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ag56

256 karma · joined November 14, 2013

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ag56··on Why do 'mild' Covid-19 cases sometimes linger for months?
My household got presumed coronavirus in March. I say presumed as no test available.

First the nanny, then my wife, then me. I’m male, late thirties, workout daily (or used to anyway). I got it worst and spent weeks 2 and 3 in bed struggling to breathe. But we mostly recovered.

Two months later in May, the symptoms came back, but milder. Again, my wife first, then me the next week. I only spent 3 days in bed. Again no test (we’re in the UK).

Well two more months have passed, and guess what happened last week? Again my wife first, now my turn. I write this from bed waiting for a doctor callback. Maybe I’ll get a test this time, but I expect it would be negative.

There is a lot of focus on the binary nature of living or dying from coronavirus. I hear many in the tech community wish they could just get it and be done with it. But there is a very large grey area between full recovery and dying. Even if you are young and healthy, you don’t want this.

ag56··on Association of low to moderate alcohol drinking with better cognitive function
My pet theory is alcohol helps us build and maintain relationships. And whilst even a little alcohol harms us, the physiological benefits of having a strong social group out weigh that harm.
ag56··on iMessage for Windows: A labor of love that will never see light of day (2018)
Having had this problem myself, my first thought was VLC or some other kind of Remote Desktop solution. Surely I can ‘stream’ a window from my OSX host and not care about the implementation or boobytraps?

In the end Windows was a complete fail for me so I never pursued it.

ag56··on SpaceX NASA returning human spaceflight to United States today (canceled)
And what happens during launch when — I assume — everything starts vibrating wildly? They better be enormous virtual buttons.
ag56··on Show HN: Trade stocks from the command line with no commission
https://www.freetrade.io/
ag56··on Heat Pump Water Heaters
Wouldn't it be great if your fridge could integrate directly with the heat pump, rather than indirectly via the air in an enclosed space?

In summmer, our (California) home frequently has the air-conditioning running mid afternoon, at the same time as a gas boiler is heating the pool. It would seem to make sense to use the pool as a giant heatsink for the home AC... but that doesn't exist apparently, and any plumber I talk to looks at me like I'm crazy. "They are separate systems."

ag56··on Another U.S.-Wide Housing Slump Is Coming
In 2005, in Holland, my deposit was -20%. I went into the bank hoping I might get 100% and the mortgage guy immediately offered me 120% "to help with the furniture".
ag56··on Another U.S.-Wide Housing Slump Is Coming
Not that I disagree with your point, but to finish the conclusion: in the rent scenario you save $12k a year, or about 1.4% of the purchase price.

As the return on investing that $12k will be so low (in dollar terms), it is perfectly rational to own if you believe the condo will increase in value by even a little more than 1.4% per year. And as our government goes out of its way to prop prices up, that seems like a safe assumption over the long term.

ag56··on E Ink smart screen puts a newspaper on your wall
I read medium articles all the time and I've never once been asked to login, much less pay.
ag56··on Ask HN: Do other people have days in which they're dumber than usual?
I second looking into your diet. I have over the months worked out that a low histamine diet works for me... but it could be anything for you.

Really easy to test — follow a strict elimination diet for a few days. Nothing but rice, potatoes, chicken and water. At least with me I felt like a different human within 3 days.

ag56··on Coronavirus and Credibility
No, his point was people shouldn't talk with _absolute confidence_ about things they don't know about.

Usually in everyday life we hint at our confidence level with the language we use: 'might', 'probably', etc. These people have trained themselves not to do that, which they previously have gotten away with.

ag56··on Boris Johnson admitted to hospital with coronavirus
Boris Johnson is someone who can get tested at his residence, implying this is quite a bit worse than stated.

I hope I’m wrong, I’m on day 12 myself and only now beginning to feel better. Struggling to breathe is terrifying. Regardless of political leanings I hope he makes a speedy recovery.

ag56··on Cancer medicine generates enormous revenues but marginal benefits for patients?
> if 2,000 women have mammograms over a period of 10 years, one woman’s life will be saved by a positive diagnosis. Meanwhile 10 healthy women will be treated unnecessarily, and more than 200 “will experience important psychological distress ...

I have never understood this argument.

I’d rather be incorrectly told I had terminal cancer 100 times over, than not be told and... die. You know what’s worse than psychological distress? Dying. You knowing what’s worse than an unnecessary surgery? Dying.

This is so obvious, I struggle to understand how this “overdiagnosis” argument even got started.

ag56··on Rediscovering the lost power of reading aloud
Does anyone have any book or website recommendations for getting better at reading aloud? For impersonating voices and accents?

My eldest child is three and we both enjoy story time before bed; they are some of my fondest memories of my childhood. As I recall my father was a fantastic narrator and I feel I need to put some effort in!

ag56··on How to Buy a Private Jet
Exactly, how does one open the laptop and work on email/presentation while simultaneously piloting then plane?
ag56··on Supreme Court: Suspending Parliament was unlawful, judges rule
"Please click here to go back to the Claremont Institute home page"
ag56··on Medicare for All Would Abolish Private Insurance. ‘There’s No Precedent’
I'm British, but moved to California 10 years ago. I have obviously had many conversations with my American colleagues and friends over the years.

And I am (still) baffled that the starting viewpoint from the American side is that with single payer health care private insurance would be 'abolished' or otherwise become unavailable and/or illegal. Huh? Of course not. It's simply a base level of care given to everyone. If you have the money and desire then why wouldn't you pay for private insurance, or cash out of pocket for a private hospital?

And better yet, that private insurance will become cheaper: it can exclude the rare, chronic and expensive diseases you probably won't get. (As if you ever do, you could rely on the base single payer coverage.)

ag56··on The impact of homelessness and the opioid crisis on San Francisco streets
"a woman urinates on the sidewalk" "human excrement on the sidewalks" "urinating near his restaurant" "human feces lies nestled in front of a doorway" "going to the bathroom in the street" "The city has also launched the so-called "poop patrol," a team that responds to complaints of feces on city streets." "put up a video interview with a homeless man talking about how difficult it is to find a place to go to the bathroom after dark"

Why not just put porta potties -- on a temporary basis -- on street corners in the worst areas?

It seems such a stupidly obvious quick fix for half the problem that I feel I'm missing something.

It would surely be cheaper than paying clean up teams? More humane for the homeless? Healthier for local residents?

ag56··on WhatsApp has an encrypted child porn problem
> In July 2018, the NGOs became aware... The NGO reported their findings to Israeli police but declined to provide Facebook with their research. WhatsApp only received their report and the screenshot of active child pornography groups today from TechCrunch.

Huh? Who are these NGOs looking out for? Why wouldn't you tell FB in the first instance?

ag56··on GraphQL: A Retrospective
Sounds like they implemented an ESB. What’s old is new.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_service_bus

ag56··on Tesla Faces Accelerating Rate of Model 3 Refunds
https://shopdoona.com
ag56··on The iPhone dongle is still my fucking nightmare
AirPods are great. Best headphones I've ever had. Totally solve the day to day.

But clearly no-one at Apple ever gets on a plane.

ag56··on Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S
Most places in the UK now have an "optional" service fee of 12% on the bill.
ag56··on Benz remotely controlled vehicle stuck in cruise control mode for 1h at 120km/h
Why couldn't you just hit the ignition to turn the engine off?
ag56··on Anti-NIMBY movement is winning with a simple message
“I’m committed to ... preserving the Tenderloin as SF's most economically diverse neighborhood.”

Re Tenderloin: I understand it’s part of District 6 and her campaign website needs to say something, but that sounds like an anti-gentrification line, which in SF is usually used as an argument against new homes. Is Sonja anti-development in the Tenderloin?

The area is rife with homeless and drug use. It feels to me like an area that would greatly benefit from some gentrification. (I.e. add some rich techies demanding cleaner streets and more policing, and the existing low income residents gain.) Yet I’ve heard more than once that to change the planning rules there is politically “untouchable”. Can anyone explain why?

ag56··on Billionaire Peter Thiel makes fortune after sweetheart deal with [NZ] government
Isn't this kind of the point? The NZ governments goal was to increase private investment, not make a return. They succeeded -- Thiel put $6.8m to work in NZ that he may not have otherwise.

Many countries do this. For example in the UK the British Business Bank will become an LP in a VC fund acting as a multiplier on capital raised.

You may not agree with the government's decision, but you can hardly blame Thiel for making use of it.

ag56··on Soylent halts sales of its powder as customers keep getting sick
> Soylent said there shouldn’t be any issues with its premade drinks, which cost slightly more than just the powder.

Interesting. I tried the premade drinks (Soylent 2.0) a couple of months ago and within an hour had stomach cramps and was forced to retreat to the bathroom.

Unlike a software bug it's mentally very hard to forgive -- I love the idea of Soylent but doubt I will ever try it again, in any form.

Serious question: why is it so hard for them to find the root cause of these issues? There are a limited number of ingredients, all of which are surely well documented and tested.

ag56··on Show HN: Lemonade – the world's first P2P insurance company
A better -- but still not really P2P -- example of social insurance is https://wearesosure.com (UK mobile phone only for now)

With So-Sure you link up with friends and are bonused if nobody claims. Of course that means nobody links with that friend that always loses their phone, which in theory reduces their risk and pays for the bonus.

ag56··on Pencil
I was very disappointed with the Jot Script. It frequently skips. See this video of a replacement "non-lemon" writing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBEGJJNVAjw#t=68

Anyone use a Galaxy Note day to day to take notes in meetings? Half my notes are diagrams and sketches; I don't understand why reviewers always gloss over the stylus as unnecessary and quote (a wrong) Steve Jobs.

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