hammmatt

I'm surprised that I am commenting late and I am the first one.

Am I the only one that seems to think that this can be used for racketeering, money laundering, ext.

Also, balancing a dual currency economy by arbitrage? Interesting concept? Or doomed to be abused? Or both?

I don't think you realize the severity of his lies over Fable, and Fable 2.

Back when it was Project Mayhem (can't recall exact name) he promised very life accurate features, graphic engines that would redefine presentation, and gameplay mechanics that still do not exist today.

He didn't say, "We are toying with the idea," or something like that. He said, each blade of grass would sway in the wind. That you could free roam maps like never before.

Among the features not delivered in Fable 1,2 or 3: - When you die or age, you can play as your child to advance the plot. - You can workout to increase your strength. Not working over time makes you weaker. - You can roam freely thorughout the world. - You can steal anything. - You can break anything. - You can use any object as weapon. This list goes on for pages that I do not care to relive.

What did fable II feature? A dog? What the hell is that? How is this related to the core concept? Peter is the result of giving a 5 year old a gaming company. All the grandest coolest plans in the world and in the end having neither the resources, discipline or skill to carry it out.

But it is okay, because people are willing to accept an inferior product, and really just forget all the lies he tells. Just like your comments.

Isn't this supposed to be capitalism where this type of behavior gets you punished?

I'd rather shove a stake in my eye than take his advice on how to be successful. I could learn more about how to be successful interviewing a child about a lemonade stand. They atleast would have interesting comments on sales techniques, that don't rely on your audience not minding being abused.

I hardly think a guy that LIES about what his product is doing and has success merely because people decided to buy the product regardless. It is almost like he owes his success to the low self-worth of gamers that they would still play a game that is lacking NEARLY ALL the features that were promised.

You can listen to what he has to say, but in my mind, he is a liar and uses his costumers gullibility to his advantage. That is the only secret to his success, and really it is not repeatable in most industries. And if it were, I wouldn't recommend using it because it is insanely immoral, not to mention that living on lies is just a horrible way to go through life.

This is very anecdotal naturally. But I am a dyslexic and it was really a struggle for me as a little kid. I don't like reading very much because it is a frustrating endeavor. I like information, I like thinking, and I guess I have favored smaller condensed pieces when reading. Perhaps why I love this website

I can attest though that upon seeing the paragraph written at the end of the video that the text was much easier to read. I was really quite blown away with it. I'm all for this, and really hope it can get spread around.

I don't think you can make someone who is not a reader become one. But I think like anyone who can't do something by a limitation when it is removed you have a new found respect for what you didn't have. It may not be a big market, but trust me there is a market here.

I'm going to download all of these on every part of my system that I can tonight.

I'm not the brightest guy in the world. But I can tell you that human companionship often comes in forms that you do not expect.

I wouldn't look only for technical people to talk to and hang out with. While I'm sure that shared interest can create a strong bond between you, there is more to life and the soul than computers.

I'd like to recommend three books to you that really changed my perspective on how to deal with people. Arguably any value I have in communicating with people comes from the lessons of, or derived from using, these books.

1) Life Would Be Easier if it Weren't for Other People 2) How to Succeed With Women 3) The Demon Haunted World, Science as a Candle in the Dark

The first is the most important, how you convey yourself to others and how they convey themselves to you. However, the book focuses on the dysfunctional aspects of communication. This book has made my more worth living in every single way.

2) How to Succeed with Women. You didn't mention whether or not you have a girlfriend. This of this like Cosmo with useful advice for me. Basically, it is how women look at dating and how men often don't even come close to thinking about what they want.

3) Just a great book on human nature.

Good luck buddy. Got carried away.

:) It's nice to hear we are appreciated.

I don't picture people with technical skills being deterred by this. I don't think that the people who want to get access to free information will use this.

I do think this is a response to the regime of the Arab Spring, and I think that it will most mostly ineffective.

It might be worth noting the reason this sounds pointless because the breathe of information that has to be controlled is beyond the resources of the regime. It may seem to be full of idealistic rhetoric because it is put together by the a idealistic regime.

It will be interesting to see if they can pull of a 'Chinese' like wall or if this will be a very weak barrier like most regimes put up. Only time will tell.

I wouldn't take the threat lightly. If one government can do it, so can another.

This seems awesome. They neglect to mention how to power any circuits and what components you could and how. If this could be perfected though, Electrical Engineers would slowly take over the world... with circuits....

Silly Noob, it's a six pool now.

Also, really a seven pool because it makes sense to make a drone instead of saving for the spawning.

The ideal rush is an eight pool, unless you wish to do some sort of timing attack.

It is sort of a catch 22 for her to say how silly it is to have a co-founder when you are young and unproven. If you are capable of doing it yourself, then yes, of course you should. However, many people who are capable of doing themselves may not be ready to handle all of the aspects, especially if it is their first time out.

There are a few lessons that I have taken from browsing HackerNews over the last year. Two of them come to mind.

The first is that it is not simple to do everything involved in creating a startup. Even if you know what you are doing. There are factors to hinder great products and great people, from reaching the consumer.

The second is that there is no shortage of great ideas for startups. The real bottle neck seems to be the execution of great ideas.

If you are capable of doing it by yourself, but you take on a partner, you do lose out financially or you could create complications. But no one ever said it had to be your last startup. You can always take on of the great new ideas and branch out again.

Even if it is a disaster, you will discover that you can do it alone.

Or the other scenario, you discover that you work well together. Now, you have have too much brain power, time, energy and money. These resources are incredibly useful at expanding your startup, starting a second, or just making life easier.

I like her cynicism about everything she reads. That is just a normal part of rationality. Even if it is aimed against the mighty Paul Graham. However, I have to disagree with her assertions. I believe teams are greater than the sum of their parts, even if team member can do all work alone.

Can someone confirm that indeed 80 cents of every tax dollar goes to pensions?

It is amazing how many young people can succeed in technical fields at a young age.

Most great physicists make some of their incredible discoveries when they are young.

Mark Zuckerburg was in college when facebook was created. Same with Napster and dozens of others.

Maybe, there is something special about that age. It is when you can actually use the brainpower, business intelligence, ext. If you have the goods, they seem to show around that age.

Benefits from trade are a good notion.

However, some trades are completely unfair.

Example, Native Americans trading the island of Manhattan for a few dollars of beads.

Even though it is great business. It is immoral to me to lie about the value of a product. Just as it would be immoral to lie about it's functions.

However, I can easily empathize with people who try to get the best deal for themselves/their company.

It seemed like he had an incredible product he could have sold for more in my opinion.

For contractual projects wouldn't it make sense to know the value of what is going to be produced (more or less) and then negotiate the percentage of it.

Is there anything akin to an agent for a programmer in this situation? In all seriousness, it might not be a bad idea for a business.

Assuming that you can add value to the talent by increasing contractual payoffs, and/or your organization could develop a reputation for excellence and potentially be sought out to find talent for certain jobs.

I'm picturing a mixture of a consultant, and a technical programming.

Any thoughts?

I think we agree on almost everything.

I was just theorizing that the magical force behind Germany's constant industrial success is having rationality deeply rooted in their culture.

I probably just misunderstood your comment.

Ah, you are right. Thank you for correcting.

I found some numbers to support and condemn my earlier statements.

http://www.russellsage.org/chartbook/householdform/figure4.5...

Shows that poorer households on average have more children. However, it also shows that that population is shrinking in unison. Relatively.

However, addition graphs on the website show how many dysfunctional households there are in poor communities. Which have been growing, so I stand by the original argument.

Funny joke.

But I'm pretty sure this reinforces how far away our robot overlords still remain.

Or a parking lot, street or intersection.

Let's put that Chevy 'Like A Rock' slogan to the test!

I agree with you that given the percentage changes in the way we view money, there has to be massive social change in thought.

I also agree that people filter what the news tells them.

However, I disagree that the two are related. I don't believe the news media causes people to spend more because they aren't having some sort satisfaction.

Other causes seem more likely to me.

1) People believe that their income will continually increase over their lifetime.

2) The increase in the number of advertisements over the last 50 years.

3)People have an accustomed lifestyle, but are making less money. Therefore, instead of cutting back they go into a little bit of debt. Which becomes alot of debt.

And of course, all of the above. 3)

I spent four months living in Germany.

I see tons more national pride when I am in the United States.

The only national pride I have seen Germany conveyed was for their football team. Some Germans find it difficult to even discuss their recent history, they feel very shameful about it.

If anything struck me about Germany it was how everyone could agree on rational things. Everyone agrees to fund the train stations. Most of them use rational arguments in conversation. Even in emotionally distressing times, it is common for people to fall onto their reason.

That would be my guess. And the only connection to national I pride I see, is trying to be so rational as to ensure that the last time they had too much national pride never comes back.

But then again, who really knows? How many millions of little factors could all add up to the net changes we see in our cultures.

Touche.

It's a mix of both, I suppose. However, what I meant to convey was that it is not too surprising that there aren't many women on a website that would take some degree of technical knowledge to stumble upon. Given the differential between men and women who study technical subjects.

To address you comments:

PENSIONS

I didn't mean to criticize all pensions. Just the State of California's where you can retire and make 90% of your PEAK income for rest of your life. It is simply an unsustainable amount given how much the public sector workers make. There was a case a few weeks ago of a police chief from a small town in California who was going to earn ~$900,000 a year in retirement. It is purely ridiculous.

HOMELIFE

I don't think that has degenerated that much. I do think that we see the population of people who are dysfunctional emotionally, socially, and intellectually is growing at a faster rate than those who socially responsible.

I do not have numbers to quote here, but is it unreasonable to assume that main factors that determine children per generation, period (in years) of a generation, and survivability of said generation.

One could argue that survivability is a huge factor when it comes to inner city youth. Gang violence, malnutrition, high infant mortality rate, ext. However, in terms of the total population it is very small.

However, we have a real division in class since the dawn of birth control in our country. One where people wait to have children and build a career and what-not. And another where people do not. There has also been a steady rise in teenage pregnancy. This creates a separation in the rate of a generation.

We can assume that the number of children born per family are close to equal. But the truth is that families that are poorer typically reproduce more. Or maybe, the families that reproduce more are more poor. Or it could be that the people who have more money, have less children.

This all doesn't mean much until you throw in a little human psychology. Given that most family dysfunctions are generational (alcoholism, sexual abuse, ext) and that these dysfunctions are commonly tied children who have poor education scores in poor families. You quickly begin see an inflation of emotionally damaged people, who just quite frankly don't have emotional resources to invest themselves in an education. Every once in a while, you get some that power through, but the human condition only permits so many.

However, why the kids in functional families systems are screwing up in school? I have no idea. If I had to guess, I'd say that the way our brains learn have been changing rapidly since the invention of the internet.

As long as we are speculating.

What exactly is wrong with learning from the examples and failures of other countries.

True, maybe we can not generate the same economy as Germany. However, perhaps we could find a way to copy or mimic what is that makes Germany so effective.

The article would argue that is their social polices. It is probably a mix of harmful and beneficial. I'd wager their free healthcare doesn't contribute as much as their free education, ext.

The United States shouldn't strive to be any other country. However, effective methods are effective methods and we should embrace what is rational.

I agree with you that there great myths about finance. However, I do not find it fair to conclude that there is a mass belief that is all a lie.

I think people just don't think. They are fine to just stretch their finances to whatever whims them think they can handle.

It seems like a matter of philosophy.

There are going to be distinct advantages and disadvantages with any investment philosophy you wish to make your own. The real question is what are your long term goals?

This is how I see real estate investment.

PROS - After paying off the mortgage you can still sell the house for its current value. If you select wisely, this is an additional investment. - Monthly income that is generated as safely as possible. Since you can select a good market to invest in, and even select who is moving in. You have as much security as in a monthly payout as you are ever going to get. - Can be used to leverage other investments. Equity can be an incredible tool. - Makes your credit score and personal financial statement look amazing. If profitable, of course. - You can invest money to make continued improvements on the property. And potentially increase it's value. - Can live there is your significant other kicks you out (haha)

CONS - Limited mobility. If you invest in real estate with are with it for a while. - High initial cost. Unlike investing in stocks, it is difficult just to buy 10 shares google. You have invest quite a bit of personal capital. - Ties your investment to the community. Which may be a positive if you don't like the swings of the investment market.

To say that an investment can be unsafe, or it is changing from a way you know how to make money to a way you don't, is an invalid reason not to do it.

Any investment can be unsafe. Business lose value all the time. General Motors has lost value consistently, buying there stock doesn't mean that Google Stock isn't going to be a great idea.

As for a learning curve, there was plenty to learn about stocks while learning to invest in those. There was plenty to learn about your startup before you could make it profitable. There will be plenty to learn about real estate as well.

Ultimately, what are your investment goals? How much money do you need, and how are you comfortable spending? Do you need money for huge investments, or are you content to have a steady safe income?

I love the idea of real estate investing just because it seems like it could replace the income from my job. Therefore, I would not have to work. Also, it gives you a base of credit to allow massive loans for massive expansions in business.

Also, if you don't screw it up, it can be multi-generational income. Which is something you can not say for capital style investment.

There are good and bad investments of everything. What matters is results. If the housing is a good deal and won't fail, then logically it is a smart move.

I don't think you can decide on a hypothetical without investigating. At the very least, this article has given you another point of view of a problem most of us try to solve every single day.

I agree with you on many of your points. I would have to say I agree with you that the world will keep on improving, but to say that there aren't at least a FEW flaws with California's financial system and educational is not very conducive with the evidence.

I can't find a reasonable human being that can agree with the pension system for state employees (I am actually unsure if it applies to teachers), which has to be the biggest money whole I could ever conceive.

Also, I am not sure of the statics, but it is no secret that LA public schools are some of the worst in the country. In the intercity schools anyway. However, I do agree with you that the author doesn't prove his point of declining schools, nor does he prove that increased funding will make them better. He offers this poor anecdote that is obviously politically self-edited.

It's funny how subjects like bad parenting or horrifying home lives never come into this conversation. Which seems to have a strong connection a child's educational success. I don't believe the author intended to go beyond anything other than his experience with his students, which by admissions filtering are hypothetically better than the over student.

Btw, loved the Abe Simpson quote. However, this situation triggers another famous entertainment quote in my mind.

Reporter: "Mr. Norris, how does it feel to have your career not be taken seriously by a younger internet driven generation of 'joke-sters?'"

Chuck Norris: Boys will be boys.

Congrats to all Y-Combinator startups.

FutureAdvisor grabbed my attention. It seems like a great idea and will work for a majority of their costumers.

Does anyone know what direction they wish to take the company? For example, are they going to expand into more types of investment? Do you think they will help manage businesses at some point?

Those types of expansions, would interest me personally. However, I bet it is still way to young and non-profitable to know if they want to go down that road.

More males than females on a technical website?

SHOCKING!