dpatru

21 ms·

151.
by dpatru 13y ago
> It's a shame so many people don't realize how easy it is to fix all of their problems. Libertarianism maintains that government is not supposed to solve all your problems. That is the job of the free market: voluntary associa
152.
by dpatru 13y ago
> Deflation, by providing a risk free return for sitting on currency, leads to a slowdown in the real economy by reducing both output (reduced consumption) and productivity (reduced investment). 1. Money does not have to be fiat money to
153.
by dpatru 13y ago
> This article seems to glorify the idea of people keeping money out of the banking system to avoid banks making money off interest spreads. The problem with banks is not that they make money off of interest spreads. The problem is that
154.
by dpatru 13y ago
> If the currency under consideration has wide spread adoption, deflation means a system-wide slowdown in investment (_averaged_). The computer industry is deflationary. All you have to do to be able to buy more computing power is wait.
155.
by dpatru 13y ago
> they seek to maintain a "healthy" amount of inflation. An ounce of gold was $21 in 1920 and $1410 in 2010. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-historical-price-of-gold...
156.
by dpatru 13y ago
The big-picture argument this piece is making is that counterfeiting money is good for society. In this case, a central authority (the Fed) is doing the counterfeiting, but nothing in the article explains why the beneficial effects would no
157.
by dpatru 13y ago
Counterfeiting money is evil not because it hurts the counterfeiter, but because it takes away wealth from everybody else. Whatever the counterfeiter buys that is in limited supply, the rest of the people have to do without. To the extent t
158.
by dpatru 13y ago
The bigger the government gets, the more intrusive it becomes and the harder it is to convince a majority of the people that they can use the government to live better at someone else's expense: at some point too many people become the
159.
Snowden’s E-Mail Provider Defied FBI Demands to Turn Over Crypto Keys(wired.com)
3 points by dpatru 13y ago|0 comments
160.
by dpatru 13y ago
> If that isn't a reason to be investing in Space, I don't know what is. To justify government research, the results need to be compared to the alternative. Had NASA scientists not been working for the government, they would ha
161.
Unethical human experimentation in the United States(en.wikipedia.org)
1 points by dpatru 13y ago|0 comments
162.
by dpatru 13y ago
I'm a bit disappointed in the story. It seems to me that businesses of this type represent an opportunity to disrupt the real estate industry, and it's sad to see them end up joining the industry.
163.
by dpatru 13y ago
It is cheaper to make copies of software than almost anything else. This means that building network or a large customer base is very cheap, almost free. What prevents you from building a large customer base is not costs, but lack of demand
164.
by dpatru 13y ago
Rather than leave, the better solution is to force the rights-violators to stop. They are the ones in the wrong, they should be ashamed and shamed. This reminds me of the NSA recruitment session at the University of Washington ( http:/
165.
Typography and legibility sandbox(typesetwith.me)
2 points by dpatru 13y ago|0 comments
166.
by dpatru 13y ago
My summary: To become productive, get in the habit of doing things. More specifically, get in the habit of immediately doing what needs doing. Don't spend a lot of time learning in preparation for some future grand work when there is u
167.
by dpatru 13y ago
> Because I don't think people should be upset about their privacy when they know a company like Facebook already knows everything about you. The fact that a private company like Facebook knows a lot about you is not a problem as lo
168.
by dpatru 13y ago
The best way to ensure good content is to ensure smart teachers, which is what these metrics are designed for. Fractions and decimals are not difficult. I doubt that kids who have been learning math with Khan have problems understanding the
169.
by dpatru 13y ago
> Students cannot possibly evaluate which of the teaching methods are better because they do not yet know what they are supposed to be taught. . . . it is pretty absurd to think that students could ever be objective in evaluating the te
170.
by dpatru 13y ago
There's a big difference between government and corporations. Corporations are, at bottom, simply groups of ordinary people with whom you deal with on a voluntary basis. A corporation cannot rob (tax, fine), kidnap (arrest), imprison,
171.
by dpatru 13y ago
http://xkcd.com/327/
172.
New Course: The Design of Everyday Things(blog.udacity.com)
362 points by dpatru 13y ago|55 comments
173.
by dpatru 13y ago
sum the 0th field: perl -lane '$a += $F[0]; END{ print $a; }'
174.
by dpatru 13y ago
This is just not true. See http://mises.org/daily/5266/ For example: "Six electric light companies were organized in the one year of 1887 in New York City. Forty-five electric light enterprises had the legal
175.
by dpatru 13y ago
Snowden could release information showing that the intelligence agencies have used their information to blackmail/coerce specific people like judges, congressmen, senators, members of the press, civic leaders, etc. They regularly do th
176.
by dpatru 13y ago
In Hedges v Obama [1], the trial court blocked the government's power to indefinitely detain. The ruling was immediately appealed and the trial court's decision was stayed. I take it from the government's rush to appeal that
177.
by dpatru 13y ago
> Someone who truly cares about their security will learn how to use them. Needs are relative. People have a lot of cares in this world and for most people, online anonymity and confidentiality don't rank very high. That's why
178.
by dpatru 13y ago
The article argues that as long as Stalin was neutral, the Japanese had some hope of negotiating a better surrender. After Stalin declared war, Japan was out of options and was forced to surrender. Therefore Stalin was the deciding factor i
179.
by dpatru 13y ago
Profit simply means that an activity is worth it: that the result will be worth more than the costs to reach the result. Profit is the aim not just of corporations, but also of government. For example, a government should not build a road u
180.
by dpatru 13y ago
The assumption you're making is that if government hadn't funded network research, then all of the engineers who worked on the Internet would have been hoeing turnips in the fields. As if only the government can create technology, and that

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