EgoEimi's recent activity
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Comment on El Salvador won’t return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the wrongly deported Maryland resident; Department of Justice will leave it up to El Salvador in ~society
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Comment on Death to nickels in ~finance
EgoEimi Link ParentSo, this way Has to go through extra UI to see final price Or they have to do the mental math of price ÷ highest possible sales tax % × their local sales tax % to get the final price which adds...So, this way
- Has to go through extra UI to see final price
- Or they have to do the mental math of
price÷highest possible sales tax %×their local sales tax %to get the final price
which adds one more math operation to the current way of doing it. And it's much easier for people to mentally multiply by 1.xx (the current way) than it is to divide by 1.xx or multiply by 0.xx.
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Comment on Death to nickels in ~finance
EgoEimi (edited )Link ParentYou're shopping for something online. What price does the retailer display? If prices must be accurate and sales tax-inclusive, and the site cannot determine your exact location because IP address...You're shopping for something online. What price does the retailer display? If prices must be accurate and sales tax-inclusive, and the site cannot determine your exact location because IP address tracing is very imprecise (in addition to privacy concerns), then there are three outcomes:
- You do not see the price at all until you share your geolocation or shipping address so the site can know which city you're in so it can calculate combined state and district sales taxes and display the price accordingly.
To see the price of this iPhone 16, please enter your address.
- They show a price range based on highest and lowest sales taxes in your IP area. You then only see the exact price once you share your geolocation or shipping address.
iPhone 16, now $856.93–888.89. Please enter your address to see price.
- They show the highest possible price, which itself wouldn't even be an accurate final price because the price you pay could be less so what's the point.
iPhone 16, now up to $888.89. Please enter your address to see price.
Any way it's not a great customer experience.
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Comment on Death to nickels in ~finance
EgoEimi Link ParentI agree, but I think it's impractical in the US. In Europe, VAT is set at the national level. It's easy for a company to advertise one price and have it be true for an entire country; due to...I agree, but I think it's impractical in the US.
In Europe, VAT is set at the national level. It's easy for a company to advertise one price and have it be true for an entire country; due to linguistic differences, ads are country-specific.
In the US, you have two sales taxes: state and district. It's difficult for a company to advertise a price in a regional market.
- New York City's sales tax is 8.875 percent; Jersey City's, just a bridge away, is 6.63%.
- In the Chicago area: Chicago city's is 10.25%; its suburbs all have different rates.
- In the Bay Area: SF, 8.625%; Oakland, 10.75%; Berkeley, 10.25%; Daly City, 9.88%; Marin, 8.25%; Palo Alto, 9.13%; and so on.
So if you were to advertise in an area where the districts all have different sales tax rates, you would have to show like thirty different prices, unless your stores are all located within one district or you have one store.
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Comment on We can’t stop checking our phones while watching TV or movies – and it’s affecting the quality of shows in ~tv
EgoEimi Link ParentYeah. Let's not pretend that the past was some artistic golden age that the smartphone has killed. Pre-smartphone daytime TV was filled to the brim with pure crap that'd play in the background of...To be fair that’s what people mostly had on TV in the past anyway. It’s just that instead of slopfest scripted movies it was daytime soap operas, trash TV shows like Maury Povich or Judge Judy, home shopping network, cooking shows, or (most destructively for society) 24-hour cable news.
Yeah. Let's not pretend that the past was some artistic golden age that the smartphone has killed. Pre-smartphone daytime TV was filled to the brim with pure crap that'd play in the background of gyms, laundromats, and barbershops.
Let's not forget the Jerry Springer Show and other 'smackdown' tabloid talk shows that dominated the early 2000s and debased our culture for money.
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Comment on Death to nickels in ~finance
EgoEimi LinkI say we ditch the nickel and the dime and just round prices up/down to the nearest quarter.I say we ditch the nickel and the dime and just round prices up/down to the nearest quarter.
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Comment on South Korea is over in ~society
EgoEimi Link ParentAnother factor is that professions that require high levels of education —medicine, law, engineering— select for people who prioritize education enough that they are able to ignore or suppress...Another factor is that professions that require high levels of education —medicine, law, engineering— select for people who prioritize education enough that they are able to ignore or suppress other avenues of identity or meaning, like having a big family, that could detract from that goal. In my observation, when they're in their 30s and 40s, they're still in the professional grind mindset and it's who they are and have become: they are their work. It doesn't switch off.
I think it's more than just income and working hours, but it's how an advanced economy that requires increasingly higher levels of education selects for people who willingly embrace careers and education as their primary source of identity and meaning.
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Comment on I'm tired of dismissive anti-AI bias in ~tech
EgoEimi Link ParentI see this repeated often, but I think that AI-generated art is like plastic surgery: you only notice it when it's done badly. The latest models can generate images that are virtually...AI-generated art is terrible in quality, and obviously so to anyone who looks at it.
I see this repeated often, but I think that AI-generated art is like plastic surgery: you only notice it when it's done badly. The latest models can generate images that are virtually indistinguishable from the work of good artists and illustrators. A prompter with good taste can get fantastic results.
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Comment on United Auto Workers statement: In a victory for autoworkers, auto tariffs mark the beginning of the end of NAFTA and the “free trade” disaster in ~society
EgoEimi LinkIt should be remembered that unions are not necessarily pro-worker or pro-society but pro-their-own-members. Sometimes their interests coincide with worker or societal interests but not by...It should be remembered that unions are not necessarily pro-worker or pro-society but pro-their-own-members. Sometimes their interests coincide with worker or societal interests but not by necessity or design.
It should not be forgotten that in the 2020 election cycle, many unions came out against Medicare for All because it threatened the health benefits they negotiated for their own members: the Democrats were stepping on union territory.
Except for the nurse unions who supported M4A. Bless them.
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Comment on United Auto Workers statement: In a victory for autoworkers, auto tariffs mark the beginning of the end of NAFTA and the “free trade” disaster in ~society
EgoEimi Link ParentIt should be noted that annually China installs 2.2x as many industrial robots as the US, Japan, and Germany do — combined. They also manufacture their own industrial robots and more cheaply than...It should be noted that annually China installs 2.2x as many industrial robots as the US, Japan, and Germany do — combined. They also manufacture their own industrial robots and more cheaply than we can (spec for spec). Americans have this mental image of Chinese children working barefoot in sweatshops, but that is outdated: Chinese factories are slick operations.
China has also invested a lot in vocational training and producing tons of engineering and technical talent. China graduates 10x as many engineers (1.6m in 2022) as the US does (145k in 2021). As Tim Cook said, "in the US, you could have a meeting of tooling engineers, and I'm not sure you could fill the room. In China, you could fill multiple football fields."
And indeed, automaker business leadership and the UAW both share responsibility for the American auto industry's uncompetitiveness. Business leaders lacked vision and foresight to introduce products that non-US markets actually want; the UAW actively resists efforts to transition to EVs in (rightful) fear that EV manufacturing requires far fewer workers and makes it difficult for automakers to be nimble.
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Comment on Chappell Roan - Pink Pony Club (Live from the 67th Grammy Awards, 2025) in ~music
EgoEimi Link ParentIn the past I really liked her music and listened to it on repeat, but now find her irritating to listen to and have blocked her on Spotify. She needs to pick a lane. Be political, or don’t be...In the past I really liked her music and listened to it on repeat, but now find her irritating to listen to and have blocked her on Spotify.
She needs to pick a lane. Be political, or don’t be political. Just don’t be political and then later claim to be above it.
It’s been noted many times: She was political last year and pushed the “both sides” narrative, but now she says pop stars are just too busy to be political ✨~~. I don’t think she really believes that: people are calling her out for promoting a false equivalence between a flawed party and a party that is now literally pulling dissident off streets into vans and setting up multiple Guantanamos, and now she’s trying to play dumb because she’s too busy (but apparently not too busy last year).
Her alternating between seeking attention and then complaining about attention in front of as many cameras and with as many interviewers as possible, is baffling. There are plenty of great artists who create great art and then go home and have a private life.
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Comment on Bucking US President Donald Trump tariffs, California will push to maintain global trade independently, Governor Gavin Newsom says in ~society
EgoEimi Link ParentI doubt civil war. But I do think that states' rights and defederalization—rallying issues for Republicans, historically—are about to become popular issues for Democrats.I doubt civil war. But I do think that states' rights and defederalization—rallying issues for Republicans, historically—are about to become popular issues for Democrats.
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Comment on Help me understand how half of USA is on board with the idea of creating "short term pain" in ~society
EgoEimi LinkI would argue that we have arrived at our current state because Americans are spoiled and historically haven't experienced anything approaching the true horrific depths of human suffering that...I would argue that we have arrived at our current state because Americans are spoiled and historically haven't experienced anything approaching the true horrific depths of human suffering that other nations experienced in the 20th century.
(Suffering on the collective, societal-psyche-shaping level, that is. Individual suffering is, of course, unique and individual.)
There is American ingenuity, yes. But America also enjoyed every imaginable privilege: vast resources and land, being the only industrial nation untouched by any modern war. Collectively Americans failed to appreciate their glorious inheritance.
In WW2, the US' moment of great suffering in its own narrative, of all the major parties to the war, on a per capita basis, the US suffered the fewest military casualties by far and had virtually zero civilian deaths. The darkest of America's times doesn't hold a candle to other countries' dark moments.
The Chinese, in comparison, know suffering on the civilizational level. 20 million Chinese, or 4% of their population, died in WW2. A decade later, 30 million died in the Great Leap Forward, with reports of cannibalism. A decade after that, the Cultural Revolution ushered a period of horrible total political repression — and another 1–2 million deaths.
Xi Jinping's father—a political elite—was purged in the Cultural Revolution, his sister committed suicide from persecution, and he himself had his studies interrupted and was sent to the countryside. China's current crop of leaders is from that generation that saw total upheaval, when even the elites were not spared.
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Comment on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | Season 3 teaser trailer in ~tv
EgoEimi LinkThe first 12 seconds really got me. I really hope there's an episode where the crew wakes up and finds themselves in a retro-campy TOS aesthetic alternate universe. That'd be fun.The first 12 seconds really got me. I really hope there's an episode where the crew wakes up and finds themselves in a retro-campy TOS aesthetic alternate universe. That'd be fun.
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Comment on See Donald Trump's list: More than 180 countries and territories facing reciprocal tariffs from the US in ~society
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Comment on “Critic” is a four-letter word. –Roger Ebert in ~arts
EgoEimi LinkI came across this old article by the late Roger Ebert and found it interesting. ...I came across this old article by the late Roger Ebert and found it interesting.
Many wise words have been written in defense of critics, usually by themselves. Some of the wisest were written by Brad Bird, in “Ratatouille,” a cartoon about rats. He gives this speech to Anton Ego, a food critic:
“In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations, the new needs friends… Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.”
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... It is not important to be “right” or “wrong.” It is important to know why you hold an opinion, understand how it emerged from the universe of all your opinions, and help others to form their own opinions. There is no correct answer. There is simply the correct process. “An unexamined life is not worth living.”
Too many simply absorb. They are depositories for input. They can hardly be expected to be critical of their own tastes, can they? Of course they can. It is not enough simply to be a “Cubs fan,” although I confess I am one. It is necessary to feel the philosophy, the history, and even the poetry about the activity called “baseball.” It is helpful to step outside a little, and see that sports teams are surrogates for our own desires to conquer, and expressions of our xenophobia. For some, they are even the best way ever invented to drink beer outdoors. If you are only a Cubs fan, you are a willing automaton in a business venture. Join me in being a Cubs fan, but know why you do it. What is my most fundamental reason? I am a fan because they are always the underdogs. That may be why I bought a Studebaker 30 years after the company went out of business.
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“Critic” is a four-letter word. –Roger Ebert
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Comment on Why I recommend against Brave in ~tech
EgoEimi (edited )Link ParentIndeed: browser engines are insanely complex and vast. Just look at the many, many modern web features that need to be built. Omitting any (non-experimental) feature is non-optional because it'll...Indeed: browser engines are insanely complex and vast.
Just look at the many, many modern web features that need to be built. Omitting any (non-experimental) feature is non-optional because it'll break the web experience for the user.
The first web browser was invented in 1990. Since then there have been 35 years of nonstop, intense innovation and development to catch up on. A lot of features have been deprecated, but there are still tons of legacy features to implement.
Building a layout renderer that can render modern HTML and CSS (after they have been 'rendered' by JS) into their correct appearance is a grand challenge in itself. Once that is accomplished, there is only 99.8% of the mountain left to climb.
There are only 3 serious browser engines, maybe soon to be only 2, because it'd take monumental engineering resources to create a viable competitor. And after all that effort and money, you get an engine that—at best—does exactly what the existing engines do.
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Comment on San Francisco jails are packed for the first time in decades in ~society
EgoEimi Link ParentI feel very badly whenever I see someone lying in the street here in SF. It looks a miserable existence, but it makes me wonder how much worse it might be in a shelter. I've always pondered about...I feel very badly whenever I see someone lying in the street here in SF. It looks a miserable existence, but it makes me wonder how much worse it might be in a shelter.
I've always pondered about the possibility of having 'tiers' of homeless shelters.
Decently behaved, high-functioning individuals—willing to maintain hygiene, respectful and communicative with their case workers—should be diverted to shelters that offer more privacy, privileges, and comforts.
Low-functioning individuals, however, should be separated into hyper-durable, easy-to-clean shelters designed with security and surveillance in mind — essentially prison. The other month, a shelter worker in SF got shot in the face:
It wasn’t the first time violence broke out at the facility at 833 Bryant St. According to her mother, Drakes previously expressed concerns over violent incidents, including a pit bull attack and people bringing guns into the building.
“That place has been having problems for a long time that she’s been complaining about, but nothing changes,” Denise Price Drakes told The Standard.
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“They need security, guards, metal detectors. They don’t have any of those things,” she said.
(833 Bryant St. is a modern and nice facility too with private rooms.)
A friend of mine, desperate for money, took a job with a temp agency. One of his temp jobs was cleaning rooms at an SRO that the city contracted as transitional housing or some shelter, I forget. He showed me photos he took at that job: the rooms were horrific. Trash piled up. Walls were smeared with... I do not want to imagine.
I think that the prospect of being mixed in with the general shelter population and being exposed to individuals who are violent and antisocial likely deters many from seeking shelter and then other services.
Incarcerating the worst of the worst offenders—the shelter workers know who they are—and removing them from the general homeless population would likely greatly improve the quality and thereby desirability of shelters and services. But right now, a general population shelter sounds like hell on earth.
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Comment on San Francisco jails are packed for the first time in decades in ~society
EgoEimi Link ParentProp 13 is California's original sin. It divided society into four classes: Old middle class, bought their homes before the 2000s and enjoying unsustainably low property taxes. Their children live...California has some serious public policy issues.
Prop 13 is California's original sin. It divided society into four classes:
- Old middle class, bought their homes before the 2000s and enjoying unsustainably low property taxes. Their children live at home even into adulthood and hope to inherit.
- The working poor, forever renters in shared housing or get lucky in lottery for the few subsidized homes.
- The professional class, renting their own places or share nice rentals. They're too affluent to be eligible for subsidies, but they're too poor to buy a home. They eventually move up enough in their career to buy a home or they leave California.
- The wealthy who can afford market-rate homes (and property taxes). These are professionals who are mature and successful in their careers (managerial or executive), successful entrepreneurs or early-stage startup employees who cashed out, or inherited wealth (their parents were old middle class but made smart/lucky real estate investments before/during the boom).
Everything feels like a bandaid solution slapped on Prop 13 which made the real estate market and California's economy completely illogical.
A peak national murder rate of 100 murders per 100k is inconceivable to people who live in safe countries like the US. For terror comparison: in the US, police kill (justifiably or unjustifiably combined) approx. 0.63 Black Americans per 100k Black Americans*, and that already makes Black Americans feel unsafe in public.
* Figure gotten from ~250 annual police killings of Black Americans and ~40 million Black Americans.