unwanted and dangerous chemicals.

Very good point. Toxicologists hate the term "poison" because it is misleading. Water is poisonous when we take too much.

There was some terrible anti-ecig research recently that reported all of this dangerous stuff in them (still vastly less dangerous if you look at it merely because there is no burning lignins).

Anyhow, the flaw in this study was burning e-liquid at 900 degrees C, the temperature of the cone of a burning cigarette, versus the 200-250 C of an ecig. It is sort of like saying a car isn't safe to drive on a highway because we tested it at 200 MPH.

All of these people raising concern in this thread, writing NYT articles, etc. are not informed about the body of research and able to put it in perspective.

BTW, with how much is consumed on average taken into account, FDA-approved gums/patches contain more tobacco-specific nitrosamines than ecigs (and this is so minor to not be a concern).

Your response was exactly what "attacking a strawman" is. I was talking about how I use American sourced propylene glycol versus Chinese PG as used in the samples where DEG was found. You responded to a statement I never made, that something is "100% natural". You are clearly an intellectually dishonest person so, sure, see yourself out of the conversation.

You can call me biased but you have failed to to make any sort of substantive argument on the science. I have critcisms of the safety on ecigs and some false claims people make too.

The real angle for safety you want to go at, if anything, is the addition of volatile diketones in creamy/buttery flavorings (diacetyl, acetoin, acetyl propionyl, etc.) Some of these small businesses selling liquid claim they use FDA-approved flavorings.

The FDA doesn't approve flavorings. It is sourced out to a group called FEMA (no, not that FEMA): http://www.femaflavor.org/gras

The FDA largely accepts the opinion of FEMA for what is GRAS (generally recognized as safe). Flavorings are only GRAS at varying levels for the intended usage (baking, alcoholic beverages etc., none of which is inhalation).

Diacetyl is not safe to inhale and has been known to cause bronchiolitis obliterans AKA "popcorn lung" both in workers at flavoring plants and even cases like a man who ate multiple bags of microwave popcorn per day.

I'm worried that these smaller eliquid makers haven't taken the warnings on this seriously enough and in a few years the first cases of this will appear. It can be a long process for popcorn lung to develop but the harm is irreversible. It is only this class of flavoring chemicals which raise concern, so I am sure to avoid them.

Sugar is addictive and vastly more dangerous than ecigs IMO.

Beta-carboline MAOI's were originally hypothesized to be what is important for those who feel something is missing with nicotine-only eliquid. After 3 years of working on this, I can tell you that this is not true. What's important is the other "minor tobacco alkaloids" like anatabine, anabasine, myosimine, etc.

Beta-carboline MAOI's, like the minor alkaloids, do have a potentiating effect with nicotine and therefore increase satisfaction or the potential for addiction; however, these MAOI's are pyrosynthesized (created by burning) 20-40x. This means that these MAOI's are not a significant component of a WTA eliquid or non-burned tobacco like the snus many people turn to for the "something missing".

"Leading ecig makers" are fraudsters in my opinion. They are selling whitelabel Chinese junk at huge margins. They make false claims about their sub-1ml liquid in pre-filled cartridges being equivalent to 2 packs of cigs. They are marketing hacks and aren't actually innovating, unlike my company.

The FDA tested the liquid composition of these Chinese cartridges and yes, one was supposedly contaminated. I get my propylene glycol from Dow, not a random Chinese source. Just because one company cut corners and sold a contaminated product shouldn't incriminate those who do assure quality.

You're conveniently ignoring that the DEG found is within the FDA's own guidelines as safe anyhow. It sounds scary to tell people that DEG and PG are ingredients in antifreeze and ignore that PG is also in those Mio water shots people use.

>That's kind of like saying, "My product is 100% natural."

Strawman. I just said I source my ingredients from America and huge, trusted companies like Dow. I said nothing about being 100% natural. By the way, propylene glycol is highly antibacterial and it was considered to pump it into the air of hospitals during the 50's. It is also a common diluent in things like asthma inhalers.

Yes, I am dismissing these bullet points from the FDA because they are crafted to evoke fear. Here's another example:

"Tobacco-specific impurities suspected of being harmful to humans—anabasine, myosmine, and β-nicotyrine—were detected in a majority of the samples tested."

These "are detected" in nicotine patches and gum, actually at a higher level based on intake than ecigs. The amount of these in all cases is so small to not raise any concern.

>I'm going to trust the FDA over you.

I bet you trust the NSA too. I follow all the research and am capable of having an honest discussion of the facts but clearly you are not.

edit: There's a lot about the FDA statement here too - http://casaa.org/uploads/8_Biggest_Electronic_Cigarette_Myth...

Ecig advocates take a harm reduction approach, rather than the quit or die approach of anti-nicotine zealots. All evidence suggests that ecigs are vastly safer than burning tobacco.

Here is a recent survey of all available research. We could further extend this by looking at known cancer/cardiovascular risks of the small bits of concern with ecigs then compare to burning tobacco and you are talking about 1% danger comparatively: http://publichealth.drexel.edu/SiteData/docs/ms08/f903492642...

There is some movement for hte industry to regulate itself and suggest sensible rules, but if ecigs are "deemed" under the 2009 Tobacco act, it will potentially wipe out all innovation because of the rule that any new product be "substantially equivalent" to a product on the market before some arbitrary date in 2007 they set. There's all sorts of horrible rules being proposed which go beyond just making sure the liquid isn't contaminated.

"doesn't inhaling nicotine cause many health problems on its own?"

Not really. Nicotine seems to be about the same or maybe a few times as dangerous as caffeine, which is to say barely dangerous at all.

Most of the danger of cigarettes is burning the plant material. There is a study assigning cancer risk to the toxicants of tobacco smoke and there is a list of the top 50 or so chemicals of concern called the Hoffman analytes. Nicotine isn't on this list.

In 2009, the FDA tested some ecigs from China and found traces of DEG. This was used to raise fear, yet the amount of DEG was within the FDA's own tolerances as "safe". You probably use myriad products from China which aren't highly scrutinized and aren't up in arms about the safety of those.

I have an ecig company and the ingredients in my liquid are 100% American sourced. I have never worked for a tobacco company. Ecigs helped me quit smoking and my motivation is to help people quit and improve their lives.

There is no reason to be concerned about secondhand vapor. This is a recent study for you to read: http://publichealth.drexel.edu/SiteData/docs/ms08/f903492642...

We can compare the secondhand exposure from ecigs to something like grilling a steak and grilling clearly has a greater risk to give you cancer.

My email is in my profile, 9nine9//gmail

(302) 990-8273 and my name is Ethan if you prefer to call.

I want to build a marketplace for electronic cigarette vendors/individuals. I've been a vendor for almost 3 years and have a unique product which is even more effective than others in helping people quit smoking (even though we are not allowed to market it this way). I think that looming regulation will destroy a lot of small businesses, so I am trying to find a way to respond to that.

Getting someone to take payments is really hard though. Balanced just changed their terms, so I am really demoralized but still keeping at it. My options seem to be to become a payment processor myself (expensive and I have no clue what to do) or wait until a similar service comes along and make sure to get in quick so I can get grandfathered in before they change the terms.

If anyone has some insight on payments and wants to help me learn the industry or if you smoke and want to quit, let me know.

You might want to check out: https://togetherjs.com/

For a community site, it sounds like a decent idea in general. Why don't we see more? I think it is only recently that some easier ways to do it came about.

The other go-to on why the USDA guidelines are faulty is Gary Taubes and his book Good Calories, Bad Calories which also covers the history of the so-called lipid hypothesis (that saturated fats are bad for you). I cook with only ghee, bacon grease and coconut oil. Some articles by Taubes:

Sugar - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.htm...

Fats - http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/what-if-it-s-all-...

For those of you interested in paleo or other low-carb/non-sugar approaches, I suggest Dr. Kurt Harris' blog: http://www.archevore.com/get-started/

I went off paleo for a year or so, now back on for a few months and have gone from 178 to 162 lbs. without doing much else than cutting out sugar, gluten grains and plant oils. It's strange this time; when I occasionally eat these things, I feel slightly, but noticeably ill for about a day afterwards.

Anyhow if this type of diet interests you, I want you to check out his blog because it is a slightly different approach than other "paleo". You need not eat super low carb as long as it is the right type of carbs and you don't have a ton of weight to lose. He also suggests cream if you don't have leaky gut (I drink tons in coffee every day).

These are a couple tidbits from his entry on glucose: http://www.archevore.com/panu-weblog/2011/2/5/no-such-thing-...

"Glucose is a necessary internal fuel source and metabolite and it is also a food and the building block of foods that have the longest evolutionary history of any food that mammals use. It is a fact that we do not require glucose in the diet, and that we can make it from amino acids if we don't eat it. However, rather than viewing this as evidence that glucose is not important, we should view this as evidence that glucose is so metabolically important that we have evolved way to make sure we always have it." ...

"Like glucose, there is no dietary requirement for fructose, but unlike glucose, we do not require fructose for use as an internal fuel. There is no organ like the brain that has an absolute fructose requirement. In fact, our body has mechanisms that evolved specifically to keep most cells from being exposed to too much of it." ...

"To keep fructose out of the general circulation, it must be immediately burned or stored as fat. Fructose is related to the spectrum of serious diseases known as NAFLD (non-alcoholic liver disease), including fatty liver and cirrhosis."

I forgot about #3, so now I feel much better about not applying this time around. I'm still weak on #2 with two "maybes" which was just one of several reasons I don't think it would have worked anyhow.

What positions are you hiring for? I'm not a programmer but I would love to work with you. I've been paying attention to your blog since reading the post about online-offline businesses. It struck a nerve with me and I was thinking to contact you about my idea for a marketplace.

The idea kind of crashed and burned right after that because Balanced changed their merchant agreement regarding "high-risk" and I can't use them. The only way to make it work seems to be to become a processor too and I don't have the money/experience for that if it is even a good idea. I'll send you more info if that is okay.

The website shows 93 glyphs but I get 96 in when I load it in Illustrator. It seems like there is duplicate closing single and double quote marks, then there is a blank glyph too.

The degree symbol is not showing up. I feel like the @ symbol doesn't mesh with the rest of the font, maybe make it more rounded/disjointed and continuous where the inner swirl is.

One of my long term projects is a brand with a weather symbol (fog) being incorporated so I kind of got my hopes up for that at first, but this is easy enough to make my own really.