megaduck

12 ms·

91.
by megaduck 17y ago
We need to shift away from our dependency on the grant system, and the only way to do that is to make basic research profitable for private industry. I just don't see any other way to do it. What America really needs isn't more scientists,
92.
by megaduck 17y ago
"Computing Machinery and Intelligence", A.M. Turing, 1950. This is where the Turing Test comes from. Technically a journal paper, but reads more like an essay. If you're into computers at all, this is a must read. Alan Turing not only gav
93.
by megaduck 17y ago
This reminds me of a (probably apocryphal) story I once heard about Charles De Gaulle. Supposedly, once he made up his mind to quit smoking, he rounded up all of his staff for a meeting. He then pronounced, "From this moment onwards, none
94.
by megaduck 17y ago
From the article: "We need great weight loss drugs that adjust the metabolism to keep weight off without side effects." Or we could encourage healthier lifestyles. A good start would be introducing requirements for pedestrian footpaths a
95.
by megaduck 17y ago
Not at all, the thanks are sincere. There's enough sloppy thinking out there, I'd rather not add to it.
96.
by megaduck 17y ago
For the record, it was a simple mistake. I read the article, glanced at his bio on the left, saw that he led with his academic credentials, and incorrectly inferred a teaching position. I'd like to say 'Thank You' to the HN community for b
97.
by megaduck 17y ago
There's three possibilities here: 1. They always intended to add the new 'explicit' category, and the recent 'adult' app purge was a stupid and ham-handed way to force developers to change over. 2. They are rapidly back-pedaling after see
98.
by megaduck 17y ago
Yeah, that made me do a double-take too. Can you imagine what a gram of the stuff would do?
99.
by megaduck 17y ago
I've never had much interest in chemistry, but after reading this article, I found myself digging through the archives. And then I found myself thinking, "Chlorine Trifluoride is scary stuff! He says that's because it's a damned impressiv
100.
by megaduck 17y ago
If you classify options as derivatives, then you're right. However, if you use that definition then the Berkshire/Goldman warrants are the simplest derivative that I've ever seen. The Goldman warrants are an option to purchase an additiona
101.
by megaduck 17y ago
There's no question that Goldman had to pay off those dividends with some kind of shenanigans. IIRC, they were up to their eyeballs in default swaps and CDOs, both of which were beyond toxic at the time. That 10% payout was going to have
102.
by megaduck 17y ago
All absolutely true, but note the lack of derivatives and hedges. The Goldman transaction was a straight equity deal, with a big emphasis on dividends. In a nutshell, it was a chance to squeeze one of the 'casinos' hard, while still stayi
103.
by megaduck 17y ago
I wouldn't dismiss this piece out of hand. As co-captain of Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie Munger's got a pretty good window into the global financial system. Both he and Buffett have a pretty folksy manner, but behind the goofiness is usual
104.
by megaduck 17y ago
I'm happy to be corrected on this particular point. From appearances, it looked like they'd taken the Windows Mobile model and made it even worse. Good to hear that it's actually sensible. Apologies for spreading bad info.
105.
by megaduck 17y ago
He's right about one thing: Multitasking on Android is something of a disaster from a UX perspective. There's no intuitive and obvious way to see what's running, and 'quitting' an application is often inconsistent and non-obvious. Most p
106.
by megaduck 17y ago
I think you misunderstand me. If war was eliminated, people who fight wars would have to do something else, regardless of their feelings on the issue. That thing would necessarily be more economically productive, because war is a net drag
107.
by megaduck 17y ago
I'm sorry, this is a dangerous and wrong line of thinking. War's primary purpose is to destroy economic output. You win by eliminating your opponent's ability to produce the goods and services that enable them to engage you. You are co
108.
by megaduck 17y ago
War will be casualty-free for societies with drone soldiers until both sides have this technology. Building an AUV is ridiculously cheap, and can be done with off-the-shelf components. Moreover, other countries have learned from the succes
109.
by megaduck 17y ago
I have incredibly mixed feelings about these technologies. On the one hand, it is infinitely safer for our pilots to be in an air-conditioned control room somewhere outside of Vegas. For saving the lives of american soldiers, this is an a
110.
by megaduck 17y ago
Actually, the situation is identical to Apple, if not worse. gDial worked just fine until recently, when Google pulled the rug out from under the developer. As a gDial Pro user, I feel very much harmed because my app worked great and then
111.
by megaduck 17y ago
Not likely. They have female TSA employees frisk females, for exactly that reason. We've got plenty of safeguards in place to protect against sexism. Racism, not so much.
112.
by megaduck 17y ago
This is outrageous. The TSA has had a blank check for far too long, and they've become abusive. It's time to put a leash on them. This isn't an isolated incident. My sister-in-law has to deal with this crap every time she flies . What
113.
by megaduck 17y ago
I've been using Ubuntu Netbook Remix on a Dell Mini 9 as my primary setup for over a year now. UNR is dangerously close to being mass-market ready, and it's certainly ready for developers and power-users. Virtually everything 'just works'
114.
by megaduck 17y ago
This is a fantastic development for people who want a general purpose linux on netbooks. I've tried several times to use Moblin as my primary OS, and it's just too half-baked and incomplete at this point. The browser is buggy, and email la
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by megaduck 17y ago
There's another good reason to incorporate early: It permits you to set up your financial infrastructure. In order to set up corporate bank accounts and merchant accounts, you'll need to be incorporated. This is critical if you're planni
116.
by megaduck 17y ago
You know, some of us actually like the Pre. It's highly pocketable, and WebOS is a genuine pleasure to use. I've been using the Pre heavily for a few months now, and I definitely prefer it to the iPhone, Droid, or Nexus One. What makes
117.
by megaduck 17y ago
I feel like we're talking at right angles. Your central point seems to be that most people will never build software like this. That's totally true, no contest. However, I think it's still an interesting topic, and a significant minority
118.
by megaduck 17y ago
Whoah, there. While your software may have nothing in common with games, there's a lot of software that does. Products like TurboTax have similarly tight schedules and limited ability to patch. Business platforms like Oracle have massiv
119.
by megaduck 17y ago
I hate sounding paranoid, but all of these things are possible. Given the tight relationship between Chinese companies and the Chinese government, such shenanigans would be trivially easy. For anyone looking to do manufacturing in China, t
120.
by megaduck 17y ago
emacs is an extensible Lisp runtime, and Apple has shot down all such applications in the past. I don't think they're going to change their tune for the iPad.

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