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User: KalvinB

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  1. Assumes Money is not Stolen on Google-Funded Study Finds Cash Beats Typical Development Aid (wired.com) · · Score: 1

    The reason we stopped giving money is because it was being confiscated by corrupt governments and used to fund terrorism of the local populations.

    Giving food, etc, means the help is far more likely to go to the people.

    The real issue is corrupt governments and we're not about to dispense of them. That's called "colonialism."

    Without property rights and security, there is little good that can come with sending cash.

  2. Re:Clinton Meddling on Pretty Clear GRU's Goal Was To Weaken a Future Clinton Presidency, Former Facebook CSO Says (zdnet.com) · · Score: 4, Informative
  3. Re:Yeah, but . . . on Computer Chips Are Still 'Made in USA' (axios.com) · · Score: 2

    They'll be subsidized under issues of national security if they're really needed by the government. The government generally doesn't run bleeding edge technology so the chips that can be produced in the US will be plenty sufficient for government needs. If the government ever needs a $20 billion plant, they'll cut a check under the national defense budget.

    We've been comfortable with foreign made chips for decades in the consumer market. Unless there is a severe national security issue that won't change. As much as China would like to bug every cell phone and computer at the chip level, it would be economic suicide. Threats will continue to exploit bugs designed into chips and software for the foreseeable future. Tampering directly with a chip is far easier to detect at the plant than after the fact with software exploits.

  4. Are you volunteering to work? on Bernie Sanders Introduces 'Stop BEZOS' Bill To Tax Amazon For Underpaying Workers (theverge.com) · · Score: 1

    UBI doesn't work because it exists in this mythical world where automation isn't already factored into the costs of goods and wages. Automation does not create "extra" money that can be passed out. The costs of goods are reduced and wages increase as productivity increases.

    So are you going to put in extra hours away from friends, family and hobbies so that money can be taken from you and given to someone else who doesn't feel like putting in effort to that whole work thing?

  5. The real metric is dollars per employee per year on US Bosses Now Earn 312 Times the Average Worker's Wage, Figures Show (theguardian.com) · · Score: 1

    The McDonald's and Walmart CEO's make about $10 per employee per year.

    The US Government taxes those employees far more.

    CEOs make more money because they have far more employees working for them. Small business owners don't make nearly as much as large companies with thousands of employees.

  6. Smokers die from their own choice on Fewer Than Half of Young Americans Are Positive About Capitalism (cnbc.com) · · Score: 1

    Regulating pollution causing industry has nothing to do with socialism or capitalism. Government should regulate irrational behavior.

  7. Who died due to capitalism? on Fewer Than Half of Young Americans Are Positive About Capitalism (cnbc.com) · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Can you name a single instance of capitalism being used as justification to brutalize and murder millions of people?

  8. $5 worth of bitcoin will be worth about zero next year. That $5 cash would be worth $4.98 next year due to inflation. The cup of coffee will keep your productive which is worth $100+ depending on your level of income.

    If you had invested in NVIDIA 5 or 6 years ago, you'd have a 10x return on your money.

    Turns out the shovels are a lot more valuable than the dirt being mined

  9. Which false rumor resulted in a Hillary Clinton voter voting for Trump?

    I was going to vote for socialism until I took a Russian meme to the feed.

  10. Netflix is the new "Made for TV" on Netflix Pulls Out of Cannes Following Rule Change (variety.com) · · Score: 0, Troll

    They're not in the film business anymore than Hallmark is.

    There's a huge difference between creating films for the big screen and just pumping out content for your own TV station.

    If you want to be a film company then release to theaters.

  11. So this is the only job available?

  12. There is no gun forcing you to take a job you can't do well enough to earn a decent living doing

  13. It does actually on Carbon Pollution Touched 800,000 Year Record in 2016, WMO Says (bloomberg.com) · · Score: 1

    Money wasted trying to change the weather is money not available to invest in actual solution to the actual problem of pollution. Especially in developing countries.

  14. Simple Economics on No Cash For Hate, Say Mainstream Crowdfunding Firms (reuters.com) · · Score: 2

    A dollar that goes to ensuring he gets a free trial is a dollar that doesn't fund acts of racism in public.

    I sued a telemarketer once. I did everything I could to load up their legal bill. Since the lawyer was in Phoenix and the company was in Florida, I'd send a response to the one who didn't send me the petition. If Florida sent me something, I'd mail the response to Phoenix.

    I won $300 by the end of it because they gave up. Talking to their lawyer I said "I know they paid you a lot of money. That's all that matters." Of course he thought it was funny. He got paid. It didn't matter who got the money as long as it was removed from the company.

    Removing money from racists to pay a lawyer is a much better use of the money of racists than anything else they'd come up with like idiot signs or idiot flags. Or bus fares to their rallies.

  15. Good Riddance to Political Hacks on NASA Finally Admits It Doesn't Have the Funding To Land Humans on Mars (arstechnica.com) · · Score: -1, Troll

    So when Trump called them up and offered them money and they laughed at him, I guess maybe they were the clowns then.

    When NASA decided to lecture Trump on timelines rather than work with him so they'd have plenty of funding to get as far as possible, that was pretty much the end of NASA.

    And now it's just confirmed.

    When a foreign country and private enterprise gets us to Mars, NASA is going to be relegated to Earth and private companies will haul their toys into space for them.

  16. Seriously? on Harvard Pulls Student Offers Over Online Comments (go.com) · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    You're comparing mocking sexual assault, racism and the holocaust to religious beliefs?

    If you're too dumb to know that those are serious things then you're too dumb to attend Harvard.

  17. This is for Amateurs and Low Budget Productions on For Video Soundtracks, Computers Are the New Composers (npr.org) · · Score: 1

    Inception is known for a single note of a song they play throughout the film.

    But for the most part, this allows amateurs and low budget studios to focus on what they're good at and have access to things they're not good at.

    When starting out, plenty of people just rip off music or graphics or whatever they're missing from professional sources and risk copyright issues if they release their finished product.

    Not everyone who wants to make computer games or movies is an artist or a composer or has access to one.

  18. "Rich" kids will still buy the calculator on The Reign of the $100 Graphing Calculator Required By Every US Math Class Is Finally Ending (engadget.com) · · Score: 2

    There is not much substitute for the ease of entering in equations the way you see them written in books than the TI line of calculators.

    Rather than schools spending $100 to get a physical device that will last decades, they've been roped in by Pearson's (of course) to a subscription model.

    So now instead of having a small dedicated device that's exceptional at doing math and will last 20-30 years, you get to have a bulky laptop and internet connection and subscription.

    Which somehow is cheaper for schools than buying TI calculators.

    TI doesn't upgrade the calculators much because again, they're intended to last decades. They're not in the business of making things obsolete like textbook companies such as Pearson.

    Maybe if Pearson could make a decent textbook that doesn't need yearly updates, schools could afford proper tools for their students.

  19. The cities are already built on Elon Musk Posts New Video of 'Boring' Equipment and Company's First Tunnel (cnbc.com) · · Score: 1

    Since we're not going to knock down and rebuild Los Angeles then the option is to find a solution for the city as it exists.

    You post also ignores one key fact: the focus is on inter-city travel, not inner city travel.

    From Phoenix to Los Angeles there is a good 300+ miles of I-10 that takes up a good 4-5 hours of driving.

    Putting in a tunnel between the two cities avoids the most important problems of putting solutions on land:

    You have to own the land

    You have to work around existing infrastructure.

    300 miles at 125 miles per hours is less than 3 hours of travel time. And since it's automated, you can do something productive during that time.

  20. Printers can do way better than 71 dots per inch.

    They're talking about scan lines. DPI is the standard unit for printer and scanner quality

  21. The poor will always starve to death first on Support For a Universal Basic Income Is Inching Up In Europe (qz.com) · · Score: 1

    You look to Venezuela for what happens when there are no longer enough resources from the rich to provide for the entitled masses.

    Venezuela basically did universal basic income with oil profits.

    But then those dried up.

    Because the rest of the world figured out that they could sell oil for a lower price than some goofy country that put the entire citizenship as worthless middlemen collecting a profit but providing no value.

    And that fixed the glitch. The middlemen are out of the market.

    In Alaska and other places there are profits given to the citizens. But nothing that would allow you to stop working. Because that would require the price of oil be substantially higher than other producers could sell their oil for.

    And you'd have to be a socialist to not see the problem with inflated prices to support middlemen no one needs.

  22. I thought Nationalism was bad on EU Leader Says English Is Losing Importance (politico.eu) · · Score: 1

    People who don't speak primarily English, often learn English because of tourism, trade and travel.

    But sure, if you plan to not engage in the larger world economy, stick to whatever language your corner of the world speaks and bloviate about how Brexit is racist and nationalist.

  23. It's amazing that hating Trump and point out what a "dummy" he is, is more important than using this opportunity to convince him to give NASA more money and resources to implement his vision.

    The deadline is irrelevant. If in 4 years NASA has made significant progress the funding increase will continue.

    No wonder NASA has such a limited budget. They're too dumb to know when to shut up and take the money.

  24. The city is already built on Elon Musk Outlines His 'Boring' Vision For Traffic-Avoiding Tunnels (axios.com) · · Score: 1

    Now the question is what to do about it.

    It's easier to build tunnels than rebuild an entire city organically.

    It's basically a subway system with individual cars rather than trains.

  25. https://cias.rit.edu/media/upl...

    Luminescence can be used to create a depth map using two offset images.

    3D movies and VR headsets don't work for everyone and create headaches for a variety of reasons, one probably being the lack of bit depth. It's much harder to judge depth when the colors are so close together.