john_b

51 ms·

181.
by john_b 12y ago
> "You're either ignorant or amoral." No need for character sniping. He's a self-described statist, and many here (myself included) have a lot of disagreements with his views, but at least he can justify them better
182.
by john_b 12y ago
Instead of merely citing the author as an authority and stating your interpretation of his thesis, please offer some details from the source to back up your claim. Especially when asserting something that goes against prevailing wisdom, suc
183.
by john_b 12y ago
> ""I urge the citizens of Virginia to protect their families by using only companies that appear on DMV's website as licensed transportation services. If it's not on the list, it's not recommended," says D
184.
by john_b 12y ago
This is a classic "shoot the messenger" move. I'm amazed Andreessen can't see that.
185.
by john_b 12y ago
The U.S., by many measures, is not a democracy, but more closely operates as an oligarchy [1]. If Bill Gates donates $100 million to a set of Congressional candidates who then use that money to run campaigns, the additional money will have
186.
by john_b 12y ago
> "There is nothing "Lavabit-style" about "distribute a back door or else." You would need explicit legislation to allow that." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullrun_(decryption_program
187.
by john_b 12y ago
If you haven't met someone who does something "for no reason" then you haven't met enough people yet. In a strictly cause-effect sense, of course he has a reason for not wanting a bank account. That is a sentiment and so
188.
by john_b 12y ago
I had the same problem on 3 different browsers. I also tried to play the game alexjeffrey posted above [1] but the timer wouldn't work. I'm guessing the game was cancelled by a reload or browser close. [1] https://news.
189.
by john_b 12y ago
One can worry about making a system perfect once it solves the problem it sets out to solve. They chose to build on a platform (browsers) that has known security issues at a conceptual level, and have apparently ignored those issues while a
190.
by john_b 12y ago
For writing long novels on a machine not connected to the internet, upgrades of any kind are just a nuisance. Especially upgrades that require you to restart (this is a Windows machine, after all). The publisher will take care of special fo
191.
by john_b 12y ago
An exception or two to the rule does not invalidate the rule. Most ordinary commercial businesses using US-made devices or online services don't deal with technology their government considers a national asset, and as a result don&#x27
192.
by john_b 12y ago
Until self-driving cars or a viable nationwide public transportation system comes along, a well-funded and sustained marketing campaign along the lines of "don't drink and drive" could help reduce fatalities (see [1] for the
193.
by john_b 12y ago
> "Since when do we need multi tons machine to move a being that is usually below 100kg from a to b" You don't always need them. Short intra-city drives don't require a large vehicle. But most public transportation
194.
by john_b 12y ago
> "Roughly 1 in 4 drivers have a statistically significant amount of alcohol in their blood system" You're going to need to provide a citation here.
195.
by john_b 12y ago
I think the parent was making the more general point that, when people become increasingly skeptical of some form of government power (surveillance in this case), it is natural and expected for the government to highlight the useful aspects
196.
by john_b 12y ago
I'm not sure if they're defining "logical" lines of code as all non-comment lines, but if so the requirement to have all curly braces ({}) on a line of their own would add to the vertical line count.
197.
by john_b 12y ago
I agree with you stylistically and don't personally use that brace placement. However, given the number of people writing C++ code for the F-35, it makes sense to settle on a standard that is never ambiguous. When nesting multiple cont
198.
by john_b 12y ago
C++ may not be the best choice, but a language like Haskell would be worse for an aviation application for a number of reasons: 1) Memory on the hardware is tightly constrained and controlled, and you need some visibility into its usage at
199.
by john_b 12y ago
Previous sumbmission and comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3967316
200.
by john_b 12y ago
I'm amazed you're getting downvoted for an obvious and sensible set of statements. But I guess it's easier to downvote than articulate a counterargument. Internet of things systems have terrible security at the moment, and wh
201.
by john_b 12y ago
Open fireplaces are mostly used for decoration, not heat. The heat transfer characteristics of a traditional stone open fireplace are rather poor. Most of the heat escapes upward through the chimney, which has to be sized large enough to pr
202.
by john_b 12y ago
Put yourself in his shoes. If you had a choice between being sent back to the US and Bradley Manning'd vs lobbing a softball question that technically exposes a lie (albeit one that isn't surprising) but also improves Putin's
203.
by john_b 12y ago
Scientists still don't fully understand all the effects sun exposure has on our bodies, so passing judgment on this biological mechanism is premature. A list of benefits that aren't associated with vitamin D production can be foun
204.
by john_b 12y ago
A "list of instructions" is simply a "set of instructions" with an order. I was making a conceptual point, not a mathematical one. If you want to be pedantic, the instructions inside the brackets ultimately get converted
205.
by john_b 12y ago
To address only the "goto fail" example the author uses, I don't see how the proposed Eiffel solutions are conceptually any different than always using brackets in your C/C++ constructs. Brackets are the mathematical not
206.
by john_b 12y ago
> "The easy way to get people riled up about taxes? Remove withholding from paychecks and force people to write that big check every April. Then you'll get an uproar since most people have no idea how much in taxes they pay. B
207.
by john_b 12y ago
You are missing the incentive structure that results from over-complicating the tax code. Getting angry about an over-complicated and taking productive action to change it takes effort . Lots of it, sustained over time in an organized and
208.
by john_b 13y ago
To be fair to the NSA, it's not just them. Many other government agencies operate under the assumption that society is better off if people are protected from themselves. It's why we have FCC censorship and the war on drugs. Quest
209.
by john_b 13y ago
So we should just blindly trust an agency that has repeatedly been shown to have abused that very trust for self-serving and hypocritical ends?
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by john_b 13y ago
I think you missed the part where the NSA claimed it prioritized protecting the data of Americans and American companies. Nobody denies that exploiting the bug would be useful for the NSA .

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