random_comment

I agree with the comment below. You are extremely lucky not to be hired by that CTO. Huge red flag.

If you genuinely think taxes are not a sufficiently 'proven' way of forcing demand for a currency, see what happens when someone stops paying them.

The only thing that maintains the value of any asset (or currency) is the collective belief in that asset or currency.

Hello jmyeet! Unfortunately, I believe this statement, as you have given it, is untrue.

I hear it often, as it is continually and frequently asserted by crypto enthusiasts (and I am not suggesting you are one of those).

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For assets, value is grounded in utility (whether to do some useful function, generate some feeling, etc).

Asset price, on the other hand, could be almost anything depending on supply/demand and may be affected by beliefs at times.

It's important to disambiguate price and value. I can buy a superb pair of shoes from a desperate seller for $1, but that doesn't make their 'value' $1 to me or other people. Value can be personal, it can also be societal i.e. averaged over many people.

Indeed if price and value were the same thing, there would be no buyers or sellers, because you would have little reason to go to the effort of swapping two things of identical value to you.

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For currency, specifically, national currency where you are living in that nation - the value (and relative price) of a unit of a currency is grounded in taxation enforced by, well... force, by the state.

Taxation generates continual demand for units of currency regardless of individual or collective beliefs.

And in trust in the currency, again, is enforced by... force, by the state. Which prevents unlimited supply (by random people), again, regardless of individual or collective beliefs.

Thus, both supply and demand for the units of currency are set by the state, and supply/demand is what it takes to generate a stable price and mandatory use.

I note you mention trust, and 'backed by...' and 'might'.

However, discussing currency in terms of only trust and not in terms of taxation, misses half the argument. Both halves are essential for the argument to make sense.

Absent a mandatory minimum demand, control of supply of currency (and trust in that control) is meaningless.

In computing terms, you can see taxation + limited supply as a technique to 'bootstrap' an initial price for a currency without needing any shared or individual beliefs at all. It also underwrites the price in the long term, again, without any need for beliefs.

None of this is to say that a currency can't have its price/value shifted around by collective beliefs once bootstrapping / underwriting is in place. Of course it can. But what maintains, inescapably, a certain minimum price (your own words: maintain, inescapable), is enforced taxation.

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Going back to the price of assets. Well, you can believe all you want about, say, oil, and your whole country may have a collective belief, or even the planet, but since there is X units of oil needed and Y units of oil in supply, the price will be set by ongoing auction as always, or you can freeze/be stuck in your garage/factory shutdown. Supply and demand. Beliefs can affect supply and demand, of course. But supply and demand are primary, beliefs are secondary and they sit alongside necessity and physical reality.

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(Finally - again without wishing to imply you are a crypto enthusiast - a lot of crypto enthusiasts seem to imagine that mathematics has a similar 'force' to states, 'there can only be X coins', ignoring that a) chain algorithms/limits can be changed by widespread consensus b) no one is forcing anyone to use the crypto at all i.e. no physically enforced taxation c) it's trivial to substitute a chain with a duplicate chain (again consensus), as e.g. dogecoin proved rather effectively. They also invariably neglect the issue of needing 'mandatory demand' via taxation. I would speculate this is because the essential need for tax in currency systems, completely undermines the ponzi's disguise as a currency.)

(I use the word 'ponzi' casually here; technically ponzis are zero-sum, whereas crypto is worse - negative-sum, especially for the environment).

https://store.steampowered.com/app/700480/Microsoft_Allegian...

has been around since March 2000, and currently free to play

Books:

Sci-fi: the Culture books (Iain M Banks). The Expanse series.

Fantasy: Belgariad (Eddings), Discworld (Pratchett), Robin Hobb's work.

TV: Farscape, Stargate SG1, Lexx (!), DS9, Babylon 5, The Expanse. Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel. Avatar (cartoon). Steven Universe (cartoon).

Games: XCOM (original), XCOM 2 (original), XCOM modern remakes (official and unofficial), Phoenix Point. If you want to try something classic, the Eye of the Beholder series. Planescape: Torment. Baldur's Gate 1&2.

Zachtronics:

Start with e.g. opus magnum. Visual, will teach basic concepts of sequencing instructions, iteration etc.

Then Shenzhen I/O if they enjoy it

Alternatively:

Human resource machine (programming)

7 billion humans (parallel programming, probably will teach antipatterns but still useful)

Alternatively:

LOGO. This is how I learned to program back in the 80s. Drawing pictures. Draw a line. Rotate. Make a square by writing a loop to draw a line and rotate 4 times. Make a window by drawing a square + 2 more lines. Make a house by drawing a window and doors.

Even at university I remember the first year programming course included a 'draw a house using ALGOL' exercise.

also relevant:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Grey_Walter

"Grey Walter's most well-known work was his construction of some of the first electronic autonomous robots.[citation needed] He wanted to prove that rich connections between a small number of brain cells could give rise to very complex behaviors - essentially that the secret of how the brain worked lay in how it was wired up. His first robots, which he used to call Machina speculatrix[3] and named Elmer and Elsie - ELectroMEchanical Robot, Light-Sensitive, were constructed between 1948 and 1949 and were often described as tortoises[4] due to their shape and slow rate of movement - and because they "taught us" about the secrets of organisation and life. The three-wheeled tortoise robots were capable of phototaxis, by which they could find their way to a recharging station when they ran low on battery power."

Have you looked into the effects of zinc supplementation of common cold frequency and severity? I am not a doctor, this is not medical advice, etc.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/common-cold/e...

Will pass that on to someone I know. They are using high-strength cranberry extract and zinc, with great success (cranberry specific for UTIs, zinc just to ensure not deficient, as that impacts immune system). UTIs still occur occasionally but rapidly subside without antibiotics. Zinc supplementation should be early in the day, or there will be some wild dreams. Avoid zinc oxide though, imho. I am not a medical doctor, this is not medical advice, everyone must do their own research/talk to doctor etc.

Have you ever looked into zinc supplements? If I recall correctly, a huge (50%) part of the population are zinc deficient, and zinc deficiency lowers white blood cell count, amongst other things.

see my comment above about sintech...

Sintech sell adapters via amazon US/UK etc for about $15 that allow you to take a regular NVME drive (which are VERY cheap just now) and adapt it to the apple SSD hardware interface. You can have up to 2TB of faster-than-ever storage. You'll also need torx screwdrivers to open the case.

If you do some googling you will see there are two versions, and depending on the size/shape of SSD you are buying it may be better to buy one rather than the other.

If you do more googling, people have tried various drives and report on performance/compatibility etc but generally compatibility is good except with some samsung drives.

very unique

I once read a short article by a journal editor, on the theme of contributors describing their work as 'extremely unique'.

Something is either unique or it's not.

If anyone knows the article I'm referring to, I'd appreciate a link, I've been trying to find it again for a year or two.

Try adding some chilli sauce. Mixed with the olive oil and fish it's amazing. After experimenting with quite a lot of chilli sauce with mackerel/oil over a period of years, I really recommend "Encona West Indian Hot Pepper Sauce".

If the 'sunflower oil' etc versions of the mackerel are available it also mixes extremely well with those and they can be cheaper than the olive oil tins.

protip: get a sintech adapter and stick a big fast nvme disk in there. another 1-2 years before you need a new computer.

install smcfancontrol

if you need to 'upgrade' there's a sintech adapter that will let you put a MUCH bigger and faster ssd in there.

I wish I'd opted for the 1t model vs 512g drive

Hi there. You can buy a sintech adapter on amazon that will let you put a standard NVME SSD into a macbook air/retina 2013-2015 model (and maybe some others).

It costs about $20.

With that, you can choose some of the cheap, new, fast, 2TB disks and get a massive improvement in speed and storage capacity for relatively little money. Google around; there are some recommended drives.

From what I've read the 'long' version of the sintech is the best one to buy. The upgrade process is on ifixit; it's super easy. You will also need a torx screwdriver; again you can buy a 'mac fixing kit' for $5-10 on amazon etc.

If you want lucid dreams, slap on a low dosage nicotine patch before you sleep.

This is utterly awful advice if you don't want to acquire a nicotine addiction.

I woke up shortly after for real this time, into reality.

I'm afraid not.

There is an anime series with something similar to this as one of the premises, 'Overlord'. Near the beginning, the protagonist uses superuser powers to reprogram a cute but hateful character in a VR game so they are in love with him.

It goes rather less well than he expects. Great series, incidentally.

Hello there yasbhagchandani

Lots of people get suicidal thoughts, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Lots of people get depressed. Lots of people find that they have lost their reason to show up for work when their startup changes into a larger company. Lots of people develop problems with sleep and drink.

You're not alone in facing these problems. Other people survived all these things and became happy again, and you can too, no matter how crazy or difficult that might seem to you just now.

Well done on making your startup successful. If you don't have an interest in that work any more now that it's changed, are there some other things you would like to work on? What would you do if the startup never existed? What would you do if you were completely free to pick any job in the world today?

Many of the things you feel are duties or obligations probably aren't, they just feel that way. You don't need to stay with your company; you can start another. Or you can take a career break and try some other work that gives your days value and meaning.

It sounds like working there isn't a source of joy to you any more. OK, you're free to leave the job any time you want. Anyone who tells you that you have to stay is wrong.

Have you spoken with a doctor about the feelings you're having? They will be able to give you advice and support in the short-term (less dangerous than alcohol) until you find your path again.

I know that in some cultures there is a stigma about seeing a doctor about depression. Ignore any stigma! The main thing that matters is finding your way back to happiness. A doctor will be able to help you to see the way more clearly and will give you directions to help you on the way.

It's probably best not to make any immediate changes until you speak with a doctor, but you can start making plans for things you want to do in the future that you think will make your life happier.

please help me find a purpose in life.

Here is one to try: live for other people. Take joy from helping others and being kind to everyone you meet. Don't set your measure of success by what you have, but by what you give. Whenever you make someone else smile, you can smile with them.

Are there any jobs you could do that would help you to serve that kind of purpose?

Your former startup doesn't exist any more. Your old job doesn't exist any more. You are no longer tied to them. You can thank your colleagues and start a new job or a new company tomorrow if you want to. You can be free of that particular burden any time you choose to be.

To anyone who loves Star Trek, Firefly, BSG etc: I want to highlight Blake's Seven for you as a really great series that's well worth a watch:

Imagine a gritty British version of the original Star Trek.

In this story, the federation are evil, and the crew aren't all that nice either, and basically just want to survive having lucked out on finding a ship at the right moment. They're forced into cooperation by necessity.

It's not about exploration or Tribbles, it's about a bunch of people just trying to stay alive and eventually organise a rebellion.

The primary antagonist (Servalan) is a) female b) fairly competent at her job

Two of the characters in the series are artificial intelligences.

The ending of the show is excellent.

There are audiobooks that tell further stories in the Blake-i-verse. Amazon has most/all of them. There seem to be quite a few episodes on Youtube (Blakes7Movies) if you're curious to watch.

If you like the genre of 'space warship crew on the run', you may also enjoy LEXX and The Expanse.

It's hard to believe that B7 hasn't been rebooted.

Turns out simply wishing people good luck and asserting everything is going to be fine [1] is a poor substitute for extreme weather monitoring / defence / preparation / response [2].

Who knew?

[1] http://www.chron.com/news/houston-weather/hurricaneharvey/ar...

Trump: "Good luck to everybody. They're gonna be safe. Good luck to everybody. Good luck."

[2] https://newrepublic.com/minutes/144555/trump-says-good-luckb...)

"Over the last seven months, the president has both proposed and implemented numerous policies that surround hurricane preparedness, readiness, and response. Here are some of them:..."

What does society gain from taking more of those profits and consuming them, instead of allowing them to be invested in supporting more jobs and creating more economic output?

Judging from e.g. Scandinavia, France, Germany etc, what they get from taxing companies is an excellent safety net for all citizens, healthcare available for all, good transport systems, good education systems etc and various other social goods. Basically, great and fair countries to live in.

You seem to be speaking as though the only possible social good is the productivity of businesses and that money that is taken in tax has effectively zero contribution to society. Standing in Europe [or Japan, or any developed economy outside the USA], that looks like a very strange thing to read.

You're basically arguing 'tax shouldn't exist because it slows companies down and generates no positive effect of it's own'. To which I will respond, "Nope. That's an ignorant argument."

Tax on companies should exist because it leads to strong public sectors that act as safety nets for societies (on an individual level, and also at corporate level during downturns).

Furthermore, companies want to stay alive by having continual government spending during a recession, they need to be putting some money in the public kitty gradually on an ongoing basis to pay for it.

I would add that your claim of reducing corporation tax provides more jobs is total junk: see the citations on the right hand side of this page: https://corporatetax.procon.org/

Job creation in the USA was highest under high corporate tax rates; and 'corporation tax holidays' are associated with massive job cuts. Still, 'facts have a well known liberal bias' so I suggest you do your own research.

Let's transfer a part of your argument to another situation and see what happens:

If a business owner invests to buy better production equipment (assets) that will increase the productivity of their workers so they can make more things with the same amount of work, it should be taxed for this decision?

I'll rewrite this as:

If a consumer invests to buy better equipment (assets) that will increase the productivity in their home, they should be taxed for this decision?

Yes. Because there are other needs in society beyond optimising the productivity of companies. The greatest benefits in the average citizen's life do not come from the tax efficiency or manufacturing efficiency of the companies they use products from, but from education and healthcare and policing and transport and environmental and 'safety net' and regulatory/standards systems. Stuff that needs tax.

At an atomic level, events are not deterministic. At a molecular level, events are not deterministic. Therefore, we all behave randomly. Qed.

This doesn't follow. The combination of many random events can be highly predictable.

Tossing a fair coin is random. Combining 10000 coin tosses will give you a result close to 5000 heads and 5000 tails, and I can predict you won't get 4000 heads and 6000 tails or 100 heads and 9900 tails.

So there's various types of randomness, and the more you average out uncorrelated events the more you get something very close to a predictable result.

Example via A. Einstein:

http://userpages.umbc.edu/~dfrey1/ench630/ein_ran_walk.pdf

Depixelizing Pixel Art

http://johanneskopf.de/publications/pixelart/paper/pixel.pdf

I think this paper is very cute and also technically interesting.

Mostly nonsense said with authority. Psychology and dietary advice really are crap sciences.

You don't appear to have presented any evidence or reasons that would make your hostile opinions a useful contribution here.

The brain is mostly deterministic. Quantum-level nondeterminism has very low probability to matter much.

Sources, please?

At an atomic level, events are not deterministic.

At a molecular level, events are not deterministic.

Perhaps you are referring to parts of the brain that are not made of atoms?

Personally, I suspect that the brain is entirely non-deterministic in terms of the material it is made of and fine-grained behaviour [because physics and chemistry support that idea].

But I suspect the brain's structure does something to offset this at the larger scale, and make it more predictable/deterministic (averaging, wisdom of crowds, etc). However, I do not assert the latter as fact, merely my own speculation.

Any money that a corporation earns is either paid out as dividends (at which point it's taxable as individual income) or reinvested into growing the company (at which point it turns into things like "salary", which is taxable as individual income).

Or things like 'assets' such as property, cash on hand, holdings in other companies, which generally aren't taxed (or aren't taxed as salary/dividends are). Companies which do this for a long time are able to choose the moment (and sometimes the country) at which the assets are transmitted to investors. If they become big enough, they can even bully governments into changing laws to suit them.

I suggest you look at Berkshire Hathaway and evaluate this sentence in the context of that company:

Any money that a corporation earns is either paid out as dividends (at which point it's taxable as individual income) or reinvested into growing the company (at which point it turns into things like "salary", which is taxable as individual income).