Hacker News: b_tterc_p

New comment by b_tterc_p in "Mathematician Wins $3M Prize for 'Magic Wand Theorem'"

b_tterc_p — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 22:30:59 +0000

> Now place a candle in the middle of the room, one that shines light in every direction. As the light bounces around the different corners, will it always illuminate the whole room? Or will it miss some spots? A side effect of proving the magic wand theorem, Eskin said, is that it conclusively answers this old question.

This is a point light in the middle of a regular polygon right? Why is this noteworthy? Is it that the light settles on all points evenly? Is it in spite of some sort of phase cancellation thing?

New comment by b_tterc_p in "You Can Now Tell Facebook to Delete Its Internal Record of Your Face"

b_tterc_p — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 18:24:54 +0000

Despite the headline I don’t see anything about deleting data. Just that it won’t try to recognize you.

That being said, I went on my profile to check and it was already set to No (don’t do facial recognition). Is this the default? Or is this actually an old thing that I disabled a long time ago.

New comment by b_tterc_p in "Facebook Dating"

b_tterc_p — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 17:06:45 +0000

Seems like it was false! You can use this while married on Facebook

New comment by b_tterc_p in "Facebook Dating"

b_tterc_p — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 12:17:37 +0000

I look forward to seeing if your first statement is true.

New comment by b_tterc_p in "Facebook Dating"

b_tterc_p — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 16:22:24 +0000

It sounds to me like a primary use case of this would be... cheating...

Unlike other dating platforms, this one is integrated with your supposedly up to date profile. Being able to set up a low risk secret crush with a known friend seems likely to be popular to those interested in doing so.

That is to say, a person who wants to cheat has no problem having a Facebook profile, so there’s not a need for anonymity against being found by known acquaintances like you might expect on other platforms.

New comment by b_tterc_p in "Weighted blankets might ease insomnia and anxiety"

b_tterc_p — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 11:57:14 +0000

A similar lesson was learned for cattle. Compressing them en route to slaughter makes them significantly calmer.

New comment by b_tterc_p in "The growing science of memory manipulation"

b_tterc_p — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 17:51:30 +0000

I think I’d remember if someone else altered my memories.

New comment by b_tterc_p in "China Drone Attack on Crop-Eating ‘Monster’ Shows 98% Kill Rate"

b_tterc_p — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 16:20:29 +0000

There are reasonable concerns about using genetic modifications to kill things like mosquitos, but why don’t we use this tech against invasive species which we want to be absolutely removed from an ecosystem?

New comment by b_tterc_p in "Flight risk: can we take the carbon out of air travel?"

b_tterc_p — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 14:31:40 +0000

Feels like a let them eat cake argument to me. I’m sure many others would like to have the luxury of remote work and leisurely paced travel.

This isn’t a useful perspective for the majority of people

New comment by b_tterc_p in "China sows disinformation on Hong Kong using porn accounts on Twitter"

b_tterc_p — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 13:58:57 +0000

Well they’re clearly being marketed as having actual use. Whether it’s true... could go either way

New comment by b_tterc_p in "China sows disinformation on Hong Kong using porn accounts on Twitter"

b_tterc_p — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 13:56:19 +0000

This jumped out at me too. It’s pretty garbage, but it may be that garbage works

New comment by b_tterc_p in "The growing science of memory manipulation"

b_tterc_p — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 11:28:12 +0000

It might have some downsides, but let’s not forget about the daily torture and atrocities we experienced before the government started manipulating our memories.

New comment by b_tterc_p in "NLP's Clever Hans Moment Has Arrived"

b_tterc_p — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 11:23:18 +0000

Nah that’s not the same thing.

In this case it’s just choosing an option that involves very large numbers because it’s learned that it’s opponent can’t handle large numbers. There’s no code injection

New comment by b_tterc_p in "Flight risk: can we take the carbon out of air travel?"

b_tterc_p — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 23:52:53 +0000

Where/why are you going that you can spare two days?

New comment by b_tterc_p in "Filthy surgical instruments: a threat in America's operating rooms (2014)"

b_tterc_p — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 13:00:43 +0000

Ok but you’re kind of just throwing numbers into the mix here to justify your position. What if the manager makes $12.50 an hour? Or $10?

The notion that people with low wages can’t be held accountable for errors EVER is... not reasonable

New comment by b_tterc_p in "Study Finds No Single Genetic Cause of Same-Sex Sexual Behavior"

b_tterc_p — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 12:56:13 +0000

There’s plenty of evidence to suggest some portion of likelihood of being gay is controlled by parental hormones. E.g. the probability of being gay is observably higher in men born after an older brother.

So... this was obviously going to be true.

New comment by b_tterc_p in "Study Finds No Single Genetic Cause of Same-Sex Sexual Behavior"

b_tterc_p — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 12:53:27 +0000

Pointing out that some people can feels like a lame excuse for justifying doubt when someone says they can’t. Almost everyone does not choose their orientation.

It’s not a growing trend to suggest people can control this. It is perhaps a trend that people acknowledge things change over time. Those two are not the same.

New comment by b_tterc_p in "Filthy surgical instruments: a threat in America's operating rooms (2014)"

b_tterc_p — Sun, 01 Sep 2019 18:25:15 +0000

Ok but the question isn’t about a norm of death and illness, it’s about a single one off individual error

New comment by b_tterc_p in "Filthy surgical instruments: a threat in America's operating rooms (2014)"

b_tterc_p — Sun, 01 Sep 2019 14:21:42 +0000

You’re saying that management can influence events and that’s true. But management can minimize risk to more than acceptable levels and the individual can still screw up due to their own folly. This really feels like a dumb argument, that your mistakes must be the result of higher order systems.

New comment by b_tterc_p in "Filthy surgical instruments: a threat in America's operating rooms (2014)"

b_tterc_p — Sun, 01 Sep 2019 14:18:00 +0000

So... can management acknowledge individual errors if they’re paid highly?