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wemdyjreicherton Examining Carlos Ghosn and Japan's System of 'Hostage Justice'

You would call Iran democratic? You would claim it protects the liberty of its citizens? Allows for religious freedom? Iran's elections are widely considered shams: https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2017/05/12/irans-farce...

wemdyjreicherton Burger King is rolling out meatless Impossible Whoppers nationwide

Honest question: if people decide to adopt this veggie diet, will we see a change in average height? Protein or not, most cultures with veggie cuisines have much shorter people.

wemdyjreicherton Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls

They are part of the same thing.

There are not "so many" muggings/fights/etc., but I do know several people who have encountered them. That's not so many; don't you? With respect to bullies, there is tons of bullying in every school. Any one who tells you otherwise is lying to himself.

wemdyjreicherton Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls

> Some martial arts have some application to self-defense, but I don't think that's the real distinction

Many of the martial artists whom I know began training for purposes of self-defense. Some began as adults, and some were placed in training by their parents after being bullied.

> cycling

That's totally out of the scope of this conversation; I made no claims as to the seriousness with which cycling ought to be treated. I think most sports are given too much credence.

>> It's also exercise

> Aren't those equally true of this hobbyhorse-dressage?

No, not from the gif of a "competition" at the top of the article. It does not appear to contain any serious exertion.

Most sports involve pushing yourself physically. This does not involve such exertion and improvement. If kids want to do it, that's fine (all though still weird as all getout). But I don't think them saying to not "say they are playing" because it "strips away what we've made" is really reasonable. Kids are playing dress-up; it's fine to remind them it's just dress-up. And it's ridiculous to compare it to real sports.

wemdyjreicherton Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls

Which most housewives have.

wemdyjreicherton Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls

I'm not sure in which martial arts you dabbled or on which circuits; could you clarify there? Different martial arts are very different in on what they focus. Some don't really spar, some do. That doesn't make them better or worse, that means they are different styles with different foci.

wemdyjreicherton Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls

Self-defense. Know two other guys who have possibly had their lives (or at any rate, probably hospital visits) saved in street fights and muggings. There are also countless juniors who have been able to fend off bullies. It's also exercise, which has extensive and proven benefits. It also has huge benefits in terms of bone strength and density. So yes, I would say real-world application.

Is it recreational in some way? Sure. But again, it has real benefits, while I don't see any in riding a toy stick (aside from enjoyment gained).

wemdyjreicherton Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls

I'd say there's a bit of a difference between martial arts and a toy pony. I know martial artists who can break a dozen cinder bricks with an elbow; that's a serious pursuit. I'd say there is a serious difference between that and riding a toy stick.

This extends to many other sports and activities: you can practice at a serious level or an amateur one. The difference here is that I see no serious level for this. Same thing with comics, which I saw some one else mention earlier.

I guess if the kids are having fun, fine. This does seem incredibly weird, but I guess it's between them and their parents. However, I don't understand this demand to be taken seriously. It's a hobby; they do it for fun, and that's fine.

wemdyjreicherton Coffee Cups Are Next

No one in America needs a new standard either. Literally no piece of gear I own has usb-c, except for one on my laptop which is not the primary charging port and I do not ever use (due to the traditional lineup of ports being available).

I get switching can be a pain, but most people (the people regulation is crafted to cover) do not upgrade on the schedule of many tech enthusiasts. Consumers are also keeping devices progressively longer as time goes by.

I'm still happy with micro-usb, usb-a, hdmi, etc. for now. People do not switch out devices all at once, and it seems that forcing them to do so would create waste.

Lastly, how do they enforce it? Any one can go on amazon.com and buy a non-standard charger and a plug adapter, right? I would imagine those who do want things like quick charge would just buy the stuff.

wemdyjreicherton Coffee Cups Are Next

I would argue that the industry do this already. On the part of Apple, lightning was undoubtedly better than micro-usb, and switching immediately to usb-c would arguably create more e-waste. Also, Apple is probably more sustainable than many other companies.

wemdyjreicherton Coffee Cups Are Next

That's only true of you prioritize minimization of e-waste over personal convenience, which most (including me) do not. The regulation delay is exactly the problem: had politicians standardized micro-usb, we would still be on it rather than usb-c.

wemdyjreicherton The Anhei tokamak is first in the world to generate 100M degrees Celsius

That's 180M degrees Fahrenheit, for those of us who are American, Liberian, or Burmese.

wemdyjreicherton Uppy 1.0: Your best friend in file uploading

Whether or not this is possible, it seems like a serious DDOS risk. Some one with malicious intent could give you a huge hosting bill. It might be difficult to apply IP-based rate-limiting without a server.

wemdyjreicherton Coffee Cups Are Next

As far as I'm aware, the most the EU has done is look closely at doing it (most recently in 2018). One could argue that Lightning ports are better (particularly when compared to micro usb), and Apple seems to be slowly switching to usb-c. A standard charger would a. prohibit fast charging technologies or b. "pick the winner" with respect to such technologies. It would almost certainly slow or halt the use of newer fast charging technologies, higher bandwidth connections, etc. as they were created.

I understand bottles are different, but I felt a bit of a need to mention what a bad idea the phone charger thing was. "Design by committee" is a pejorative for a reason. Also, knowing governments, they would do something crazy like mandate the standard soda cup to be small (see NYC).

wemdyjreicherton Two L.A. universities quarantine hundreds students and staff in measles outbreak

> Abstinence is absurd, regressive, arcane, etc, and doesn't belong in 2019 nor does it work on 2019.

Why do you call it these things? Your opinion is not a source. I think both of us can agree it is 100% effective with respect to disease prevention. We're running into antibiotic-resistant STDs because people won't stop sleeping around. From the CDC: "Gonorrhea has progressively developed resistance to the antibiotic drugs prescribed to treat it." [0]

> cervical cancer is just 2 of the 14 strains of cancer causing HPV that we know of.

"The main type of cancer linked to HPV infection is cervical cancer. Virtually all cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV." [1] Yes there are risks of other cancer, but they are very small unless you are gay.

[0] https://www.cdc.gov/std/gonorrhea/arg/default.htm

[1] https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-canc...

wemdyjreicherton Two L.A. universities quarantine hundreds students and staff in measles outbreak

> How are you missing the simple fact that most women get the cancerous strains from men?

This is exactly the problem. How do you plan to convince men to get vaccinated to prevent a cancer that affects women?

> Moralistic arguments are what keep us from mass-vaccinating against HPV-strains.

This is not a moralistic argument; I made no argument about what is right or wrong. What keeps that from happening is that many people who would need to do so would get little benefit. It's a positive externality.

> Literally 2019 and arguing on the internet for abstinence only?

I didn't argue for it, but there's nothing wrong with it. What's bad about that approach? It's 100% effective at preventing the spread of disease. Literally 2019 and we have super-STDs because people won't stop sleeping around. From the CDC: "Gonorrhea has progressively developed resistance to the antibiotic drugs prescribed to treat it." [0] Show me another approach that will work. Vaccine? Oh wait, we don't have one for that, and our antibiotics don't work. It's for good reason that society used to shun this sort of behavior. Promiscuous people are causing a serious public health issue because they are too lazy to keep it in their pants.

[0] https://www.cdc.gov/std/gonorrhea/arg/default.htm

wemdyjreicherton China’s Pig Pandemic

You're right that taste is subjective, and that what tastes good for one may not for another. That is a large part of the reason that I take issue when people self-righteously say I should be eating a vegan diet, eating insects, etc.

wemdyjreicherton Two L.A. universities quarantine hundreds students and staff in measles outbreak

> You're not implying that if people just abstained from sex they wouldn't need the HPV vaccination? That's a judgement about people having pre-marital sex, is it not?

No, because I said nothing about pre-marital anything. There is still a risk, even in marriage, though people who take only one sexual partner are less likely to contract such diseases. That's not a judgement, as I am not saying whether anything is right or wrong, it is simply a fact.

> And your stance that it's "less important" is based on the idea that simply abstaining from sex prevents all HPV exposure, correct? That is not a science-based conclusion. HPV can be transmitted outside of sex by walking barefoot across a bathroom floor.

Correct. You are correct about some varieties, none of which are currently known to cause caner.

> But if you want a morality-driven argument it is IMHO undeniably imperative to vaccinate the general public against disease including cancer causing disease regardless of the mode of transmission of said disease and that imperative and benefits outweigh any counter argument that simply abstaining from a given behavior lowers that risk.

Again, I didn't say that it was necessarily bad, I was pointing out that it was less important than MMR or other such vaccinations, an assertion by which I stand.

> If I can find the citation for the article I mentioned (I did Google for it but couldn't find it the first time) I'll happily address whether in fact it's one prevented by Gardasil, etc.

I couldn't find it through internet-searching either, which is why I made the above point.

I still maintain that a HPV vaccination is less important than other vaccinations. This is especially true for men, as the largest cancer risk by far is for cervical cancer. You are unlikely to get major traction for people being vaccinated against a disease that will most harm another at their expense and pain. Why did you take such issue with a passing remark I made as part of a broader, positive point? I am not saying anything that is wrong; the risks are there and the benefits for a large part of the population that would be required to achieve herd immunity are not.

Again, there is reason it is not standard or required. The herd immunity argument is not as relevant because it is much less important for men (especially because existing vaccines focus mostly on strains that cause cervical cancer) and so a large portion of the population will remain unvaccinated against it.

wemdyjreicherton Two L.A. universities quarantine hundreds students and staff in measles outbreak

> no chance

A 100% effective vaccination? Also, I didn't imply any moral judgement, I'm simply stating it's not as important as others.

With respect to the baby story, was that a strain which was prevented by a HPV vaccination?

I understand there is a benefit, and wasn't disputing that. All I was saying was that it was elective and less important. There is a reason it is not required for schools as MMR is, and that it is not standard.

wemdyjreicherton Two L.A. universities quarantine hundreds students and staff in measles outbreak

HPV is elective, because activities that cause it are elective. Cancer-causing strains are transmitted largely by risky behavior, which is a choice. That is why I called it elective. Being in a room with someone with measles can cause you to get it; being in a room with someone with cancer-causing HPV cannot. It requires a conscious choice.

Edit: down-voters care to explain why I'm wrong?

wemdyjreicherton Two L.A. universities quarantine hundreds students and staff in measles outbreak

I've always struggled a bit with the whole vaccination issue. Those who don't want them are obviously idiots, and unfortunately most are parents who are refusing to vaccinate their children. I generally lean more toward the libertarian "do what you want until it hurts me" stance, but it's obvious that a disease epidemic hurts me. At the same time, I have trouble with the idea of the government rounding people up and sticking needles in their arms.

It's a tough question, and I'm not quite sure how to solve it. We will likely face many more issues of disease in the years to come, with antibiotic resistance becoming a growing threat. The idea of a society where a small nick very well may cause a fatal infection is not a pleasant one.

Also, fungi are a rising threat: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19590180

wemdyjreicherton Two L.A. universities quarantine hundreds students and staff in measles outbreak

That's one thing we've done pretty well, bringing down the cost of critical vaccines. Others are expensive, but they are mostly elective. If you look at the CDC price list [0] for kids, only 2 vaccines are over $200 for private sector cost, and they're not too important (one is MMR/Varicella which covers what would otherwise be two vaccines, and the other is HPV which is unimportant). Even cheaper for adults. That's within the price range of pretty much anyone.

wemdyjreicherton China’s Pig Pandemic

That's not meat. Also, not every one likes that; will you try to force them to eat it via the vote?

wemdyjreicherton China’s Pig Pandemic

Beans, lentils, and chickpeas are not a substitute for meat, in terms of either nutrition or flavor. Vegetable protein does not equal meat protein in terms of amino acids. Plant proteins are typically low in methionene, tryptophan, lycine, and isoleucine [0]. My point is not that vegetarianism is completely impossible, but that it is hard to get everything necessary. This is especially true for anyone who is trying to build muscle or get in shape. It certainly doesn't taste as good, especially if you don't want to take tons of time cooking.

It still takes "gourmet" vegetarian food to compare to regular meat.

[0] https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/animal-vs-plant-protein

wemdyjreicherton China’s Pig Pandemic

Viruses have a nasty tendency to move from animals to people, particularly in places like China where people and animals are very dense and sanitation is horrible.

wemdyjreicherton China’s Pig Pandemic

So which meat do you propose we eat, and under what circumstances?

wemdyjreicherton Private Key Extraction from Qualcomm Hardware-Backed Keystores

Could this allow bootloader unlocking, custom roms, etc. on an otherwise locked device (e.g. S7)? Tried the engineering bootloader, but horrible battery management.

I'll avoid updating until I know more.

wemdyjreicherton College Kids Are Living Like Kings in Vancouver’s Empty Mansions

Apologies for being unclear; I'm referring to the broader real-estate market. I can't speak to Canada, but I seem to see this in America (increased volatility) in real estate and the broader economy over all.

wemdyjreicherton College Kids Are Living Like Kings in Vancouver’s Empty Mansions

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/negative-interest-rate-...

It's an extreme expansionary policy designed to keep the economy afloat by making people pay money to keep it in banks. Normally this is done by dropping interest rates below inflation; this is the nuclear option for economies. The fact that they are still stuck on this is not a good sign for what may happen to Europe next recession.

This is one of the inherent limitations of a shared currency: Greece needs expansion; Germany needs contraction. Help one; harm the other. It's very difficult to do the kind of things America (or most other nations) can do with Europe for this reason.

wemdyjreicherton Mathematica Version 12 Released

I'm more wondering why Mr. Wolfram would open-source the code, rather than why he would not.