Hacker News: alphonsegaston

New comment by alphonsegaston in "What It’s Like to Live in a Surveillance State"

alphonsegaston — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 04:16:57 +0000

Thank you.

New comment by alphonsegaston in "What It’s Like to Live in a Surveillance State"

alphonsegaston — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 00:18:21 +0000

Labor organization with the express aim of putting an end to Surveillance Capitalism.

Google and Facebook can’t withstand a sustained disruption of their workforce, which is why they spend so much time paying lip service to social issues. They have to create a constant illusion of concern for rights and justice to prevent their employees from actually demanding them.

New comment by alphonsegaston in "GrubHub Drivers Ruled Contractors"

alphonsegaston — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 00:11:01 +0000

Any “exchange” that’s premised on the “loss of rights” is just the Capital class leveraging their power to further exploit the poor.

Democratize the Universe

alphonsegaston — Thu, 08 Feb 2018 16:56:02 +0000

Article URL: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/03/space-industry-extraction-levine

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16333535

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

New comment by alphonsegaston in "Americans are spending less on clothing"

alphonsegaston — Wed, 07 Feb 2018 16:06:26 +0000

Let me tell you a secret - it’s the drier. Clothes last far longer when you hang dry them.

You’re right that fast fashion has reduced overall quality, but you can still get more wear out if them if you avoid the drier.

New comment by alphonsegaston in "A Driver’s Suicide Reveals the Dark Side of the Gig Economy"

alphonsegaston — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 19:14:04 +0000

>It sounds like a cliche, but capitalism = freedom.

And War is Peace. Ignorance is Strength.

New comment by alphonsegaston in "A Driver’s Suicide Reveals the Dark Side of the Gig Economy"

alphonsegaston — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 18:10:20 +0000

That you've so internalized this oppressive ideology as natural or just is why I imagine people like Schifter feel so hopeless in the face of their circumstances.

Perhaps think on this before dismissing another's life so glibly.

A Driver’s Suicide Reveals the Dark Side of the Gig Economy

alphonsegaston — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 17:27:35 +0000

Article URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/nyregion/livery-driver-taxi-uber.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16317760

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

New comment by alphonsegaston in "Even in Denmark, children are career killers for working moms"

alphonsegaston — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 20:36:17 +0000

People are angry at your tone, but you’re correct. The evidence shows that disproportionate gender representation in STEM is the product of social conditioning, not anything innate:

https://www.nature.com/articles/442133a

Amazon fulfillment centers do not generate broad-based employment growth

alphonsegaston — Sun, 04 Feb 2018 22:33:04 +0000

Article URL: https://www.epi.org/publication/unfulfilled-promises-amazon-warehouses-do-not-generate-broad-based-employment-growth/?utm_source=Economic+Policy+Institute&utm_campaign=b001b0ff9a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e7c5826c50-b001b0ff9a-58667609&mc_cid=b001b0ff9a&mc_eid=3787201f50

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16305340

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

New comment by alphonsegaston in "If Workers Slack Off, the Wristband Will Know"

alphonsegaston — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 15:01:21 +0000

I often see debates here about how tech workers should or shouldn’t organize because they’re too highly paid, etc. But what if they organized to protect something more simple, like warehouse workers fundamental humanity?

I understand that people have had different experiences working on the tech side of Amazon, some great, some terrible. And yet I would hope that we can all look at this and say “this isn’t something I’d want for myself, my family, or my friends. This isn’t how you should treat people.”

Amazon is more likely to respond to people on the AWS team pushing pack in a concerted fashion than the warehouse workers they’ve already shown themselves to see as disposable

New comment by alphonsegaston in "John Hennessy named chairman of Alphabet/Google"

alphonsegaston — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 03:56:53 +0000

I think he was on his way out to a post in the Clinton administration as Google’s man on the inside. He’s mentioned his political ambitions in several interviews/profiles.

When that didn’t pan out, they didn’t see much use in keeping him around, especially in light of Trump’s penchant for grudges.

New comment by alphonsegaston in "John Hennessy named chairman of Alphabet/Google"

alphonsegaston — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 03:46:30 +0000

I don’t mind the downvotes or anything, but it struck me as strange that on the same day that it’s reported Google is pursuing partnerships with an entity as corrupt and demonstrably awful as the Saudi regime, people see this as outside the range of possibility.

New comment by alphonsegaston in "John Hennessy named chairman of Alphabet/Google"

alphonsegaston — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 02:59:31 +0000

Most likely he was cast aside so Google can cozy up better with the Trump administration. Schmidt was close with the Clinton campaign, which Trump himself noted when they met:

http://www.siliconbeat.com/2017/12/22/time-right-eric-schmid...

New comment by alphonsegaston in "Tech Start-Up Fires Engineers Amid Union Organizing Effort"

alphonsegaston — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 05:29:24 +0000

In the face of all of the companies that illegally colluded to suppress developer wages sitting on massive reserves of cash...

It’s the same thing as poor whites clinging to racism because they think it elevates their class position. False consciousness abounds.

New comment by alphonsegaston in "Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad has died"

alphonsegaston — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 07:41:43 +0000

You used Lindgren and her story as an example of the "business climate" of Sweden in the 70s and as an implied defense of Kamprad/IKEA's actions. But her critique, when coupled with her continued commitment to socialism, isn't comparable to Kamprad/IKEA's actions.

Essentially, there's an important and material difference between saying, "I'm a socialist, but these taxes, which I'll continue to pay, are excessive" and "I'm an unreprentant fascist who must hide my wealth from these undeserving thieves," even if the latter can opportunistically profit from the former's sentiment to justify their own actions.

New comment by alphonsegaston in "Why Japanese web design is so different (2013)"

alphonsegaston — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 06:01:51 +0000

Dakuten(what you call “dots over letters”) are used to modify the way consonants are pronounced, not for emphasis, e.g to turn the character for “Ka”(カ) into “Ga”(ガ).

And the usage of katakana in the way the parent describes isn’t “tiring.” It follows almost the exact same pattern as words are italicized in English, where a word or phrase is represented differently from the surrounding text. Less common/standardized, but not tiring.

EDIT:

My bad on the bouten/dakuten confusion. Apologies.

New comment by alphonsegaston in "Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad has died"

alphonsegaston — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 04:11:04 +0000

And yet Lindgren remained a committed Social Democrat even in spite of this. Drawing a parallel between her and a tax-dodging, fascist sympathizer is quite the leap. Lindgren despised the Nazism Kamprad embraced and never really fully repudiated.

New comment by alphonsegaston in "Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad has died"

alphonsegaston — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 00:31:11 +0000

The parent already pointed out that in a 2010 interview he expressed his unchanged admiration for Endghal. And he was also later show to have remained friends with him well into the 50s, exchanging correspondence and kind regards, a further misrepresentation of the length and character of their friendship.

The 1988 “apology” was obviously just PR.

New comment by alphonsegaston in "Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad has died"

alphonsegaston — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 00:27:49 +0000

He also used East German dissidents as slave labor in the 70s and 80s. Pretty despicable.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/nov/16/ikea-regret...