thght's comments

> Happy 2016?

Please don't go the web developer (javascript) path; node, react, webpack, etc.. It will drive you nuts, things keep changing radically in a very high pace and can take quite some time before you feel comfortable in this crazy field.

I would choose python, ruby(or crystal), c++, c#, etc.. and stay away from the browser, unless you have a very good reason to write for that.

So, to fight terrorism:

> “The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 will ensure that law enforcement and the security and intelligence agencies have the powers they need in a digital age to disrupt terrorist attacks, subject to strict safeguards and world-leading oversight,” a statement from the Home Office reads.

And as expected some wheeling and dealing once they have the data:

> Many law enforcement agencies will be able to access this data, but so will lots of other, less obvious public bodies, including the Food Standards Agency, ...

First they steal private data of more than 60 million of innocent people. Then they share it with "less obvious public bodies", where we have to trust it is in save hands.. It is just a matter of time before this data is out in the open. How could we ever feel more safe when they do this? They better call it "The Criminal Act 2016". Is this what people vote for in a Democracy?

You must be very naive to believe all that.. The actual amount of cocaine smuggled into the Netherlands is currently higher than ever before.

Also, the street value for 3Kg of cocaine is far above 50.000 euro's, do you realise how poor the people of the Dutch Antilles are? Without even a police report and a free ride back it's a clear invitation. And I didn't even mention the corrupt airport security, some of them make a sweet income out of this. It is definitely not "100% control", at all..

What a lie this is..

In reality there is the decade old problem that the Dutch justice system cannot handle the amount of criminals. Not enough judges and money for that.

Partly because of this it has become very hard in the Netherlands to even file a police report for light to medium weight crimes committed to you. Police simply send you away if a crime is not heavy enough in their opinion. Criminals walk free on the street, and when they are caught they most often are back on the street the same day, unless it is a real serious crime of course.

At some point they even decided not to file a police report below 3Kg of cocaine smuggling from the Dutch Antilles. Why? There were just too many doing it and the justice system couldn't handle it..

The Netherlands in reality has a very high crime rate, but the government found smart ways to conceal that.

A virtual machine might be a solution, just leave it full screen for them when you leave home. I've given up trying to educate my parents best practice with pc's, it doesn't seem to work.

Indeed, that's how they do that, in the hope the horde will follow their made up winner. Unfortunately most media in this world are more corrupt than people are willing to believe.

At least not in creating the illusion of choice for the individual.

epic!

I think you shouldn't dislike computers for not enjoying what other people do with it. But a part of the magic of computers and the internet in the 90's is definitely gone, for ever, true. But hey, would you prefer to go back to connecting to a BBS with a 14k4 modem? I prefer my wireless 340Mbps broadband modem, really.

Fortunately I do enjoy every new day and can still become excited about new technology, which is emerging all the time. And I truly believe that computers and the internet have become much better and ever more interesting. You just have to be very selective in the vastness of things out there.

Just watch the Udacity add from 2016. Besides the price tag on that video (paid from students money), most scenes look more like science fiction than the reality of what we achieve with the jobs we do! It's business as usual.

The problem with courses is not only money, it is also valuable time spend. Another issue is that Courses often tend to give you the false impression that you master something once you've completed it. There is always that difference between selling a course and what students actually gain.

Why not spend your time to become a better autodidact, and use this vast free resource called the internet? Maybe it's just me, but I really don't want to depend on paid courses.

> Price controls are a terrible solution

I never mentioned price controls in general.

In Auckland, New Zealand, investors are buying property and houses en masse. They blow up the market price for profit. In the news you can read that most people born now in New Zealand will likely never be able to buy a house in their lives, and this is a very hot issue there right now. It has never been this bad and it only gets worse every day.

If the price per square meter never exceeds for example 0.25% of the average minimum income, most people should be able to own a house. Property owners could than make profit on the quality of a house, which is fair enough for now, but not anymore on the square meter property price.

How can it be that you are born on this planet and not being able to ever have your own place? Because it is all owned and inherited by a handful of people that took profit of a flawed system?

This is not only about Greece, a house is a basic necessity of live, wether you can find a job or not. Governments should cap the price per square meter so a house will always be available for everyone.

As it is now you cannot really buy a house, you need a mortgage for live and work your entire life to pay interest. If this continues every house in the entire world will become unending debt and ever more unattainable, except for the rich of course.

This is also why basic income could never work in practice, as the house prices keep increasing you'd also need to increase the basic income. And where goes the money? Indeed, to the rich property owners..

First off, I'm not angry, but I do have some right to complain. There is not really an alternative laptop of the build quality of the mac book pro, and they are degrading it! This is a hardware issue, I never liked Apple software, only forced to use it as an annoying shell for doing my work. I do have a powerful HP laptop too, but man that thing is heavy and the battery doesn't last..

I am especially worried by the lies that we all create in our own minds by repeating erroneous thoughts with our own thinking. People being convinced about things that are not true or only partially true can be quite scary, more so when those people are in power. Fair chance that Goebbels really believed what he was saying. What we consider to be the 'truth' is very relative in my perception.

I am 100% sure My macbook pro keyboard is really damaging my fingers/joints. I stopped coding all day on my macbook because my hands really started to hurt very badly, suffering some sort of RSI.

Then I decided to start coding on my Cooler Master mechanical keyboard to see wether that would give some relieve. Within 2 weeks the pain was completely gone! I now only use my mac keyboard for short messages like this.

I think it's really sad when aesthetics rule over ergonomics, and with the new mac books it only seems to get worse.. Especially the escape key on the oled bar, what idiot made that decision?

I think it is totally irrelevant what the exact pitch is. I play guitar for over 40 years and I rarely tune my guitar exactly to 432 or 440, instead, I often tune my guitar about a whole note lower because I like the sound of the strings with less tension.

Whatever the pitch is, I have my moments playing great and playing terrible. If there is one special quality that might be heavenly then it is the artist composing or performing that beautiful piece of music in the moment, and I never experienced that moment being connected with 432hz in any way.

Shame on you for blaming Y Combinator. If it was 1.25 million for Clinton you would probably praise Y Combinator, no? This feels more like a clash between your personal political preferences and Mr Thiels's. You are just blaming Y Combinator to inflate this story, trying to get more people on the Clinton side. Shame on you!

I would love to have personal devices that collect my private data and apply AI for my personal benefit, but only then if all data stays inside the device under my exclusive supervision. As soon as this data is sent to some cloud service beloning to a company in the business of generating wealth and power, I totally lose my appetite.