Hacker News Reader

By downvoting their comments obviously. That will surely convince them.

anarchopon Cargill open-sources Splinter, its ‘blockchain-like’ supply chain software

Of course one would hope this platform single handedly leads to major advancements on industrialisation, permanently eradicating child labour and slavery in all industries. One would also hope that simply not buying chocolate sourced from farms that employ child labourers that should be in school (as opposed to older children that don’t need to be at school, which according to the data I can find actually represents the vast majority of child labourers in the cocoa industry) would also solve the issue. My fear is however that it’s not that simple, and we could even make things worse. For example, child labour numbers have increased in recent years, haven’t been able to find percentages over time so cannot comment on that. One could hardly say that “ethical sourcing” and marketing has proven that it’s reduced child labour given this increase.

anarchopon Ask HN: Why aren't micropayments a thing?

Simple: friction cost. Going through a sign up and payments process is simply too much of an investment of time for the value equivalent to a 1c payment. It’s like asking: “why don’t people drive to stores to buy 1c single pack toothpicks instead of picking the food stuck in their teeth out with their fingernails, even though it’s unsanitary etc?”. The answer is friction cost: the time, effort and cost is simply not worth it for one toothpick, so people typically buy at on average $100 when they shop for groceries etc. Another example is quantity preference: why don’t gyms offer weight lifting charged at 10c per kilogram lifted or 1c per 10m run on a treadmill? Because most people prefer to consume in large and varied quantities and don’t want to have to restrict or plan consumption in such low quantities. Same goes for music streaming or video streaming services: most people would prefer to consume as much as they like with a fixed regular committed cost, though pay per movie / view do exist they are not considered micro payments and can be relatively expensive.

anarchopon The first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death

Diesel particulate pollution is the primary problem. London black cabs are diesel. There is a good case for banning diesel in metro and even suburban areas over time and requiring at least hybrid. Electric busses actually make more sense than cars due to the high regeneration of stopping.

anarchopon ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study

Most people are scared of losing their jobs for saying / thinking / doing / being accused of doing the wrong thing by the vocal minority of social justice warriors. This is totally obvious if you’re not part part of the minority, but a bitter pill for the woke crowd to swallow.

anarchopon Cross-Border Payments – A New Beginning

Payments are not the problem of concern for central bankers: negative interest rates are. Legacy physical cash based fractional reserved banking is inherently not able to support aggressive negative interest rates as depositors can simply withdraw cash to avoid it. Digital currency can self amortise as it never leaves the ledger, allowing effective negative interest rates to turn the momentary policy crazy dial way past 11. Keynes would love the idea.

anarchopon Coinbase offers exit package for employees not comfortable with its mission

Until recently blacklivesmatter.com about section touted that the movement “(we) are trained marxists”. Sorry but you’re not racist if you not a marxist. This is straight up Bolshevist tactics. More companies should take an assertive stance against these regressive tactics.

anarchopon Covid-19 is awful. Climate change could be worse

Reminds me of this scene: https://youtu.be/l4UFQWKjy_I

anarchopon ‘Strong Opinions, Weakly Held’ Doesn't Work That Well

You are obviously completely wrong. But on the other hand...

anarchopon Chloroquine is a Potent Inhibitor of SARS-Coronavirus Infection & Spread (2005)

https://www.henryford.com/news/2020/07/hydro-treatment-study

DETROIT – Treatment with hydroxychloroquine cut the death rate significantly in sick patients hospitalized with COVID-19 – and without heart-related side-effects, according to a new study published by Henry Ford Health System.

In a large-scale retrospective analysis of 2,541 patients hospitalized between March 10 and May 2, 2020 across the system’s six hospitals, the study found 13% of those treated with hydroxychloroquine alone died compared to 26.4% not treated with hydroxychloroquine. None of the patients had documented serious heart abnormalities; however, patients were monitored for a heart condition routinely pointed to as a reason to avoid the drug as a treatment for COVID-19.

The study was published today in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, the peer-reviewed, open-access online publication of the International Society of Infectious Diseases (ISID.org).

anarchopon China starts major trial of state-run digital currency

Is it a surveillance tool for cash payments? Yes:

“ Xu Yuan, associate professor at Peking University’s national development research institute, told broadcaster CCTV that because cash transactions were offline and transaction data from existing payment platforms was scattered, the central bank was unable to monitor cash flow in real time.

“Although there is little change from the perspective of user use, from the perspective of central bank supervision, future forms of finance, payment, business and social governance etc, this is the biggest thing ever.”

anarchopon The world is on lockdown. So where are all the carbon emissions coming from?

I think this describes developing economies generally. Basic housing and food is what people need work for.

anarchopon The world is on lockdown. So where are all the carbon emissions coming from?

The bleak reality is that living standards need to fall in developing economies to reduce global carbon emissions, at least with current technologies. Otherwise, increased living standards in developing economies will replace the developed economies reduced emissions due to sheer population size and growth.

anarchopon Economics Needs a Post-Crash Revolution

“Too much borrowing” “too little spending” versus productive investment is the problem with Keynesian economics caused over supply / under pricing of money. Keynes said debt doesn’t matter because it’s someone else’s asset and it self-amortises: Yes, but it creates mal-investment and uneven inflation in favour of those with access to credit e.g. giant financial asset bubbles of 20/21st centuries.

anarchopon Google Walkout Organizers Say They're Facing Retaliation

The analogy fails as one can’t simply “start” their own country, as one can start their own company. Further, a corporation isn’t a democratic institution which openly invites discord. There is a word for when one does this however: insubordination. Here’s an analogy that does work: The owner of a home has the right to determine who abodes in it, and by extension what actions they can engage in. You’re essentially arguing that the opposite, i.e. that private property doesn’t exist.

Political institutions exist to provide a forum for discourse. Private property exists so that the individual can be free of the tyranny of the other by not being forced to make a bargain with whomever decides they want in.

Having said all this, I agree with the spirit of your argument. However, going public and or legal makes you an enemy of the organisation and will more than likely result in having to leave the organisation sooner or later.

anarchopon Microsoft staff are openly questioning the value of diversity

Sorry, where is the “pseudoscience” from Damore?

anarchopon Trains are more efficient and less polluting than other transportation modes

Deisel freight trains are huge poluters with regard to particulate matter (PM). This actually causes cancer as opposed to CO2. Reducing PM without impacting fuel efficiency significantly is possible but requires investment. https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/-/media/epa/corporate-site/resour...

Same goes for diesel trucks / busses. This type of change throughout the world would really improve people’s lives immediately.

anarchopon Blockchain’s Occam Problem

They need to make money still. So the pitch now seems to be: hire us to clarify the confusion for you. The pitch was previously: hire us to ensure you don’t get disintermediated. I see this article as capitulation. And about time.

anarchopon Blockchain’s Occam Problem

Centralisation is much simpler than decentralisation. Decentralisation therefore only has value if it’s able to overcome problems posed by centralisation, e.g. censorship of finicial transactions. Therefore, blockchain’s only viable app is avoiding / defending oneself from government / banking controls. Every other use case is better suited to traditional centralised architectures.

anarchopon A 13M gender college degree gap since 1982 favoring women

How patriarchal.

anarchopon 1 in 4 Statisticians Say They Were Asked to Commit Scientific Fraud

I think that this should prompt scrutiny in fields that are highly dependent upon statistical analysis, such as climate change. However, this very suggestion is intolerable to many and in a way equivalent to blasphemy against the church science. Scrutiny will not be tolerated by academe with regard to ideas held as sacrosanct. I find this culture in academia pretty disgusting.