alexqgb

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by alexqgb 12y ago
It's not true to say that the US, in general, ignores these systems when in fact, a significant portion of the US population pays very close attention to them and would like nothing more than to seem them implemented here. There is, ho
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by alexqgb 12y ago
I was given opiates after having my wisdom teeth pulled. After two days I decided I'd rather have a clear head and deal with the (by then subsiding) pain than continue wading through fog. The impairment was that unsettling.
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by alexqgb 12y ago
That part of world has been capitalizing on its position with regard to trade routes since the Sumerians pioneered exchange with the Indus Valley civilization. It's remarkable to see this development as the latest iteration of a truly
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by alexqgb 12y ago
Awesome article. Thanks for diligent work.
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by alexqgb 12y ago
What I'm saying is that the amounts of cash held by - and available to - these companies is so eye-poppingly astronomic that even an twelve digit settlement - which the law may allow - is nowhere near enough to bankrupt them.
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by alexqgb 12y ago
<golf_clap>
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by alexqgb 12y ago
Well, not in the immediate future it isn't. Demographically, speaking, it's heavy on the olds, and is scrambling madly to get itself ahead of steep labor decline.
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by alexqgb 12y ago
The effect of this scenario on the high end real estate market in the Bay Area would horrifying / amazing depending on whether or not you were already holding property. Also, Tesla sales would go sub-orbital.
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by alexqgb 12y ago
As of April, Apple had cash reserves of about $160 billion. Just saying.
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by alexqgb 12y ago
Not convinced this helps the investors either, if the employee is staying within their broader portfolio of companies. Yes, he may cost a bit more, but presumably he's moving to do more valuable and / or productive work, so the up
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by alexqgb 12y ago
If only the divide were as strong, clear, and deep as you make it out to be. Sure, what you're saying may be true of coffee vs. cocaine and aspirin vs. heroin, but there are plenty of pharmaceutical companies establishing new markets i
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by alexqgb 12y ago
Can't recommend this book highly enough. Among other details, HN readers will appreciate that the global continer system represents packet switching in its original form.
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by alexqgb 12y ago
In pointing out that "merit" can be freely defined, this piece shows that meritocracies are, in fact, arbitrary. If there's a key line, it seems to be this one: "This is about who these people believe open source is for,
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by alexqgb 12y ago
"this claim still ignores my point, which is that the fact that there is nonzero quantity demanded at zero price tells you very little about how much is being removed from the pool at non-zero prices" But again, that's not t
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by alexqgb 12y ago
What's the name of the rhetorical tactic where you avoid an argument instead of addressing it by reframing the terms to create an obviously absurd and / or non-representative case? There's a word for it, and it does not ref
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by alexqgb 12y ago
There's a name for people like that: assholes. There's also a lot of insecurity going on there, but that's true of most people. The difference is in how we deal with it. Some people do so by trying to become kinder and more d
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by alexqgb 12y ago
There's nothing wrong with registering the fact that someone attractive is attractive. Seriously, that's like waking up to blue skies and gentle breeze and saying "wow, what a nice day." The trouble stars when a specific
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by alexqgb 12y ago
"The problem with that analysis is that the amount of money you didn't give to the artist is the same regardless of whether you downloaded a copy." And yet, demand for that media was nevertheless satisfied. So all the costs i
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by alexqgb 12y ago
When it comes to unauthorized copies that do not fall within the parameters of fair use, the theft - for lack of a better word - is not of the copy in question. The bone of contention is actually the money that you would have paid to the
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by alexqgb 12y ago
I'm not sure which martial art is about turning the force of your opponent's moves against them, but this seems like a prime example. Rest assured, Lessig is acutely aware that what he's doing comes down to a hack. That shoul
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by alexqgb 12y ago
"they'll gain a lot of brownie points (e.g. a promotion)" That's the sugar coated version. When it comes to people who already have a lot of seniority and don't need the money for their own elections, the ability to
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by alexqgb 12y ago
OpenSecrets.org hosts a long-running effort to correlate the rate at which legislators favor or oppose particular industries with the size of the contributions they receive. Turns out, they track very closely. Like, to the point where rea
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by alexqgb 12y ago
Actually I didn't. The mechanics of congressional corruption have been a long running interest of mine. But I think Ira Glass is great and if what I'm saying here is the essence of what he's saying too, that's a welcome
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by alexqgb 12y ago
That's the essence of contemporary lobbying. Most legislators can be persuaded with campaign contributions (the carrot) but those that can't get threatened with the stick, which comes in the form of a previously unheard of but sud
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by alexqgb 12y ago
"Nobody wants to do things that way, including the employees." Well, nobody except yourself, of course. Like you said a moment later, "I've personally tried to negotiate a contract in an at-will employment state with a c
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by alexqgb 12y ago
"That's a simplistic view. What if the 'whole point' was avoiding project-unraveling team turnover, and deterring a corrosive culture of mercenary focus on salary rather than intangible or equity compensation?" The
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by alexqgb 12y ago
Try looking back a bit further. You'll note that it was actually the previous poster who had made the speaker the subject, and that was in the context of a remark about how he was being reflexively down-voted for (presumably) making co
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by alexqgb 12y ago
Here's the thing: when you're discussing the failures of another person's moral reasoning, you are inevitably calling their character into question. It may not be the point, but it's unavoidably the effect. For the sam
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by alexqgb 12y ago
If nothing else, cookiecaper represents the kind of thinking that leads to these situations in the first place. Yes, it's stupid. Yes, it's amoral. Yes, it betrays profound ignorance of the law and ethics, and yes, it's shot
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by alexqgb 12y ago
Yes. See Sparrow for details / confirmation.

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