swombat

45 ms·

241.
by swombat 11y ago
Actually, we have ample proof of the distortion of spacetime in a gravity well - gravitational lensing. It's an observed effect around very massive objects and we have been able to see it at work very well. Also, arguably, the fact tha
242.
by swombat 11y ago
Oooh, I can do another back of the envelope calculation here! (cf https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11081838 ) If this happened in the centre of the Milky Way, we're about 25k light years away. Let's say 2 1 mi
243.
by swombat 11y ago
On the other hand, we may well detect the 3 solar masses radiated away as energy. That decreases as an inverse square law, so as one solar mass is about 10^30kg, and 1kg gives off about 10^17 J, we're talking about an explosion releasi
244.
by swombat 11y ago
As a Swiss I second that. I will vote for it, but I expect it to get less than 10% of yes's. It's 10 years too early. Switzerland is progressive in many ways but it is also conservative in many ways - this sort of risky experime
245.
by swombat 11y ago
Political speech is jot forbidden as a whole, just political speech that appears directly related to an ongoing election. For example, right now, you should be allowed to make a movie about how Reagan sucked, but not one about how Hillary C
246.
by swombat 11y ago
I don't see that "likes to swear or have people swear nearby" is an essential or generally accepted component of the role of "engineer". Your statement is actually extremely sexist, I'm not sure if you realise
247.
by swombat 11y ago
Why can't she be treated as both simultaneously? Why does treatment as an "engineer" require the abolition of her "lady" role? Are the two roles not compatible? I personally thing it is more sexist to try and deny g
248.
by swombat 11y ago
> I know everything there is to know. If only he knew about the Dunning Kruger effect...
249.
by swombat 11y ago
I'm unclear on the quality of the source, but this tweet announcing it was retweeted by Glenn Greenwald: https://twitter.com/therealroseanne/status/67637437306689126...
250.
Russia gov report Snowden Greenwald are CIA frauds pt1(homment.com)
1 points by swombat 11y ago|1 comments
251.
by swombat 11y ago
> We should just have companies that produce media content and license that content to services that provide access to it. Yes. In music this is somewhat solved by compulsory licensing laws. The same should be applicable to movies and TV
252.
by swombat 11y ago
Saving you the read: superstition. The same reason Chinese people eat powdered rhino horn today.
253.
by swombat 11y ago
Hmm... ok... I won't flag for that reason then... but I'm not going to sign up to ft.com just to read their articles, either...
254.
by swombat 11y ago
Subscription only. Flagged.
255.
by swombat 11y ago
FYI, this idea of continual progress through history was invented during the Enlightenment, as far as I know. Before that the prevailing idea was more the LotR-style descent-into-less mentality that "great things of the past will never
256.
by swombat 11y ago
My whole point is that what you describe and link to is not a democracy. There is a strange movement trying to define "democracy" as just "voting". That's not what it is. It is dangerous to let other people define
257.
by swombat 11y ago
I started by thinking that I disagree with you, but then re-read your comment and I actually agree, except I wouldn't call it the "democratic mindset" because that makes it seem linked to democracy. I would just call it &quot
258.
by swombat 11y ago
The best part, imho, is that it's Arduino based, so a few years later, when kiddo is old enough to figure that out, ends up with a functional, programmable Arduino device to try and reprogram, thus blowing the lid on the idea that all
259.
by swombat 11y ago
Comparing it to Cancer is not really fair. Compare it to other violent murders for a fair comparison. Do the police kill more or less than regular criminals who aren't wearing uniforms?
260.
by swombat 11y ago
> "What is so hard about the concept/metric being applied here that it can't be put into words?" > Again, I would guess pg doesn't understand it, and so can't quantify it, but trusts that Jessica's c
261.
by swombat 11y ago
I think the word "noisy" can have multiple meanings :-)
262.
by swombat 11y ago
On that note, I am convinced that the fact I started GrantTree with my girlfriend (now wife) as a cofounder (or rather I was the cofounder, since she provided the unstoppable sales energy that shoved the business into existence) was an esse
263.
by swombat 11y ago
I applaud the effort but I think showing this to any non-technical person will have zero useful impact. It's just a list of fairly non-descript URL. It takes several leaps of understanding and/or imagination to understand what can
264.
by swombat 11y ago
I read the whole judgement and it felt very positive to me. It seems like the effect that "separation of powers" should have - namely that the executive now has the choice only to either comply or to enter into a protracted battle
265.
by swombat 11y ago
I'm sure that will incentivise the creation of more ancient epic literature.
266.
by swombat 11y ago
The difference is that the government has put in place systems to deal with these higher polluting vehicles. It taxes them more, to discourage people from owning them. By lying about the pollution levels, the engineers are encouraging peopl
267.
by swombat 11y ago
If they declare that those V8 engines have been manufactured to meet emissions standards set by governments to try and reduce the health and environmental toll of emissions, and therefore allow those V8 engines to be mass-manufactured and i
268.
by swombat 11y ago
Air pollution leads to increases in various diseases of the respiratory tract (and other kinds too). Some of those are deadly. The difference is measured in thousands or maybe tens of thousands of people per year (unverified stat, but I thi
269.
by swombat 11y ago
I always find that the best way to make a decision about who to trust is on the basis of a brief article by a third party that, in a 2 minute read, covers high pressure events that spanned many hours. Even better if you throw in some highly
270.
by swombat 11y ago
It is worrying when a private company has access to this sort of information. It is urgently alarming when a government has access to that same information. Governments have a long, proven history of abusing that information in ways that re

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