kovboydan's recent activity
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
kovboydan Link ParentI’m kind of disappointed something so low quality was shared. The first three sentences of the second paragraph are basically a giant, flashing “Stop” sign: That’s as far you need to go before you...I’m kind of disappointed something so low quality was shared.
The first three sentences of the second paragraph are basically a giant, flashing “Stop” sign:
Broad conclusion: economic interventions fail.
Specific intervention: Hungary spends 5% of GDP on this.
Specific outcome: Hungary’s situation has improved.That’s as far you need to go before you close the tab and move on.
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
kovboydan Link ParentNo, it was to show that the fertility rates there “(Before the war.)” had been declining on average for 50 years and aren’t exceptionally high globally. It’s aggregate, but TFR is similar to Kenya...No, it was to show that the fertility rates there “(Before the war.)” had been declining on average for 50 years and aren’t exceptionally high globally.
It’s aggregate, but TFR is similar to Kenya and Uzbekistan for example. And if you look at birth rate it’s similar to Somoa.
The intent was to show it wasn’t an outlier. The information about the US was included because it was interesting to me.
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
kovboydan Link ParentI’m not sure I understand where population density came from or why we would expect faster deceleration from a higher starting point? And yeah, the birth rate in the US is higher for immigrant...I’m not sure I understand where population density came from or why we would expect faster deceleration from a higher starting point?
And yeah, the birth rate in the US is higher for immigrant women than native born women and is also declining more quickly.
But are we talking about birth rate, fertility rate, population density, or population growth?
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
kovboydan Link ParentUNPF and World Bank use slightly different methodologies. Did you compare the 2024 and 2022 numbers on the wiki page or did you compare different years from a single source?UNPF and World Bank use slightly different methodologies.
Did you compare the 2024 and 2022 numbers on the wiki page or did you compare different years from a single source?
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
kovboydan (edited )Link ParentClarifying first: a country’s fertility decreases as a country’s GDP per capita increases. Broadly speaking, from a demand perspective, children behave like an inferior good. Yes, a consumer with...Clarifying first: a country’s fertility decreases as a country’s GDP per capita increases.
Broadly speaking, from a demand perspective, children behave like an inferior good.
Yes, a consumer with a large budget may very well have more of a particular good than that same consumer with a lower budget? But that’s a shift from Macro-land to Micro-land where we’d want to talk about indifference curves, expansion paths, isoquants, etc..
Edit: I think consumer micro can feel more intuitive if you’re not already familiar with it, but in this context I might suggest starting on the producer side with something like Marginal Rate of Technical Substitution?
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
kovboydan Link ParentThe fertility rate there peaked in the 1960s around 8.0, in the top 5, and declined steadily to 4.2 since the 1970s, outside the top 40. The USA’s has declined from around 3.23 to 1.88 over the...The fertility rate there peaked in the 1960s around 8.0, in the top 5, and declined steadily to 4.2 since the 1970s, outside the top 40. The USA’s has declined from around 3.23 to 1.88 over the same period. That’s a decline of -47.5% and -41.8% respectively.
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Comment on Addressing the cause of collapsing fertility: status in ~life
kovboydan (edited )LinkAcemoğlu or some other modern pop econ author had a section about birth rates in an early chapter of one of their books. And Freakonomics addressed it in 2011. Children seem to be inferior goods,...Acemoğlu or some other modern pop econ author had a section about birth rates in an early chapter of one of their books. And Freakonomics addressed it in 2011.
Children seem to be inferior goods, even if it might feel “wrong” to think of them that way, and they seem to have been inferior goods as far back as the 1820s.
[Edit] Consumption of inferior goods decreases as income increases. [/Edit]
This conversation isn’t new either. Harvey Leibenstein wrote about it in 1974 and 1975.
1974, Socio-economic Fertility Theories and Their Relevance to Population Policy, International Labour Review, May/June 1974.
1974, An Interpretation of the Economic Theory of Fertility, Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. XII, No. 2, June 1974.
1975, The Economic Theory of Fertility Decline, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol LXXXIX, No. 1, February 1975.
Gary Becker wrote about, most notably in 1969 and 1973:
1969, "An economic analysis of fertility", in National Bureau of Economic Research (ed.), Demographic and economic change in developed countries, a conference of the universities, New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 209–240.
1973, "On the interaction between the quantity and quality of children" (PDF). Journal of Political Economy. 81 (2): 279–288.
The author’s proposals could make sense initially: make people poorer and they’ll “consume” more children. And by extension the obvious way to keep the birth rate up would be to keep people poor, which I suppose might be the ultimate goal: make and keep people poor.
And higher education isn’t a Giffen good.
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Comment on Is there an independent, cross-device cloud sync platform for ebooks? in ~books
kovboydan LinkI haven’t looked in a while and I may have missed something, but there’s a lot of options none of which really meet the feature set. ODPS can make it accessible, but doesn’t really help with sync....I haven’t looked in a while and I may have missed something, but there’s a lot of options none of which really meet the feature set.
ODPS can make it accessible, but doesn’t really help with sync. Web server can make it sync and accessible, but not the best experience on an ereader.
There were a lot of conversations about it in r/selfhosted - for example - but in the end it was easier to just plug it in to a computer, move over the books I wanted, and leave WiFi disabled for the sake of battery.
I could toggle a few settings in Jellyfin, or spin up a docker for caliber server, or kavita, or something, but the benefit would be marginal.
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Comment on What are your favorite westerns? in ~movies
kovboydan Link ParentTreat it like The Core. Is it an enjoyable movie? Yes, but maybe not for the reasons the producer hoped. Does it make sense? No, but it doesn’t need to make sense to by enjoyable.Treat it like The Core.
Is it an enjoyable movie? Yes, but maybe not for the reasons the producer hoped.
Does it make sense? No, but it doesn’t need to make sense to by enjoyable.
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Comment on What are your favorite westerns? in ~movies
kovboydan Link ParentBoth the when and where of the purchase of the DVD and the content of the film. When I purchased it I lived in a very, very small town that had about three choices for most types of shopping: a...Both the when and where of the purchase of the DVD and the content of the film.
When I purchased it I lived in a very, very small town that had about three choices for most types of shopping: a regional budget grocer, a Walmart, and a local food cooperative. I’d moved to that small town on a whim from one of the largest metropolitan areas in the US. The Hills Run Red DVD was a 99¢ bin purchase at the Walmart in that town. It may have been a double feature but if it was I can’t remember the other film. Love of that city, region, and time is part of what makes it memorable.
The story is great, too. And for a spaghetti western the acting is spot on. You start with a country song - locked up, dog and family died, broke, no friends not even in low places, etc. - and it grows into a tale of return, redemption, and revenge that echoes Homerian tales.
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Comment on What are your favorite westerns? in ~movies
kovboydan LinkThe Hills Run Red (1966) is a classic if I’m craving spaghetti. Gastropub spaghetti…maybe True Grit (2010)? Sci-fi Western? Cowboys and Aliens (2011).The Hills Run Red (1966) is a classic if I’m craving spaghetti.
Gastropub spaghetti…maybe True Grit (2010)?
Sci-fi Western? Cowboys and Aliens (2011).
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Comment on Grokking KOReader in ~books
kovboydan Link ParentKobo readers have a UX called Nickel. You keep Nickel and then when you boot into Nickel there’s a hamburger menu in the bottom right and you can switch to KOreader or Plato. If you want to switch...Kobo readers have a UX called Nickel. You keep Nickel and then when you boot into Nickel there’s a hamburger menu in the bottom right and you can switch to KOreader or Plato. If you want to switch back, you exit whichever you’re using and fall back to Nickel and can stay in Nickel or pick the other.
Here’s the only link anyone would probably need to make it happen: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=314220
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Comment on Grokking KOReader in ~books
kovboydan LinkConsider doing the combo version with Plato + KOreader. Plato feels faster/more responsive and is worth a try too.Consider doing the combo version with Plato + KOreader. Plato feels faster/more responsive and is worth a try too.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech
kovboydan Link ParentDelayed processing. This is going on Debian stable? Just use docker. I’ll send you a compose file. All you need to do is change the user/group, directory paths, save it, and docker compose up -d....Delayed processing. This is going on Debian stable? Just use docker.
I’ll send you a compose file.
All you need to do is change the user/group, directory paths, save it, and
docker compose up -d. If you end up not liking jellyfin just delete the container. -
Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech
kovboydan Link ParentIf it’s direct playing a file the subtitle timing is handled by the client? I use infuse as client and have no issues adjusting the occasional out of sync subtitle. Infuse will download subtitles...If it’s direct playing a file the subtitle timing is handled by the client? I use infuse as client and have no issues adjusting the occasional out of sync subtitle. Infuse will download subtitles if there aren’t any available “locally.”
And a note about renaming files/folders: why not set up the *arr suite so you can leave files where they are, named as they are, and just hard link to the jellyfin media directory? Edit: This would likely mean moving into docker world, but Trash Guides is a decent enough guide for most I’d think?
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Comment on aconfmgr: A configuration manager for Arch Linux in ~comp
kovboydan Link Parent@lou and @vord: what was your process for system upgrades and did you use pacman -Syu or yay with no args or…? Don’t intend to talk you into giving Arch another try, just curious. -
Comment on Kamala Harris names Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor, as running mate in ~news
kovboydan Link ParentFor even more insanity, compare the paths of Minnesota and Wisconsin from 2010 to today. Actually, 1999 to today is probably better so Gov. Ventura is included.For even more insanity, compare the paths of Minnesota and Wisconsin from 2010 to today.
Actually, 1999 to today is probably better so Gov. Ventura is included.
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Comment on Kamala Harris names Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor, as running mate in ~news
kovboydan Link ParentContext for those unfamiliar with how progressive Minnesota is when it get’s the chance (from an article published July 2023):Context for those unfamiliar with how progressive Minnesota is when it get’s the chance (from an article published July 2023):
Over the last six months, Minnesota Democrats enshrined abortion rights, established paid family and medical leave, restored the voting rights of ex-felons, extended voting access, invested $1 billion into affordable housing, imposed background checks on private gun transfers, initiated a red-flag warning system that confiscates firearms from those judicially deemed a threat to themselves or others, legalized recreational marijuana, created a refuge program for trans people denied gender-affirming care in other states, mandated that utilities go carbon-free by 2040, provided a refundable tax credit (i.e., cash aid) to low-income households with children, prohibited non-compete clauses in labor contracts, barred employers from holding compulsory anti-union meetings, strengthened workplace protections for meatpacking and Amazon workers, empowered teachers unions to bargain over educator-to-student ratios, empaneled a statewide board to set minimum labor standards for nursing-home workers, directed $2.58 billion into improved infrastructure, made school breakfast and lunch free from all Minnesota K-through-12 students, and increased taxes on corporations and high earners, among other things.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tv
kovboydan Link ParentVoyager was great. So many classic characters: Tuvok, Neelix, Tuvix, Seven of Nine, Chakotay, Paris. The Emergency Medical Hologram! Such great story lines. The cameo from Red Forman in Season 4?...Voyager was great.
So many classic characters: Tuvok, Neelix, Tuvix, Seven of Nine, Chakotay, Paris. The Emergency Medical Hologram!
Such great story lines. The cameo from Red Forman in Season 4? The cameo from George Costanza in Season 5?
Voyager was the spiritual successor to TNG. So great.
I agree it’s nice to see fuller, longer-lived conversations. skybrian and everyone else have seemed cordial and well intentioned in these comments.
And approaching things from outside your normal framework is laudable, so is challenging your own assumptions.
But doing that based on a rando LiveJournal post that starts with obviously flawed reasoning, ends with explicitly discriminatory proposals, and plays loose with factual accuracy?