gary's recent activity
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Comment on Woman who dated US Senate candidate Graham Platner says he sexually assaulted her in ~society
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Comment on Woman who dated US Senate candidate Graham Platner says he sexually assaulted her in ~society
gary Link ParentI agree with everything you said except the part about loud voices. It wasn't just loud voices that insisted that he was great, which would imply that loud voices were the predominant factor in...I agree with everything you said except the part about loud voices. It wasn't just loud voices that insisted that he was great, which would imply that loud voices were the predominant factor in his success. Apparently, he not only overwhelmingly won the primary, but he also had the most votes a Democrat had ever had in a Maine primary. The people liked him in spite of all his failings and would have liked him regardless of loud voices.
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Comment on European Parliament achieves upgrade to air passenger rights in ~transport
gary Link ParentRyanair is able to offer cheap prices because they do things like force people to use their app, which leads to higher conversion rates in some higher margin product later. The removal of this...Ryanair is able to offer cheap prices because they do things like force people to use their app, which leads to higher conversion rates in some higher margin product later. The removal of this means less conversion there, which ultimately leads to higher prices for the average ticket on Ryanair in the long run. Sometimes, it's good to allow companies to offer these kinds of experiences even if they're shitty because it results in more consumer choice in airline experiences (trade shitty experience for cheap ticket) overall, even if it results in fewer consumer choices in airline experiences for you specifically because you don't want to install their app.
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Comment on There is no reason to buy another PlayStation or Xbox in ~games
gary LinkWhen the PS4 and the PS5 launched, their performance-to-price ratio were really good though. I remember thinking at the time that I couldn't have built a competitive PC for the same price. Sony...When the PS4 and the PS5 launched, their performance-to-price ratio were really good though. I remember thinking at the time that I couldn't have built a competitive PC for the same price. Sony has scales of economy and they subsidize consoles and make up for it via games. I think that strategy will remain popular.
Steam Big Picture mode has also been mentioned a few times. I love Steam and the UI is better than PS or Xbox IMO, but it's still not a perfect console experience. Sometimes a Windows nag window will grab focus and ask for me to enable a Microsoft cloud account. Or Dragon Quest XI S launches a separate window that Steam won't automatically switch to focus on. Both cases necessitated I put the controller down, find my keyboard, then alt-tab to the correct window. It works 95% of the time, but the normies want their console to work 100% of the time.
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Comment on Fines doubled as teens outsmart Australia's world-first social media ban in ~tech
gary Link ParentCentralization of the internet caused it. With most users congregating onto a few platforms, there's only about 10 or fewer companies that governments need to target in order to reach the vast...Centralization of the internet caused it. With most users congregating onto a few platforms, there's only about 10 or fewer companies that governments need to target in order to reach the vast majority of users. Large tech companies are also very unpopular, causing people who would normally be against government surveillance to stay quiet for fear of looking like they're defending tech companies.
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Comment on Physical disc production ending in January 2028 for new games releasing on PlayStation consoles in ~games
gary Link ParentThat implies unintentional, but Sony owned Funimation, owned Crunchyroll, then merged Funimation into Crunchyroll and removed purchased Funimation movies from users that had purchased them. They...The movie thing was a legal fumble by Sony
That implies unintentional, but Sony owned Funimation, owned Crunchyroll, then merged Funimation into Crunchyroll and removed purchased Funimation movies from users that had purchased them. They don't get the presumption of innocence here. Sony is also a movie distributor, so they know better than most digital movie retailers how movie rights work. Apple doesn't have this problem. Vudu doesn't have this problem. One or two movies might disappear, but there's never been a report from Apple or Vudu that an entire studio's catalog just disappeared one day from a customer's library.
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Comment on Consequences of advertising and enshittification on the Internet in ~tech
gary Link ParentHence, the latter is price sensitive ("This money is better spent on milk for my children") and less averse to advertising ("seeing ads is better than not having milk for my children"). The term...Hence, the latter is price sensitive ("This money is better spent on milk for my children") and less averse to advertising ("seeing ads is better than not having milk for my children"). The term itself is useful and doesn't come with a moralistic slant to it. If you want to avoid useful terms because some terms are more likely to apply to some socioeconomic classes than others, then we will quickly lose the ability to use descriptions. Propose an alternative that isn't susceptible to this, I guess.
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Comment on Consequences of advertising and enshittification on the Internet in ~tech
gary (edited )Link ParentIt's not class bias. Advertising-averse means "given my options, I choose the ad-supported solution over paying or not consuming at all". You're just defining exactly what "advertising-averse"...It's not class bias. Advertising-averse means "given my options, I choose the ad-supported solution over paying or not consuming at all". You're just defining exactly what "advertising-averse" means.
Edit: alternatively, we need a different term to describe a willingness to trade advertising viewing for money. Someone can be more or less $TERM than another person (and it might be financially related, but outside of the scope of $TERM to describe).
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Comment on Physical disc production ending in January 2028 for new games releasing on PlayStation consoles in ~games
gary Link ParentBingo. Criminally overlooked in this thread. The sentiment among the 4K Blu-Ray folks is that this is the last generation of discs. Each time a new format was introduced, it was expensive to bring...Bingo. Criminally overlooked in this thread. The sentiment among the 4K Blu-Ray folks is that this is the last generation of discs. Each time a new format was introduced, it was expensive to bring to market and user adoption took a long time. The UX of loading a disc is less accepted today. The path forward would either be flash storage (stupidly expensive), digital, or digital with a physical key for validation like the Switch 2.
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Comment on Apple announces significant price increases for MacBooks, iPads, more in ~tech
gary Link ParentAh yeah, it's rough in some countries. Apple likes to base their prices in USD and then set their foreign prices accordingly and the yen has gotten very weak. Sadly the best way to buy Apple...Ah yeah, it's rough in some countries. Apple likes to base their prices in USD and then set their foreign prices accordingly and the yen has gotten very weak. Sadly the best way to buy Apple products these days is to have an American friend visit.
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Comment on Apple announces significant price increases for MacBooks, iPads, more in ~tech
gary Link ParentThe MacBook Neo was released this year for $500 if you work in education. The MacBook Air had been at the $1000 price for a base model for a long time, so with inflation it had become cheaper than...The MacBook Neo was released this year for $500 if you work in education. The MacBook Air had been at the $1000 price for a base model for a long time, so with inflation it had become cheaper than any MacBook you could have bought 15 years ago. They also frequently go on sale these days in the US. MacBooks aren't the cheapest option, but they're not expensive either. Before the price increased, that is.
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Comment on The global fertility crisis is worse than you think in ~society
gary Link ParentMy grandma's incapable of doing any chores around the house. Even if she could fold her own laundry (she can't), you're handwaving away quite a lot by proxying work to just hours of effort spent....My grandma's incapable of doing any chores around the house. Even if she could fold her own laundry (she can't), you're handwaving away quite a lot by proxying work to just hours of effort spent. An hour of me folding laundry brings about less economic use than an hour on a construction site. Money is an imperfect proxy, but is generally a better proxy than time. Since money is a store-of-value, it's a better way to measure economic impact than hours. Furthermore, a senior citizen spending 2 hours of their effort is not the same as a young adult spending 2 hours of effort as efficiency at a job also matters.
And if she actually needs 10 exclusive hours of work to be taken care of (which sounds almost impossible) there is still 328 hours left in the pool.
It's not a strict 10 hours of time, but the family member that's currently on rotation taking care of my grandma can't exactly spend the time in-between tasks picking up another job. The opportunity cost is 10 hours, even if the actual work itself is not.
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Comment on The global fertility crisis is worse than you think in ~society
gary Link ParentWoof, 80-100 year olds will have to put in 2 hours/day on average? That's a rough society you're imagining. My ~92 year old grandma is incapable of putting in any hours a day of work and probably...Woof, 80-100 year olds will have to put in 2 hours/day on average? That's a rough society you're imagining. My ~92 year old grandma is incapable of putting in any hours a day of work and probably generates ~10 hours of work a day as she had a stroke and now requires constant supervision. Are you accounting for net negative work hours for some cohorts of people?
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Comment on SpaceX stock tumbles 23% from its high as average investor sees gains wiped out in ~finance
gary Link ParentI think what's confusing is you keep saying 6 months, which is the typical period for insiders (e.g. employees of the IPO'd company), but not typical for retail investors. Even in your link, it...I think what's confusing is you keep saying 6 months, which is the typical period for insiders (e.g. employees of the IPO'd company), but not typical for retail investors. Even in your link, it says that the brokers that added their own restrictions did it for 15-30 days. Some brokers had no restrictions at all. The original statement that you wrote was
Retailers were mandated to hold for six months but it appears they're waiving that requirement.
Which from your link states there is no waiver. It's just that brokers are saying "it'd be really great if you don't sell IPO stock shortly after IPO, but if you do AND you do it multiple times, we won't let you partake in future IPOs through us anymore". Which is very different from a waiver. 1) There was no requirement to hold for 6 months for any retail investors, AFAICT. 2) There is no waiver for retail investors.
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Comment on SpaceX stock tumbles 23% from its high as average investor sees gains wiped out in ~finance
gary Link ParentRetail investors mean people like you and me. Retail investors are not required to hold the stock for 6 months at IPO. Often, insiders like employees of the IPO'd company are, but retail investors...Retail investors mean people like you and me. Retail investors are not required to hold the stock for 6 months at IPO. Often, insiders like employees of the IPO'd company are, but retail investors that bought at IPO can sell whenever.
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Comment on Goldman Sachs flags Amazon and Alphabet for inflating S&P 500 earnings growth figures in ~finance
gary Link ParentSorry, I was away for a while and didn't have time to reply. I was thinking about this over the past month and the answer is that I'm not sure anyone is capable of knowing for sure how much...Sorry, I was away for a while and didn't have time to reply. I was thinking about this over the past month and the answer is that I'm not sure anyone is capable of knowing for sure how much increase in revenue this engineer budget lead to (if any). However, my gut feel says that the $2k/head/month is generally either breakeven or less than the economic value it drives for each individual.
We're seeing projects that are scoped to single engineers now that might have been divvied up between multiple, because LLMs can do a great first pass and then the engineer can polish it up. On the other hand, I also notice a lot of slop being merged to the main branch that would have gotten rejected in code review before. Code that technically works, but contains poorly named variables, poor abstractions, and useless comments. We merge in the name of velocity.
So based on gut-feel, I feel like there is a large enough productivity boost that the cost is worth it. The cost compared to a programmer's salary versus the increase in velocity is still worth it. On a macro level, over the long term, not sure that the code being outputted is maintainable/won't result in tech debt down the line.
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Comment on How funerals keep Africa poor in ~life
gary Link ParentYou mean this statistic? It conflates aid with debt repayments and business profits. Okay, what is the solution? 1) No countries are allowed to make loans to African countries/business/entities....You mean this statistic? It conflates aid with debt repayments and business profits. Okay, what is the solution? 1) No countries are allowed to make loans to African countries/business/entities. 2) Non-African companies are not allowed to operate in Africa. Cool, you've wrecked the economy and destroyed free trade. I thought Tildes was very much for free trade when the US tariffs were being enacted..
To reply to myself:
No countries are allowed to make loans to African countries/business/entities.
If a loan is made, the loaner expects to be repaid and with interest. Otherwise, there wouldn't be many loans being made. Few people are willing to flip a coin where heads they break even, and tails they lose their money.
Non-African companies are not allowed to operate in Africa.
Part of the complaint in the link is that companies made profits and brought them back to their original countries. If you prevent this, then foreign companies will not invest. This is fine, but goes against the grain of the last few decades of liberals pushing for free trade (see Krugman). If we now think that we should keep American dollars in the US and British pounds in the UK, then an isolationist policy from America would be in line with this.
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Comment on Finland tears up nuclear weapons ban in NATO shift – decision clears way for Helsinki to receive, transport and facilitate movement of nuclear weapons on its territory in ~society
gary Link ParentI agree in general that a weakened NATO results in increased nuclear proliferation, but in this case with Finland having just joined NATO 3 years ago, this move feels justified and would have...I agree in general that a weakened NATO results in increased nuclear proliferation, but in this case with Finland having just joined NATO 3 years ago, this move feels justified and would have happened (IMO) regardless of Trump or Harris as president. Even if the US hadn't gone down this dark path, any sane country bordering Russia should be thinking hard about deterrence.
By the way, one thing I forgot to mention is that this change, IIUC, also allows for the transport of nuclear material through Finland as well as into Finland. As part of NATO, there could be reasons for this in the future. Perhaps a submarine needs to stop by a port. This was signaled back in early 2024.
Stubbs' view is that, as Finland has joined NATO without any limiting conditions, it should be a full member. To him, that means not excluding NATO's preventive protection, which includes nuclear deterrence. He also states that “transport [of nuclear weapons] through Finland is not the same as permanent stationing,” which can indicate a willingness to alter Finland's' current legislation on nuclear energy, which forbids the transport, manufacture, possession, and detonation of nuclear charges in Finland.
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Comment on Finland tears up nuclear weapons ban in NATO shift – decision clears way for Helsinki to receive, transport and facilitate movement of nuclear weapons on its territory in ~society
gary Link ParentThis move has nothing to do with proliferation of nuclear weapons due to US actions. The move was made not so that Finland could build nukes; it was to allow NATO allies (aka the US in this case)...This move has nothing to do with proliferation of nuclear weapons due to US actions. The move was made not so that Finland could build nukes; it was to allow NATO allies (aka the US in this case) to be able to move nukes into Finland if Russian aggression necessitated it later. I say this is for the US specifically because Finland joining NATO was a clear indicator that it had no faith in the EU mutual defense treaty, instead opting to join a US-backed one. This move happened during the Biden years and the Finnish push towards increased defense spending was a direct result of Russia invading Ukraine. Finland also shares a border with Russia and has a history of being aggressed upon by Russia.
All of this was in the makings before Trump's second presidency. The uptick in spending happened immediately after the invasion of Ukraine. You could absolutely point out that Finland is now interested in the UK's and France's nuclear umbrellas as a result of Trump's erratic actions, but this move specifically that we're commenting on, in addition to the increase in military spending, has nothing to do with America-bad and all to do with Russian action. To say something like "Russia as the catalyst, but the US as the real cause" is not accurate.
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Comment on Iran war live: US, Tehran confirm ‘peace deal’ reached in ~society
gary Link ParentSearch the quotes and the hits are this "drop site news" and Facebook.Search the quotes and the hits are this "drop site news" and Facebook.
You didn't directly claim it, but "loud voices" is taken to mean a minority view that affects the outcome for the majority. Otherwise, loud voices as opposed to what? What's the point of bringing up loud voices?