Duff

62 ms·

511.
by Duff 15y ago
Communist governments have usually attracted intellectuals to higher levels of power -- the results so far haven't been uplifting. I don't think that a comparison of the US system vs. China is going to produce a clear "winner", only a list
512.
by Duff 15y ago
I could live with the ONE phonebook that I would have used in the days when you actually used phonebooks. But nowadays, I never use the phonebook (and I'm a weirdo who still mails letters), but there seems to be like a half dozen phonebook
513.
by Duff 15y ago
It is :) Hacker News nuke threads are almost as puzzling to me as BitCoin threads, but I keep coming back for some reason.
514.
by Duff 15y ago
I'm not sure about your case, but the free wifi provider my city lets you visit Google without clicking through their portal.
515.
by Duff 15y ago
Remember: Nobody has died as a result of nuclear electrical generation. Rooftop solar panels are more dangerous than a molten down reactor, and more people die on bicycles.
516.
by Duff 15y ago
That's simply not true -- there is a reason why trades have apprenticeships, journeyman, and master levels. The fact that you can put a toilet in doesn't make you a master plumber. Immigrant labor floods the low end of the market and starve
517.
by Duff 15y ago
Sweet! Now I can use money that nobody uses to own a domain name that nobody can visit!
518.
by Duff 15y ago
My parent's school taxes were $1,800 in 2000. Today? $6,500. From 2006 when I bought my home to today, my school taxes are up over 60%. This year, the school wants a 6% increase. The library district 25%. My pay has been frozen for 3 years.
519.
by Duff 15y ago
To avoid the inevitable errors that turn into security problems, you need to either use a network-based authentication mechanism or limit ingress into the network to a single point to reduce the number of things that you need to touch.
520.
by Duff 15y ago
Atomheads roll out the strawman called coal and car accident statistics and make the baseless claim that no human has been killed as a result of a nuclear power generation, in terms of death per Gigwatt generated. Therefore, any discussion
521.
by Duff 15y ago
Oh boy, here comes the ranting about coal and the deadly dangers of roof mounted solar cells and the complete safety of nuclear.
522.
by Duff 15y ago
It sounds good until you explore the details. At the end of the day, someone pays the bills, and whomever controls the checkbook tends to set the agenda. There is no such thing as independence. Flashback to 1985. The Soviet puppet governmen
523.
by Duff 15y ago
That's a big downside of fixed monetary systems like what many developing countries used or the gold standard. In inability to inject liquidity perpetuates instability. In the 19th century, you'd usually see financial crises appear in the f
524.
by Duff 15y ago
Intrinsic value is alot more complex than it seems. Many people attributed the skyrocketing price of silver as testimony to the declining value of the currency, etc. That's partially true, but the events of the last few weeks have establish
525.
by Duff 15y ago
Fortunately, the current policy of national insolvency will address the situation by making us all equally broke.
526.
by Duff 15y ago
The only thing Bitcoin poses a threat to is the t-shirt vendors and hosting providers who are accepting it as payment. Until the Bitcoin PR campaign graduates from hacker news, it's at best an academic discussion At worst, BitCoin at this p
527.
by Duff 15y ago
That's the problem with big government... it size as a consumer builds in a need for companies to schmooze with and influence the government. The US government EVERY DAY than ExxonMobil makes in a year. That doesn't excuse crony capitalism
528.
by Duff 15y ago
Regulation and control is by its nature an adversarial relationship. You cannot be an effective adversary if that will compromise your ability to be an advocate or employee of whomever you're regulating. Just as an auditor doesn't need to b
529.
by Duff 15y ago
For big companies Microsoft owns email, and is in the process of owning voicemail, since it's part of Exchange now. They want to run your phone system too, but Cisco is the leader in that space at the Enterprise, and a bunch of telco/cable
530.
by Duff 15y ago
This is true -- the hardcore capitalist would argue that the plaster industry has been hamstrung by the quaint requirements from building code to use wood, steel and concrete in construction. There's a give an take here... the government ha
531.
by Duff 15y ago
You know, they copy job listings from other places. And they don't ask for permission!
532.
by Duff 15y ago
Good luck. "Soft skills" are usually interpreted as a way to favor white people. If it isn't measurable, you're getting sued. And even if it is measurable, you're getting sued if advocates don't get what they want. (Although poor social ski
533.
by Duff 15y ago
Oriental not a PC term, but many Americans cannot tell the difference between Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, Filipino, etc by language, appearance or other factors. So instead of sitting through millions of awkward moments, whomever makes up t
534.
by Duff 15y ago
10 years ago, Microsoft was $35. Today it is $25 and change. Not very rewarding. Microsoft is like the electric utility of the technology business -- they should embrace that or wake up and break up the company into manageable parts. Buying
535.
by Duff 15y ago
Huh? I understand that Microsoft is sitting on billions in cash, but couldn't they just pay a dividend?
536.
by Duff 15y ago
You don't have to pay in dollars, but you must accept dollars to settle a debt. You and I can have a contract where I buy a cow from you today in exchange for an iPod next week, that's a valid contract. But if I cannot produce the iPod next
537.
by Duff 15y ago
But again, barring some magical event that entices 98% of merchants to accept Bitcoin, why would you accept it versus gold, silver etc? You still need a middleman to broker the transaction to whatever the legal tender currency is, so why no
538.
by Duff 15y ago
Here's what what said about the gold standard to differentiate from Bitcoin: "There was no choice in how one could pay, payments were made in a vacuum. All transactions had to be made in a currency backed by gold. That meant that any abus
539.
by Duff 15y ago
It is difficult for me to fathom an environment where bitcoin is more attractive than gold or silver. At least outside of the alternate universe of PR that bitcoin proponents seem to live in. Bitcoin claims to share the attributes of metals
540.
by Duff 15y ago
It's not a choice! NYC was a sad place for a long time. Remember "Escape from New York"?

More ›