s_q_b

32 ms·

241.
by s_q_b 10y ago
Scientific accomplishment, individual rights, human rights... Sorry, not a relativist. N.B The parent was edited. The original text was substantially different, and referred to the Bedouin people.
242.
by s_q_b 10y ago
These arguments that primitive cultures produce stronger more capable individuals ignores the inherent massive trade offs. Modern healthcare, farming, family planning, improved access to education, and the liberation of women cause an exten
243.
by s_q_b 10y ago
Oh certainly the Diablo Canyon plant needs to go. It's running two Gen. II reactors with no passive safety systems in a seismically active zone along a coastline vulnerable to flooding and tsunamis. It's actually rather startling
244.
by s_q_b 10y ago
The calculations regarding the relative feasibility of energy sources include the decline in expense. Assuming molten salt energy storage progresses, storage costs decline steeply. Even including these (very optimistic) projected price decl
245.
by s_q_b 10y ago
Agreed. The OECD estimates that the probability of an accident at a Gen. II or higher reactor that results in significant casualties is approximately one per one million years. All of the accidents in the history of nuclear power have cau
246.
by s_q_b 10y ago
This is a bad idea. Wind and solar are simply not enough to bridge the gap between fossil fuels and fusion.[0] Shutting down the country's safest, cheapest, and most consistent method of power generation would be disastrous. [0] http:&
247.
by s_q_b 10y ago
That's fair. It was not my intention to provide a comprehensive review of the firm's approach, but rather a quick summary that glosses over a great many details. To address your second point, I wouldn't comment on implementat
248.
by s_q_b 10y ago
Very much agreed. For those who are not aware, Renaissance Technologies is a massively successful hedge fund that makes investment decisions solely from data, with perhaps the most sophisticated mathematical models in the marketplace. Their
249.
by s_q_b 10y ago
One of those circumstances is in combat. Historically that has been extremely important. It wouldn't surprise me that under more violent circumstances, mate preferences shift toward those of greater size, strength, and overall physica
250.
by s_q_b 10y ago
Nordic countries have an ace up their sleeve that the United States does not: ethnic homogeneity. To acknowledge the elephant in the room, political discussion of government support policies always comes with a racial dog whistle. The subte
251.
by s_q_b 10y ago
There's a whole bunch of space system support software that isn't hard scientific code (which is handled by a totally different team), but rather for specific management-related tasks. This code is written in all the web technolog
252.
by s_q_b 10y ago
Yeah, this is sort of like blaming the fire department for burning down your house.
253.
by s_q_b 10y ago
Yes, that's exactly my point. The article portrays the facial recognition as "safe" because it occurs on an iPhone. iOS is not a secure enclave, and pretending that it is can be very dangerous.
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by s_q_b 10y ago
Oh good, well at least it's not being calculated on a device with a constantly scanning promiscuous radio.
255.
by s_q_b 10y ago
Sunlight it, if they won't change it. Bad publicity and bad behavior from other actors will only increase the likelihood that the bug gets fixed. If a company won't listen you've done your moral duty. The last step of respons
256.
by s_q_b 10y ago
Approach the issue orthogonally. Open a conversation about something else, then ask, "Oh did you ever get a call about that reference?" 1. If he denies receiving the call, that's him. 2. If he becomes unfomfortable that'
257.
by s_q_b 10y ago
How, where, and by what metric is this "consensus" established? What if you and I disagree? What if Microsoft and Apple disagree? Who decides? Civil war amongst software developers, with utter lack of due process, and ostracism as
258.
by s_q_b 10y ago
That's essentially an argument for a professional licensure system for software development. Setting aside that professional licensure requirements are anathema to the spirit of the hacker movement, they would likely have prevented the
259.
by s_q_b 10y ago
And France's African adventurism is... You guessed it. Made possible by massive security guarantees from the United States, as well as the US troops on European soil.
260.
by s_q_b 10y ago
If you read down a bit, you'll notice that that's exactly what they're calling for: increased protections for "MPs, lawyers, and journalists." This is like when Diane Feinstein was shocked and appalled that the
261.
by s_q_b 10y ago
That sounds about exactly what one would expect. The best and the brightest of Stanford run into tech (mostly based in the Bay Area), and the best and the brightest from Princeton stream into finance and consulting firms (mostly based in Ne
262.
by s_q_b 10y ago
The South is the largest contributor to the national military by far, the location of the capital, and "the South will Rise Again" folks are emphatic but few. There still is a great deal of (often subtle) racism in the Ameican Sou
263.
by s_q_b 10y ago
"Going native" in this context means sympathizing with the local population to the extent that their loyalty effectively shifts from the United States to the local people. I suspect the Americans have this problem due to cultural
264.
by s_q_b 10y ago
1. Do you have an idea of whether their increased production has affected the fracking production in the US? Would they, in the long-term, have success in making the US more dependent again? The theory that a lot of people had was that th
265.
by s_q_b 10y ago
Assuming a rational market, sure. But market panics aren't governed by the normal rules of supply and demand. They're a behavioral phenomenon caused by the non-rational human agents in the system panicking.
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by s_q_b 10y ago
It's what I was taught in an intelligence course.
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by s_q_b 10y ago
There is a theory that Perestroika and Glasnost were responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union, but to me that seems unlikely. The Soviet Union was bound to collapse, because it's mandate, by definition, was limitless expansion
268.
by s_q_b 10y ago
Well, unless that family is the royal family of a nation. Sovereign immunity, the right of nations not to be sued, is actually based upon the Monarch's right not be sued. In reality, the judgements of United States' courts could a
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by s_q_b 10y ago
Yes, the United States and Great Britain have similar, but not identical interests in the Middle East. Their intelligence operatives are almost preternaturally good (or at least seem that way due to their extremely precise knowledge of the
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by s_q_b 10y ago
the Brits (always busy busy in the shadows) is well worth looking into. Sigh , the British are constantly furthering their own agenda in the Middle East. Their HUMINT network is just much better than anyone else's in the region, and

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