halhod | 2 years ago | on: Deep-sea mining may soon ease the world's battery-metal shortage
halhod's comments
halhod | 2 years ago | on: Deep-sea mining may soon ease the world's battery-metal shortage
hi, i’m the writer. this article, like all my articles, originated from my own curiosity. at no point was i pitched on this. the only PR pitches i’ve received about the subject over the last few years have been from environmental groups
halhod | 2 years ago | on: Deep-sea mining may soon ease the world's battery-metal shortage
Hi, I’m the writer. I was, obviously, paid nothing by TMC or any other company. If you’re interested I can link all the peer reviewed publications on which I based the calculations. The Economist's style is not to show our workings on things like this in copy, but I’m happy to do so myself
halhod | 2 years ago | on: Adding capacity to the electricity grid is not a simple task
HN may be interested in the rest of the special report, which is here https://www.economist.com/technology-quarterly/2023-04-08
halhod | 4 years ago | on: What if biohackers injected themselves with mRNA?
I am curious that you read this piece as arguing for any particular position. I did not write it with a particular argument in mind. My personal bias is the same as yours
halhod | 5 years ago | on: Writing tools I learned from The Economist
almost all are written by Ann, who is brilliant. the odd one is written by a subject matter expert, or by someone for whom the subject was a source
this one is a particularly good example, that HN may enjoy https://www.economist.com/obituary/2019/02/21/obituary-the-m...
halhod | 5 years ago | on: Writing tools I learned from The Economist
we do. all letters sent in by emailed in get the following autoreply:
"The Economist thanks you for your letter, which has been passed to the author of the article. All letters are edited if selected for publication either in print or online.
We will need to know where you are writing from, so please ensure you have supplied the name of the city, town or village and the country if that is not obvious.
If you do not wish your letter to be published send an e-mail promptly to [email protected]."
halhod | 5 years ago | on: Judge temporarily blocks U.S. ban on TikTok downloads from U.S. app stores
Bytedance is a Chinese company. Look up VIE (variable interest entity) or "Sina Structure". Essentially the Cayman islands topco is a fudge that the Chinese government tolerates to facilitate non Chinese investment in Chinese companies, something which is not normally allowed. The structure is very common among Chinese tech companies. Instead of controlling the company by owning a majority of its shares, the "owners" of VIEs control their firms contractually. Paul Gilis' blog is very good on this https://www.chinaaccountingblog.com/weblog/explaining-vie-st...
halhod | 7 years ago | on: Chip wars: China, America and silicon supremacy
HN may be interested in the longer briefing that this editorial is based on - https://www.economist.com/briefing/2018/12/01/the-semiconduc...
halhod | 7 years ago | on: No Phd, No Problem: New Schemes Teach the Masses to Build AI
Hi, I wrote the piece. No PR was involved. I’ve been following fast.ai for a while and I thought it was part of an interesting trend
My basic rule with stories is that they must come from me casting my attention out into the world, not via a bidding war for it in my inbox. I run a whitelist and never read inbound PR. I only email comms people when I a) can’t find a person’s details b) the person asks me to
halhod | 7 years ago | on: Toyota Investing $500M in Uber in Driverless Car Pact
There are reasons to think that Toyota's automated driving strategy is a good one. Wrote about it here https://www.economist.com/business/2018/05/19/toyota-takes-a.... I'd assume that the Uber partnership is about mobility and ridesharing. One of Toyota's main focuses with autonomy is on making the driving safer and more comfortable. Gil Pratt talks explicitly about improving the experience for ride-hailing drivers
halhod | 7 years ago | on: The Nuclear Power Plant of the Future May Be Floating Near Russia
I took a broader look at Russia's nuclear power program here - https://www.economist.com/europe/2018/08/02/the-world-relies...
halhod | 9 years ago | on: First 'three person baby' born using new method
the original story, with more detail, is here https://www.newscientist.com/article/2107219-exclusive-world...
halhod | 11 years ago | on: Video games beat interviews to recruit the very best
I wrote this story, and can confirm what Thomas says (although I suppose you have no reason to believe me).
page 2
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abn1219