Hacker News Reader

andreilyson How DALL-E 2 Works

There is limited discretionary income available, why would I use $100 in funds to purchase digital art, when I can spend $0.10 to generate one and use the remaining $99.90 on a scuba diving experience?

andreilyson How DALL-E 2 Works

My take-away was that art is not zero-sum:

Art is zero sum in that there are a limited number of artist residencies, exhibitions and funds available.

In this case, we will likely see further contraction in the number of artists able to support themselves. There will ofc always be the super stars and hobbyists.

andreilyson China has pioneered a law to empower people over algorithms?

They genuinely care for people and are doing this for their people's best:

Please explain how the continued lockdown in Shanghai is doing good for its citizens vs. not wanting to lose face on an absurd zero covid policy as a way to secure political points?

andreilyson China has pioneered a law to empower people over algorithms?

If you start with the assumption that Chinese government is trying to do good for its citizens,

Please explain how the continued lockdown in Shanghai is “the Chinese government” doing good for its citizens vs. not wanting to lose face on an absurd zero covid policy?

andreilyson Today is Antitrust Day. Tell Congress to put people back in control of tech

Big tech is a lightning rod for more than culture war conservatives, the whole liberal establishment blamed tech for getting Trump elected b/c they didn't do enough to combat "misinformation".

Luckily this has now been fixed by Fact Checkers (tm), who are able to remain impartial and free of bias to prevent the proliferation of misinformation online.

andreilyson Today is Antitrust Day. Tell Congress to put people back in control of tech

Would this apply to foreign companies like Bytedance (TikTok), Alibaba, and Tencent?

If so, how do you see the US gov being able to enforce anti-trust breakups of foreign companies?

andreilyson Elon Musk owns 9.2% of Twitter

Reddit has endless communities

Endless communities yet the top ones are run by a tiny percentage of power-mods who have outsized influence (Six power mods control 118 of the top 500 subreddits [1])

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/WatchRedditDie/comments/gkkfg5/upda...

andreilyson Young women earn more than young men in several U.S. cities

1% median difference on earnings is a pretty large number

1% of $60k is $600, which after tax is probably $400. Not exactly life changing money.

andreilyson Choose your status game wisely

Communism is based on a blank slatist definition of humans and has led to millions being suppressed, starved, slaughtered, or ethnically cleansed.

andreilyson Choose your status game wisely

Blank slatism and the ignorance of human nature has done far more harm for humans than those who acknowledge that our brains haven’t evolved much since our days as foraging tribes.

andreilyson Meta's A.I. exodus: Top talent quits as lab tries to keep pace with rivals

If you pay rent, then you should be aware of the inflation bubble.

andreilyson I think US college education is nearer to collapsing than it appears

Whatever your opinion on Musk is, he is at least an inspirational figure that helps inspire the next generation of kids.

No 10-year olds are talking about how to become a savvy financial engineer like Jack Welch at GE, but they are talking about rockets and electric cars thanks to Musk.

andreilyson I think US college education is nearer to collapsing than it appears

It seems like universities are the best place to learn, given the obvious resources? If I want to learn about history, it would be good to have experts in history, books about history, other people studying history, etc.?

Universities that stifle dissenting opinions are the best place to learn? Interesting.

There are plenty of online resources these days with active communities where you can learn from peers without fear of being penalized by your peers or an ideologically captured professor who will fail you for not toeing the idealogical line.

andreilyson I think US college education is nearer to collapsing than it appears

Without a well-informed populace, democracy cannot function.

College campuses have gone through severe idealogical capture, so the idea that going through a 4-year degree leads to a well informed populace is laughable.

I would argue that a 4-year peace corps posting in an improvised country would lead to a better informed population than any liberal arts education.

andreilyson Intel financialized and lost leadership in semiconductor fabrication (2021)

Correct, it’s effectively the moral hazard problem. Where executives capture the upside (of short term gains in stock) and pass on the risk to future execs/shareholders.

Very difficult to align long term incentives unfortunately, unless the company is founder led.

andreilyson The FTC’s new enforcement weapon: “Algorithmic destruction”

We humans are superior at curation, discovery, and anticipating our needs.

Depends, I would prefer reco Algos be open source and I can plug in different ones.

Trying to make sense of the mass of data without a personalized recommendation engine is a fools errand.

andreilyson US Federal Reserve raises interest rates for first time since 2018

Macroeconomics is largely narrative driven with very limited evidence behind it.

I would argue a theoretical physicist could produce more macro-economically sound models than a tenured professor of macro-economics.

The former at least would have a deeper understanding/appreciation of the math.

andreilyson Russia's top bank quits Europe due to sanctions

Or any country seeking to displace the US dollar as the global reserve currency, this’ll be the perfect wedge to do so.

I expect the federal reserve won’t be able to print trillions of dollars with ease anymore once USD loses its global reserve status.

andreilyson Twitter based map of Russian troop movements

He will only be stopped by swift and decisive military action from the entirety of the free world.

Things get complicated when you go toe to toe with a nuclear superpower.

What outcome do you expect when an authoritarian dictator with nukes is cornered and being bombarded by Western military from all sides?

andreilyson Soybean oil affects hypothalamus, causes genetic changes in mice: study (2020)

Yea I guess the chief benefit of using coconut oil is you’re not ingesting seed oils which seem to be quite harmful.

andreilyson Soybean oil affects hypothalamus, causes genetic changes in mice: study (2020)

Yes however that’s different than consuming processed seed oil.

andreilyson Soybean oil affects hypothalamus, causes genetic changes in mice: study (2020)

Yes afaik, although I’ve heard some ppl say that coconut oil has too much saturated fat making it not great for you.

Avocado oil seems to be the best?

andreilyson Soybean oil affects hypothalamus, causes genetic changes in mice: study (2020)

There is plenty of research done on the harmful effects of seed oils.

It’s not a stretch to assume this is yet another study demonstrating this in mice models.

andreilyson Can you warm yourself with your mind?

Instead of relying on peer reviewed paper in Nature, why don’t you try it for yourself?

andreilyson Vijayanagara – The Last Emperors of South India [audio]

Hardcore history by Dan Carlin is the other big one

andreilyson Some conclusions about the high desert after five months of desert life

I mean… the SFBA when benchmarked against NYC and LA is a cultural wasteland, I don’t think that’s a matter of opinion.

Very few artists/creatives live there because they are priced out by tech workers.

andreilyson “Y Combinator is not worth it”

Reminds me of Nietzche's quote "Enter society with a duel! Challenge the most fearsome/powerful opponent"

Towards the end of this new thread, he seems to be promoting a waitlist for his own accelerator, so it does seem like this was a big PR push for him.

Based on my twitter feed reactions it seems to have worked out quite well for him. No better way to get eyeballs than to court controversy.

andreilyson In the end, you're treated like a spy, says MIT scientist

is this level of industrial/scientific espionage even a critical factor in our current world

Yes. It completely bankrupted and destroyed the Canadian company Nortel [1]. Sure there were other problems that led to the downfall of Nortel, but this was a major contributing factor and has had a big impact on the Canadian tech ecosystem.

https://globalnews.ca/news/7275588/inside-the-chinese-milita...

andreilyson Basic income would not reduce people’s willingness to work

If I were a trading partner of the US, would I want to continue to accept the US dollar as the currency became less and less valuable as a result of excessive money printing?

Eventually austerity measures will come, and it's unlikely it will be the boomers who pay for it but the younger generations.

andreilyson Basic income would not reduce people’s willingness to work

I do wonder whether UBI will be feasible once the US loses its ability to print trillions of dollars.

Whether it’s China or Crypto, it seems like the reign of the PetroDollar is coming to an end, and with it the easy access to money printing.

Also any debates on UBI typically start with a country-centric view (US in this case), but what will be the implications for the rest of Earth citizens who live in countries without UBI?