Hacker News Reader

easilyBoredon What was Syria like before the war

The saying is "A democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch"

By democracy I mean a system where basic human rights are protected and cannot be voted out. Would most Saudis, in a fair vote, allow for Catholic Churches to be open here? If the answer is no (and I think it is) then democracy is bad. Same for women rights, criticizing their faith, gay rights etc.

easilyBoredon What was Syria like before the war

Name one Mid-east democracy right now that "we" would want to live in /where basic human rights are protected 1

1. Minus Israel....not that it fits my description.

easilyBoredon What was Syria like before the war

For the record: I don't think that Mid-East is ready for democracy yet (the majority wouldn't support basic human rights IMO) so the biggest mistake was for the "West" to support the Arab Spring. Yeah, those dictators were bad, but they were predictably bad.

Nature abhors vacuum and radical Islam is filling in.

P.S. I don't care about down votes.

easilyBoredon SoftBank Takes $4B Stake in Nvidia

Because they have a LOT of money. Like over $100,000,000,000 to invest https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-20/japan-s-s... . They don't have time /resources to hand out $20k investments to the future Zuckenbergs and guide them through, so the invest in what seems like a sure thing.

easilyBoredon Who Owns England?

I think Hong Kong is also owned by the state...you can lease it for as long as 999 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_rent_in_Hong_Kong but you do not own it. But in reality you own it and 999 years later you're related to half of the world (give or take :))

Let's not forget that for land in many countries, if a squatter uses your lad for xx years without being challenged, it is theirs. So it's recognized as different.

easilyBoredon 1Password Travel Mode: Protect your data when crossing borders

* What they can do is deny you entry. For citizens, not even that.*

Job lost. Father died without you seeing him. Thousands of dollars gone in lost ticket, reservations. That's more than enough for 99% of people. The other 1% don't even try to enter USA

easilyBoredon 1Password Travel Mode: Protect your data when crossing borders

"Then there is no way of restoring at the airport."

IIRC, the border agent has the power to turn you back, visa or no visa. So there might be a price to pay for getting too cute. They want what they want and trying to avoid that might make them angrier.

If you are a US citizen they can make you wait in a room for a few hours and maybe add your name to the "make his life miserable every time he flies" list.

easilyBoredon Uber Plans Millions in Back Pay After Shortchanging NYC Drivers

Move fast and break things. Break laws, steal, cheat and stuff. It's OK if you're big enough and are a "startup."

easilyBoredon Ask HN: How liquid is Bitcoin?

Yeah really. A Craigslist post to do such a transaction at some back alley isn't going work; they'll wipe your entire family for $1 million. If you get ripped off, probably can't even complain, I'm sure cash transactions above a certain amount are illegal in many countries.

easilyBoredon FDA Approves Radicava, First New ALS1 Therapy in 22 Years

According to the ALS Association, the treatment’s list price is $1,000 per infusion, or about $146,000 annually, and it is expected to be available for use by August

A whole new class of drugs is reaching these prices. "The insurance" doesn't really pay; those xx% increases every year in premiums do.

easilyBoredon They call it Canaan: How 200K Haitians built a city on their own

The government will have no realistic choice but to legalize them and give them ownership of the land. Maybe they'll sell it to them and reimburse the real owners. When everyone does it, it's no longer illegal. It has happened in a lot of countries.

Septic tanks will probably be holes in the ground--right next to their water well.

Looking at the concrete by enlarging photo...of boy does it look poor. https://www.usnews.com/dims4/USNEWS/8288114/2147483647/resiz... Not an engineer but having seen dozens of homes being built I doubt this can take a 7.0 earthquake.

easilyBoredon Office distractions could be costing more than $30k per employee each year

If it's so easy to run a profitable business, why not run your own and keep that money for yourself?

Irrelevant. How do you know know I'm not already doing that.

My main point, which will valid for as long as humans are are the switch is that you cannot maximize every second.

easilyBoredon 42-inch yacht still hoping to become the smallest boat to cross the Atlantic

42 inch or about 1.06 meters when waves can be as high as 62 feet http://www.cbsnews.com/news/massive-wave-atlantic-ocean-smas... ....even common waves of 10-15 feet will more than enough....he's much braver than me.

Maybe he knows that he has a safety valve, he can survive in that bubble for x days until rescue comes. I'm claustrophobic (not actually diagnosed but IMO) so unless I could save my children's lives, I wouldn't even try.

Maybe all the stars will align, but if I had to bet, for his next attempt, he already has his food supply.

easilyBoredon Office distractions could be costing more than $30k per employee each year

so if we remove "distractions" and work like robots will we get $30k more a year?

People are not robots. If I'm worth $200 an hour for the first 5 hours to an employee, by the 16th straight hour I'm barely in the positive territory. Companies should STFU and pay more, their earnings and cash piles show that money is being made.

easilyBoredon Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

As the confinement in the Embassy is confinement. And he's been unjustly confined for a longer period than the maximum penalty for rape in Sweden.

That's valid if Sweden locked him in the Ecuador Embassy. He went there to shield himself.

Personally I think (my opinion, anyway) that the rape charges were work of the CIA, but that's another story.

easilyBoredon Sweden drops Julian Assange rape investigation

They are not secret in that sense. Assange will know them when they are filed with the court.

I have a feeling that there's enough material to put him on trial in USA and he has gone tit-tat with many three-letter agencies. They have a long memory and don't like challengers. Whether he gets convicted or not that's another thing.

easilyBoredon Facebook fined €110M for providing misleading information on WhatsApp takeover

Facebook fined €110M for providing misleading information on WhatsApp takeover

Should be fine plus undoing what they did. or spin Whatsapp...go back to square one.

easilyBoredon Zomato security breach: 17M email addresses and hashed passwords leaked

We need password managers and use unique 20 digit password (or max allowed) for each login. If it's online, we need to assume that it will be hacked in time.

easilyBoredon US Household Debt Surpasses 2008 High

US Household Debt Surpasses 2008 High

Yeah but this time is different :).

Memo to self: looks like US stock market goes from feast to famine in 10 year cycles. Sell now and buy at 40% discount 1-2 years later. Rinse. Repeat

easilyBoredon Autonomous Ships

Maybe security these days? But they can get ex-special forces soldiers from third world countries for $15k a year. Not sure how it works with visas, being armed while visiting so many ports, insurance and all.

easilyBoredon Autonomous Ships

With no controls on the ship, pirates wouldn't be able to take control.

20 lbs of C4 in the control and /or engine room might just do it. So they don't take control (ship can be $urrendered later in pristine condition), they do worse.

easilyBoredon The Boring Company FAQ

I have seen ~3 decades old earth bricks (granted, uncompressed) and it's not pretty. Maybe compression and hydro-isolation does wonders.

easilyBoredon Tim Cook’s refusal to help FBI hack iPhone is validated by ‘WannaCry’ attack

I know you can't walk to NSA HQ and demand to see everything that they have in TS but Snwoden and Manning case showed that stuff isn't that compartmentalized

easilyBoredon How Craigslist Makes Money

Craig probably did some math and found out that even if he lives to 800 years old, he will not be able to spend it all so why go nuts? This way everything is manageable and he doesn't need to report to anyone.

easilyBoredon Tim Cook’s refusal to help FBI hack iPhone is validated by ‘WannaCry’ attack

Turns out I'm right. I thought about the military and contractors as well. "A Top Secret clearance, meanwhile, costs the government nearly 20 times more, at an average of $3,959 per background check. At that rate, investigating the 1.5 million people with Top Secret passes may have cost as much as $5.9 billion over several years. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/03/24...

"As of last October, nearly five million people held government security clearances. Of that, 1.4 million held top-secret clearances. More than a third of those with top-secret clearances are contractors, which would appear to include Mr. Snowden." https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323495604578535...

Now we can get into semantics until the cows come home but even tens of thousands of people are way too many. Imagine 1+ million people.

easilyBoredon Tim Cook’s refusal to help FBI hack iPhone is validated by ‘WannaCry’ attack

If two people know one secret is one to many. How many people in USA work for the FBI, CIA, NSA, police departments, have top secret security clearances? Millions of them. One is all it takes, as shown by Snowden, Manning etc.

So thanks, but no thanks.

easilyBoredon Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

Technically you don't have to tip at e restaurant either (large parties excluded). Try going back there and see the service you get.

Lyft should show the total of tips every 20 trips or so they had no chance of guessing who tipped and who didn't. Or openly state that a 15% tip would be appreciated and the passenger knows that it's the ride +15%.

easilyBoredon Amazon to Build a Permanent Mary's Place Family Shelter Within Its Headquarters

I'm not convinced Amazon would suffer significantly if they raised their prices by 10% on average.

So there you have it! Create your own "Amazon," 10% more expensive but we treat our employees better.

easilyBoredon FCC Filings Overwhelmingly Support Net Neutrality Once Spam Is Removed

In theory they are right. Basing your decision on counting these comments is as scientific as online polls.

My guess is that they're obligated to accept comments; lobbyists from both sides have already made all the points and the decision has already been made.

easilyBoredon WannaCry – The largest ransom-ware infection in history

"...or about $36,000 at current exchange rates"

Not enough to make up for having every spy agency on your back. Is there a realistic way to get the funds free and clear even if NSA /FBI /CIA / et al are on your trail?