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payne92
Joined 2,594 karma
http://www.payne.org

  1. > It costs a lot of money to deliver power to rural customers

    Utilities (generally) have a universal service obligation.

    If someone can cherry-pick just the denser areas with lower distribution costs, of course they could "undercut" the utility with the requirement to serve everyone.

    (I'm not saying that PG&E couldn't be better managed. I'm saying that there's a much, much deeper policy issue at stake here.)

  2. This is true in many, many places: as zoning, safety, access, and environmental rules evolve most older buildings become not buildable under current rules.

    Our national housing stock is FULL of places with narrow winding stairs, lead paint, full flow toilets and shower heads, untempered glass, single pane windows, uninsulated walls or ceilings, ungrounded outlets, undersized plumbing, sketchy chimneys, springy floors, etc.

    I'm surprised the number isn't closer to 80-90%, especially with the recent energy efficiency rules.

  3. Security is relative, NOT absolute.

    Involving SMS in the authentication process raises the bar significantly for script kiddie attacks using password databases. It also forces a larger and more detailed forensic trail for any attack.

  4. You advertise the price in the fiat currency you want.

    Bitcoin is only used in transit.

  5. There is a killer app for crypto: international money laundering and untraceable transfers.
  6. > "The only good use cases that come to mind is if there is some particular reason for you to evade the conventional and easier systems of communication and storage."

    * Nailed it *

    I've long said the killer app for blockchain already exists: international money laundering and untraceable transfers.

    This also happens to be the precise use case where folks want to "evade conventional and easier systems".

  7. This is a great example of "it's not my preferred mode, so it must not be anyone else's."

    Dictation is widely used in medical transcription.

    Dictation is a killer way to write a first draft quickly, transcribe rough written notes after a meeting, etc. Also, about half of my emails are dictated, and I know I'm not the only one. It takes some time to get used to, but once you're there (like touch typing!), you can't go back.

    ..etc..

  8. Awesome, thanks! I didn't realize that the newer EIO cards were so backward compatible.
  9. They stopped manufacturing the HP LaserJet 4000 over 21 years ago, and the jetdirect EIO network card (J3111A) not long after that.

    If there is a newer network card or firmware that supports this printer, I’d love to hear about it.

  10. I thought about that. The real issue I’m running into is page rendering time: I think the processor on it is only 50 or 80 MHz, and modern software generates some pretty elaborate print files.

    I’ve been meaning to explore server-side rendering, but haven’t got that far down my todo list.

  11. Related: I have a HP 4000 with duplex, which is an absolute unit (beast) of a small workgroup laser printer. It's 20+yrs old, still going strong and parts are easy to get.

    BUT, it's compute bound with modern print jobs, and is missing modern protocols like Bonjour.

    What if someone open sourced a legacy printer? I'd love to re-brain this printer.

  12. We've gone down this path with virtually every other bit of computing technology: operating systems, databases, etc.

    Open always wins....given enough time. No single company can compete with a collective open ecosystem at scale.

  13. What are the issues with having a "mark obsolete" flag that users can check? (with an optional comment)

    At a minimum, that would be an input to the presentation ranking -- old, flagged items would drift to the bottom.

    Long-tail "Floatsam and jetsam" content is a huge problem, generally, not just for software development information.

  14. Latency matters a lot, and it's one of the least-appreciated aspects of UX design.

    I (accidentally) dropped my desktop Linux system into pure console mode the other day and realized how much FASTER it felt just because of the improvement in keyboard latency.

  15. Progress in science and technology progress has supposedly "stalled".

    YET, today, we carry pocket supercomputers with nearly all of the world's information at our fingertips.

    Ten years ago this was not the case.

  16. For the subset of highlight intelligent people that care about being rich (not all do): there's also luck.

    The luck vs skill ratio of life is often skewed toward the "luck" side more than many of us want to admit.

  17. Being the “Andy Payne” cited in the acknowledgment, I can authoritatively say “can confirm”.

    I built an implementation of this method around 1992-93.

  18. TL DR: The author argues that startup options are "better than they look" because you can quit (and keep your options) at any time.

    The model is extremely naive: it doesn't account for (a) dilution due to continued investment, (b) investor preferences, and (c) (perhaps the most important), most options need to be exercised (or forfeited) shortly after departing.

    A departure situation can trigger a significant out of pocket payment: from the actual exercise price PLUS a possible tax trigger (AMT in the US) that gets larger as the company value increases.

    Many employees that leave with vested options often can't afford to exercise them (or all of them).

  19. TL DR; The author wants a modal editor (like vim) that's also "modern"/graphical.

    My view: this is largely a religious issue.

    Editor design is like QWERTY keyboards (or beer): preferences are more dominated by your muscle memory and what you're used to, than any objective notion of "good" or "best".

  20. That's a good start, but there's more to claim 1:

    ...filter the plurality of photographic images using a transfer criteria wherein the transfer criteria is a subject identification of a respective photographic image within the plurality of photographic images, wherein the subject identification is based on a topic, theme or individual shown in the respective photographic image; and transmit, via the wireless transmitter and to a second mobile device, the filtered plurality of photographic images.

    Invaliding prior art has to cover every single thing in the claim. (And my hunch is that it's out there).

  21. I just got my renewal quote: $2,372/month for a family of 4 is going to $2,883/month. That's a ~20% increase, to $34,595 PER YEAR.

    (And this is while benefits continue to be cut back: $150/month for many prescriptions, etc.)

    As others have written, there's no single reason. But, I think there's a major unintended structural problem: under US law, insurance companies are required to pay a high percentage (like ~90%) of their premiums out to service providers. The intent is to cut administrative overhead.

    The effect: it's very hard for an insurance company to invest in technology or administrative improvements. So, the status quo persists.

    WORSE, the admin overhead is pushed onto the providers, so the overhead cost gets hidden. It's not uncommon for a family medicine general practitioner to have a back office of 3-5 people dealing with billing and insurance paperwork.

  22. >the problem here isn’t really WeWork, it’s SoftBank

    No: WeWork is a huge part of the "problem", with crazy org structure, self-dealing, a "cult of CEO" structure, and a business model that may not be that defensible. Softbank is an enabler.

    Let's hope this his "peak hubris" and we're back to more sensible tech IPO attempts.

  23. Unpopular opinion (though getting less so): the politicization of nuclear energy in the 1960s and the resulting lack of investment & R&D advances may go down as one of the biggest blunders in human history.

    Even with some modest ongoing investments, we'd have designs that are FAR safer than systems currently in operation.

  24. TL;DR: Claims a future of "small, personal electric vehicles like e-bikes, scooters, or micro-cars that are yet to exist. That's it."

    Our road networks (urban, AND suburban & rural) host an extremely wide range of vehicle types. While the "small personal vehicles" touted might become popular (with a tweaked road network) it's unlikely to be at the exclusion of all the other vehicle types.

    Sometimes you want to put your family in a {thing} and go somewhere together. We still need to haul/move/ship/deliver things. Those requirements don't go away.

  25. Flagged for misleading title.
  26. It wasn't that long ago that big tech controlled most software....as entirely closed-source. And that's still largely the case: the source for Google's search algorithms, Facebook's core platform, etc.

    While it's good to be mindful that some projects are "controlled" by large tech companies, it's a huge improvement over the way it used to be. I'd rather see FB open-source React, Google open-source TensorFlow, etc. than keep it all proprietary.

  27. First, I suggest doing this in private/incognito mode.

    Second, the "survey" misses the most important distinction: investment income vs earned income. Or, more directly: wealth.

    A family making (say) $300k from only wages is in a VERY different situation than the same family making that income from investments.

  28. The other hack is to “pony express” in stages: use Lyft/Uber to get part way or to a mid point, where you are confident you CAN get a rental, a train/bus, or another Lyft/Uber to keep going.

    This is especially useful if you can’t find a driver that will take you all the way.

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