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bvan

228 karma · joined March 19, 2023

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bvan··on How insurance risk is transformed into investable assets
It has been growing slowly for the past 25 years. The limited market size is a reflection of the demand by traditional insurers and reinsurers, for alternative sources of capital. This is as it should be.. when traditional players start transferring risk to the capital markets motivated by the fees involved, or cheaper rates (premium), then you really start worrying about moral hazard i.e. ‘bad risks’ getting transferred to investors.
bvan··on Why haven't local-first apps become popular?
Bring back gold old desktop applications, I say. Apps are for your phone.
bvan··on Universities should be more than toll gates
University is what >you< make of it. If you don’t like it, you have the choice to not go.
bvan··on Trucker built a scale model of NYC over 21 years
Love these life-long ‘slow hobbies’. Great to see the passion and dedication.
bvan··on EPA Seeks to Eliminate Critical PFAS Drinking Water Protections
Would have been better titled “EPA politicized leadership seeks to…”. I’m sure the actual workforce at the EPA doesn’t appreciate its hard work being trashed by the current leadership taking its orders from Trump and his minions.
bvan··on EPA wants to eliminate regulation for greenhouse gases
A policy of sheer vandalism.
bvan··on Google execs say employees have to 'be more AI-savvy'
Some of us have seen a couple of past AI waves and plenty other tech waves. Show me the money.. in the meantime we’ll get on with our jobs and wait for the other shoe to maybe drop.
bvan··on I'm switching to Python and actually liking it
What was your language of choice prior to Python?
bvan··on Underwriting Superintelligence
Not to detract from your argument but, expected risk is the expectation of [loss x probability of said loss].
bvan··on Big Data was used to see if TCM was scientific (2023)
Did someone poke you with one too many accupunture needles?
bvan··on Big Data was used to see if TCM was scientific (2023)
Lumping all aspects of TCM into one thesis to be proved or disproved seems ill-advised. Would you think of treating western medicine, and all the ground it covers as a single monolithic field to prove/disprove?
bvan··on Faking a JPEG
Love this.
bvan··on The Business of Betting on Catastrophe
And I thought I was the only ILS guy reading HackerNews..
bvan··on iOS 26 Will Let You Add Your U.S. Passport to Wallet for Identity Verification
In other words Apple encourages you to hand-over your phone to the nice Immigration agent? Unlocked? What a cunning scheme..
bvan··on U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat
The level of incompetence and lack of accountability is mind-boggling.
bvan··on Is it safe to travel to the United States with your phone?
It’s a sure way to kill tourism.
bvan··on The US stops sharing air quality data from embassies worldwide
Absolutely tragic. Trump is literally dragging the country back into the proverbial cave or dark ages. Just take NOAA for example: gutting this agency has widespread 2nd and 3rd order consequences the Trump administration is either clueless or willfully ignorant about. This administration is screwing over generations to come.
bvan··on Zelensky leaves White House after angry meeting
Trump, and his posse of minions, are just not equipped to deal with real-world events and threats. What a disgrace.
bvan··on The LA Fires Burned Homes. The Data Show Insurers Saw the Risks
The state doesn’t take unlimited liability
bvan··on VS Code Pets
Seriously?
bvan··on Is XYplorer really written in VB6?
Absolutely agree. Software development is, in real-life, a means to an end. A tool first and foremost. VB6 and its excellent tooling allowed many to develop high quality tools and solutions which got the job done. VB6 was accessible, and well supported. Too bad it’s no longer around.
bvan··on Justin Trudeau promises to resign as PM
Ultimately, the responsibility rests with the truckers, period.
bvan··on AI companies cause most of traffic on forums
Need redirection to AI honeypots. Lore Ipsum ad infinitum.
bvan··on SpiderBasic
I’d love to see the age of each commentor. So many of these comments reflect either lack of depth (experience), or simply near-sightedness.
bvan··on One in five genetics papers contains errors thanks to Excel (2016)
Sounds like user-error, not a software error. Learn to use the software and its idiosyncrasies. RTFM.
bvan··on Using the term 'AI' in product descriptions reduces purchase intentions
As it should be. The marketing geniuses, as usual, overplay into the hype and devalue the technology through wild promises. In the investment world, most barely pseudo-quantitative strategies, have now been rebranded with AI claims.
bvan··on Bangladesh imposes curfew after dozens killed in anti-government protests
I lived in BGD back in the 70’s, and the same two alternating dynasties still seem to have a hold on the country. Very sad.
bvan··on How does a computer/calculator compute logarithms?
Great post and fascinating series of comments.
bvan··on 1/25-scale Cray C90 wristwatch
Brilliant.
bvan··on Are animals conscious? New research
Of course they are.
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