Hacker News: mech765

New comment by mech765 in "Electric vehicle battery prices are falling faster than expected"

mech765 — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 11:54:25 +0000

I know that Tesla, for example, has either reduced or eliminated Cobalt from their batteries. Changing composition can reduce material cost.

New comment by mech765 in "'It's quite soul-destroying': how we fell out of love with dating apps"

mech765 — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 15:50:55 +0000

As an example: there are genuine cases of masochists that are subjectively happier because pain is being inflicted on them. In many of these cases no serious harm is done to their body. Your claim "you can't trust their reported state" is either 1) a claim that the outside observer knows better than the individual what their subjective state is or 2) that the health of the subject is more important than their subjective happiness.

If you are arguing for #1, I disagree. If you are arguing for #2, you should be more clear about why/how you keep using the word "objectively".

New comment by mech765 in "'It's quite soul-destroying': how we fell out of love with dating apps"

mech765 — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 14:45:32 +0000

People can feel less happy when there is a lack of challenge in their life. Consider the example of the guy that spends his life wasting away in front of video games, going for impulsive pleasures instead of long term rewarding goals.

I would guess that each person has a different ideal level and variety of suffering (or responsibility, or challenge, or whatever you want to call it), for which their personality is best suited. We are so far removed from the challenges of the past that we don't know what the subjective experience would be like.

New comment by mech765 in "Rising Instability"

mech765 — Sat, 14 Oct 2023 11:25:53 +0000

When interest rates for new bonds go up, the value of existing bonds go down. This only ever matters if you intend to resell the bond. If you hold it to maturity, you will get the same payout as you agreed to. However, if you try to sell your old bond with 3 percent yield, when bond buyers can go grab a bond with a 5 percent yield, they will pay you a lower price.

New comment by mech765 in "Blue Frontier and its energy-efficient AC"

mech765 — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 14:39:20 +0000

How is the dessicant recharged after it absorbs the water?

New comment by mech765 in "New California law raises minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour"

mech765 — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 22:15:13 +0000

If they raised the minimum wage for all workers, it would have a greater destabilizing effect, so they limited it to a smaller group so they could get their message across while minimizing the change they cause.

New comment by mech765 in "Chomsky explains why nobody is a moral relativist"

mech765 — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 22:08:21 +0000

Kant's categorical imperative is a decent attempt at one.

Also (closely related)- "do unto others as you would have others do unto you."

They both have holes and edge cases though.

New comment by mech765 in "Honda’s new Motocompacto e-scooter is stolen straight from my dreams"

mech765 — Sat, 16 Sep 2023 11:43:06 +0000

Yep the 80s machine would be perfect to throw in the back of a camper as secondary transportation

New comment by mech765 in "We have two separate salt-taste systems"

mech765 — Sat, 16 Sep 2023 11:34:34 +0000

If I do a lot of exercise on a hot day, I can come back to the house and eat a can of anchovies and still want more salt. I wish I could uh, know how healthy this is

New comment by mech765 in "Inflation-adjusted iPhone 15 most affordable base model since 2007 original"

mech765 — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 13:28:01 +0000

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q

Over the time period since the original iPhones release, median household income and median full time wage have both grown faster than inflation.

New comment by mech765 in "America is building chip factories. Now to find the workers"

mech765 — Fri, 25 Aug 2023 12:11:41 +0000

Real wages have risen over the last 50 years.

New comment by mech765 in "Odd and unsafe baby car seats from the past"

mech765 — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 17:34:11 +0000

Aren't bicycles more deadly per passenger mile?

New comment by mech765 in "Oregon decriminalized hard drugs – early results aren’t encouraging"

mech765 — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 22:31:38 +0000

Let's take fentanyl for example. It kills so many people that there isn't any good reason for it to be a legal drug off prescription.

The difference between fentanyl and other drugs is a matter of degree.

New comment by mech765 in "US tax code blamed as wealthy see major retirement account gains"

mech765 — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 15:58:17 +0000

Seems like the rich are able to save more for retirement than the poor, and will use the most effective means to do so.

Contribution limits to retirement plans mean that for a billionaire, their 401k or IRA balance is very unlikely to be a significant portion of their portfolio. The typical case I can imagine for this would be putting their roughly $20,000 worth of 401k contributions into company stock every year and then seeing their company go 100x.

New comment by mech765 in "99-year old trucking company Yellow shuts down, putting 30k out of work"

mech765 — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 16:38:08 +0000

In some industries low worker mobility is very desirable for the company. Offering long time horizon benefits is a good way to reduce turnover. I would prefer my local nuclear plant operator to have employees that stick around and get to know the equipment very well.

New comment by mech765 in "Turmeric’s unexpected link to lead poisoning in Bangladesh"

mech765 — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 23:44:51 +0000

(posting from cell w/ other account)

You haven't given any indication that you have considered any of my points in any meaningful way. I'm just gonna accept the fact that you want to continue your linguistic mission and disengage. Judging by your comment history you have a habit of winning wars of attrition.

Please at least consider the idea that being the censorious force in the world can worsen the quality of discussion.

New comment by mech765 in "The rule says, “No vehicles in the park”"

mech765 — Sat, 24 Jun 2023 11:44:30 +0000

What about powered electric wheelchairs?

New comment by mech765 in "The Rimac Nevera Just Shattered Pretty Much Every Acceleration Record"

mech765 — Thu, 18 May 2023 21:02:21 +0000

What "bill to make it safe" are you referring to? Do track tech inspections usually have a speed limit requirement?

New comment by mech765 in "Methane leaks from oil and gas industry are 70% higher than estimated"

mech765 — Sat, 13 May 2023 02:34:11 +0000

I worked on a project where we tried to get the packing seal in the stem of a valve to pass a test certifying that it had a low leakage rate (fugitive emissions testing) for natural gas applications.

We used the highest grade seal and followed all design recommendations from the seal manufacturer. Still never passed.

New comment by mech765 in "Methane leaks from oil and gas industry are 70% higher than estimated"

mech765 — Sat, 13 May 2023 02:33:31 +0000

I worked on a project where we tried to get the packing seal in the stem of a valve to pass a test certifying that it had a low leakage rate (fugitive emissions testing).

We used the highest grade seal and followed all design recommendations from the seal manufacturer. Still never passed.