lukifer

25 ms·

211.
by lukifer 5y ago
The Bush administration did plenty of damage in the first two years. (Although by all accounts, he was largely rubber-stamping the initiatives of his VP and "advisers".)
212.
by lukifer 5y ago
I would add to the list Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama, who took "off the table" impeachment in 2006, and prosecution in 2009, respectively. A lesser crime, to be clear, but they are morally culpable nonetheless. On the one hand, I
213.
by lukifer 5y ago
That was the line they sold the public. But they knew the evidence was flimsy: https://theintercept.com/2018/02/06/lie-after-lie-what-colin... Richard Clarke claims that the Bush administration began seeking
214.
by lukifer 5y ago
Many of the OG "classical liberals" had a much more nuanced take on privatizing land, supporting something more like usage rights, rather than fee-simple or alloidal land titles (private enclosure of land beyond subsistence was as
215.
by lukifer 5y ago
Converting property taxes to being calculated from unimproved value [0] accomplishes the same goal, while also removing disincentives on development and improvement. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax
216.
by lukifer 5y ago
I suspect the over-capitalization (Ponzi cash) of mainstream tech giants results in a brain-drain of the best talent from more sustainable/ethical alternatives (not just in tech, but also design, product management, etc).
217.
by lukifer 5y ago
I've had a similar frustration. For what it's worth, sending most logs to RAM drastically reduces the write-thrashing on the SD card, and greatly prolongs the life of a 24/7 Pi: https://github.com/azlux/l
218.
by lukifer 5y ago
I agree there is a moral hazard / perverse incentive when it comes to alarmism, especially in politics (eg, specious references to "mushroom clouds" in the run-up to the Iraq invasion). But as good Bayesians, we also have to
219.
by lukifer 5y ago
The right way to think about models at this scale is complexity isn't "Accurate" vs. "Inaccurate"; it's to use probabilistic/Bayesian reasoning. No map is a perfect representation of the territory, and no
220.
by lukifer 5y ago
You’ve never heard of an “open secret”?
221.
by lukifer 5y ago
It's less "legalese" than Eric's open contempt for academic insiders, and tongue-in-cheek rebel spirit (he literally released it on April Fool's Day, on the premise of repurposing the holiday for outsider/heter
222.
by lukifer 5y ago
He published a GU paper a few months ago: https://geometricunity.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/Geometric... (I haven’t read it, I’m not even remotely qualified.)
223.
by lukifer 5y ago
You won't find a more vigorous critic of Reaganite neo-liberalism than myself; but the phenomenon of "voting against self-interest" is not limited to one party. The feedback loops of electoral politics are distant and slow (e
224.
by lukifer 5y ago
Roughly one-third of US states have various forms of monopoly over liquor sales; sometimes it's just over wholesaling, and in a few states, only state-run stores are allowed to sell beverages over some ABV: https://en.wikipe
225.
by lukifer 5y ago
Big list of http static server one-liners: https://gist.github.com/willurd/5720255
226.
by lukifer 5y ago
The real tragedy is that Apple hasn't taken over and bundled brew with the OS (or come up with their own blessed CLI package manager).
227.
by lukifer 5y ago
I’d be curious to know if similar regulations will exist for BTC.
228.
by lukifer 5y ago
The appropriate answer (widely accepted by economists [0]) is a carbon tax and dividend, such that the externality is assigned a proportionate price signal. This additional price burden would be factored into the Proof of Work, and might pr
229.
by lukifer 5y ago
I remember the early of days of Bitcoin, when Apple was rejecting wallet apps by default. I was honestly surprised that they relented: from consumer safety, to regulatory concerns, to 30% protectionism, they have every incentive (from their
230.
by lukifer 5y ago
> Facebook! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_fallacy :P IMO there are far greater concerns with centralized API services, which are nearly always opaque, closed-source, and incentivized towards vendor lock-in (
231.
by lukifer 5y ago
The words "strict" and "rigorous" do a lot of heavy lifting in setting user (and market) expectations. We programmers are pre-inclined to think in terms of Boolean logic, but the law frequently splits hairs on qualitativ
232.
by lukifer 5y ago
This is a fundamental, and perhaps insoluble, problem with the moral principle of liberty and self-ownership: to what extent should you be permitted to voluntarily limit, surrender, or exchange that ownership? One can certainly make a case
233.
by lukifer 5y ago
I'd state it even more strongly: the legitimacy of an election is based on public trust, and therefore contingent upon its auditability by an average citizen with no special training. This is why pen and paper is the optimal technology
234.
by lukifer 5y ago
The comparison to 90's Microsoft is today's Apple is a tenuous one at best, but IMO not a specious one. While it's easy to forget how oppressive MS's 90%+ market share felt at the time, and the impact of their "Embr
235.
by lukifer 5y ago
Hear, hear. As someone with dietary restrictions, the ability to make lunch at home every day is also huge (to say nothing of not being in an office which "helpfully" offers the temptation of junk food during moments of stress).
236.
by lukifer 5y ago
> government bailout using tax payer money of a "too big to fail" organization would not happen in such a world - making the economic system a lot stronger for the individuals. At the risk of starting a flamewar over Keynesiani
237.
by lukifer 5y ago
https://theuserisdrunk.com/
238.
by lukifer 5y ago
There is a subtle tipping point of negotiating leverage where an agent has the ability to influence or dictate prices for the entire ecosystem. The formal term is "market power" [0]. Say you're a vendor producing widgets for
239.
by lukifer 5y ago
I may not have been clear: I am very much opposed to the existence of a surveillance state; and while I am not opposed to taxation or public goods a priori , I consider our current mechanisms of taxation to be both inefficient and problema
240.
by lukifer 5y ago
Low marginal costs presents an economic conundrum in general: it's expensive to produce material and yet cheap to distribute it, so how do you fairly divvy up the cost? If each viewer only paid the marginal cost ($0.01), it no longer m

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