pyeri's recent activity
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Comment on I just switched to an iPhone, what should I do to make the most of this change? in ~tech
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Comment on How to fix the dreaded 'package appears to be invalid' error when installing APKs in ~comp
pyeri Link ParentThanks for pointing out the concern @cfabbro, I will keep this in mind.Thanks for pointing out the concern @cfabbro, I will keep this in mind.
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Comment on How to fix the dreaded 'package appears to be invalid' error when installing APKs in ~comp
pyeri Link ParentIn that case, how will you send it to your testing team if you want to get it tested before publishing on the Play Store?Please don't install APKs you receive through WhatsApp.
In that case, how will you send it to your testing team if you want to get it tested before publishing on the Play Store?
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How to fix the dreaded 'package appears to be invalid' error when installing APKs
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Intro to DOMPDF - lightest and simplest PHP library to generate PDF documents
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Comment on Is there a markdown editor which let me open .md files from Windows? in ~tech
pyeri LinkShameless Plug: https://prahladyeri.github.io/md-editor/ This little web-based WYSWYG markdown editor I had written a while ago can be opened in any web-browser on Windows/Mac/Linux. You can also...Shameless Plug: https://prahladyeri.github.io/md-editor/
This little web-based WYSWYG markdown editor I had written a while ago can be opened in any web-browser on Windows/Mac/Linux. You can also take the source code and deploy it locally to run it offline. All it requires is the
pagedownJavaScript library which can be gotten from here. -
Comment on Looking for a good, modern alternative for PHP nuke in ~comp
pyeri LinkWhat does the site do? Depending on the features required, stitching something up with a minimal framework like CI3 or even pure PHP routing coupled with a front-end Bootstrap+jquery can get you a...What does the site do? Depending on the features required, stitching something up with a minimal framework like CI3 or even pure PHP routing coupled with a front-end Bootstrap+jquery can get you a long way in a very short time.
Keeping the front-end code and components separate from backend is also helpful in case you want to switch to a different framework or even scripting language in future.
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Comment on ‘Don’t mess with us’: WebMD parent company demands return to office in bizarre video in ~life
pyeri LinkThis has got to do with many business owners having deep links and investments in real estate related businesses like builders, rent and lease operations, hotels, etc. and sometimes even real...This has got to do with many business owners having deep links and investments in real estate related businesses like builders, rent and lease operations, hotels, etc. and sometimes even real estate mafiyas!
These other businesses who start accumulating losses will then try to influence and even coerce our business owner to stop WFH and call their employees to work. For that's the only way these other businesses will start earning (some are still recouping losses of the pandemic lockdown).
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Comment on ‘This has been going on for years.’ Inside Boeing’s manufacturing mess. in ~transport
pyeri (edited )Link ParentI understand the sentiment here, I'm not a huge fan of capitalism myself. As I said in the post, greed is just barely tolerable emotion which is above fear/envy but still in the dark realms. It...I understand the sentiment here, I'm not a huge fan of capitalism myself. As I said in the post, greed is just barely tolerable emotion which is above fear/envy but still in the dark realms. It still has as much chance of going wrong as the others.
But consider that when capitalism goes wrong, you get this inequality and quality issues but when socialism goes wrong, you get psychopaths like Pol Pot and Fidel Castro!
Also consider that the root issue here isn't the system of free market capitalism but the scarcity of resources (for which many humans compete) and lack of ethics or empathy in society.
Finally, let me cede that just as greed and fear can act as check/balance on each other, we might need both capitalism and socialism in certain ratio for policy making? This ratio will vary for each country/culture/tribe since we are all different.
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Comment on Unpopular opinion: Capitalism is a better ideology than socialism or communism because greed is a more tolerable emotion than fear/envy in ~talk
pyeri (edited )Link ParentJohn's story is actually real and surprisingly, you'll find that several Johns actually made it to the top instead of relenting back! Classic example is Jeff Bezos. Today he is a billionaire and...John's story is actually real and surprisingly, you'll find that several Johns actually made it to the top instead of relenting back!
Classic example is Jeff Bezos. Today he is a billionaire and all but when he had started out with just a library or books platform, the existing hardcopy publishers lobby was all Goliath against him. Stories of him fighting out that tough battle (like John vs Frank here) are quite popular. Needless to say, he also became as brutal as them ruthlessly out pricing them one after other until he reached where he is today. Ironically, he is painted as this bad monopolist today even as the book publishing industry he is supposed to have oppressed is as old as the hills. At the end of the day, this is what human greed or capitalism is and while folks may not like it, it is also the thing that puts bread on the table.
Another example is Uber. Those connected to the grassroots know quite well that one of the toughest industries to break is the transport sector, the kind of trade unions they have can probably be seen in no other industry. It is literally filled with Franks all over. And yet, our protagonist Travis Kalanick did it just like John in your example! He founded the Uber App and rest is history.
You'll find similar examples in case of food deliveries (Zomato, Swiggy, Uber Eats, etc.), Bus and Airline Bookings and many other verticals. If you take the time to appreciate the gifts of capitalism here, chances are that you'll forget all your pessimism for a while and might even get inspired!
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Comment on Unpopular opinion: Capitalism is a better ideology than socialism or communism because greed is a more tolerable emotion than fear/envy in ~talk
pyeri Link ParentAdam Smith Capitalism was the most ideal form of Capitalism. We knew it was going to backfire in practice because the whole framework of Classical Economics (of Smith, etc.) was based on a few...Adam Smith Capitalism was the most ideal form of Capitalism. We knew it was going to backfire in practice because the whole framework of Classical Economics (of Smith, etc.) was based on a few unrealistic assumptions like:
- Full Mobility of Labor or workforce.
- Rational Behavior of all market players.
- No barriers in information (everyone has data on prices, suppliers, customers, etc.)
- No barriers to entry in markets.
Given these four assumptions, we would all be living in an ideal and egalitarian world resulting in natural Full Employment (as Classical Econs used to say!) and no Socialism would be ever needed!
But Keynes and others who came later proved that how these assumptions could go wrong and the Economy can indeed screw up - as it actually happened during the Great Depression of 1930s.
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Comment on Unpopular opinion: Capitalism is a better ideology than socialism or communism because greed is a more tolerable emotion than fear/envy in ~talk
pyeri Link ParentIt's a wrong notion that govt. needs to step in always, even the capitalists have a heart and most of them aren't ruthless. To cite an example, the Adiga chain of private restaurants here in...Such as a disable person not being able to work, and therefor not being able to earn any money to survive.
It's a wrong notion that govt. needs to step in always, even the capitalists have a heart and most of them aren't ruthless. To cite an example, the Adiga chain of private restaurants here in Bangalore have a stated policy to prefer disabled folks for certain jobs like cashier, data entry, etc. Of course, govt. intervention is always welcome but the private sector is often painted as bad here under the giant umbrella of "ruthless capitalists" which is quite far from realiy.
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Comment on Unpopular opinion: Capitalism is a better ideology than socialism or communism because greed is a more tolerable emotion than fear/envy in ~talk
pyeri Link ParentWhy don't you also make a resolve in life and become rich and wealthy using the way of capitalism? If everyone does that, wealth inequality will decline. Consider how those you call "rich...those "rich capitalists" being rich is built on other people being poor and oppressed
Why don't you also make a resolve in life and become rich and wealthy using the way of capitalism? If everyone does that, wealth inequality will decline. Consider how those you call "rich capitalists" built this system in the first place? They must have also struggled with resource economics like you at some point, right?
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Comment on Unpopular opinion: Capitalism is a better ideology than socialism or communism because greed is a more tolerable emotion than fear/envy in ~talk
pyeri Link ParentIt can work in text book but it doesn't work that way in practice. I can cite you several communists like Che, Fidel Castro, Mao, Pol Pot, Stalin, etc. who caused death to several blinded by fear....It can work in text book but it doesn't work that way in practice. I can cite you several communists like Che, Fidel Castro, Mao, Pol Pot, Stalin, etc. who caused death to several blinded by fear. Can you cite even one communist who was successful with empathy and kindness?
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Unpopular opinion: Capitalism is a better ideology than socialism or communism because greed is a more tolerable emotion than fear/envy
I'm someone who typically leans on the left of center on political spectrum but today, I realized something intrinsic to human nature and its emotions that made me consider shifting my compass...
I'm someone who typically leans on the left of center on political spectrum but today, I realized something intrinsic to human nature and its emotions that made me consider shifting my compass towards right of center (capitalism).
The core thought process here is asking yourself this fundamental question of which human emotion or tendency gives rise to these ideologies.
Capitalism is primarily driven by human greed, be it the greed to put tasty food on your table or better your living standard by getting a new equipment or acquire more stocks in some limited company. Greed for more resources is the motivation here.
On the other hand, the Communist and Socialist ideologies are primarily driven by much darker emotions of fear and envy. The envy is that the "rich capitalist" has a lot more resources than I have, and/or the fear is that the wealth inequality may increase even more due to inflation and my resources will naturally decline over the due course of time.
Despite the world being an unfair place and such fears even having some validation in economic data, I want to still insist that even though both emotions are roughly in the same realm of darkness (and beneath the realm of positive spiritual emotions like love and compassion), greed is way more preferable than fear/envy.
We can understand this with the help of an often used analogy of Would you rather your Foe be an X or Y?:
If you're lost in a forest, would you rather be chased by a Lion or a Cheetah?
I remember reading this anecdote or puzzle many years ago somewhere. Most people would answer Cheetah here as it would seem a less ferocious animal than Lion. However, when you consider that Cheetah can climb trees while Lions can't, you might reconsider that answer as you might get lucky if there is a tree around which you can use to climb and save yourself. However, what really makes Cheetah more ferocious is that it kills just for survival. Cheetah doesn't care if it's hungry or not, it sees you as a threat to be eliminated just due to some innate tendency (fear?). On the other hand, a Lion is more likely to kill you only if it's hungry (greed for meals?).
Would you rather your foe be a ruthless capitalist or a ruthless communist?
A ruthless capitalist is the Lion in above example. They might come after you but only if the cost-benefit analysis of coming after you makes sense and they materially gain something like money, wealth, data, etc. But a ruthless communist, on the other hand, would come after you regardless and blinded by the ideology just because you own more resources (or fall in a higher income strata than them). A ruthless communist will always try to shame you while reminding you of your "privileges" regardless of who you are because their ideology is powered by fear.
If we talk about religious ideologies like Christian Supremacy, Zionism, Islamist, Hindutva, etc, they also roughly fall in this same category as Communist/Socialist, they're also primarily driven by fear. As you climb up the wealth ladder, the fear of blaspheming your religious doctrine declines and the fear of losing the already acquired wealth increases - which is very much a positive fear because this fear doesn't harm anyone, it merely seeks to preserve and protect.
We know there is massive wealth inequality in this world, it isn't just or fair in any manner. But the way towards betterment is using the path of higher emotions like love, compassion and even positive greed and not the darker emotions of fear and envy. Wouldn't you agree?
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Comment on Huge ancient city found in the Amazon in ~humanities.history
pyeri Link ParentThere are also several novels written and movies made I think of adventurous sailors who left the shores of Europe and Americas to explore the wild Amazons, some came back with mesmerizing tales...There are also several novels written and movies made I think of adventurous sailors who left the shores of Europe and Americas to explore the wild Amazons, some came back with mesmerizing tales of adventures and others settled with those tribes permanently.
I think Robinson Crusoe is just one such novel among many.
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Comment on It’s OK to call it Artificial Intelligence in ~tech
pyeri Link ParentWith that logic, how come complex or non-trivial software developed in earlier times like Unix, COBOL, Excel, MySQL, etc. cannot be included under this "umbrella term" of AI? They are also...It's not useful to "correct" somebody by insisting that it only refers to pure AGI, since that usage isn't historically accurate or useful.
With that logic, how come complex or non-trivial software developed in earlier times like Unix, COBOL, Excel, MySQL, etc. cannot be included under this "umbrella term" of AI? They are also "artificial" or human made and they portray some "intelligence" behavior like scheduling processes, managing memory, spreadsheets, relational data, etc. With this generic definition, any and every software ever developed can be called AI.
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Comment on Planes collide and catch fire at Japan’s busy Haneda airport, killing five. Hundreds evacuated safely. in ~transport
pyeri Link ParentOh yes, being a 40+ dude, I had based this probability on my old school empirical experience when humans typically performed better than machines. But in the age of AI and digital, technical...Oh yes, being a 40+ dude, I had based this probability on my old school empirical experience when humans typically performed better than machines. But in the age of AI and digital, technical failures are much rarer compared to human.
In this case, the accident may have been averted had even one of the two pilots detected the presence of the other vehicle in the vicinity. If only depending on the ATC is less reliable, pilots should often use some other means (digital or analog data) to detect the presence of other objects in their vicinity?
Needless to say, there is also the question of there not being enough time to swirl or take a turn if the other object is already too near.
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Comment on Planes collide and catch fire at Japan’s busy Haneda airport, killing five. Hundreds evacuated safely. in ~transport
pyeri (edited )Link ParentI'm leaning more towards technical failure (be it ATC or somewhere else) than a human failure (due to pilots taking wrong paths). The pilots are usually hired after lot's of scrutiny, training,...I'm leaning more towards technical failure (be it ATC or somewhere else) than a human failure (due to pilots taking wrong paths). The pilots are usually hired after lot's of scrutiny, training, etc. and there are typically more than one pilot assigned to a flight.
There is also a small chance of human failure happening at the ATC end (like an intern goofing up with the signal data?) but that's extremely rare I think, never heard of such a thing happening before.
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Comment on Planes collide and catch fire at Japan’s busy Haneda airport, killing five. Hundreds evacuated safely. in ~transport
pyeri Link ParentController is never supposed to fail, we usually take that mechanism for granted as it's a critical part of the infrastructure and almost always works. And as long as the Controller works, the...Controller is never supposed to fail, we usually take that mechanism for granted as it's a critical part of the infrastructure and almost always works. And as long as the Controller works, the pilots should never deviate from their own paths (assuming both the pilots did their job right here) and this situation should never arrive.
Since pilots of commercial aircrafts are usually hired after all the scrutiny, training, etc., there are more chances of an issue with the ATC in this case.
Bookmarking this post. Do post a detailed write-up if possible about how you're finding the new system compared to Android after a week or so.
One reason for sticking to Android is that I know a little bit of Java/Kotlin programming and Android lets me build APKs on my laptop and then install directly on my phone. AFAIK, Apple ecosystem doesn't provide this facility, you need a proper paid subscription or developer license in order to do so much as deploy a custom built app.