samtho

> How the DEA schedule and the financial system interact is still unclear.

You already answered this already :)

> the point is that you CANNOT legally sell schedule 1 drugs commercially

Schedule 1 means illegal under (nearly) any circumstance, commercial dispensaries fall under “any circumstance.” Drug scheduling is just a tiered system for classification in order to determine which rules to apply to its sale, distribution, and possession of the substance.

> Otherwise you also have to complain about the stifling of open source bioagent research, open source nuclear warheads, open source human cloning protocols

No, actually you don’t.

This is just a slippery slope that suggests that any of these examples are even remotely comparable to AI. There is room for nuance and it’s easy to spot the outlier among bioagent research, nuclear warheads, human cloning, and generative artificial intelligence.

> I personally think that a hybrid system is best. The government should build and maintain the physical infrastructure like fiber and cell towers, and private industry should be able to access this infra at cost + a small fixed markup and provide all other needed equipment and services on top of that infra.

I fully agree and am on board with this. I liken this to a “public roads” approach and (in applicable countries) a nationalized rail system. So many businesses are successful operating on publicly-owned infrastructure without the burden of maintenance. However, if everyone had to maintain their own infra like that, this same burden creates a high barrier to entry for new companies, promoting a monopoly, which leads to a situation where there is non need to compete or innovate: Build once, bill forever.

In my city, Sacramento, the collectively owned power company (SMUD) owns all the power poles and regularly sells space on them for telecom with little restriction. For internet service, I have the option of 2 different FTTH ISPs, 2 DOCSIS ISPs, and 1 DSL ISP (which is 2-3 more options than many people have). Not perfect, but it does mean there is healthy competition and customer choice. I just wish SMUD would run their own PON and sell bandwidth on it, we would then see a number of ISPs pop up and ISP-adjacent innovation utilizing this (hypothetical) city-wide PON as a platform.

TOTP is a compromise, like everything in security, and one that’s fairly secure. Until we reach a point where hardware tokens or virtual passkeys become mainstream (and their related usability issues addressed), we will be stuck with the “something you have” factor needing to temporarily move into the “something you know” factor via the the TOTP. The fact this expires within 30 seconds makes the attack vector more limited, also unlike an SMS code that providers use to verify you while on the phone with them, you never give this code out (found on a separate app) to a person on the phone, which helps separate this particular factor from SMS.

The truth is that, while it offers superior security, hardware tokens and virtual passkeys are not accessible to the masses one way or other. This is a problem that should eventually be solved but nearly all prior attempts cannot supplant the ubiquity of passwords.

As someone with combined OSA and CSA (central sleep apnea), CPAP actually doesn’t do much for the later. Most people suffering from CSA need a BiPAP which basically acts as a ventilator when it detects breathing has stopped.

Electrical grids are massive, like almost unbelievably massive. Ownership is complex in that segments of it are controlled by different parties/companies with some of those segments having shared ownership. There only three grids in the USA and (I think) five total in North American with every device operating on a given grid have the capability to play by the grid’s rules and idiosyncrasies. Grid operators are constantly testing new equipment but it gets tested within sandboxes for years prior to adoption. Even if testing goes well, you still need individual buy-in from equipment operators who are allergic to risk and hate change.

I am not trying to say this is the right or wrong way here, just kind of the reality of operating such a complex network.

This is really cool, I also love the modularity of this computer setup.

Web Application Firewall.

It’s a feature of an LB that consolidates the actions of blocking ports except for the ones you are using, fail-fast on paths that scrapers tend to check (e.g. /wp-admin, /phpMyAdmin) so it doesn’t end up in normal request logging, set rate limits, fail-to-ban conditions, etc.

Google is indifferent, almost worse than evil - which can be predictable.

There a small bit of irony that it required a fully decentralized source control management in order to consolidate the market for OSS code/project hosting. The obvious caveat is that git allows any project to pack up and leave anytime they want, but the vendor lock-in came by means of the network effect and developer preference. There is an incentive on GitHub, at least, to provide a superior product to other alternatives like Gitlab or Bitbucket. Ultimately, it meant the risk of choosing GitHub was very low due to the nonexistent vendor lock-in.

During SourceForge’s decline, most OSS projects were either very prolific, general purpose libraries or full software packages, all of which had most of their infrastructure sorted. There were a number of other platforms, now mostly forgotten, that tried to acquire the displaced market shed from SF’s former userbase. Almost every one of the new platforms wanted to just be a better SourceForge, but none of them wanted (or thought to) to tackle the problem of git hosting as their primary product they were selling to users - which ultimately proved to be what the market wanted. OSS devs with a project likely already had an issue tracker, website, discussion forums, etc, and they didn’t want to spend their day in a CRUD app manually managing releases and fielding support requests on a platform that different from what they setup already. GitHub offered public git repository hosting with a modern look that was betting on companies buying commercial-oriented features as a monetization strategy, rather than ads. Eventually, a-la-carte features such as issues, discussions, and wiki were added, but were able to be toggled at the project-level.

Meanwhile, SourceForge was too busy cramming more ads in, cluttering layout, trying out asinine social media integrations, and ultimately, accelerating their (at this point) well-deserved) death by packaging malware/adware in software distributions. It was easy to see in the moment (and even more in hindsight) how much of a loser strategy this was for SF. It’s almost comical how spectacularly they fucked up their own market share with short-term thinking and outright stupid ideas. Not much love was lost here by the end.

Without GitHub, npm would not have been successful (which itself inspired other package managers), CI/CD would either be a bigger mess or dominated by a single vendor (which enabled fun stuff like infrastructure-as-code), coding in general would not be as accessible, and git itself may not have won out as heavily as it did.

GitHub’s success is a good case study in a startup being at exactly the right place at the right time, with the right product. The result wasn’t the mass migration of prolific projects immediately moving in, rather it enabled this back-pressure of micro-OSS projects to thrive because now it became viable to build a library that does one thing really well without the admin work of managing a full-blown OSS project. A number of projects eventually moved in, but the driving force to adoption, in my opinion, were the tiniest projects that ultimately proved this platforms viability.

This was so mind-boggling even at the time that SourceForge thought it could leverage its market position to force adware and other nonsense upon its users and get away with it, which itself the last straw in a string of other abuses they subjected users to on the website. It is also so arrogant and presumptive to think that the developers, who's projects were hosted here, would put up with their distribution platform bundling junk with their software.

This was a mortal sin for them, and rightfully so, whereby it became impossible to recover the damage to their reputation. Like, what were they thinking? Did they know they were doomed and just wanted one final ad sale? It’s just an egregious abuse of whatever dwindling power they had which permanently destroyed what little trust that the developers had for them - the same group of people that provided the only real value (for free, even) that SourceForge held.

Why would an airline have any business in acquiring, getting approved/zoned, and constructing an bespoke airport close to a major metro that would presumably only benefit that airline? Airlines already operate at razor thin margins, specialize in only the transporting aspect, and would not be the best party to oversee the development of airfields and airports. Additionally, companies other than the major airlines use an airport, from cargo carriers (large jetliners to “FedEx feeder”-type routes), private operations like NetJets, and even privately owned and operated aircraft all use it.

This is solidly the domain of a local company, collective, or a local municipality that understands this business and every aspect of it. Airlines are happy to pay usage fees (landing fees, gate fees, leasing) to specifically not deal with airport operations unrelated to their own fleet and operations.

We need to find ways to improve the process from initial concept, terminal layout, retail spaces, and public ground transport that connects to the city center.

Also, usually the airport is there before homes were built so every owner in the flight path made the decision to live there.

Libraries cannot buy used because they need the asset prepared for circulation. This includes a protective cover, barcoding, etc. They usually have a vendor do this preparation, and the assets (books, usually) are often not the same as what you would find in a store, they can be different sizes to fit in Automatic Materials Handling Systems, have more robust binding, etc.

This is a poorly informed assessment. Nearly every single library system is subject to “take it or leave it” pricing and terms by publishers. The libraries need the publishers to purchase materials from, the publisher likely wishes the library was gone so they can think they are selling more product now.

MDF is an engineered product comprised of homogenized hard and soft wood pulp, binding agents. It is dehydrated and pressed together to create a material that is of higher density than fiber board.

The amount of sawdust needed to create a sheet of this stuff is astronomical compared to the output, not to mention the manufacturing process being very resource intensive. You also cannot just take bags of sawdust from the wood mill - it must be macerated and ground to a very fine dust with roughly the consistency of flour.

The main advantage it has is that it is heavy (to weigh down furniture) and very easy to cut with bandsaws, mills, lasers, etc because of its uniform distribution of its constituent parts. It’s also good for applying vinyl wraps and edging which is one reason why arcade cabinets are often made from it.

All this for a product that is roughly the same price as A cabinet-grade ply:

MDF 3/4” x 4’ x 8’ for $52.98: https://www.homedepot.com/p/3-4-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-MDF-Panel-D...

Radiata Pine plywood 23/32” x 4’ x 8’ for $55.98: https://www.homedepot.com/p/23-32-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-Cabinet-G...

This reads like that awful take a few years ago that libraries need to be replaced by private bookstores. Like the author of that, I don’t think you are familiar with the role that libraries play in their local community and probably should not prescribing a technocratic solution on an institution that you fundamentally do not understand.

This is classic rent seeking behavior. The more insidious aspect is that this is foisted upon a captive audience of kids/young adults that agreed to tens of thousands in non-dischargable debt when they turned 18.

You may have missed the point here.

OP was saying that publicly funded research needs to have, built in to its budget for the research, enough money to make the findings publicly available. The publishing mechanism is largely arbitrary here, only that it must be budgeted for.

> You are sort of borrowing it without explicit (or lasting) permission.

To be fair, this is true of all domains. The broader concern with ccTLDs is this borrowing dynamic layered with whatever geopolitical situation the country is in, how stable the administering authority is with respect to the current regime, or just the political forces at work within the country that may lead to changes or requirements for the ccTLD within the country are registered. There is often a concern of DNS infrastructure and local bandwidth considerations for the data center in which the root nameservers are housed, assuming they are not outsourcing that.

> Lastly, medication for ADHD is something that makes all the actual effective treatments do-able. It’s a first step not a crux.

This is a nuance that is lost on a lot of people. Medication needs to be taken in conjunction with re-learning how to study/organize/prioritize. This actually allows for new neuro-pathways to be forged and reinforced in the brain, which actually fixes many of the negative effects of ADHD, lessening the need for medication over time for many people. This effect is easy to observe in children because their brains are still extremely very plastic, but it also causes people to question why we need to prescribe medication if kids just end up “growing out of it”.

This does give AirBnB a reason enshrined in policy to take consistent action against misbehaving hosts, something that was lacking previously.

Also, I am not sure why you are conflating AirBnB’s authority with a local government - or course AirBnB won’t address the issues you cite in your last paragraphs as that is not their job and to think it should be is totally ridiculous. We have local and state governance to pass laws regulating behavior that is not good for society at large. AirBnB’s job is to generate value for shareholders all while operating within those bounds.

In many developed nations, this is a valid concern which is even more problematic given that developed nations have the wealth to afford to let people take parental leave.

If you are still hearing about population explosions with the same urgency that we heard about 20 years ago, then you’re being fed information meant to vilify the “others”.

What the fuck are you even talking about? There was nothing in this post that indicated anything to suggest that rational thought exists in your head.

I try not to disparage people for their ideas about the world, but what you have is a flawed understanding of basic biology and other basic shit about the world.

While I’m not particularly religious, I will make an exception for you:

May God have mercy on your soul.

This is such an “armchair expert” take on this.

Planes are not fully autonomous. They will not be for a very long time due to the regulatory environment aviation is entrenched in.

Sorry but this a bit ill-informed.

First off, you cannot just put an alarm on everything. The sonic experience inside a cockpit is very carefully designed to give pilots the correct information at the correct time. False alarms are not only not appreciated, they are actively dangerous. If a flight experiencing an emergency situation, a blaring alarm that is incorrectly going off can prevent pilots from getting timely information.

Airbus have side-sticks (like a game controller), not yokes and you really shouldn’t be inputting on them unless you’re hand flying for whatever reason.

In all two-pilot aircraft (all commercial jet aircraft), there are two separate roles that each one assumes: Pilot Monitoring (PM) and Pilot Flying (PF). The PM’s job is usually to run checklists, communicate/operate the radio, check various indicators, and support the PF to fly the aircraft. The captain and first officer swap between these roles en route. The PM should NOT be inputting controls unless there is a good reason to do so, but for safety/redundancy, one side’s controls are never disabled unless a lockout/override is active.

Most airlines have a policy to cruise with the autopilot on, which keeps the aircraft on its plotted course at it’s cleared altitude. The time where “flying” comes into play most often is during takeoff and using various levels of ILS from just indications of glide slope to a full autoland.

While not fantastic, a cruising airbus will keep its current course and stay airborne if the pilots snooze off.

I’m not sure if you are serious about this argument or using it as a rhetorical one for purposes of a historical argument, given GP’s context.

Regardless, I would hope that onlookers do not believe in these ideas scientifically because we know an lot about the liver and it’s place within the body.

> The liver is the store of your Emotions.

Emotions are not stored, they are experienced by way of the Amygdala within the brain. It is sensitive to neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.

> Thats why its called "The Liver"

This organ was given its name long ago and its origin is debated (toss up between old Germanic/Norse languages or PIE). The true nature of this organ was unknown when it was named, however.

> Its where all that you intake, including food and alcohol get processed.

The liver does not process everything you “intake” but it does do a great deal, mainly acting as a catalyst for the decomposition of many types of molecules into useable substances.

> Alcohol is consumed to either enhance or suppress experiences.

Ethanol is a neurological depressant (as opposed to a stimulant) and prevents the normal operation of the brain for which the symptoms include impulsivity, reduction in reactivity, motor function impairment, memory loss, etc. it’s a poison that your liver is really good at breaking down.

> This is also why Alcohol has been a prevalent substance forever.

Alcohol has been prevalent because it’s easy to make, sterilized food while still being safe to consume, and (at high enough concentrations) would give you an altered state of mind that has had both cultural and religious significance throughout history.

There are 6 books, the author recommends reading them in an order:

https://github.com/getify/You-Dont-Know-JS?tab=readme-ov-fil...

If the second edition is not available, you can read the first edition, just be aware some small things may be slightly out of date.

Disclaimer: this is my own, metaphor-filled hypothesis.

It’s easy to fully internalize generalizations that someone has presented to you, usually because it’s wrapped up in a way that is mostly compatible with how you see the world. Because someone has done the work of distilling this information, you are not able to share in most of the intellectual benefit. It’s the process of having a question, discovering an answer, internalization of the concept, and synthesizing a summary that brings you closer to understanding. It feels like a series of “lightbulb moments” when we consume this content, but it is often shallow and fleeting because the genesis of the idea was not your own. Airport/self-help books are a good example of this mental candy that makes us feel good when reading it but, unless you are able to fully internalize it, are just empty mental calories.

Comprehension and understanding are derived from amassing knowledge a little bit at a time as your mind is ready to advance your understanding. In other words, you really have to be “primed” for knowledge found in books. This is the reason that information you obtain after an adequately-informed struggle stays so salient: your mental model had all the scaffolding around a concept but there was a clear “void” where this answer fits, and if you find that fits super cleanly, it’s extra satisfying.

When consuming information-dense material, you end up with this knowledge back-pressure where it’s floating around your short term memory but won’t be committed to long term memory because there is just no place for it yet. When recalling information in order to create new content with it, and assuming you are challenging yourself, you will end up in situations where there is information starvation (the opposite of back-pressure) where you must either find answers (to fit in your mental model) or find a workaround (ignore the gap).

Some people can just read books and create efficient mental models. Others (myself included) have a limit of how much they can learn in one sitting because our brains need to be fully ready to accept this information.

The last piece of this is the dopamine response cycle that is a positive feedback system (positive as in “more creates more”). Dopamine makes us feel good by rewarding behavior that evolution deemed necessary for species survival (over simplification). Dopamine indirectly triggers long term memory retention because we need to remember why we felt good in that moment so we can replicate it. This used to be, “this berry tastes good, I should remember where this bush was and what the berry looked like.” In the modern context, it ultimately delivers motivation to us because we have adapted to using it to learn new information that is less relevant to survival. Achieving goals and solving problems at hand causes a huge amount of dopamine release. The problem is that we’ve found ways to hijack these systems and short-circuit this feedback cycle so everything had to become way more stimulating.

This got long, but my advice is to work on a project of your choosing that you are intrinsically motivated to do. Begin work on that project and read some of the book that relates to the problem at hand. Repeat this cycle of reading and working, trying to incorporate patterns and concepts you find while reading into your project. Make little goals for yourself every day before your start, and really hold yourself accountable in finishing them.

This is, in my opinion, the book to use to learn JavaScript at more than a surface level. The only other materials I recommend as much (but for a different level of learner) are the “You don’t know JavaScript” in-depth book series.

In 2015, I was consulting for a distance learning program, administered by a major California University, that wanted to replace their current textbook (one of those “Head First” O’Reilly books) with something that had a bit more meat but was very approachable. I immediately recommended this and it was fawned over by both the advisors and instructors. It was also the cheapest option they had in the running (even excluding the fact it can be read for free) as it was competing against traditional text books. One year later, students were polled on it and it was met with a lot of positivity as well.

> I've seen smart engineers with a C++ background get tripped up on and very confused working with TS, because it's not clear to them what concepts are "language fundamentals" and what concepts are "the TS transpiler".

This is exactly why I never recommend TypeScript to new developers.

A similar problem (that used to be worse) with people learning JavaScript is the lack of separation between JavaScript and the DOM + browser APIs. 10+ years ago, people have told me how much they hated JavaScript and when probed about it further, would admit that it’s actually the DOM or new/inconsistent browser APIs that have caused issued.

JS has a number of its own flaws and quirks, yes, but there are two fundamental issues that make it harder to approach as a new learner (as opposed to, to say, Python) are how tightly coupled it has historically been to it’s primarily application case and how high or low level is this language?