gary's recent activity
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Comment on Ilhan Omar says she isn’t a multimillionaire, blames accounting error in ~society
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Comment on Ilhan Omar says she isn’t a multimillionaire, blames accounting error in ~society
gary LinkI'm posting this because I'm flabbergasted at the attempted explanation. I didn't care when the original disclosure came out nor did I care that she was amending it until I read this.. How many of...I'm posting this because I'm flabbergasted at the attempted explanation. I didn't care when the original disclosure came out nor did I care that she was amending it until I read this.. How many of us have thought we had $6-$30 million in the bank when we really only had $90k? $90k would be if you owned a new car, had 401k that you contributed to a bit on-and-off, and a rainy day fund. That's roughly the magnitude of $90k.
The amount of income her husband's businesses are bringing in, presumably some salary for him, and her own salary likely puts their assets above $90k unless they're big spenders. I think Omar just brought more scrutiny on her finances.
An Omar disclosure filed last year showed she and her husband held assets of between $6 million and $30 million, a massive rise in wealth from her previous annual filing. That jump triggered questions among Republicans eager to scrutinize a critic of the president.
An amended filing viewed by The Wall Street Journal shows the couple’s assets to be just $18,004 to $95,000. The forms don’t require exact values, only broad ranges.
Aides said that Omar looked at the form before it was filed in 2025, but that the error didn’t jump off the page for her because she isn’t involved with her husband’s businesses and she trusted the accuracy of the accountant who provided her husband’s figures.
Omar’s amended filing shows between $102,503 and $1,005,200 in 2024 income from the assets she and her husband own. Documentation attached to the lawyer’s letter shows $213,200 in distributions to her husband from his venture-capital management firm in 2024 and $3,000 from the winery.
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Ilhan Omar says she isn’t a multimillionaire, blames accounting error
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Comment on How are we all feeling about piracy these days? in ~movies
gary Link ParentiTunes and Amazon both have DRM-free music and a far wider selection. I Googled the movie, looked at the providers, saw Google and Apple as options to rent the movie for $3.99. It doesn't seem...I want DRM-free music, I buy from Bandcamp. If it's not there...fuck it
iTunes and Amazon both have DRM-free music and a far wider selection.
I won't lie and say that I'd be willing to pay $15 to watch Fast Times in Ridgmont High one time, or to track down the app of the week it can be played on. I'll click three buttons, watch it,and move on with my life.
I Googled the movie, looked at the providers, saw Google and Apple as options to rent the movie for $3.99. It doesn't seem that much slower than piracy. This doesn't seem like a service problem at this point. Piracy is just so easy today and it has the price benefit that if someone knows how to pirate, I think it's quite hard for a legitimate business to compete.
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Comment on The Jackbox Party Essentials available on Netflix in ~games
gary Link ParentPossibly a can of worms with distributing games through their own app rather than the PS Store. Similar to how Apple gets skewered for not allowing third party "stores". Consoles have maintained...Possibly a can of worms with distributing games through their own app rather than the PS Store. Similar to how Apple gets skewered for not allowing third party "stores". Consoles have maintained the same locks, but there's little appetite to force them to open up.
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Comment on US begins blockade in Strait of Hormuz in ~society
gary Link ParentHere's a different article: What do we know about sea mines in and around the Strait of Hormuz? Iran themselves claim the Strait is mined. And any bad PR from indiscriminate mining should be...Here's a different article: What do we know about sea mines in and around the Strait of Hormuz?
In a statement, the IRGC said all vessels must use the new map for navigation due to “the likelihood of the presence of various types of anti-ship mines in the main traffic zone”.
Iran themselves claim the Strait is mined. And any bad PR from indiscriminate mining should be outweighed by intentional targeting of ships trying to transit, but the nature of this war and our current President means that people are willing to overlook Iran's flaws in a way I couldn't have believed before. Trump truly is a terrible statesman to have made Iran win the PR war.
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Comment on US begins blockade in Strait of Hormuz in ~society
gary Link Parent‘Tehran’s tollbooth’: a visual guide to how a trickle of ships still passes through strait of Hormuz They mined the Strait selectively and force ships to move in a path that puts them at even...‘Tehran’s tollbooth’: a visual guide to how a trickle of ships still passes through strait of Hormuz
They mined the Strait selectively and force ships to move in a path that puts them at even higher risk of being shot at.
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Comment on US begins blockade in Strait of Hormuz in ~society
gary Link ParentThis doesn't directly open the Strait, but it stops Iran from gaining a benefit from it. Currently, Iran can allow its own ships, ships of allies, and ships that pay Iran to pass through. Removing...This doesn't directly open the Strait, but it stops Iran from gaining a benefit from it. Currently, Iran can allow its own ships, ships of allies, and ships that pay Iran to pass through. Removing oil revenues from Iran is a big deal.
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Comment on US begins blockade in Strait of Hormuz in ~society
gary LinkI'm not really sure why the common reaction on social media is to meme this. Arguably, this is the most logical decision that's been made in this war yet. Allowing Iran to selectively blockade and...I'm not really sure why the common reaction on social media is to meme this. Arguably, this is the most logical decision that's been made in this war yet. Allowing Iran to selectively blockade and charge tolls would change the entire Middle East dynamic with ramifications for any other natural waterway. Neighboring countries are against that. Europe is against that. You'll note that Europe hasn't actually proposed a solution despite the big meeting of non-US countries to discuss one lol. It's because there is no easy solution, so neutering Iran's advantage is at least one avenue that makes sense.
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Comment on US and Iran agree to provisional ceasefire with Tehran saying it will reopen Strait of Hormuz in ~society
gary LinkSource, paywalled About a dozen a day is already the number of ships getting through the Strait over the last couple of weeks, so it sounds like Iran is saying there's a change, but there's not...Iran told mediators it would limit the number of ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz to around a dozen a day and charge tolls under the cease-fire struck by President Trump, showing Tehran plans to tighten its grip on the world’s most important energy-shipping lane.
About a dozen a day is already the number of ships getting through the Strait over the last couple of weeks, so it sounds like Iran is saying there's a change, but there's not actually any meaningful change on their end regarding the Strait. It was a PR move. Reports also indicate that there was no ceasing of attacks against Gulf countries.
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Comment on Nearly half of the US data centers planned for 2026 are getting delayed or canceled because nobody stockpiled enough transformers and circuit breakers in ~tech
gary Link ParentThe 1980 Toyota Corolla has impressive numbers because it's operating under different guidelines for how to estimate MPG from the EPA. Those guidelines changed in 1984 and 2008. If they were...The 1980 Toyota Corolla has impressive numbers because it's operating under different guidelines for how to estimate MPG from the EPA. Those guidelines changed in 1984 and 2008. If they were operating under today's standards, they'd be much lower because we assume now that drivers will use AC and drive faster.
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Comment on Welcome to a multidimensional economic disaster - the AI boom wasn’t built for the polycrisis in ~tech
gary LinkMy problem with this is that we've always been bad at forecasting the next economic crisis. That so many people are converging on this makes me think that the opposite is going to happen.My problem with this is that we've always been bad at forecasting the next economic crisis. That so many people are converging on this makes me think that the opposite is going to happen.
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Comment on I think Tildes moderators and admins may need to make a decision regarding how to handle Harry Potter related posts in ~tildes
gary LinkIf this were in person and someone brought up JK Rowling once or twice, cool. If someone kept it up after that, they'd probably not be invited to future discussions. As a site, maybe just ban...If this were in person and someone brought up JK Rowling once or twice, cool. If someone kept it up after that, they'd probably not be invited to future discussions. As a site, maybe just ban specific topics outright rather than pretending like people can freely discuss. Either that or ask participants to be respectful: you said your piece and constantly repeating it past a certain point is not respectful to your fellow members.
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Comment on Making React ProseMirror really, really fast in ~comp
gary Link ParentAmazing write-up. I'm excited to go back and read it in depth. I noticed on Mac (M2 Max) Safari, they feel equally fast yet slightly stuttery to me. Like very slightly stuttery to the point most...Amazing write-up. I'm excited to go back and read it in depth. I noticed on Mac (M2 Max) Safari, they feel equally fast yet slightly stuttery to me. Like very slightly stuttery to the point most wouldn't perceive it. I suspect an intentional limitation for battery reasons but that the machine is so fast it doesn't seem slow overall. Mac Chrome, both feel great and better than Safari. iOS Safari I instantly feel that the memoized editor is far better.
An interesting test might be power consumption if it were feasible to measure. Anyway, fantastic post again.
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Comment on Britain mandates heat pumps and solar panels in new homes from 2028 in ~enviro
gary Link ParentHeat pumps cost more than using natural gas. That equation may have changed in recent years, but it's highly dependent on location. Don't worry; if using heat pumps saved money, people would ask...Heat pumps cost more than using natural gas. That equation may have changed in recent years, but it's highly dependent on location. Don't worry; if using heat pumps saved money, people would ask for it in new builds. That they didn't for decades indicated that the cost was too high.
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Comment on The Treasury just declared the US insolvent. The media missed it. in ~society
gary Link ParentWe're not close to $215B, but there's no end in sight either.The Pentagon has told lawmakers the war cost the US $11.3bn in the first week alone. The conflict will enter its fourth week on Saturday.
We're not close to $215B, but there's no end in sight either.
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Comment on That one study that proves developers using AI are deluded in ~tech
gary LinkLLM effectiveness varies so much based on model and usage that I'm not surprised there's a lot of doubters. I'm not reaching for the stars, so I notice an improvement easier. I don't set an agent...LLM effectiveness varies so much based on model and usage that I'm not surprised there's a lot of doubters. I'm not reaching for the stars, so I notice an improvement easier. I don't set an agent loose to develop at a high speed that I can't review. I treat my agent like it's a pair programmer.
It writes in a logical, commit-sized chunk ("implement a new endpoint that takes these parameters", "call the database and get these results from a query built on those parameters", "add a Prometheus counter for when we run into this error"). I review the commit and then assign the next task. In between assigning the tasks, I re-review requirements, test code, reply to messages in Slack, whatever. This frees me up mentally so much and is exactly the same development style I had before but now I don't need to deal with the minutiae around coding. I don't need to be checking the standard naming of our Prometheus counters; it just reads from the repo. The agent compiles, fixes any errors, and runs tests, so I don't need to do that either until the very end.
In this way, since it's the same development style, I can confidently say that it's sped me up. I can also say I understand every single line of code that I eventually merge. I'm sure that I'll eventually lean into more hands-off usage of LLMs as they get better and as I learn how to utilize them properly, but I can confidently state that most programmers can do what I'm doing since it's the same paradigm we already had (pair programming) except that it costs magnitudes less.
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Comment on BYD claims five-minute electric vehicle charging with new battery tech in ~transport
gary Link ParentAssuming that battery swapping is completely figured out on the technical side (standardized battery bays, stocking enough of the same capacity batteries), the challenge would be economical. Most...Assuming that battery swapping is completely figured out on the technical side (standardized battery bays, stocking enough of the same capacity batteries), the challenge would be economical. Most people today buy EVs because they want to save money, so they'd rather charge at home. The cost of swapping a battery must be low enough that people are willing to pay the premium on top of a charged battery to get a swap.
Another challenge is that batteries wear down. Any swapping business would have to decide how to fairly charge a customer that swapped their 80% health battery for a 90% health one. Do they charge $2k on top of that to account for depreciation cost? Do they force the customer to return later to the same station to get their battery swapped back for the original? Not impossible problems to solve, but the friction means that adoption would be low versus fast charging stations.
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Comment on What do you think about putting your driver's license in your digital wallet? in ~tech
gary Link ParentI agree that if my car has exploded, I don't care that there was some grease in there that also lit on fire. My ID has my name, my address, my height, my eye color, and a photo of me. Every bit of...I agree that if my car has exploded, I don't care that there was some grease in there that also lit on fire.
My ID has my name, my address, my height, my eye color, and a photo of me. Every bit of information there exists in some form or another through data you can find on the rest of the phone. The only thing that's not present would be the 12 digit identification number that is practically useless unless you're a cop looking up my record. Against the backdrop of my entire life savings (banking apps?), those 12 digits mean squat.
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Comment on What do you think about putting your driver's license in your digital wallet? in ~tech
gary Link ParentIt was meant to be a counter argument. There's no use worrying about a burglar tracking mud into the house. Same thought process: if my phone is not secure or I cannot trust my OS-provider, my ID...It was meant to be a counter argument. There's no use worrying about a burglar tracking mud into the house. Same thought process: if my phone is not secure or I cannot trust my OS-provider, my ID is the least amount of information worth worrying about. Biometrics, passwords, browsing history, messages, etc. In comparison, an ID is composed of very little information of which little is that secret.
A business that's paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars to an owner with ~33% equity can't be worth nothing. It just seems too improbable. A congressperson and a venture capital firm owner together are worth less than my parents' home? My parents are lower class.