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theobon

392 karma · joined September 25, 2010

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theobon··on “Royalty-Free” Music Supplied by YouTube Results in Mass Video Demonetization
It isn't just the detection algorithm that is tuned to benefit big corporations. The end to end process is asymmetric with automated issuance of copyright claims which need to be manually disputed which appear to be automatically rejected. Then the appeal process has a three strikes rule against channel owners but no apparent punishment for corporations.

I can understand tuning the detection algorithm but to balance the dispute process needs to take this into account. The fact that it doesn't shows where Youtube stands on the issue.

theobon··on Will there ever be a cure for chronic pain?
This is well understood by pain researchers and the article explicitly mentions that they are trying to find solutions that address chronic pain without impacting the pain responses you are referring to.

"The team bred genetically engineered mice from embryos that had HCN2 excised from their DNA. Subsequent experiments showed that these mice did not develop neuropathic pain (the kind that affects the nervous system and is often caused by long-term conditions such as cancer or diabetes). Not only that, the mice with HCN2 cut out were still able to feel acute pain – the necessary, protective jolt that tells us to remove our finger from a drawing pin. “That’s the holy grail,” McNaughton told me"

theobon··on Six U.S. Cities Make the List of Most Surveilled Places in the World
While not networked to the national police I expect that many commercial security cameras do have facial recognition to identify suspected thieves and VIPs along with tracking movement habits through the store which is shared with advertisers and product manufactures to justify cost for higher profile shelf space.
theobon··on A Mathematical Model Unlocks the Secrets of Vision
"While their model is far from uncovering the full mystery of vision, it is a step in the right direction"

This penultimate paragraph directly contradicts the headline. I know that writers don't have much control over their headlines but this is endlessly frustrating as a reader.

theobon··on SEC Charges Kik With Conducting $100M Unregistered ICO
For those who want to guide to reading the lawsuit check out this annotated version by Katherine Wu[1]: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ac136ed12b13f7c187bd...

[1] https://www.katherinewu.me/writings/2019/6/4/annotated-guide...

theobon··on Does the news reflect what we die from?
The most interesting tidbit for me was how similar the news breakdown was between the two sources: New York Times and The Guardian. The largest deviation was 3.4% for suicide coverage but almost everything was within 1%.

Perhaps these examples are too similar to get a good distribution but if news organizations are all covering basically the same items perhaps there is an opportunity for differentiation. The google search trends shows that what people are interested in knowing doesn't match what media is interested in telling.

theobon··on Rein in the Four Horsemen of Irreproducibility
Meta-analysis is a sound principle but undermined by selection bias. This is why every meta-analysis includes selection criteria for which studies are incorporated into the analysis. Unfortunately publication bias is systemic and biases the results.

The quote referenced is poetic and pithy but I fail to understand how it applies to meta-analysis and selection bias. What is the cow pie in this scenario?

theobon··on Rules for Autocomplete
This should only happen for user requested auto-completion. For example typing "g" <tab> "g" <tab> would result in Google in the provided example.

This is very beneficial in code completion or navigating file directories. It is horrible when typing an email (though maybe when searching email contact). Definitely needs to be context aware.

theobon··on Rare new kind of twins: boy and girl are semi-identical
"The girl and boy each have male and female sex chromosomes — in other words, each twin has some cells that carry an XX pair (female) and some that carry an XY pair (male)."

They are both genetically ambiguous and present differently due to hormone generation rates.

theobon··on New Horizons’ first hi-res imagery of Ultima Thule
Contact binaries are fairly common. Expected to make up about 10-15% of NEOs. My layman's understanding of how Kuiper object contact binaries develop is mutual capture during the early life of the solar system and angular momentum decay until they come into contact.
theobon··on Inside the sordid world of America's for-profit colleges
Wouldn't that require that the school provide the loan? If the debt is not held by the school then they are not impacted by bankruptcy. I like the theory of what you are saying but I'm not sure I want schools to become creditors.
theobon··on Show HN: A map that shows you how far you can go for a given time or distance
The existence of an address is public. The relationship between an address and a hacker news account is typically not public. Providing this link can make doxxing significantly easier.
theobon··on Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall
The maintenance fee is $100 a month for each week of timeshare you own. So if you want to use the time share 4 weeks a year you pay $400 a month. After selling all 52 weeks the company is collecting $62,400 a year.
theobon··on Guide to Slack import and export tools
You are assuming that harassment was direct, sending messages to the accusers. My impression is that this was a group chatting privately about the accusers either making fun of them or coordinating actions.

While this can be done through other channels (in person or private cellphone) allowing it on corporate infrastructure without monitoring is not acceptable.

theobon··on Norwegian Shipbuilders Turning to Battery Power
Feels disingenuous to use the end-to-end CO2 generation for the battery but only the burn costs of diesel.
theobon··on Martin Shkreli has been sentenced to seven years in prison
There are multiple cases where someone can be obligated to sell for a particular price. Eminent domain is the most obvious example but Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory Licensing [1] is more applicable. Patent laws creates a temporary monopoly. This monopoly needs to be regulated to prevent abuse. Avoiding extortionist pricing of patented medications seems like a reasonable area for regulation.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reasonable_and_non-discriminat...

theobon··on 3D Color Print
For a company about to spend ~$250,000 on the ability to fabricate 3d models in house "3D Printing Solution" does message better. A 3D printer is just an expensive tool that requires expensive software and expensive people to make it work. A 3D Printing Solution implies a complete suite from installation to software to support that doesn't require investing in specialized skills.
theobon··on We’re sorry, and we’re not rolling out the fees change
Do you have a source for these rumors. This is the second comment I've seen on this post suggesting this but I can't find any supporting evidence.

According to Patreon's blog posts the unbundling was entirely related to the "date of first subscription" problem.

theobon··on Ask HN: Huge enterprise customer wants to see our source code
Typically these are worded as part of support & maintenance and is triggered by failure to meet that obligation. Acquisition, merger, spin-out, JV or bankruptcy would not trigger it provided support is maintained. Also, the force majeure clause typically allows some reasonable timeline to reinstate support before it is triggered.

I would think the positive of a large client greatly outweighs the liability of the code escrow.

theobon··on iOS 11's Misleading "Off-Ish" Setting for Radios Is Bad for User Security
Every jurisdiction I'm aware of considers using your phone while stopped at a red light the same as while driving. Apple enabling this behaviour within a feature specifically designed to support safe driving laws would be illogical.
theobon··on Yahoo Triples Estimate of Breached Accounts to 3B
Sure there is some data companies are collecting of that form but typically it isn't Personally Identifiable Information and even when it is that isn't what people are worried about with the Yahoo breach.

Yahoo was "gifted" data. People explicitly gave them names, email addresses and passwords. That is what Yahoo failed to protect.

> The stolen information included names, email addresses, phone numbers, birthdates and security questions and answers.

theobon··on 'Snowdrift' game tops 'Prisoner's Dilemma' in explaining cooperation (2007)
http://ncase.me/trust/ is a great explainer that explores that question. How do different strategies compare depending on number of repeat interactions, population diversity and noise.
theobon··on Gates Makes Largest Donation Since 2000 with $4.6B Pledge
We are barely able to simulate a simple reptile brain and you are asking for complete understanding and simulation of any human body. I think you are vastly underestimating the complexity of biological system.
theobon··on Amazon sues former AWS VP over non-compete deal
The "vote with your dollars" narrative is becoming a common way of dismissing peoples concerns without consideration. It reinforces the plutocracy. I voted by voting!

Purchasing from companies whose ethics you agree with makes sense but that isn't going to stop lobbying or change how laws are passed. That battle will only be won through politics and politicians. Get involved politically and/or hold your politicians accountable.

theobon··on A new report on a basic income scheme launched in Iran
In may be easier for employers because they can fire under-performing employees easier. Most of the hurdles for firing someone are due to lack of safety-net. With UBI those regulations should be looser.
theobon··on Recycle robot – using raspberry pi and tensorflow
I'd love to see this replace the current multi-bin setups I see most places. The ones where you spend so much time trying to figure out which is the right bin that inevitably some people just dump everything in the easiest location. It doesn't take many mistakes to ruin the efficacy.

An automatic sorter could solve that and training could be tailored to the location.

Starbucks seems like a good pilot location.

theobon··on Scrimba: a video format for communicating code
feature request: Ability to change playback speed. Eg 0.5x, 1.5x, 2x
theobon··on The Curse of the Bahia Emerald
During import it was intentionally undervalued to avoid customs. This provided the journalistic license to provide the massive price discrepancy.

"On the packing slip he wrote “rocha: rochedo—rock” and listed the value at $100."

theobon··on Open Data at whitehouse.gov is empty
Has been down for more than a week.

Link to previous submission: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13646712

theobon··on Robots Aren’t Killing the American Dream
Thank you for providing a perfect example of the concern around Universal Basic Income. Even to the point of dropping the Universal...

It doesn't even exist and it can still be used to divide society. The exact opposite of its intention.

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