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diffeomorphismon Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

ctrl+f: "maruOS".

Really, no one?

TLDR: Android "custom rom" turns into debian when plugged into a monitor. Has been around since at least 2016.

diffeomorphismon McKinsey unit will pay $123M to settle claims it bribed South African officials

Obvious answer: because this is the American lawsuit for breaking American laws and there is another separate South African one for breaking South African laws.

diffeomorphismon McKinsey unit will pay $123M to settle claims it bribed South African officials

The fines are more public. But low fines are otherwise pretty indistinguishable from "here is some money for you to look elsewhere".

As explained in other threads, McKinsey made almost the same amount of profit (adjusted for inflation) as the fine. So the message is:

- the effective fine (profit minus fine) is approximately 0, if you get caught.

- if you don't get caught, you get a profit of 120M.

diffeomorphismon The 70% problem: Hard truths about AI-assisted coding

If you claim for the past three years that it will happen any day now, then I won't believe you about the next three years. Simple as that.

diffeomorphismon The correct amount of ads is zero

> do I think a company should be required to offer a zero ad service for money? No.

Not the question. It was "if the company already offers a less ads for money service" then should "less" mean "zero"?

> People still subscribe to newspaper even though they are full of ads.

Is this supposed to prove anything? They don't have a choice. If they offered

a) Lots of ads for $X

b) Many ads for $Y

c) No ads for $Z

How do you see that working out? I would expect (a) and (c) to be massively more popular than (b).

diffeomorphismon Monitor replacement – using a projector for a home office setup

The article makes the claim

> reflected image from a projector screen is gentler on the eyes than a projected one from a computer monitor

If true, that is a very strong reason. However, it strikes me as a [citation needed] or questionable extrapolation from indirect/diffuse room lighting or bias lighting.

diffeomorphismon DOJ proposal would require Google to divest from AI partnerships with Anthropic

That is not "on the flip side" but "now that the damage is done".

diffeomorphismon Everyone is capable of, and can benefit from, mathematical thinking

> In short, it is silly to expect UBI to be a means by which people would work only if they want to work

I think it is misleading to call that scenario UBI and that the rest of your post also shares barely any resemblance to actual UBI plans, goals or side effects.

diffeomorphismon Everyone is capable of, and can benefit from, mathematical thinking

Below average students and as long as the average is high enough they are still very competent.

A bad teacher instead gives you a bimodal distribution and just doesn't bother teaching those students.

diffeomorphismon Everyone is capable of, and can benefit from, mathematical thinking

> I don't think UBI is feasible, it is anathema to the human condition to be content with the bare minimum.

Hm? That is exactly why UBI works, no? As the name indicates, the bare minimum is taken care so that you can work towards "the best life possible for our loved ones" without worrying about starving, sickness or homelessness.

In contrast, if you were wrong and people would be content with the bare minimum, then UBI would be a bad idea. Though then they could just commit some felonies and be content with having a cell, bread and water for the rest of their lives, no?

diffeomorphismon Everyone is capable of, and can benefit from, mathematical thinking

Doesn't follow. Bell curve in, shifted bell curve out. Ideally this also tweaks the variance a bit.

In other words: Some students flourish despite their teachers, some flourish because of them.

diffeomorphismon Everyone is capable of, and can benefit from, mathematical thinking

Caveat here is that "talent" and "dedication" is linked to speed at least in the beginning. For instance, any student can learn calculus given enough time and advice even starting from scratch. However, the syllabus wants all this to happen in one semester.

This gives you vicious and virtuous cycles: Students' learning speed increases with time and past success. So "talented" students learn quickly and have extra time to further explore and improve, leading to further success. Students who struggle with the time constraint are forced to take shortcuts like memorizing "magic formulas" without having time to really understand. Trying to close that gap is very hard work.

diffeomorphismon DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

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

Start with the Sherman act and then see that "what antitrust means" has had a long, changing history. By the way, the European understanding of antitrust still includes harm to competition as well, which often pops up on HN (e.g. how does Facebook's action harm consumers? That was not the question!).

Yet, you have lots of people in this thread claim that we have always been at war with Eastasia.

diffeomorphismon Google reacts angrily to report it will have to sell Chrome

Well, there is also Facebook or Amazon.

But pretty much yes. Chrome is a very large, very expensive product to develop with very unclear profit perspective once disassociated from Google.

diffeomorphismon DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

About seven different things. The whole oversimplification that it has to be one single thing has been a drift in policy (over a few decades) in combination with trying to rewrite history books. The fact that you are even asking the question that way shows how successful that rewriting was.

diffeomorphismon DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome

No, that might be the word origin but not how it is actually used. Just like "decimate" nowadays does not require a factor 10.

So instead of "10x" substitute "by a large enough factor or margin to make a significant difference". That is totally true globally speaking. Locally, in the US, you could however argue that apple abuses it's iPhone market share to sabotage competition (e.g. streaming, webstandards,etc). That just means you should sue both not neither.

diffeomorphismon Analysis of economic and productivity losses caused by cookie banners in Europe

Short reality check. Browsers support default "no" since forever. The websites just refuse to accept it and insist on wasting your time out of spite.

So modest proposal: Make these websites pay 575€ million/year for wasting citizens' time or have them accept that "no" means "no".

diffeomorphismon Run macOS in a Docker Container

That does not seem to actually be "in a docker container"?

It is just using docker to run the VM software (qemu with kvm) and runs macOS in that VM.

It is conveniently packaged up, but the title is very, very misleading.

diffeomorphismon GOG's Preservation Program Is the DRM-Free Store Refocusing on the Classics

Hm? You don't get the galaxy client but other than that the support seems fine?

For example

https://www.gog.com/de/game/baldurs_gate_2_enhanced_edition

Also works quite well with

https://heroicgameslauncher.com/

diffeomorphismon Replacing my $8000 Mac Pro with a $1400 Mac mini [video]

> But the M4 Pro Mini has a significantly faster CPU, much faster GPU, much higher bandwidth, quieter, cooler.

For 4000€ with just 64GB of RAM instead of 96GB and the same 4TB of storage. So, sure it might be "significantly better" but at 3 times the price that is the bare minimum.

Side question: Lots of mini pcs accept usb-c PD input, i.e. your external PSU can be any laptop charger. Does the mac mini support that?

diffeomorphismon Nvidia Rides AI Wave to Pass Apple as Largest Company

> Market cap is the most important factor in return on investment right?

Completely wrong. Hint: You are on HN. Startups obviously don't start at a large market cap.

diffeomorphismon The deep learning boom caught almost everyone by surprise

Wild cat, house cat, lynx,...? Sure, they can. They will tell you about proportions, shape of the ears, size as compared to other objects in the picture etc.

For cat vs pumpkin they will think you are making fun of them, but it very much is explainable. Though now I am picturing a puzzle about finding orange cats in a picture of a pumpkin field.

diffeomorphismon Why the deep learning boom caught almost everyone by surprise

Then you should have a stronger notion of "explanation". Why were these specific neurons activated?

Simplest example: OCR. A network identifying digits can often be explained as recognizing lines, curves, numbers of segments etc.. That is an explanation, not "computer says it looks like an 8"

diffeomorphismon Trump wins presidency for second time

Turn the supreme court partisan and overturn principles that had been valid for decades.

I remember an interview at a large evangelical event about how they could vote for the decidedly un-Christian liar, fraudster, etc.. Their answer was that a "deal with the devil" is okay as long he delivers on supreme court justices. That was their literal phrasing.

diffeomorphismon Trump wins presidency for second time

Or you do make a better one but still lose because people did not actually care about the cake but about the messaging.

Or in meme form:

https://i.redd.it/g0r0x1ldi0e71.jpg

diffeomorphismon The deep learning boom caught almost everyone by surprise

Just like supersonic travel between Europe and America becoming common place was inevitable. Oh, wait.

Optimism is good, blind optimism isn't.

diffeomorphismon Why the deep learning boom caught almost everyone by surprise

Why? If I ask you what the height of the Empire State Building is, then a reference is a great, explainable answer.

diffeomorphismon New York Times Tech Guild goes on strike

That would be weird, so it is obviously not the case. That is because you are quoting only half of the (excerpt of the) point.

diffeomorphismon M4 MacBook Pro

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102177

Will that break the display like it did for tape over the webcam?

diffeomorphismon M4 MacBook Pro

That is pretty obviously a joke.