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jonballant

132 karma · joined March 16, 2018

Tech and Travel Enthusiast
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jonballant··on Juul, Philip Morris Sued Under Racketeer Act for Targeting Kids
I have never understood the attraction to juul's but the majority of individuals who I know who use them are all young adults and it is alarming that it is so simple for them to have access to this product.
jonballant··on Suburb in the sky: how Jakartans built an entire village on top of a mall
This was quiet interesting to hear the reactions of locals who live in cosmo park. An interesting concept.
jonballant··on I like my desk unorganised and messy
Refreshing break from the constant mention that a desk needs to be clean. While I am someone who typically likes an organized workspace, I find there are too many articles nowadays that dismiss any other workspace. This is unfair as everyone works better in different scenarios and settings, just like everyone learns differently in school.
jonballant··on Show HN: Update of NoSQL Performance Benchmark Neo4j,PostgreSQL,Orient,Mongo
True and the effort here is to have as little bias as possible. It would be great if there was an independent vendor who could create some sort of boilerplate for these benchmarks.
jonballant··on Sergey Brin warns of AI threats through a 'technology renaissance'
While its easy to dismiss the Sci-fi fantastical end of the world claims on the dangers of AI, its important to at least address some of the realistic externalities of this technology.

"Brin is showing more real-world concerns of AI-powered systems replacing human jobs or being used to spread propaganda and fake news rather than rise up and enslave humanity"

jonballant··on Judge Forces David Copperfield to Reveal Famous Magic Trick
I was hoping for something more exciting than "they walked through some dirty passageways to the back of the room". Magic must be easy.
jonballant··on Announcing Docker Enterprise Edition 2.0 – Linux/Windows and Kubernetes/Swarm
This has been discussed a couple times here in HN recently regrading the integration of Kubernetes into Docker EE.

Individuals associated with Docker assure me that Swarm will not be End of Lifed, but even if this blog post by Docker, the focus in on the Kubernetes integration rather than the future of Swarm. 18 mentions of "Kubernetes" compared to just 8 "Swarm".

jonballant··on ‘Moderate’ drinking guidelines are too loose, study says
I'm not saying its a simple as: Drink Alcohol=Happy Country.

But I would bet the variable is statistically significant.

And you're right there are plenty of other healthy ways to achieve happiness. But to go to the other extreme and say there are zero positive effects correlated with happiness is an overstatement.

This Is How Happy Alcohol Makes You, Researchers Say http://time.com/4347687/alcohol-happiness-boost/

jonballant··on ‘Moderate’ drinking guidelines are too loose, study says
Of course there are a variety of variables that drive happiness, and wealth is probably one of the strongest.

A proper regression analysis would have to be performed, but even if minimal, I would bet there is some correlation.

Here is an interesting article/study focusing on the short term benefits to increasing happiness when drinking.

http://time.com/4347687/alcohol-happiness-boost/

jonballant··on ‘Moderate’ drinking guidelines are too loose, study says
A quick search of the list of the "happiest countries" conducted by the UN shows all top 10 countries are from the west with at least a minor drinking culture.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Report

Obviously there are a variety of factors affecting the outcome, but it does seem that in countries where drinking is prevalent, the people in general are happier possibly due to the relationships forged. I'll take slightly shorter and happier over an extra year added to the lifespan.

jonballant··on EU copyright proposal could undermine the use of Creative Commons licenses
The biggest incentive for them to work together rather than pushing for reforms specific to an individual country is to match the power of the US government on the world stage.

This was one of the main reasons for the creation of the EU to begin with, to compete with the US.

As powerful as a strong economic country like Germany can become, they still pale in comparison in size to the US.

Working together cohesively with other EU nations could create a superpower to rival China, USA, Japan, etc.

jonballant··on Scientists Fix Genetic Risk Factor for Alzheimer’s Disease in Human Brain Cells
As mentioned above, the main benefit could be for the family members. When my grandmother was diagnosed it took our family completely by surpise. She lived in another state and my elderly grandfather was the only one around to take care of her.

Eventually, she had to be moved to a nursing center where the health care costs are astronomical.

Of course no one wants to hear this news early, but in terms of preparations that can be made by family members, the earlier the knowledge the better.

When a family member is struck with an illness it does not just affect the individual, but rather the whole family.

jonballant··on Bitmovin raises $30M Series B for ‘next-gen’ online video software
I had the same thought that with the latest Crypto craze the "Bit" prefix probably helps them stand out, but as the founders are the co-creators of MPEG-DASH which is used by Netflix, they are well known enough to not need the benefit of the crypto "bump". Plus the company was founded back in 2013.
jonballant··on Ask HN: Docker Swarm Experiences: Advantages or Disadvantages?
Thanks some really great stuff here at https://bretfisher.com.

Again do you have some further support/sources that Docker will continue investment in Swarm?

I found this tweet from Solomon Hykes stating Swarm isn't dead, but also provides a vague answer without much detail to specific plans. "Docker will continue to support both Kubernetes and Swarm as first-class citizens, and encourage cross-pollination. Openness and choice create a healthier ecosystem for everyone."

https://twitter.com/solomonstre/status/941080802607222784

jonballant··on Ask HN: Docker Swarm Experiences: Advantages or Disadvantages?
"It does make me hesitate to recommend Swarm for a new service, with the risk that it will be end-of-lifed soon."

This was my exact concern. With the announcement at the end of 2017 that Docker EE would be integrating Kubernetes, it gave me pause as to whether to put Swarm into production now, when there is the possibility Docker could be moving away from Swarm entirely in the near future.

Do you have any sources that there will be continued investment in Swarm?

All recent blog posts I see are hyping of the features of the Kubernetes integration.

jonballant··on Show HN: Travel spontaneously on a budget
SkyScanner is still the king when searching for flights coupled with the "Explore" option which will return the cheapest flight destinations. You can also simply search for a country such as "Greece" and the results will rank the cheapest airports from your departure.

When including other travel options such as Trains, Buses (Flixbus), GoEuro shows these methods, but without the "Explore" capability.

SkyScanner just announced the ability to include train travel which hopefully will be a marriage of these technologies.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/03/skyscanner-adds-train-trav...

jonballant··on Show HN: Travel spontaneously on a budget
Agreed on the need to include more than just flights especially when traveling through Europe.

However SkyScanner just updated their capabilities to include Train travel on their booking similar to GoEuro. I still believe SkyScanner to be the best travel website for finding cheap flights and also includes the option to just search a country name like "Spain" or even "Everywhere".

I'm excited to see SkyScanner merge the technology of including buses/trains with the ability to explore non-specific destinations.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/03/skyscanner-adds-train-trav...

jonballant··on Don’t tell me about your trip to Southeast Asia
She does seem to make two separate points which is perhaps the flaw in this article. On one hand she is pointing to the economic disparity the locals face compared to the Western Tourists, but at the same time she cannot seem to help herself from commenting on the "sexual tourism" that as she points out has "been on her mind".

"To boast of cutting corners in countries where human beings depend on literal dollars, table scraps of your hourly income, to feed their families for entire weeks holds no repute for me." <This is the point I was arguing and I can see her point of view. (I also have no problem with financial capitalism and corporations seeking out cheaper labor and resources as long as it is humane).

However to broadbrush all White Western Males in Asia as individuals on a Sex Holiday goes too far.

jonballant··on Don’t tell me about your trip to Southeast Asia
There certainly are a huge number of westerners who go visit Asia and treat it like its Epcot Center in Disney World like a zoo that exists for their pleasure. These are real working cities with distinct and ancient cultures that should be respected. Too many westerners take advantage of the genuine hospitality offered by locals and never take the time to educate themselves, instead spending the whole time partying.
jonballant··on Don’t tell me about your trip to Southeast Asia
The sentiment of the article is not that there is anything wrong as a white male going to visit these countries. Its how westerners behave while they are over there and the way they interact with locals. By all means go visit in person, just take the time to learn a bit about their culture. People seem to treat SE Asia like its a giant amusement park and not a group of countries where large population live every day.
jonballant··on Don’t tell me about your trip to Southeast Asia
I spent a few months working as a tour guide in Vietnam and you are absolutely correct about the difference in economic conditions of the local and the western white men that come. In the job I had which was a mix of educated western backpackers along with locals, for some reason the westerners automatically got paid more than the locals, despite them working twice as hard. For us, the job was a fun break/opportunity during a stay in SouthEast Asia. For the locals it was means to support their family. I will say they did their jobs every day with a huge smile on their face and happy as anyone I've met in any part of the world.
jonballant··on Ask HN: Dirty Reads for Databases: Good Thing or Bad?
Fair enough. In my case I am making recommendations to clients, so it sounds like it is best to take it on a case by case basis. The majority of the literature seems to be about avoiding Dirty Reads, but there are some beneficial uses.
jonballant··on Ask HN: Dirty Reads for Databases: Good Thing or Bad?
Could another use be to debug something that is happening inside a transaction?

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2471055/why-use-a-read-u...

jonballant··on Ask HN: Dirty Reads for Databases: Good Thing or Bad?
This is a good article that outlines some of the pros of the Read Uncommitted Level. When speed is pertinent and you need to run multiple transactions quickly, such as an E-commerce store, Read Uncommitted allows you to immediately execute the next transaction, without waiting for the first to complete execution.

http://codingsight.com/understanding-dirty-read-problem-sql-...

jonballant··on Ask HN: Dirty Reads for Databases: Good Thing or Bad?
It depends. A couple databases have a default isolation level that allow dirty reads. Most SQL databases allow you to manually change the isolation level or ReadConcern level to allow Uncommitted Reads if you choose.
jonballant··on Ask HN: How do I explain a resume gap after taking a sabbatical?
I just went through a similar experience after a 2 year gap traveling Asia and Australia. Are you looking for work in the USA?

My experience in interviews in Europe is that employers were genuinely interested in my time abroad and wanted to learn about my experiences. I am applying for jobs in Europe where a gap year is much more common. If recruiters are telling you the sabbatical is a problem they are not connecting you with the right employers. Every person I've talked to entering the job market after a year traveling did not have difficulties with the sabbatical as long as you can sell it that you were not partying the whole time. Good luck!

jonballant··on Ask HN: Is 2018 the end of Facebook?
No. I can tell you speaking to my family and friends that are part of the "younger generation", while Snapchat and Instagram have grown in popularity (both Facebook companies) every person within their social network still owns their own Facebook profile. Furthermore it is still the standard to connect people around the world. Ask any person who has made a non-professional acquaintance while traveling to another country and I guarantee they will use Facebook to stay connected.