Requirement's recent activity
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Comment on RAM is so expensive, Samsung won’t even sell it to Samsung in ~tech
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Comment on RAM is so expensive, Samsung won’t even sell it to Samsung in ~tech
Requirement Link ParentAgain, practically no school. You found a school - suspiciously with no authors quoted from their school of thought - that argues for copyright while acknowledging that the other four schools may...Again, practically no school. You found a school - suspiciously with no authors quoted from their school of thought - that argues for copyright while acknowledging that the other four schools may believe that copyright is a "second best option." Also the paper starts by essentially saying "economics isn't a science," to make sure that it can ignore all the science that exists in economics. The affiliation of ITIF with many tech companies and the tech sector in general leaves a suspicious taste in my mouth as well that they should be so adamantly in favor of copyright.
Becuase to me, the actions of entertainment and then tech companies surrounding copyright over the last hundred years has soured the idea of copyright for me. While I strongly disagree with the notion that economics isn't a science, I can agree with Robert D. Atkinson in some ways that there exists an greater amount of personal philosophy within economics (I would argue that is because we went wide with the definition of economics a couple hundred years ago when we dropped the "political" from the field of "political economics" and just kind of said everything from hard numbers to political theory can be economics. I digress....) and, as something of a idealist and someone with a sense of fairness, I would like a copyright system that actually does benefit and protect creators in meaningful ways. Any ideas I have on copyright though, I argue fall outside my knowledge and training in economics and fall further into political or social justice. Most economic schools (arguably since the majority of the more well-known ones fall squarely under the flag of "capitalism") would argue that government intervention is an inefficiency introduced into the system.
And just kinda stream of consciousing here: copyright certainly isn't as economically dubious as patents but the two are in the same basket and that, without much better language to describe the situation, sucks. When we think patent and copyright, we think of defending the "little guy": the artist down the street, or the the garage inventor bringing new products to market. Unfortunately, we're stuck with giant, behemoth corporations abusing the systems to stifle innovation, to prevent the little guy (or even the big guy) from bringing new products to market. Or, with enough money, you don't need to worry about someone else's copyright, you can just infringe on it and drag it out in court. Or worse, you can keep taking others to court for "infringing" on copyright. One of the legitimate complaints regarding economics as a science is that studies are hard to conduct, but I would argue that the current system of copyright has been a long enough real-world study that we can call it a bad system. -
Comment on RAM is so expensive, Samsung won’t even sell it to Samsung in ~tech
Requirement Link ParentWhat is preventing companies from negotiating that without copyright? I see that a company has a technology I want and I have a couple options: license it or recreate it. Those options are the...What is preventing companies from negotiating that without copyright? I see that a company has a technology I want and I have a couple options: license it or recreate it. Those options are the only two options in either system. The only difference with copyright is that the copyright holder can use the government's guns to prevent me from doing the latter.
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Comment on 1977 theatrical cut of Star Wars coming to theaters in 2027 in ~movies
Requirement Link ParentI think it's also just "cool." I feel like I get more from seeing the original in theaters the way it was seen in 1977, certainly from an understanding what the theater-goer was experiencing. As...I think it's also just "cool." I feel like I get more from seeing the original in theaters the way it was seen in 1977, certainly from an understanding what the theater-goer was experiencing.
As others have noted, it's also just surprising that we would ever get an official rerelease of the original! -
Comment on RAM is so expensive, Samsung won’t even sell it to Samsung in ~tech
Requirement Link ParentPatents are using the government's guns to make sure no one else can produce what you do. Just because a patent holder has to (sort of) disclose the process/product does not put them in any...Patents are using the government's guns to make sure no one else can produce what you do. Just because a patent holder has to (sort of) disclose the process/product does not put them in any obligation to allow any other firm to use that process/product.
I agree with you, there is no way to stop a company from having secrets but using the government to protect those secrets is not a viable answer. -
Comment on RAM is so expensive, Samsung won’t even sell it to Samsung in ~tech
Requirement Link ParentPractically no school of capitalist economic theory holds that copyright should exist (trade secrets are arguably different because those are things that can just be stored in your head, you are...For what it's worth, conventional economic doctrine holds that the ability to protect a trade secret/copyright spurs innovation, not stifles it. The idea is that there's an incentive to create new technology if you know you can profit from it.
Practically no school of capitalist economic theory holds that copyright should exist (trade secrets are arguably different because those are things that can just be stored in your head, you are under no obligation to supply competitors with your knowledge). Most capitalist theory argues that all markets trend to zero economic profit in the long term, with economic profit only being possible in the short term. Therefore, being first-to-market is all the economic advantage one should get, allowing you the ability to have realized profit before competitors can spin up production.
Economically speaking, from a capitalist perspective, ASML would have spent billions of dollars without copyright because there was money to be made. They do not continue R&D because they hold a copyright to their current technology, they continue R&D to continue to make money on future technologies (because, believe it or not, there could be a competitor that could enter the market, however unlikely). Unless you are a crony capitalist, you can only really argue that copyright stifles innovation as fewer competitors can enter the market at current levels - enforced by government decree. This means that if a competitor were to enter the market, they are already at a minimum <number of years copyright holds> years behind ASML and/or must spend an inordinate amount more money to innovate the next technology. While there certainly are a lot more intangibles, China's rejection of honoring copyright has arguably been an aspect of why they have been able to join the international community in manufacturing, even if they are still a few years behind in the engineering and innovation categories. To your example, sure they weren't able to precisely copy ASML's processes, but no one else can even try to copy the processes. Surely, that gives Chinese firms some level of advantage over any other potential entrant to the field. Similarly, sure Chinese produced GPUs are not yet at the level of Nvidia or AMD but the fact that they are producing any GPU is a step above practically any other firm (Intel aside... they have their own problems.)
Interestingly, one of the things most schools of economics might agree with is that copyright inherently leads to monopolies - they do likely disagree on whether that's a good thing or not! -
Comment on I fixed my lactose intolerance -- by chugging all the lactose in ~health
Requirement LinkIt would be really great if there were greater access to actual tests for lactose intolerance (or more correctly, lack of lactase persistence). It would also be great if there were more...It would be really great if there were greater access to actual tests for lactose intolerance (or more correctly, lack of lactase persistence). It would also be great if there were more standardized methods of testing foods for lactose content. It would also be great if there were more research done on lactase persistence in humans and the actual effects in the body. I feel though that since most people experience it (and talk about it as) just being gassy and bloated, it is regularly treated as a "just live with it" or "just take the lactaid" problem.
I say this because there's also very real milk allergies that are ignored because lactose intolerance is so prevalent and a lot of people in discussions when the topic of lactose intolerance comes up really sound like they are describing milk allergies. -
Comment on I fixed my lactose intolerance -- by chugging all the lactose in ~health
Requirement Link ParentAs an additional point: it's not just milk that's incorporated into so many products. In America, we directly incorporate lactose sugars into a huge range of products, from expected (baked goods)...As an additional point: it's not just milk that's incorporated into so many products. In America, we directly incorporate lactose sugars into a huge range of products, from expected (baked goods) to the "makes sense if you think about it" (a lot of beers) to the wildly unexpected (sausages?!).
So not only is it hard to avoid milk products but you can't avoid the direct thing your body can't digest! -
Comment on How to brew solar powered coffee in ~food
Requirement Link ParentJust fly your kettle to the sun! I can't believe I have to spell this out.Just fly your kettle to the sun! I can't believe I have to spell this out.
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Comment on [SOLVED] USB hub with a detachable cable? in ~tech
Requirement LinkWhile I also use the UGreen KVM (just KM?) switch that u/ShroudedScribe linked, I needed even more USB ports (well, I needed them to be accessible for my standing desk so that my mouse cord length...While I also use the UGreen KVM (just KM?) switch that u/ShroudedScribe linked, I needed even more USB ports (well, I needed them to be accessible for my standing desk so that my mouse cord length wasn't just randomly changing). I use this Anker USB hub. It works without plugging in the power cord for me, though I run it with the power plugged in. So long as your devices are high power draw, it seems to be fine. Pretty much every USB hub will start to encounter problems without additional power at some number of devices/power draw however.
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Comment on Weird Al Yankovic 2026 tour of ninety cities in ~music
Requirement LinkThis is truly a weird list of cities. I don't envy that tour schedule myself!This is truly a weird list of cities. I don't envy that tour schedule myself!
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Comment on How to brew solar powered coffee in ~food
Requirement Link ParentI thought there was no way they would make something that actually involved electricity. I imagined it would be a solar reflector, similar to how we "cooked" solar hot dogs in boy scouts. I would...I thought there was no way they would make something that actually involved electricity. I imagined it would be a solar reflector, similar to how we "cooked" solar hot dogs in boy scouts. I would think a well-focused device would get water plenty hot enough for a pour-over or french press to make acceptable coffee, even for us more-picky consumers. If I wasn't super busy this weekend I would think about trying something out this weekend.... perhaps sometime in the near future.
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Comment on I think nobody wants AI in Firefox, Mozilla in ~tech
Requirement Link ParentI also imagine, as someone who messed about with Firefox's "AI integration," that it didn't take much time to implement. My complaint is that the feature actually seems kinda half-baked or without...I also imagine, as someone who messed about with Firefox's "AI integration," that it didn't take much time to implement. My complaint is that the feature actually seems kinda half-baked or without the ability to change how it's implemented in any real way. The AI slideout window isn't persistent enough so you have to continually log in to your chosen AI service. It's a separate window/instance so the magic login links from email don't work correctly. Every time you highlight something a dumb AI logo pops up, blocking the right-click context menu. Click-and-hold to generate an AI overview isn't terrible until you have to click and hold something that you don't want an AI overview for.
I imagine it took relatively little time to implement the feature and I feel like it shows in the poor implementation. -
Comment on Is 67 just brain rot? in ~humanities.languages
Requirement Link ParentThis is maybe the most honest "the way." If you want the youth to stop doing something, genuinely engage with it and join in, it immediately becomes the most lame thing in the world. (While, I've...This is maybe the most honest "the way." If you want the youth to stop doing something, genuinely engage with it and join in, it immediately becomes the most lame thing in the world. (While, I've found, also getting you some small amount of credit with the youths for at least genuinely approaching their culture without overtly belittling it.)
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Comment on Grieving family uses AI chatbot to cut hospital bill from $195,000 to $33,000 — US family says Claude highlighted duplicative charges, improper coding, and other violations in ~tech
Requirement Link ParentYeah, it gets... confusing. Two types of codes/coders! I forget that I am used to having both in a paragraph but others aren't, so you're pretty spot on on where at least one miscommunication...Yeah, it gets... confusing. Two types of codes/coders! I forget that I am used to having both in a paragraph but others aren't, so you're pretty spot on on where at least one miscommunication happened.
You're also generally pretty close to how medical coding works. A medical coder reads the visit note/surgical note/related documents and pieces together what happened. Then they translate that into standardized codes based on what the provider wrote. Then billing uses those codes to bill, either insurance or the patient. -
Comment on Grieving family uses AI chatbot to cut hospital bill from $195,000 to $33,000 — US family says Claude highlighted duplicative charges, improper coding, and other violations in ~tech
Requirement Link ParentThe good news is that both AIs in this case would probably be wrong, so nothing would get accomplished. At a conference last year, I talked with a vendor of AI medical coding software who,...The good news is that both AIs in this case would probably be wrong, so nothing would get accomplished.
At a conference last year, I talked with a vendor of AI medical coding software who, obviously, made it sound like the best product ever, super accurate. I then got to talk to one of his customers immediately after, by chance. Their department had to hire additional coders because the AI output was so wrong that it took more manhours to correct the coding errors than to human code. But the c-suite was all in on AI and didn't want to be embarrassed by their choice to go with AI coding.
I don't imagine the combative AI would be any better at detecting coding errors. Though I do fully support using AI to battle AI. -
Comment on Grieving family uses AI chatbot to cut hospital bill from $195,000 to $33,000 — US family says Claude highlighted duplicative charges, improper coding, and other violations in ~tech
Requirement Link ParentI have to jump in here as well, as a person who works in this world at the intersection of healthcare information management and technology. This article is bullshit. This is an unvalidated story...I have to jump in here as well, as a person who works in this world at the intersection of healthcare information management and technology.
This article is bullshit. This is an unvalidated story from a person online who's identity is unknown. This isn't a "sources close to the story say" deal where Tom's Hardware is protecting the identity of a source, this is just a guy online saying that Claude AI (who definitely didn't pay anyone involved in this story) totally solved his problems. Without looking at the person's medical record and subsequent bills, I can't say if Claude actually did discover anything and I suspect that Claude did not discover much, but did do a good enough job at drafting a letter to the hospital requesting financial assistance that the bulk of the bill was written off, especially since the patient was uninsured. This is par for the course without AI and could have been done without needing to bust out jet engines to generate electricity for the AI farms.
If there was code unbundling happening, if there were double-billed procedures, if there was improper coding/upcoding, then the hospital should be reported to Health and Human Services, state Attorney General, the state's HIMA/AHIMA organization. But it really doesn't seem like Threads (holy fuck, we're cooked, we're trusting a Threads user?) user nthmonkey did that. Which really makes me think this whole story is, at best, a misrepresentation of what actually happened. -
Comment on Tildes Book Club Discussion - October 2025 - The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum in ~books
Requirement Link ParentIt's been over a month since I listened to the book so I have forgotten the specific instances but there were a few things that really stuck out to me as an AI voice. Sometimes when I listen to...It's been over a month since I listened to the book so I have forgotten the specific instances but there were a few things that really stuck out to me as an AI voice. Sometimes when I listen to audiobooks, I notice a word or two mispronounced or pronounced in a way that must be linked to a specific region/dialect. In this book there were a few times that I was like "Surely, the only way you would end up at this pronunciation/pacing of a acronym is if you were a robot."
While I did like the changing of voices, I also felt like maybe there was a bit of an AI tell there... like the accents weren't consistent to characters? Maybe I didn't track them correctly myself. Also, the gruff New York accent was goofily entertaining. -
Comment on Unfuck Google Drive (It's Gemini garbage, of course) in ~comp
Requirement Link ParentYou are right, it was Google removing a guy's access to his entire Google account. Apple flipflopped for years over whether it would be scanning photos/iCloud data but it seems for the time being,...You are right, it was Google removing a guy's access to his entire Google account.
Apple flipflopped for years over whether it would be scanning photos/iCloud data but it seems for the time being, they went with "end to end encryption means it's not our problem" as a solution which is both great and horrifying. -
Comment on Honk your horn in ~health.mental
Requirement Link ParentWhile yours is the more practical, realistic solution, I think there's something so distinctly American in the solution of "gun violence but maybe less lethal" that I just really enjoy. I also...While yours is the more practical, realistic solution, I think there's something so distinctly American in the solution of "gun violence but maybe less lethal" that I just really enjoy.
I also agree that this is coming at some point anyway. I'm sure insurance companies are salivating at the opportunity to have real-time premiums and I'm sure they were unhappy with the reallocation of the radio wave frequency reassignment in 2020. Luckily for us consumers, manufacturers never really got behind vehicle-to-vehicle/everything anyway so we'll just use whatever Elon Bezucks comes up with to both assign a social credit score and remove what little privacy we have remaining.
While breaking the license? Arbitration. That's a regular contract dispute.
My problem isn't with contract law. My problem is with the patent system.