sparky_z

38 ms·

451.
by sparky_z 10y ago
Was he okay?
452.
by sparky_z 10y ago
Destroying objects that have historical value (which is distinct from collectible value). As an exaggerated example, you wouldn't chop up a Dead Sea Scroll into tiny fragments just because it's useless as bedtime reading. The fa
453.
by sparky_z 10y ago
Do we know they were bare-handed?
454.
by sparky_z 10y ago
Do you really think any banks were concerned enough about Occupy Wall Street to bother trying to disrupt it? I'm sure they were quaking in their boots.
455.
by sparky_z 10y ago
Serious question, though. How do you distinguish between the situation you're describing, and a situation where the release of Flash Boys resulted in a lot of zeitgeisty discussion about HFT, where people hashed out their differing opi
456.
by sparky_z 10y ago
Wait, why would high-frequency traders care what people on reddit think? It's not like they're trying to sell their services to the public. Are you sure you're not just seeing the usual flame wars over controversial subjects?
457.
by sparky_z 10y ago
That's just a feed for his newsletter, Money Stuff. Here's[0] a more complete feed that also includes his standalone articles for Bloomberg View (like the current Dole article). https://www.bloomberg.com/view/
458.
by sparky_z 10y ago
Congratulations, today is your day to discover Matt Levine! Here are a few good ones from the archives: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2015-07-14/banks-for... https://www.bloomberg.com&#x2
459.
by sparky_z 10y ago
Yeah, they said that in the original press release.
460.
by sparky_z 10y ago
Yeah, he's gotten much beeter about that since this video was released.
461.
by sparky_z 10y ago
Wait, so which do you believe? Your first sentence contradicts the rest of your comment.
462.
by sparky_z 10y ago
> If he is so in with the Trump administration, why this move? At the very top of the article (you did read the article, right?) it says that Thiel got his NZ citizenship in 2011, well before throwing his lot in with Trump.
463.
by sparky_z 10y ago
Wait, are you saying that if Thiel had simply done nothing during the campaign that Trump wouldn't have won? I don't see it. All he did was give $1.25M (less than 0.5% of Trump's total war chest) and make some public statemen
464.
by sparky_z 10y ago
I almost mentioned that too (basically nobody makes money out of paper, it's too fragile), but it ruined the snappiness of the quip.
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by sparky_z 10y ago
The good news is that the Irish government uses Euros, which are made of cotton fiber, not wood pulp.
466.
by sparky_z 10y ago
I'm not trying to claim that I'm more well versed on the subject than you. Almost certainly the opposite! But I would like to push back a little on a couple of the points you made. > the publicity of the drive has damaged Chine
467.
by sparky_z 10y ago
It's not clear to me whether the anti-corruption drive arises out of a genuine antipathy towards corruption or as a means for Xi Jinping to consolidate personal power. This is especially hard because it seems likely that every Chinese
468.
by sparky_z 10y ago
I realize you're trying to make a political point, but the article isn't wrong. Obviously both are legitimate considerations, but the quoted reason is why the patent system isn't useful for magic tricks. If you were just worr
469.
by sparky_z 10y ago
The thing is, if somebody forgets to update a unit test, it immediately becomes obvious. If somebody forgets to update a comment, it's very easy for no-one to notice until it's much too late. There's no way to automate that c
470.
by sparky_z 10y ago
Spiral rebar layouts are very common in circular columns, especially in area of high seismic activity. It's a bit more difficult to manufacture than the alternative (evenly-spaced "hoops"), but it gives the column higher duct
471.
by sparky_z 10y ago
It's more like adding a new road. You can't "change lanes" between the tunnel and the freeway.
472.
by sparky_z 10y ago
Who said it was it supposed to? Not every corporate blog post has to be a direct sales pitch.
473.
by sparky_z 10y ago
They make plenty of money on ticket sales. Just not much profit on tickets. They still rely on getting the ticket sales money on order to buy the rights to show movies and keep the lights on. They can't just give that up.
474.
by sparky_z 10y ago
All those points could just as easily be used to argue that paid services are a superior business model to ad-supported services in general. Unfortunately, history doesn't bear that out. The revealed preferences of actual customers is
475.
by sparky_z 10y ago
I really don't see how. What are the alternatives you envision? Switching to a more expensive service that doesn't show ads but charges a markup? Physically waiting in line at the box office? Sadly, if "give it away for free
476.
by sparky_z 10y ago
You're assuming they make money on ticket sales. Maybe all that money goes to the theater? If so, the ads are completely rational.
477.
by sparky_z 10y ago
Well, presumably they're reselling these tickets on behalf of the theaters which get the bulk of the revenue. It's possible Fandango takes no margin on the tickets sales and just makes money on the ads.
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by sparky_z 10y ago
Apparently, so did most of the commenters.
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by sparky_z 10y ago
Not remotely true. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/20...
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by sparky_z 10y ago
My apologies if I was misrepresenting your position. I was basing my take on these words: > If you think someone needs a presidential pardon, just back up and think "which law is horrible and unjust and must be reformed." If no

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