brews_hairy_cats's recent activity
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Comment on How Europe is gearing up to follow Australia's teen social media ban in ~tech
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How Europe is gearing up to follow Australia's teen social media ban
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Comment on China’s growth is coming at the rest of the world’s expense in ~society
brews_hairy_cats LinkWho has contributed more to the rest of the world’s growth this year: China or the United States?
The answer is the U.S., and it isn’t even close. Even as the U.S. rolls out tariffs, its imports are up 10% so far this year from a year earlier. And as China moralizes against protectionism, its imports are down 3%, in dollar terms.
A recent report by economists at Goldman Sachs starkly laid this out. In the past, they wrote, 1% more output in China would raise the rest of the world’s output by 0.2% as it pulled in imports.
In their new forecast, the Goldman team has concluded that the relationship has turned negative. China’s growth, they write, is being driven by its “leadership’s determination and capability to further advance manufacturing competitiveness and boost exports.”
This is positive for other countries insofar as cheaper Chinese goods boost purchasing power. But that benefit is more than offset by the hit to their manufacturing sectors from Chinese competition. The upshot is that Goldman sees China growing about 0.6 percentage point a year faster over the next few years, but that will reduce the rest of the world’s growth by 0.1 point a year.
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China’s growth is coming at the rest of the world’s expense
7 votes -
Comment on EU lawmakers agree to ban Russian gas imports by 2027 in ~society
brews_hairy_cats LinkThe ban doesn't include Russian oil, which the EU lawmakers say they're working onThe European Union will ban Russian gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from entering the bloc by the end of 2026 and mid-2027 but with exceptions for Hungary and Slovakia, which will be allowed to tap Moscow’s gas in case of supply disruption, EU co-legislators agreed on Tuesday evening.
EU data reveals that the bloc's dependence on Moscow for gas fell from 45% before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine to 13% in the first half of 2025. Yet despite the drastic cut, Russian gas imports still totalled €10 billion. Belgium, France, and Spain were among the member states still receiving Russian LNG via transhipments.
The Parliament was opposed to exemptions for landlocked countries, but it ultimately conceded them to the Council.
Still, Hungary and Slovakia are planning to challenge the law once it's adopted.
The prime ministers of Hungary and Slovakia, Viktor Orbán and Robert Fico, have both taken a more sympathetic approach toward the Kremlin than other EU leaders.
The ban doesn't include Russian oil, which the EU lawmakers say they're working on
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EU lawmakers agree to ban Russian gas imports by 2027
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Comment on Humble Choice - December 2025 in ~games
brews_hairy_cats Link ParentI'm glad you bumped up this post! Nine Sols is on my wishlist, I like the art style, and didn't know about it having a Hollow Knight like status. The Yakuza game and Streets of Rage also look like...I'm glad you bumped up this post! Nine Sols is on my wishlist, I like the art style, and didn't know about it having a Hollow Knight like status. The Yakuza game and Streets of Rage also look like great deals here, even though I haven't played Yakuza in quite a while. I liked River City Girls, so Streets of Rage should be fun too
There's three more games with high Steam scores, I think I'll subscribe for this month!
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Comment on Volcanic eruption may have triggered Europe's deadly Black Death plague in ~enviro
brews_hairy_cats LinkUnder this scenario, the ash and gases from a volcanic eruption caused extreme drops in temperature and led to poor harvests.
To avert famine, populous Italian city states were forced to import grain from areas around the Black Sea - bringing plague-carrying fleas that carried the disease to Europe as well.
This "perfect storm" of a climate shock, famine and trade offers a reminder of how diseases can emerge and spread in a globalised and warmer world, according to experts.
"Although the coincidence of factors that contributed to the Black Death seems rare, the probability of zoonotic diseases emerging under climate change and translating into pandemics is likely to increase in a globalised world," said Dr Ulf Büntgen of the University of Cambridge.
He added: "This is especially relevant given our recent experiences with Covid-19."
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Volcanic eruption may have triggered Europe's deadly Black Death plague
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Comment on RAM is so expensive, Samsung won’t even sell it to Samsung in ~tech
brews_hairy_cats LinkWord is, it's because OpenAI, the ChatGPT company, bought 40% of the world's RAM raw materials capacity for a period of time Related, Crucial is shutting down — because Micron wants to sell its...Samsung subsidiaries are, naturally, going to look to Samsung Semiconductor first when they need parts. Such was reportedly the case for Samsung Electronics, in search of memory supplies for its newest smartphones as the company ramps up production for 2026 flagship designs. But with so much RAM hardware going into new “AI” data centers—and those companies willing to pay top dollar for their hardware—memory manufacturers like Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron are prioritizing data center suppliers to maximize profits.
The end result, according to a report from SE Daily spotted by SamMobile, is that Samsung Semiconductor rejected the original order for smartphone DRAM chips from Samsung Electronics’ Mobile Experience division. The smartphone manufacturing arm of the company had hoped to nail down pricing and supply for another year. But reports say that due to “chipflation,” the phone-making division must renegotiate quarterly, with a long-term supply deal rejected by its corporate sibling. A short-term deal, with higher prices, was reportedly hammered out.
Assuming that this information is accurate—and to be clear, we can’t independently confirm it—consumers will see prices rise for Samsung phones and other mobile hardware.
Word is, it's because OpenAI, the ChatGPT company, bought 40% of the world's RAM raw materials capacity for a period of time
Related, Crucial is shutting down — because Micron wants to sell its RAM and SSDs to AI companies instead
I don't think I like this
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RAM is so expensive, Samsung won’t even sell it to Samsung
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Comment on ‘There is no Mamdani effect’: Manhattan luxury home sales surge after mayoral election, undercutting predictions of doom and escape to Florida in ~society
brews_hairy_cats LinkOlshan Realty similarly noted an uptick in Manhattan luxury buyers. In its most recent market report, the firm said the 17 contracts signed in the last week of November for Manhattan homes over $4 million bested its 10-year Thanksgiving week average. Compared with October’s luxury sales totaling 115, November’s sales increased more than 31% to 151 properties, according to the firm.
The Big Apple’s real estate boom bucks the narrative from just a few months ago, when some of New York’s elite were preparing to pack their bags should democratic socialist Mamdani become the next mayor. Mamdani has advocated for increased eviction protections and rent freezes, as well as for a 2% income tax surcharge for those in the city earning more than $1 million a year.
Mamdani’s shock primary win in June coincided with some real estate agents in Westchester, the suburb just north of the city, reporting an influx of interest in the area, with Zach and Heather Harrison of the Harrison Team at Compass, telling Realtor.com they saw “a spike in Manhattan residents reaching out about suburban properties.”
Other real-estate leaders, however, argued that the data says differently.
“There is no Mamdani effect,” Donna Olshan, president and founder of Olshan Realty, told Bloomberg. “The idea that people would flee New York was overblown. The numbers just aren’t bearing that out.”
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‘There is no Mamdani effect’: Manhattan luxury home sales surge after mayoral election, undercutting predictions of doom and escape to Florida
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Comment on Why are 38 percent of Stanford students saying they're disabled? in ~life
brews_hairy_cats LinkThe professors Horowitz interviewed largely back up this theory. "You hear 'students with disabilities' and it's not kids in wheelchairs," one professor told Horowitch. "It's just not. It's rich kids getting extra time on tests." Talented students get to college, start struggling, and run for a diagnosis to avoid bad grades. Ironically, the very schools that cognitively challenged students are most likely to attend—community colleges—have far lower rates of disabled students, with only three to four percent of such students getting accommodations.
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Why are 38 percent of Stanford students saying they're disabled?
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Comment on The DoorDash problem: How AI browsers are a huge threat to Amazon in ~tech
brews_hairy_cats LinkSome of the tech service companies interviewed here are taking a wait and see attitude about AI agents doing shopping for their customers, but then Amazon and a few other big tech companies are...So what, exactly, is the DoorDash problem? Briefly, it’s what happens when an AI interface gets between a service provider, like DoorDash, and you, who might send an AI to go order a sandwich from the internet instead of using apps and websites yourself.
That would mean things like user reviews, ads, loyalty programs, upsells, and partnerships would all go away — AI agents don’t care about those things, after all, and DoorDash would just become a commodity provider of sandwiches and lose out on all additional kinds of money you can make when real people open your app or visit your website.
Some of the tech service companies interviewed here are taking a wait and see attitude about AI agents doing shopping for their customers, but then Amazon and a few other big tech companies are going straight for lawsuits against the AI browsers
I don't personally know or care much about AI browsers, as I'm capable of ordering through an app myself, but it could become a thing eventually, as some companies fear, and others don't. I found this behind the scenes and future-thinking line of questioning really interesting
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The DoorDash problem: How AI browsers are a huge threat to Amazon
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Comment on AI stocks lost more than $820 billion this week in ~finance
brews_hairy_cats LinkThe S&P 500 posted a loss of 1.6% this week. The broad-based index broke its streak of three weeks of gains.
For the year, the Nasdaq and S&P are still holding on to substantial double-digit gains.
Markets have been led lower primarily by companies connected to the artificial intelligence boom. Collectively, the drop this week in shares of Microsoft, Nvidia, AMD, Palantir, Oracle and Instagram owner Meta Platforms has erased more than $820 billion of market value.
Nvidia declined 7%, while Oracle, which provides cloud computing services for AI software developers, dropped 8.8%, as did chipmaker AMD. Meta and Microsoft tumbled around 4% this week.
Super Micro Computer, which sells servers and equipment that cloud computing providers use for AI, plunged 23% this week and was the worst performing stock in the S&P 500 for the five-day frame.
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AI stocks lost more than $820 billion this week
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Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of November 2 in ~games
brews_hairy_cats LinkThe Humble Indie Fears Bundle is still going until November 20, thanks to @phoenixrises for posting it last week! $13 for 13 games I played Mouthwashing, expecting a silly goofy game, and what I...The Humble Indie Fears Bundle is still going until November 20, thanks to @phoenixrises for posting it last week! $13 for 13 games
I played Mouthwashing, expecting a silly goofy game, and what I got was... it was uncomfortable, spooky af, but I liked it! It's like four hours long, and it gripped me all the way through! I liked the relatively minimalist dialogue, it felt like watching a movie unfold, really well done
The ten apps getting banned for under-16's in Australia are: