burkaman's recent activity
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Comment on Donald Trump nominates Fox News host and Army National Guard Major Pete Hegseth for US defense secretary in ~society
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Comment on What is happening outside the US? in ~talk
burkaman LinkAn interesting stat from https://www.ft.com/content/e8ac09ea-c300-4249-af7d-109003afb893: There's a chart with the last 80 years of global elections, and most years have a roughly even mix of...An interesting stat from https://www.ft.com/content/e8ac09ea-c300-4249-af7d-109003afb893:
Every governing party facing election in a developed country this year lost vote share, the first time this has ever happened
There's a chart with the last 80 years of global elections, and most years have a roughly even mix of incumbents winning and losing. The general theory of this article is that the entire world is unhappy because of inflation and immigration and conflict, and when people are unhappy they vote out whoever is in power.
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Comment on The Brutalist | Official trailer in ~movies
burkaman Link ParentIf anyone happens to be in Chicago you can go see it on Thursday: https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/film/the-brutalist/If anyone happens to be in Chicago you can go see it on Thursday: https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/film/the-brutalist/
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Comment on The lunar Olympic games in ~space
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech
burkaman (edited )Link ParentI think it is still a mistake to post this, because it is wrong in subtle ways that you can't discover without reading all the sources, which defeats the point of reading the AI summary in the...- Exemplary
I think it is still a mistake to post this, because it is wrong in subtle ways that you can't discover without reading all the sources, which defeats the point of reading the AI summary in the first place.
For example, look at the "Organizational Culture Overhaul" section. This section is in the present tense, communicating the idea that Samsung is currently undergoing this overhaul, and heavily implying that it's at least partly in response to their failure to capitalize on the AI boom. It cites 5 sources, but all the content really comes from this one, an article from 2021: https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2024/09/129_318975.html. I think it may have been fooled by the URL, which says 2024, but it seems that the site just re-uploaded it for some reason. The original is https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2021/11/129_318975.html. Perplexity says:
The company is moving away from its traditional hierarchical system towards a more agile and innovation-centered approach. Key changes include:
- Simplifying job rankings from seven to four career levels
But that's a bad interpretation of the source article. It actually says:
In Korea, not only Samsung but also many other companies had maintained a seniority and rank-based hierarchy, but they are focusing on establishing a horizontal organizational culture that evaluates individual employees' abilities and rewards them accordingly. Samsung fine-tuned its HR system once before in 2016, simplifying its job ranking from seven notches to four notches ― career level 1 through career level 4.
So they are augmenting the hierarchical system, not necessarily moving away from it, and the job ranking change happened in 2016. Perplexity's present-tense framing of that point is wrong.
Perplexity also often copy-pastes a fragment of a sentence from a source article, but cuts out useful information that a competent human author would have included. For example: "with SK Hynix already supplying HBM3E 8-layer products to Nvidia and planning to mass-produce HBM3E 12-layer products." The source says "SK Hynix is already supplying HBM3E 8-layer products to Nvidia and plans to mass-produce HBM3E 12-layer products in the third quarter for shipment in the fourth quarter." So when Perplexity says they are "planning to mass-produce", that actually was supposed to happen in the third quarter, so it should have already happened and they should be shipping by now. A correct summary would include the dates and/or rephrase the sentence to not say "planning".
One more example of this - Perplexity says: "This advancement has narrowed the operating profit gap between SK Hynix and Samsung to a mere 5.5 billion won in the first half of 2024." Source says: "The operating profit gap between Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix has narrowed to a mere 5.5 billion won (approximately $4.0 million) for the first half of the year." Why cut out the currency conversion? That's useful.
Two more and then I'm done.
Perplexity: "However, Samsung still faces challenges in obtaining approvals for its latest advanced HBM chips".
Source: "The first challenge for Samsung is to get its HBM chips approved by Nvidia"That is not the same usage of "challenge", Perplexity's usage implies they are already trying and it isn't going well. The source just says it's a difficult thing they'll need to do.
Perplexity: "The intensifying competition has led both companies to aggressively pursue talent acquisition and technological advancements in the HBM sector."
Source: "Samsung must now review its organizational culture and processes, Jun said — echoing previous comments about the need for fundamental change at one of Korea’s oldest companies. It’s begun laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce global headcount by thousands of jobs, Bloomberg News reported last week."
Not sure where it got the "talent acquisition" idea, it's not present in either of the cited sources and one of them directly contradicts it.
Maybe these points all seem minor, but if you are consistently reading AI news this stuff will really add up, and you will be misinformed. Also, all the quality news sources that Perplexity is relying on will either go out of business or start blocking Perplexity, so the AI summaries will gradually get worse.
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Comment on Data security help - SOC2ish in ~tech
burkaman LinkVanta and Drata are useful for preparation, but you still need an actual auditor to do the SOC2 audit. Have them bid against each other and then pick the cheaper one, as they are both good enough,...Vanta and Drata are useful for preparation, but you still need an actual auditor to do the SOC2 audit. Have them bid against each other and then pick the cheaper one, as they are both good enough, and then pick one of their partner auditors to work with. You can ask them for recommendations and they will point you towards a cheap auditor that knows how to work with their platform.
$80-100k is way too much for a small startup, you should be able to get everything done for under $40k.
Note that you'll only be able to do a Type 1 audit right away, that's a snapshot point-in-time audit. After 6 months or a year you can do a Type 2 audit where the auditor reviews your practices over that whole time period.
So you'll sign up for Vanta/Drata, probably spend a couple months getting your infrastructure in order, then you'll do a Type 1 audit. Then you maintain everything for a year and do a Type 2 audit, and then keep doing a new one of those once a year.
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Comment on JD Vance’s wife: My husband only meant to insult people who actively choose not to have kids, not people who are trying but are unsuccessful in ~society
burkaman Link ParentThey are not progressive in any meaningful way, that idea came from this article that just says they have some good benefits and don't only hire white people:...His wife supposedly also worked at a very progressive law firm until she quite just for the campaign.
They are not progressive in any meaningful way, that idea came from this article that just says they have some good benefits and don't only hire white people: https://www.mto.com/Templates/media/files/Reprints/AmLaw/Munger%20Tolles%20Did%20It%20Why%20Cant%20You.pdf. In practice though they are a normal corporate law firm who will defend anyone that pays. See their website for the cases they're most proud of : https://www.mto.com/practices-industries/practices/labor-and-employment/
Activision Blizzard in aggressively litigating California Civil Rights Department (CRD) claims of systemic sexual harassment and gender discrimination. We persuaded CRD to drop its pattern-and-practice claims of harassment, limit the period for individual claims and settle for approximately half of what comparable companies facing similar claims had paid.
Instacart in using strategic enforcement of the company’s arbitration agreement, and an anticipated change of venue motion, to obtain dismissal of a proposed class action based on misclassification claims.
Chevron, in obtaining dismissal of a suit alleging it conspired with other oil companies to raise gasoline prices.
etc.
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Comment on Kamala Harris names Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor, as running mate in ~society
burkaman Link ParentI think the party felt like they'd be forfeiting a Senate seat if they picked Kelly.I think the party felt like they'd be forfeiting a Senate seat if they picked Kelly.
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Comment on Olympic records in cost overruns in ~sports
burkaman Link ParentApparently that's how the organizers want them to say it: https://fiba3x3.basketball/en/vision.htmlApparently that's how the organizers want them to say it: https://fiba3x3.basketball/en/vision.html
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Comment on San Francisco becomes first US city to ban automated rent-fixing technology in ~society
burkaman Link ParentFYI DC has sued RealPage pretty recently: https://oag.dc.gov/release/attorney-general-schwalb-sues-realpage-residential. Maybe you can bring that up when negotiating the rent and try to get some...FYI DC has sued RealPage pretty recently: https://oag.dc.gov/release/attorney-general-schwalb-sues-realpage-residential. Maybe you can bring that up when negotiating the rent and try to get some leverage. DC also has a pretty decent rent control program, so I'd look for a controlled building if possible. It doesn't really help you when moving in for the first time but it stops them from jacking up the rent too much once you're already in.
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Comment on Washington, DC attorney general sues StubHub, alleging deceptive pricing in ~music
burkaman LinkThis is the attorney general of DC, not the whole country.This is the attorney general of DC, not the whole country.
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Comment on Brazilian rancher ordered to pay $50m for damage to Amazon in ~enviro
burkaman Link ParentYeah that's what I mean, it is technically possible to restore rainforest but it's such a complex and dense ecosystem that it would take a ridiculously long time to genuinely restore what was...Yeah that's what I mean, it is technically possible to restore rainforest but it's such a complex and dense ecosystem that it would take a ridiculously long time to genuinely restore what was lost. The trees themselves could maybe be regrown in 50-100 years, but for all the species of plants and animals to return to the 5600 hectares this guy destroyed would take centuries or millennia (see the table of estimated species per hectare here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_rainforest#Biodiversity,_flora_and_fauna). And the whole web is connected, even if we're strictly thinking in carbon terms, the land will not be as effective a carbon sink without all these plants pulling in CO2 and animals fertilizing the land and water.
Here's an article about a study of a different rainforest in Brazil: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14112-how-long-does-it-take-a-rainforest-to-regenerate/.
So I think the trees can't really be restored within the rancher's lifetime, and the full rainforest would take so long to restore that in practical terms it will never happen. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try, and of course it's good that this guy will be forced to attempt some restoration. I just think sometimes people imagine that if we plant as many trees as we cut down then we've balanced the scales, but that isn't how forests work. Even ignoring the decades it will take the new trees to grow, you just can't replace what has organically developed over thousands or millions of years.
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Comment on Brazilian rancher ordered to pay $50m for damage to Amazon in ~enviro
burkaman LinkThis is not really possible, but the judgement and the aggressive follow-through (freezing assets, preventing him from selling the operation for someone else to continue, etc.) seems really...ordered to restore the precious carbon sink.
This is not really possible, but the judgement and the aggressive follow-through (freezing assets, preventing him from selling the operation for someone else to continue, etc.) seems really positive. I don't know if the Brazilian justice system has the same problem as the US where rich people can delay punishment for a decade by repeatedly appealing, though.
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Comment on CrowdStrike outage aftershocks cause Delta to cancel over 1,000 more flights in ~transport
burkaman Link ParentI agree shareholder lawsuits would be a stretch, but I still think some people will try. I just can't imagine large customers are going to be satisfied with just getting their money back or...I agree shareholder lawsuits would be a stretch, but I still think some people will try. I just can't imagine large customers are going to be satisfied with just getting their money back or whatever additional concessions CrowdStrike is willing to volunteer, and this is such a clear case of negligence that I think some of them will try to sue. This was not an unavoidable type of bug, there are so many obvious, industry-standard steps that would have prevented this catastrophic outage that it really is shocking such a large company let it happen.
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Comment on CrowdStrike outage aftershocks cause Delta to cancel over 1,000 more flights in ~transport
burkaman Link ParentSLAs cover outages as you say, but they typically don't cover "you made every single computer my company owns simultaneously unusable." When AWS goes down, your employees can still use their...SLAs cover outages as you say, but they typically don't cover "you made every single computer my company owns simultaneously unusable." When AWS goes down, your employees can still use their computers to talk to each other and deal with the problem. That's why I think they'll be sued, because this incident goes far beyond a standard service outage.
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Comment on CrowdStrike outage aftershocks cause Delta to cancel over 1,000 more flights in ~transport
burkaman Link ParentFinancial damages to airlines and other companies affected by their negligence, and CrowdStrike shareholders will also probably try to sue them for their own losses as the stock price plunges.Financial damages to airlines and other companies affected by their negligence, and CrowdStrike shareholders will also probably try to sue them for their own losses as the stock price plunges.
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Comment on CrowdStrike outage aftershocks cause Delta to cancel over 1,000 more flights in ~transport
burkaman LinkI'm just waiting for CrowdStrike to get sued out of existence, I'm surprised it hasn't already started yet.I'm just waiting for CrowdStrike to get sued out of existence, I'm surprised it hasn't already started yet.
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Comment on Boeing agrees to plead guilty to felony in deal with US Justice Department in ~transport
burkaman (edited )Link ParentFrom the court filing page 4: The referenced law says: So the government has to prove that Boeing made money as a result of committing this crime, and is then allowed to fine them up to twice that...- Exemplary
From the court filing page 4:
The Government will allege and Boeing will agree on the amount the Company derived in pecuniary gain from the offense of conviction ($243.6 million), thereby increasing the statutory maximum fine to twice that amount, pursuant to the Alternative Fine Act, 18 U.S.C. 3571 (d), and consistent with the Government's burden to allege and prove beyond a reasonable doubt such pecuniary gain (or loss caused), as provided by Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), and Southern Union co. v. United States, 567 U.S. 343 (2012). Thus, Boeing will be subject to the maximum criminal fine for the charged offense, which is twice the Company's proven pecuniary gain from the offense, that is, $487.2 million. Pursuant to Paragraph 11 of the DPA, the new plea agreement will recommend that when imposing the sentence, the Court credit the $243.6 million criminal monetary penalty Boeing previously paid pursuant to the DPA, with the net result being that Boeing will have to pay another $243.6 million fine.
The referenced law says:
If any person derives pecuniary gain from the offense, or if the offense results in pecuniary loss to a person other than the defendant, the defendant may be fined not more than the greater of twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss, unless imposition of a fine under this subsection would unduly complicate or prolong the sentencing process.
So the government has to prove that Boeing made money as a result of committing this crime, and is then allowed to fine them up to twice that amount. The law seems fair to me, if someone makes $x from committing a crime and gets penalized double that amount, that should be an effective deterrent. I do know that triple (treble) damages tends to be a standard in US law, so I don't know why it's double here rather than triple.
If the fine is too low here (and I agree that it is) it would be because the government didn't push hard enough to prove greater financial gain.
This took me a while to figure out and I would say it is poor reporting that none of these articles clarify that the "maximum" fine is a case-specific determination. Also very annoying that NPR is the only one that links to the actual court filing.
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Comment on Neutrinos: The inscrutable “ghost particles” driving scientists crazy in ~science
burkaman Link ParentThere's no contradiction, the author describes how beta decay was first observed, which was before anybody had "asked for or predicted the existence of neutrinos". Then: Then, Pauli theorizes the...There's no contradiction, the author describes how beta decay was first observed, which was before anybody had "asked for or predicted the existence of neutrinos". Then:
There was just one small problem: Nothing added up. The electrons never came out of the nucleus with the same energy; it was a little different every time. Some physicists argued that our conceptions of the conservation of energy only held on average, but that didn’t feel so good to say out loud, so others argued that perhaps there was another, hidden particle participating in the transformations. Something, they argued, had to sap energy away from the electron in a random way to explain this.
Then, Pauli theorizes the neutrino:
Eventually, that little particle got a name, the neutrino, an Italian-ish word meaning “little neutral one.”
Then in 1956, we observe them:
But see them we did (although it took 25 years)
The sentence that's puzzling you is intended to communicate that nobody predicted neutrinos until after we had observed their effects and been very confused for a long time.
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Comment on New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s decision to suspend congestion pricing is absurd in ~transport
burkaman Link ParentNo, her decision is terrible politically as well. The decision is to go ahead with congestion pricing as planned, or raise business taxes across the entire state to raise the billion dollars that...No, her decision is terrible politically as well. The decision is to go ahead with congestion pricing as planned, or raise business taxes across the entire state to raise the billion dollars that would have come from congestion pricing. They can't do neither.
Not only will raising taxes be even less popular than congestion pricing, because it will affect a much larger portion of the state, but they don't even have time to do it because the legislative session ended just days after she made her surprise announcement. Now there is a billion dollar hole in the budget that absolutely must be filled, and her plan is to raise taxes on everyone.
If she had suspended congestion pricing like a year before it was suppose to take effect, fine, you could argue that it's a pragmatic political decision. This close to the deadline, it's terrible politically, terrible environmentally, terrible economically, just a disaster all around.
As a reminder, here's a speech Hochul gave just two weeks before she cancelled congestion pricing explaining why it's a good idea: https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/photos-remarks-prepared-governor-hochul-delivers-keynote-remarks-global-economic-summit.
It is explicitly supposed to be a civilian. Arguably Hegseth is actually too connected to the military. Congress said soon after the office was established:
They should have experience running a large organization though. Most of Hegseth's professional experience seems to be getting paid to tell people his opinions, which I consider to be the easiest job on the planet.