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Jolijn

67 karma · joined February 12, 2015

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Jolijn··on Lenin's Body Improves with Age
It seems like a bit of a Ship of Theseus. Even at this point I wonder how much of what you see of his face can be said to be 'original'. But still people visit, as if Lenin is still there.
Jolijn··on Valve shuts down paid mod system after pressure from gamers
In business terms, you could consider giving a cut to the modders a marketing expense (you might sell more because the mods increase the value of your game, perhaps?). But you can also consider it as providing a platform that modders exploit commercially, and you can squeeze them as much as is sensible in any commercial relationship.

I think the number of people buying a game because of a mod is rather small, so business people will see things more from the second viewpoint.

Jolijn··on Liquid mercury found under Mexican pyramid could lead to king's tomb
Mercury actually concentrates into little beads on cinnabar ore, and is not very reactive. I can imagine drops of it surviving for a few thousands years.
Jolijn··on Ask HN: Digital nomad taxes – which country to pay in?
I'm sorry to say this, but this is extremely fishy and I hope it is all hypothetical. If it's not hypothetical you've just confessed to tax fraud.

Either way, it's bad advice.

Jolijn··on Richard Hamming: Learning to Learn
Thank you! And I can't help but notice a couple more interesting titles in that directory: http://worrydream.com/refs/
Jolijn··on Richard Hamming: Learning to Learn
Can someone who already watched this comment? Anything particularly great about it?
Jolijn··on Waiting for the sea
I like it! I scroll through until I find an interesting picture, then read the part of the text that goes with it. In the end I read most-but-not-all of the article, in a haphazard sequence.
Jolijn··on Gemalto's findings of its investigations into the alleged hacking of SIM cards
> There's a lot of valid points in Gemalto's report, and it seems dishonest to write it off so pettily.

I agree they have valid points that are worth setting the record straight on. But conveniently for Gemalto they distract from the core issue, which in my opinion is that they have been owned and are in denial of it.

Hopefully it's just PR and they are scrambling internally to keep spies out.

Jolijn··on Gemalto's findings of its investigations into the alleged hacking of SIM cards
Whew, that was quick wasn't it!

Four to five years after the hacks happened, Gemalto says it was all not so bad, they really really checked this time and they have super duper server logs they grepped twice to be sure.

Jolijn··on Battery power alone can be used to track Android phones
Technology is not exactly known to be stagnant. What is not practical now could be in just a few years.

For high value targets, all bets are off anyway. Some nation states have virtually unlimited resources they can call on.

Jolijn··on Eye Sim – The eyesight simulator
Tried it with my own prescription (-3.75 and -3.25 dioptre) and I'd say the result is very exaggerated. Especially considering my actual eyesight is worse than my prescription.

How does it create a single image from two different eyes, anyway?

Jolijn··on A World Made of Rotor Blades
It all seems rather desperate to me and unimaginative (children will love climbing over it!). This is not a structural way of disposing of these blades, it's a public relations effort.

For me, at least, it's not working.

Jolijn··on Extracting the SuperFish certificate
"AIUI"? What's that now?

Ok, googled it, wait for it... "As I understand it".

Whew!

Jolijn··on Oliver Sacks on learning he has terminal cancer
Riiiiight, well, if you got from my comments that I don't do that, then I guess I'm bad at explaining myself.
Jolijn··on Hotel Wi-Fi – Relatively cheap free publicity
Perhaps they know more than we do. Perhaps it's mostly business guests that are likely to return, and they don't pay for WIFI themselves. Possibly tourists are more sensitive to price and more likely to book with the competition if the room costs $2 more.
Jolijn··on Oliver Sacks on learning he has terminal cancer
I have said as much to my wife, but my children are too young to really understand. Besides, it's meant to be a consolation to them when I'm no longer around.
Jolijn··on Oliver Sacks on learning he has terminal cancer
I should write a note for my wife and children in case an accident happens, so I can express to them how happy a life I've had with them, even if I died before realizing my dreams.
Jolijn··on United Airlines: A first-class cock up
I've had this with orders on Amazon in the past year or so, though every time in my favor. I mean, it's a nice surprise to end up paying 10% to 15% less than your were ready for, but I am always puzzled WHY exactly I have been chosen as the recipient of this kindness.
Jolijn··on How Coal Kills
I'm interested in the study of complex issues like these (more from a math point of view than a political one) - how to optimize for the right choice, given that each choice has a bunch of non-overlapping side effects.

But I don't really know where to get started. What could I google for?

Jolijn··on 1-2 year SSD wear on build boxes has been minimal
Is hardware (motherboard, CPU, memory) that good nowadays that one can expect it to last 30 years. I don't think it's designed with that kind of lifetime in mind.
Jolijn··on Holography without Lasers: Hand Drawn Holograms (1995)
Ha, strange, I submitted this yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9047015

It's a form of arbitrage, I suppose, if not coincidence.

Jolijn··on Another Game Boy emulator for your terminal
A lot of countries have provisions in their laws that make breaking DRM legal 'for the purpose of interoperability'.

E.g. http://www.twobirds.com/en/news/articles/2012/decompilation-...

Jolijn··on Another Game Boy emulator for your terminal
Working link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Enterprises_Ltd._v._Accola...
Jolijn··on Ask HN: Would you be interested in a FPV drone/quadcopter racing event?
It would be very helpful if you could narrow it down geographically a bit.
Jolijn··on DigitalOcean droplet admin app for iPhone
Yup, I'm using DigitalOcean Manager, it's free and works great:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/digitalocean-manager/id63312...

Jolijn··on Aiming to Ease App Discovery, Apple Pairs With Pinterest
Hey that's new, or perhaps I didn't see it before, but in that case I'm not the only one. It doesn't make any difference though. The first thing displayed is a login screen, and I'm not about to create a login just to browse some pictures.
Jolijn··on The mystery of Mingering Mike: the soul legend who never existed
They're cardboard albums... What does one call this, outsider art (which would fit since one of the albums is called 'The Outsiders are Back')?
Jolijn··on Aiming to Ease App Discovery, Apple Pairs With Pinterest
No, there is no way around it. It's a verrrry annoying strategy and I'm not sure it's worth the aggravation it causes to people like me with only a casual interest in pinterest.
Jolijn··on A Few Global Cultural Treasures We Will Lose for 20 Years Under the TPP
Trademark is cleverly entwined into this as well. Since Mickey is Disney's trademark mascot, the law is in favor of protecting any work containing Mickey ad infinitum.
Jolijn··on RapidShare is Shutting down
Github is very handy for someone creating a portfolio and showing off a history of their programming skills. But you could get the pseudo-anonimity with a separate Github account. It's just not worth the effort, the public of these hacks doesn't demand it.