Hacker News: joeshevland

New comment by joeshevland in "US and UK struck secret deal to allow NSA to 'unmask' Britons' personal data"

joeshevland — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 01:03:24 +0000

Unfortunately I agree with you.

I think increasing public awareness and loosening the old media hegemony will change things. In time.

New comment by joeshevland in "TPP Leak Confirms the Worst: US Still Trying to Trade Away Internet Freedoms"

joeshevland — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 09:20:54 +0000

Terry Pratchett

New comment by joeshevland in "TPP Leak Confirms the Worst: US Still Trying to Trade Away Internet Freedoms"

joeshevland — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 09:15:22 +0000

Its almost Terry Pratcher'esque. I'm seriously depressed about how shit our system is.

New comment by joeshevland in "TPP Leak Confirms the Worst: US Still Trying to Trade Away Internet Freedoms"

joeshevland — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 09:14:04 +0000

Punch drunk from the abuse, how much worse can it get?

New comment by joeshevland in "TPP Leak Confirms the Worst: US Still Trying to Trade Away Internet Freedoms"

joeshevland — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 07:29:25 +0000

As an Australian (US by birth unfort, I actually hate my country of birth at this stage because of their governance), I'm actually looking to China and non-partisan countries to fix this mess. The solution isn't going to come from a country so entrenched in corruption.

New comment by joeshevland in "TPP Leak Confirms the Worst: US Still Trying to Trade Away Internet Freedoms"

joeshevland — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 06:22:09 +0000

Anyone else starting to feel worn down and disgusted by the behavior of your government? I don't see a lot of change, just a lot of dissection of how bad it is. If the mechanism to change the problem is broken, how do you change the problem?

New comment by joeshevland in "Bill Gates and Bill Clinton on NSA, Safe Sex, and American Exceptionalism"

joeshevland — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 04:26:15 +0000

> In terms of funding science, both of us agree that we need to do more. [...] The US should do more, but relative to others we’ve done more in the basic sciences [...] The US pays more for drugs, and therefore funds more R&D, than any other country.
I'm of mixed minds about anything Bill Gates says. I applaud the fact he's putting 40b+ or whatever it is to charity, but I can't help but think "Did the ends justify the means?" I guess that's my personal opinion of Microsoft's track record. If I'd made X billion, to the point I couldn't possibly spend or splurge any more, I'd give the rest away too. After all, it means nothing at that point.
Is it OK to have huge pharma companies pushing up prices and manipulating prices? Is 'paying more for drugs, and therefore fund[ing] more R&D' sensible, in that light? Maybe I'm just bitter that he tried to charge a learning student $2k for Visual Studio back when I wanted to learn :)
I hope quelling malaria and other initiatives goes well though.

New comment by joeshevland in "Re-engineering headphones"

joeshevland — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 04:10:54 +0000

The other problem I've had is around the joints or the volume control, very fine wires that seem to snap easily.
I wasn't sure if its just a matter of them being made with an expiry date or if there's better ones out there, but I'll check those out, cheers.

Re-engineering headphones

joeshevland — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 04:05:09 +0000

I'm not sure whether this is a valid topic, or if it resonates with millions of others. In listening to a few online talks, I realize again my headphones have lost hearing in the right ear.
It's generally kicking the cord I think when I get up for a coffee. That's my working theory anyway. Sometimes seems to break.
But my question is, would it be worth a kickstarter to re-engineer headphones? Every pair I've bought seem to self-destruct within 1-6 months, and that strikes me as a bit fragile.
Are there more durable headsets out there? Is it an engineering flaw? I'll chip in my over 5 seconds of engineering experience with: "The wire needs to be more robust in the face of aggressive, beer-driven behaviour".
Typing this with my left hand holding an important bend in the wire of my headphones, listening to the Portal 2 finale song. Yes, I just beat it. Yes, I'm behind the times :)

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6730444

Points: 4

# Comments: 8

New comment by joeshevland in "Apple II DOS source code released by Computer History Museum"

joeshevland — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 04:58:12 +0000

Brings back memories of getting magazines like inCider [1] and Windfall and attempting to type out the assembler or machine code for little apps or (monochrome ;) graphics stuff. Was much the same as magic to me then.
Then realizing there's a typo in there, somewhere... check digits helped a bit I think if whatever you used supported that.
1. http://apple2history.org/history/ah21/#03

New comment by joeshevland in "An open letter to the media, by Anonymous"

joeshevland — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 10:08:50 +0000

Having read Alastair Reynold's stuff, I thought the idea of replicators was awesome. My current thinking is that 3d printers, if they master multiple materials, will kill off mundane manufacturing. I can't see it being a bad thing, albeit an industrial revolution style shift.

New comment by joeshevland in "The Surveillance State Puts U.S. Elections at Risk of Manipulation"

joeshevland — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 09:25:56 +0000

Moving the marker from apathy to critical thought, in the masses, is the thing I think. That, and fixing the central banking cartel and the military industrial complex, I suppose.

New comment by joeshevland in "The Surveillance State Puts U.S. Elections at Risk of Manipulation"

joeshevland — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 08:37:13 +0000

To me its bloody frustrating to look at a problem, and see it wallow around in all its greedy and obese glory. Its really frustrating to think the mechanisms for changing the problem are co-opted. Makes you feel a bit impotent. This overreach, and the general military-industrial complex, to me, are sickening. I don't understand how it survives the light of day.

New comment by joeshevland in "Don't Pipe to your Shell"

joeshevland — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 12:05:40 +0000

But really? It'll get pretty onerous to check every checksum and guard every entry point. I think we should fix the real problem.

New comment by joeshevland in "Don't Pipe to your Shell"

joeshevland — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 02:23:11 +0000

Tend to agree. There is still the trust relationship downloading source and using it, although I guess with a source bundle you can at least verify the hash and have the same (potential malware) as everyone else.

New comment by joeshevland in "NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide"

joeshevland — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 01:25:57 +0000

I think a more sensible use of the money would be to 'fix' the ability to buy whatever legislation you want. Its really not a democracy any more when those wealthy enough can buy whatever legislation they want.