neuro_imager's comments

neuro_imager | 7 years ago | on: Thank you HN

Really pleased to hear you're doing well. As someone who has faced a similar situation in the past I can attest as to how hard it can be to pull yourself out of that downward spiral.

I went through your previous thread and was really impressed by some of the advice/comments you were given.

I was wondering if anyone with some time on their hands on here could possibly prepare a repository of all the good advice in this thread (and the OP's previous thread, and one's like it) as a resource for people who face similar circumstances. (I have no doubt there are a lot of us out there).

neuro_imager | 8 years ago | on: Two Koreas Agree to End War This Year, Pursue Denuclearization

South Africa didn't 'denuclearise' in the sense of giving up arms.

They had a change to a completely incompetent government who wouldn't know how to spell 'nuclear' let alone fathom the scientific research and economic and political strategy required to run such a program.

And given that nuclear scientists and competent political strategists tend to be smart, they don't hang around in swamps very long.

neuro_imager | 8 years ago | on: MobileCoin has raised $30M for private mobile payments

Privacy - All transactions on venmo are easily accessed by venmo and other third parties.

International transactions - Venmo is very limited in this regard.

The unbanked - As stated already, there are about two billion unbanked people worldwide.

Avoiding banking cartels. - We've fed these parasites enough, don't you think?

Ease of use - A payment over a social network would be relatively seamless, particularly if you believe that apps allowing for rapid transfer between cryptocurrencies will be feasible (they are to some degree already).

neuro_imager | 8 years ago | on: The Man Who Brought Down Lance Armstrong

Sports do not all benefit equally from PEDs. The requirement to demonstrate high level muscular endurance over such prolonged time periods makes the relative benefits to cyclists very high.

This is different to most sports where you are less likely to grossly manipulate the factors contributing to optimal performance with PEDs. Or at least not be able to manipulate them enough to be out of range of talented non-users.

neuro_imager | 8 years ago | on: At 88, doctor pursues a long-ignored treatment for strokes, heart attacks

For the sake of completeness, I'll expand:

It's rarely up to the interventionalist if and when they will treat a stroke. There are clear guidelines on treating these patients (which mostly take place at comprehensive stroke centres), mostly defined by the neurology service, which functions somewhat independently. These guidelines have been expanding as newer evidence has shown a role in wider time windows but this point remains the same. There is very little opportunity for an individual interventionalist to increase his patient volume independently (at least for ischemic stroke).

I agree in principle with most of the points you make, although I think perverse incentives are largely a function of the US healthcare system in general rather than the domain of any particular specialty.

In specific relation to the original article, I'm extremely doubtful that combing two anti-thrombotic agents would be a miraculous therapeutic regime for treating stroke but I'd be happy to be proved wrong by a legitimate trial. However, I'd worry that we'd be sacrificing patients that could otherwise be treated if we assigned them to an arm of a trial that precludes established therapy.

neuro_imager | 8 years ago | on: At 88, doctor pursues a long-ignored treatment for strokes, heart attacks

Actually, its interventional cardiology for heart attacks and neurointerventional surgery/interventional neuroradiology(NIR) for strokes. (Not IR which cover non-neurological and non-cardiological interventional procedures).

I'm a NIR and most of us are not paid per surgery/intervention. Also these interventions tend to be loss leaders in terms of hospital reimbursements. Funding for stroke centres can be profitable but that's a very long discussion.

In addition, at least 7 randomized clinical trials have shown the benefit of thrombectomy in acute stroke (actually something of a modern medical technological miracle).

neuro_imager | 8 years ago | on: The FBI, CIA and NSA say American citizens shouldn't use Huawei phones

I posted a link to a company making secure laptops and iphones on a previous, similar thread and got down-voted and accused of shilling/trolling. If you are interested look for : laptops and phones where you are in control and have complete visibility into the operating system, all bundled software, and the deeper levels of your computer.

(The phone has not been released yet.)

neuro_imager | 8 years ago | on: The FBI, CIA and NSA say American citizens shouldn't use Huawei phones

I posted a link to a company making secure laptops and iphones on a previous, similar thread and got down-voted and accused of shilling/trolling.

If you are interested look for : laptops and phones where you are in control and have complete visibility into the operating system, all bundled software, and the deeper levels of your computer.

(The phone has not been released yet.)

neuro_imager | 8 years ago | on: Revisiting the Risks of Bitcoin Currency Exchange Closure [pdf]

Is there a way for moderators on HN to limit the amount of emotional rhetoric on cryptocurrency discussions?

It would be great if comments here could be limited to substantiated technical and market analysis. Comments on ideology (again if substantiated) would be useful too but right now these discussions just degenerate into shouting matches with very low signal:noise.

neuro_imager | 8 years ago | on: Revisiting the Risks of Bitcoin Currency Exchange Closure [pdf]

You're describing a false dichotomy (and evidently an inaccurate description of how currency is stored).

There are good options to avoid leaving currency on exchanges.

Using a hardware wallet like Ledger or Trezor (which I assume is what you're referring to) is not like storing your currency on a USB.

The wallet facilitates access to your private key. If the wallet is damaged, access to your private key can be restored using a passphrase.

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