rw

2,967 karma · joined January 27, 2008

https://github.com/rw

It's a rally and vigil, not a protest. I know from experience.

Where are the corrections for population growth? I think the OP's claim might be true, but their case is not watertight.

A quote: "The real issue is manufacturing employment, which is dropping like a stone. And the reason for the drop is an increase in productivity." ...Really? Maybe it's only part of the reason? Macroeconomic phenomena are complex. 538 should be better than this! Give me nuanced analysis, with intellectually-honest qualifiers.

rw··on Markets are efficient if and only if P = NP

Lesson learned: even you can sound like a crackpot.

rw··on Markets are efficient if and only if P = NP

Holy shit. This is the paper that I've had intuitive glimpses of for over two years. Well done.

rw··on Fibonacci Flim-Flam

Chaitin's constant is also quite underappreciated.

rw··on I am a guy who sold his startup and I have like $20M in the bank. AMA.

Eliezer, to you, how does the fight against aging compare with the fight against poverty or the fight against war? Is it just a matter of scale? These concerns of yours, while pressing to us lucky few, seem to sidestep the urgent problems faced by the rest of the world: insecure access to food, shelter, healthcare, and education.

rw··on Hitchins: North Korea is even weirder and more despicable than you thought

Definitions, definitions, definitions.

North Korea claimed to be communist, but it is totalitarian. China claims to be a republic, but it is totalitarian.

rw··on Obama’s 2011 Budget Proposal, Department by Department (Infographic)

Want to convince others? Then don't assume that they'll "easily imagine" that you're right. Save that stuff for the choir.

rw··on Steve Jobs calls Google's "Don't be evil" mantra "Bullshit" and Adobe "Lazy"

Yeah. It's not the crispest distinction to make. But, note that the U.S. has also helped a whole lot of people.

a - b = c

Being utilitarian about it, which country has done better in the last decade?

rw··on Steve Jobs calls Google's "Don't be evil" mantra "Bullshit" and Adobe "Lazy"

It's about capacity for harm.

rw··on Steve Jobs calls Google's "Don't be evil" mantra "Bullshit" and Adobe "Lazy"

Capacity for harm != actual harm done.

To play Devil's advocate: The United States controls over five thousand thermonuclear missiles. Sudan controls none. So what country has been more evil in the last decade?

It's important to acknowledge, too, that Google likely has more blackmail-able information on us than the FBI.

rw··on British nukes were only protected by bike locks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_assured_destruction

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fail-deadly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Hand_(nuclear_war)

rw··on Is Apple Evil?

Apple gives us great default choices. But when you want to change them, what do you do? Nothing, because you can't.

rw··on Amplifying C

I predicted that my comment would be taken pejoratively, but I didn't correct for it. All I wanted to know is, had C-- been looked at? Thanks for putting it into perspective.

rw··on Algorithms course material

Also check out the (now free) Problems on Algorithms: http://www.eng.unt.edu/ian/books/free/license.html

rw··on Amplifying C

Have you looked at C--?

rw··on On Wages

cf. tragedy of the commons.

rw··on Why you should start a company in… New York

The cultural variety and quality is awesome in New York. The Valley has a critical mass of technology, but NYC has a critical mass of life.

</more-than-usual bias>

rw··on Googlephone No Match for Kafkaesque Carriers

That's a cool workaround, but is an exta $27/month actually unjustified? How much time is lost when people are trying to contact you, and can't, or vice versa?

rw··on No Comment

PG has been given [literally] dozens of great suggestions like yours, yet has not implemented them. I think that he is trying to cultivate a respectful community through conversation (i.e. comments), instead of applying technological solutions.

rw··on Middle school evacuated because of a science project

We could send the subscriptions to his school! Imagine how traumatized he must be, now. He'll need counseling just to deal with the stress--not to overcome his 'problem' making electronics.

rw··on What Is the Chinese Economic Model?

Imagine saying "Capitalist America". How accurate is that? Not very :-)

rw··on Understanding Your Personal Information’s Value = The End of “Nothing To Hide”

"[...] The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. [...]"

Yes, just look at criminal-suppressing services like (inequitably-funded) public schools, emergency medical care, free kidney transplants...

P.S. I voted you up, it's a good point that you made. But your rhetoric writhes with dogma.

rw··on Quantum computer calculates exact energy of molecular hydrogen

"a task which is believed to be NP-hard"

CITATION NEEDED

rw··on Quantum computer calculates exact energy of molecular hydrogen

Your comment is painfully embarrassing to read. Instead of attacking what I said (or me), try asking: "could you elaborate on what you think the article is misrepresenting?".

rw··on Quantum computer calculates exact energy of molecular hydrogen

When a quantum computer is put to work on a problem, it considers all possible answers by simultaneously arranging its qubits into every combination of "zeroes" and "ones."

This has got to stop.

rw··on What boyfriends and girlfriends search for on Google

What if they are not improved by doing that? What if women actually respond "better" to not being listened to? If that's (empirically) true, is that acceptable? I think the parents are asking how we can go about wrangling with gender roles, when maybe we're just programmed to be shitty to each other. It's not a secret that our social interactions are still hierarchical, as disgusting as that is.

rw··on How newLisp Took My Breath (And Syntax) Away

Step 0: don't pretentiously prepend "new" to the name of your language.

rw··on Balsamiq Makes 1.6 Million with 70% Profit in 2009

Explore dual-licensing options for the daemon, too. Tarsnap is the kind of thing that could become a ubiquitous sysadmin tool, if done right!

rw··on Stem Cells Cure Blind Man

Evolution doesn't optimize for babies; it's a blind idiot god, optimizing for F, where F is an arbitrary fitness function.

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