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doktrinon The Norway Model: How the Scandinavian country became a literary powerhouse

> They always seem a bit in disbelief at how safe, comfortable, easy and secure life is in reality

The US is by no means unique in this regard. Outside of active conflict zones and failed/failing states, most countries in the world can provide comfort and at least the illusion of safety to those with resources and means.

doktrinon The Norway Model: How the Scandinavian country became a literary powerhouse

> If that was the case you'd see the same outcomes from Sweden, but you don't.

Care to expand on that? I quite literally have no idea what you're talking about. From my POV both Sweden and Denmark provide broadly similar quality of life and wealth of opportunities to their citizens.

doktrinon The Norway Model: How the Scandinavian country became a literary powerhouse

> Norway was a lower income country until they discovered an infinite money glitch

What metric are you using to arrive at this conclusion? Norway had roughly the same PPP GDP per capita as its neighbors (Sweden, Denmark) for 150 years prior to the discovery of oil.

doktrinon Shane MacGowan has died

    Fare the well, gone away, there's nothing left to say
    With a slainte Joe and Erin go my love's in Amerikay
    The calling of the rosary, Spanish wine from far away

doktrinon Choose the browser that best suits your privacy needs

Google is effectively willing to sacrifice part of their moat to reenforce their core. Is this move born out of (over)confidence, or desperation?

doktrinon Rumours of SR-71 Blackbird Successor from Lockheed's Skunkworks

Most likely. Either that or some kind of hybrid OPV (optional pilot vehicle) system with a modular cockpit.

doktrinon OpenAI researchers warned board of AI breakthrough ahead of CEO ouster

We’ll find out sooner or later. Personally, if the Verge and their “source” turn out to be incorrect I’ll permanently file them away under the “gossip rag” folder.

doktrinon Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

Accurate. Psychology, history and the intersection thereof broadly supports the idea that we drastically overestimate our ability to measure character and intention based on in-person interactions. Some oft cited cases being how numerous British public figures who sat down with Hitler tragically misread his intentions, in contrast to those who appraised him from a distance based on actions, policies and writings. Likewise, GWB's famous ability to peer into Putin's soul.

doktrinon We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO

> Talking about conflicts of interest in the attention economy is like talking about conflicts of interest in the money economy. If the introduction of the concept doesn’t clarify anything functionally then it’s a giveaway that you’re broadening the discussion to avoid losing the point.

It's a well established concept and was supported with a concrete example. If you don't feel inclined to address my points, I'm certainly not obligated to dance to your tune.

doktrinon US thwarted plot to kill Sikh separatist on American soil

> Europe is utterly feckless anyway and is unlikely to ever be able to field a large enough army to actually be a threat

In a list of American geopolitical concerns, a traditional force on force land invasion wouldn't even make it into the top 100. Swap out "Europe" for any other political entity real or imagined and it would make no difference.

doktrinon We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO

> I think yes, because Netflix you pay out of pocket, whereas Facebook is a free service

Do you agree that the following company pairs are competitors?

    * FB : TikTok
    * TikTok : YT
    * YT : Netflix

If so, then by transitive reasoning there is competition between FB and Netflix.

...

To be clear, this is an abuse of logic and hence somewhat tongue in cheek, but I also don't think either of the above comparisons are wholly unreasonable. At the end of the day, it's eyeballs all the way down and everyone wants as many as of them shabriri grapes as they can get.

doktrinon We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO

> Using that definition even the local gokart renting place or the local jetski renting place competes with Facebook

Not exactly what I had in mind, but sure. Facebook would much rather you never touch grass, jetskis or gokarts.

> If you want to use that definition you might want to also add a criteria for minimum size of the company.

Your feedback is noted.

Do we disagree on whether or not the two FAANG companies in question are in competition with eachother?

doktrinon We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO

> How does Netflix compete with Facebook?

By definition the attention economy dictates that time spent one place can’t be spent in another. Do you also feel as though Twitch doesn’t compete with Facebook simply because they’re not identical businesses? That’s not how it works.

But you don’t have to just take my word for it :

> “Netflix founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings said Wednesday he was slow to come around to advertising on the streaming platform because he was too focused on digital competition from Facebook and Google.”

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/11/30/netflix-ceo-reed-hasting...

> This is what happened with Eric Schmidt on Apple’s board

Yes, after 3 years. A tenure longer than the OAI board members in question, so frankly the point stands.

doktrinon We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO

> obviously it’s also in her best interest to see OpenAI destroyed

Do you feel the same way about Reed Hastings serving on Facebooks BoD, or Eric Schmidt on Apples? How about Larry Ellison at Tesla?

These are just the lowest of hanging fruit, i.e literal chief executives and founders. If we extend the criteria for ethical compromise to include every board members investment portfolio I imagine quite a few more “obvious” conflicts will emerge.

doktrinon We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO

> which is pretty unusual as most people don't care about their CEO at all

I'm sure Sam is a charismatic guy, but generally speaking folks will support a whole lot when a multi million dollar payday is on the line.

doktrinon Before Altman’s ouster, OpenAI’s board was divided and feuding

> Microsoft has given every OpenAI employee a job offer.

> All these employees losing their livelihoods for the greater good

You penned both of these statements today. Clearly you understand that OpenAI employees are a highly compensated and in-demand resource whose “livelihoods” are in no jeopardy whatsoever, so the theatrics here are really bizarre.

doktrinon In June 2024, ad blockers such as uBlock Origin will be disabled in Chrome 127

Unlike amorphous concerns like “privacy” that for better or worse only resonate with a niche audience, ads are by definition hard to ignore.

Once users are forced to both potentially replace their adblocker entirely and begin mucking around with config settings and filter lists it seems inevitable that many simply jump ship. Doubly so if the advice gets amplified across social media / streaming platforms et al.

The crowd you’re referring to - i.e who follow tech news and the manifest rollout - are a tiny minority many of whom probably never used Chrome to begin with. That’s not who I have in mind here.

doktrinon In June 2024, ad blockers such as uBlock Origin will be disabled in Chrome 127

IMO the only question is one of magnitude. Based on a cursory search it appears that adblock addons are used by anywhere between 20-45% of users across all browsers. Based on this I wouldn't be wildly shocked if Chrome sheds anywhere between 5-10% of its userbase almost overnight.

I would also expect this to cause a modest-to-significant backlash against Google as a whole. This is a change that will be widely noticed among regular internet users, and rolled out at a time when Google's bread and butter (search) is at its weakest point in decades.

Moving into purely speculative territory here, but I also wonder what impact this might have on their business moving forward. Without having hard numbers to back this up, my anecdotally-backed hunch is that ad blocking is disproportionately popular among younger users. That's a risky demographic for any tech company to alienate in part or in whole.

doktrinon OpenAI's employees were given two explanations for why Sam Altman was fired

> Well, they can unring the bell pretty easy. They were given an easy out.

> Reinstate Sam (he wants to come back) and resign.

Wasn't the ultimate sticking point Altmans' demand that the board issue a written retraction absolving him of any and all wrongdoing? If so, that isn't exactly an "easy" out given that it kicks the door wide open for extremely punishing litigation. I'd even go so far as to say it's a demand Altman knew full well would not and could not be met.

doktrinon In June 2024, ad blockers such as uBlock Origin will be disabled in Chrome 127

Google clearly feels comfortable enough in their browser share market dominance to pull this rather user-hostile move, but I can't help but wonder if they're overplaying their hand. From my humble POV Chrome is only marginally superior to the alternatives. That margin has been sufficient to keep me around as a user - but crippling such a central feature easily outweighs all of Chrome's relative strengths and then some.

doktrinon 15-150: Principles of Functional Programming

TIL. Given that 15-213 has been widely available for years I naively assumed this would also hold true for other undergrad CS courses, but apparently not.

doktrinon OpenAI's employees were given two explanations for why Sam Altman was fired

Interesting. I’m glad he shared his perspective despite the ambiguity.

doktrinon One sleepless night can rapidly reverse depression for several days in mice

Indeed, and this easy availability is potentially a double edged sword.

doktrinon People with autism less likely to succumb to bystander effect, research finds

> I know this because I've done it at least once in the real

"at least" once? sounds legit.

> The key is to keep an eye on their hands/pockets and move in close, get control of the hand, and then either twist until their tendons are gonna snap or... jam their own knife into their leg/side.

More cap than a lids store.

doktrinon Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

> Bullying is not something isolated to schools. I've seen it in nearly every social and political situation that exists at nearly every age group.

Unless you live in prison or a war zone I highly doubt you've witnessed "adult" bullying that remotely approaches the ferocity and cruelty some kids have to endure on a daily basis.

doktrinon People with autism less likely to succumb to bystander effect, research finds

It’s wild you’re getting downvoted. Probably speaks to HN being comprised of sheltered upper middle class nerds whose idea of “injustice” is being denied WFH 5 days a week.

All you folks who think you’re ready to step in and play captain white knight save-a-hoe are in for the rudest of awakenings when you try this in a situation you have inevitably misjudged.

doktrinon People with autism less likely to succumb to bystander effect, research finds

This is a delusional take. Your karate class hasn’t prepared you to survive - let alone “stop” - a knife attack and the sooner you disabuse yourself of that notion the better.

doktrinon Autism and responding to authority (2019)

Likewise on all counts. The (over)confident arrogance on display in this thread is off the chain.

doktrinon The product manager role is a mistake

In recent experience the PMs I have worked with have primarily concerned themselves with the desires of executives. Literally all the other responsibilities you mentioned were handled by others.