Hacker News Reader

„Economic Growth Is Closely Tied to Energy Consumption“, Slide 3: “This rather strange situation arises because the standard calculation misses energy embodied in imported goods.”

https://ourfiniteworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/the-ap...

https://ourfiniteworld.com/2017/10/18/the-approaching-us-ene...

"Will I keep the lights on when I sleep because they are 10x more efficient?" Nope. But now you have a computer, maybe two, a cell phone, an ebook reader, a tablet, take international flights and use Bitcoin and AI.

Beijingeron The United Kingdom generates less electricity per person than in the 1970s

"It comes from an idea that economic progress is coupled with increased energy use"

Yest it is. https://arxiv.org/pdf/0811.1855

"a fallacy that hasn't been true for decades" Nope. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox

Same with AI. It is becoming much more efficient and cheaper. This will result in a much, much higher demand. Expect Netflix to render a movie based on your wishes in real time.

That the energy demand is sinking is based on the fact that most industries got outsourced to China.

Beijingeron The United Kingdom generates less electricity per person than in the 1970s

Industry got oursourced to China....

Beijingeron The United Kingdom generates less electricity per person than in the 1970s

"welcome improvements in efficiency"

ROTFL.

Yes, true, many economies like US, UK, Germany are becoming more "energy efficient". By outsourcing energy hungry industries and steps to China.

Beijingeron The United Kingdom generates less electricity per person than in the 1970s

Yes, and this is why the living standard is falling.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/0811.1855

Beijingeron Xara Xtreme is back. After 20 years. With a vengeance

https://ibb.co/BH3FmhSq

https://ibb.co/dxHpqFg

Beijingeron Xara Xtreme is back. After 20 years. With a vengeance

Some pics: https://www.talkgraphics.com/forum/graphics-chat-for-xara-pr...

Beijingeron Making big downloads resumable in Firefox

I prefer wget -c URL over firefox download any time.

Beijingeron Show HN: WallHop – 12ft.io is gone, so I built a replacement

In this case, there is a reason for this. Cease and desist letters....

Beijingeron Show HN: WallHop – 12ft.io is gone, so I built a replacement

Install it now, thank me later: https://gitflic.ru/project/magnolia1234/bpc_uploads

Beijingeron 50MB operating system can resurrect your old PC

I don't know who wrote this, but it is unlikely AI wrote it.

The main guy is an older engineer with a lot of health struggles. And yes, he is American. Born American as far as I can tell. His health was once so bad, he asked for private donations. Unfortunately, I was not aware of it at that time; otherwise I would have posted it to HN.

Beijingeron 50MB operating system can resurrect your old PC

Bodhi Linux may be a better idea: https://www.bodhilinux.com/

Not sure if it will get more updates in the future.

I may consider this for the future: https://github.com/JeffHoogland/moksha

Beijingeron Bitwarden Dual License Model

I use enpass.io, the free version.

They had/have(?) cybersale recently but did not offer the lifetime version. Otherwise I would have bought it. It is not open-source but it is damn convenient.

Beijingeron REA Reverse – Engineer Anything

Maybe we should bring Xara Xtreme for Linux back?

Beijingeron Ask HN: What do you run on a $5 VPS that's worth keeping online 24/7?

To give you a start: https://www.pikapods.com/apps/

Beijingeron US man given prison sentence for bot-farming music streams

Likely a ToS violation. But is this enough for a crime?

"“Michael Smith exploited super intelligence technology to generate a fraud,” said US Attorney Jamie McDonald. “By flooding music streaming platforms with automated bots in the place of consumers, and fake songs in the place of creativity, Smith robbed millions in royalty payments from genuine artists and their fans."

This state attorney does not seem to be the sharpest tool in the box or I don't get it.

1. I don't see any possible way how he could have stolen from the fans of the artists.

2. If he stole from the artists, then this must be a fixed amount of money in the pot and the slice of the piece of the cake gets smaller, if more people withdraw. There might be such an arrangement between artists and the streaming provider but I don't know details.

Beijingeron RIP Facebook

Why the downvote?

Beijingeron RIP Facebook

It is from Ugo Bardi. He has been a few times on page one on HN. A well known scientist from Florence.

Beijingeron Why the Bronze Age Collapsed

TLDR: Bronze was expensive and not local; iron was cheap and local.

Interesting thesis, but I dont buy it. BTW, regarding the timing, I think Julian Jaynes would have a different thesis.

Beijingeron Owed a billion dollars in Nvidia stock

"NVIDIA’s CFO wrote me a letter stating that 15,625 shares of my stock options had vested, and that I was required to exercise them. I did, and then forgot all about it."

Normally this is a right to buy at a given price. If he was billed for it, then there is very little chance NVIDIA can weasel they way out ot it. I suspect he never paid for the shares.

Beijingeron In an $80 motel room, a discovery to shed light on the origins of life

This was also interesting: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01046-z

Beijingeron Theranos founder reportedly to be transferred to halfway home next year

There should be a law. If your net worth is or was over a certain threshold, you should always have a "go out of prison" card.

Beijingeron How can this Amazon scammer keep going, not shipping any goods?

This seller has over 4000 products. Maybe drop-shipping gone bad?