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Neutrons Help Measure Cell Membrane Viscosity – and Reveal Its Basis

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How the National Review Sold Its Soul to Google

emeralddb3.substack.com

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Is This the WTO Waiver End Game?

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Does the USPTO’s Roadmap to Improved Patent Quality Lead to Lake Wobegon?

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comments

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

In my view -- it does not matter.

A corporation should be able to economically punish any entity they choose (as long the punishment is within economic boundaries, and they have some sort of business/employment relation with that entity )

The stronger the message the better, why do it in small pieces. Why not stop doing business (eg Sales/support) in the state of TX.

Whether it is a customer, an employee, a state or even a country.

Corporations should be able to participate in political discourse when they want to and as long as they stay with the boundaries of economic punishment -- it should be celebrated.

TX people love freedom, so freedom of corporations to punish economically -- should be one of those freedoms

Perhaps some powerfull entities can economically retaliate, although I am not sure how. Salesforce is dominant in their industry and pretty powerful.

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

There are about 900 employees of salesforce situated in TX.

It would, perhaps, send a stronger message of Salesforce position on the matter, if they stop selling to any business located in TX, also in Poland (that has even stronger abortion law). [1]

Basically do not sell or do not hire anybody located in jurisdictions with a strong anti-abortion law.

Overall affect of corporate political activism should not be selective, and show maximum punishment to the jurisdictions that go opposite of the view of the corporation.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Poland#Legal_abort...

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

Thank you for this link. I appreciated antirez's categorization: " During my research I identified nine types of comments:

- * Function comments - * Design comments - * Why comments - * Teacher comments - * Checklist comments - * Guide comments - * Trivial comments - * Debt comments - * Backup comments

"

I tend to write 'debate comments' of the software that I write for my own business (sole proprietor). I think they fit the 'why' category above.

I often doubt my own decision making process, so I tend to write it out in comments, so that I can I can see reasoning.

My general challenge with comments is of 'maintanence'. The tools to maintain comments, cross link them across diagrams or other hand-written documents -- are hard to find.

So am gradually switching to my own directive that 'all documents about implementation, the API and their usage, are to be generated from my comments'.

Again, not a lot of tools that I found in this area, but at least it is possible to write my own tools (using IDE APIs) in this area.

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

I am studying Torah these days (just reading BeReishit slowly, and picking Rabbi and Sages interpretations on things that are totaly unclear).

One Rabbi's explanation using a very nuanced analysis of verbs in the chapter about creation [1].

Is that the two things that will remain forever are: light and a human.

Not Earth, not animals, or anything else that was mentioned.. but just those 2 things: Light and Human.

What form this will be in, how -- we do not know.

In early sections, until Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden -- they did not have skin, so it is understood that they were souls.

May be that's the form that humans will be in ... , do not know.

---

The analysis he was using was around how a verb (in ancient Hebrew, not in translations) was used to indicate an 'Intent' and then how another verb used used to declare 'completion' of a task.

The 'completion' in that section was described for different things differently:

' it was so', 'it was good' , or no completion was explicity stated.

There was also difference in 'initiation' verbs for example: 'Let there be', 'let us .. '

I do not remember all the combinations. But the Rabbi said that only two things had the 'initiation' and the 'completion' patterns that indicated that those things would last forever.

It was light and a human.

Sorry could not offer bette recollection here.

[1] https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8165/jewish/Cha...

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

Good intention still implies that the implementation allows for 'bias'. Prosecutorial bias, judicial bias.

Allowed bias is necessarely a bad thing, because that means bad behaviour can be hidden behind a shield of 'plausable deniability'.

I think any legal system that allows for prosecutorial and judicial discretion in anything that can lead to criminal charges, is destinet to become a system of entrapment over time.

I even have my own 'adage' to offer:

'A bad behaviour rewarded by sufficent increase economic or political power, will eventually corrupt and subvert any law that allows for prosecutorial discretion in determining guilt'

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

Without a threat of people revolting (with firearms) against a police state, the police state sets the rules, quickly and forcefully.

Their zombified base screams profanities at the opposition. Calls them cospiracy theorists, uneducated idiots, lunatiks... etc. USSR did this for a some time...

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

I do not think Australia will dissolve into a civil war supported by external proxys (like it is in Syria).

Instead, I think it will turn into East Germany with the Stasi.

It will be a society of informants...

https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/ten-terrifying-f...

>" ....If someone looked like he might challenge the Communist Party’s legitimacy or control, the Stasi systematically destroyed his life. They used blackmail, social shame, threats, and torture. Careers, reputations, relationships, and lives were exploded to destabilize and delegitimize a critic. Some forms of harassment were almost comical: agents spread rumors about their targets, flooded their mailboxes with pornography, moved things around in their apartments, or deflated their bicycle tires day after day. Others were life-altering: Individuals labeled as subversives were banned from higher education, forced into unemployment, and forcibly committed to asylums. Many suffered long-term psychological trauma, loss of earnings, and intense social shame as a result of Stasi lies. .... "

Take a look at where Australia is galloping to...

No physical cash, no meaningful firearm ownership, passport-system for everything (social credit score).

Kids are not to be raised by parents, instead, huge economic insentives and constraints to send them to federal kindergardens (making the care 'affordeable' while parents must work .. is a way to do this...)

Laws are designed such that they can be selective applied, everything is up to a discretion of a prosecuture or a judge.. and so on.

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

Author, seems to be very accomplished ("Joseph Bernstein is a senior reporter at BuzzFeed News ").

But the position he takes -- seems indisputably anti-democratic.

He inaugurated himself to be the 'judge' of what is disinformation.

Sort of moral and ethical luminary projecting the wisdom on the rest.

"... In this context, the disinformation project is simply an unofficial partnership between Big Tech, corporate media, elite universities, and cash-rich foundations. ..."

But it is the same oligarchical, elitist, freedom-suffocating stance that, then subsequently causes Department of homeland security to announce this:

"... Foreign and domestic threat actors, to include foreign intelligence services, international terrorist groups and domestic violent extremists, continue to introduce, amplify, and disseminate narratives online that promote violence, and have called for violence against elected officials, political representatives, government facilities, law enforcement, religious communities or commercial facilities, and perceived ideologically-opposed individuals.

There are also continued, non-specific calls for violence on multiple online platforms associated with DVE ideologies or conspiracy theories on perceived election fraud and alleged reinstatement, and responses to anticipated restrictions relating to the increasing COVID cases.

..." [1]

Really, question for the author, why call in the Orwellian Thought Police, why not let people work out themselves who to trust?

Why a need for 'control', a 'gatekeeper' ?

[1] https://www.dhs.gov/ntas/advisory/national-terrorism-advisor...

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

I see that folks in the comments are asking 'what would be an alternative to behavioral fingerprinting based on browsing history.

Perhaps we can look at advertising as 2 categories:

(1) advertising -- as means to notify about an existing product or a service

(2) advertising as means to elevate one product over the other in the eyes of consumers.

The (1)st category seems to be very legitimate and welcome.

The (2)nd category falls into implicit manipulation, almost con-artistry.

So let's assume that it is the (1)st category is the one the public would like to find solutions for (and the 2nd category will, eventually, become outlawed .. let's hope).

With that in mind, perhaps a way for a user to set legitimate interest (at the browser level) and the type of 'pages' they accept to see ads would work.

The 'types' of pages might be a some sort of taxonomy standard that labels a page with a type (eg privacy preserving or not and many subtypes).

As a user navigates to through the web, only pages with specific subtypes, would participate in the 'digital identity build up'.

The pages that, according to user preferences, cannot participate in the 'digital identity' build up -- can still show ads, but cannot use or 'donate' its information into the digital identity database.

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

[dead]

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

I would also like to see LaTex subset to be supported by a dedicated GUI control in every magor platform (eg windows, android, ios, etc) and that control be available within browser builds for those platforms.

This way math in mobile native message apps, web apps, etc -- will look the same. This also would mean that people from middle school to grade school will write and read math typings the same way as they change/switch devices they use.

I would hope that it would influence calculator manufactures to upgrade their 30 year old 'money making' tools to a more typing oriented input.

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

This will probably cause the country to shutdown external internet.

So that the citizens will have no access to these revelations.

Basically the recordings are revealing , among many things, the tactics and fed's personnel the state uses to 'bite' anti-government protesters and then arrest them.

Certainly, similar tactics were used by USA Feds to lure in Jan 6 protesters inside the Capitol building, in USA.

Names of fed agents, NSA-like IT personnel, are also appear to be revealed.

As western countries loose the moral authority to judge other dictatorships, the suppressed populous will have to rely on themselves to bring on the changes they want.

Perhaps their closest neighbors (Poland, former Baltic republics, Ukraine), and ... Russia, of course, will play the deciding role in this struggle.

It will not be countries like USA -- these have lost all the moral authority to judge others. Engaged in bloody coops through out the world, throwing their reserve-currency status to dictate policies for other nations, suppressing/spying/imprisoning opposition at home, politicians taking bribes all over (via book deals, insider stock tips, real estate), etc), protecting sexual predators -- these fake 'leaders' of freedom lost all the credibility.

I hope Belorussian people (who never won a revolt, who were murdered by millions in WW2 (20% of the population), who suffered the most from Chernobyl disaster), will finally find help and direction from their neighbors...

If Belorussians reading this -- do not trust USA, Germany, UK, France.. Look for support, carefully, in your neighbors.

I hope countries like Poland, Lithuania will offer automatic citizenship to Belorussians who held Bel. passport for 4 years or longer, or who is under 16, and who does not have connections to the revealed names.

This way the saboteurs, that the regime will likely to implant into the emigration waves -- will have harder time doing that.

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

it seems that 'creativity' measure should be based on the judgment of others who presumably, spend a lot of time trying to solve similar problems.

If creativity, is just a measure of 'surprise' -- then it could be easily subjected to unfair measurement. Because 'surprise' on its own can happen easily.

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

Here is my result (first attempt):

---

"... Your score is 81.1, higher than 67.85% of the people who have completed this task...

The average score is 78, and most people score between 74 and 82.

The lowest score was 24 and the highest was 96 in our published sample. Although the score theoretically ranges from 0 to 200, scores above 100 are extremely unlikely on first attempts. The highest total score we have seen is 107. See how other people are performing on Twitter.

..."

---

Second attempt was 70 something,

---

Third attempt was:

".. Your score is 84.13, higher than 82.07% of the people who have completed this task ..."

It looks like I cannot break 85.

I am not a native English speaker, but very fluent...

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

WRT >"... 1. Recognise that internal resistance is on your side ..."

I disagree somewhat, and I have a different explanation.

---

Each one of us is born with talents (gifts) and some weaknesses.

If we grow up, and then become adults in the environment that does not discover our talents, and, opposite, emphasises our weaknesses -- then we become:

  - unhappy, 
  
  - dis-engaged, 
  
  - often resort to cheating as a way to 'pad up' our weaknesses, 
 
  - often blaim others. Sometimes rightfully so, sometimes not.

The environment in which we grow up -- does not really depend on us. Depends on parents, state of peace, state of economy.

Yes, we have to be adaptable, but when the adoptation requires us to compete in fields, eco-systems that does not emphsize our inborn talents -- we do not do well.

We are not all meant to be technology visionaries, data scientists, lawyers, public speakers, and surgeons.

But a society, an economic system that emphasises one of the above (as an example), is forcing the rest to 'adjust'.

That 'adjustment' - is the friction. But it does not just depend on an individual.

Really, a global solution is the one, that takes advantage of the different talents we have. That should be the purpose of statesman (not career politicians), that offer to dedicate their service to their country (or the world).

And, certainly on a personal level

  - honesty,

  - work ethic 

  - rejection of ideologies that justify 'achieve whatever using any means necessary', 

  - rejection of unfair biases (biases based on inborn characterists that 'lock down  person's fate)

Would have to be part of that solution.

Believing that you always have something unique, something specially good, specially powerfull about yourself -- has to be emphrasized, at a personal level.

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

Thank you for the link >"... Murray’s jailing has nothing to do with the fact that he embarrassed the British state in the early 2000s by becoming that rarest of things: a whistleblowing diplomat. He exposed the British government’s collusion, along with the US, in Uzbekistan’s torture regime.

..."

The number of political prisoners in 'Western democracies' is growing by the hour, it seems.

Certainly that number is still, far less than in many other countries, but what does the slope look like, and what should be the reference point ?

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

I am not sure the headline reflects the nuanced context of the study.

The study (paid access here [1] ) links *cannabis use disorder*

not *cannabis use*.

Cannabis use disorder is an addiction to canabis, that's a clinical condition. Not every one who uses cannabis is addicted to it.

According to [2] >"... Cannabis use disorders are often associated with dependence—in which a person feels withdrawal symptoms when not taking the drug. People who use marijuana often report irritability, mood and sleep difficulties, decreased appetite, cravings, restlessness, and/or various forms of physical discomfort that peak within the first week after quitting and last up to two weeks ..."

[1] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abst... >"... Conclusions and Relevance

The results from these longitudinal analyses show the proportion of cases of schizophrenia associated with cannabis use disorder has increased 3- to 4-fold during the past 2 decades, which is expected given previously described increases in the use and potency of cannabis.

This finding has important ramifications regarding legalization and control of use of cannabis. ..."

[2] https://www.psycom.net/cannabis-use-disorder

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

patents in US law, give monopoly to license the patented disclosure.

20 years in case of utility patents.

Meaning that the patent holder is the only one that can license the patented disclosure.

Furthemore, in US, the patent never needs to be materiliazed by the patent holder, at all. They never have to write software that they patent, never have to build a machine/machine part they patented. Not in 3 years after the patent is granted, not in 15 years after the patent is granted.

Otherwise, all these patent trolls had to actually build the things they claim.

If a patent is directed (applies to), so called 'Judicial Exceptions' -- it cannot be granted.

However, in many instances the inventors (and their patent lawyers) become very creative as to avoid being directed to these 'Judicial Exceptions'.

>"...

n addition to the terms "laws of nature," "natural phenomena," and "abstract ideas,"

judicially recognized exceptions have been described using various other terms,

including "physical phenomena,"

"products of nature,"

"scientific principles,"

"systems that depend on human intelligence alone," "disembodied concepts,"

"mental processes,"

and "disembodied mathematical algorithms and formulas."

It should be noted that there are no bright lines between the types of exceptions, and that many of the concepts identified by the courts as exceptions can fall under several exceptions.

For example, mathematical formulas are considered to be a judicial exception as they express a scientific truth, but have been labelled by the courts as both abstract ideas and laws of nature.

Likewise, "products of nature" are considered to be an exception because they tie up the use of naturally occurring things, but have been labelled as both laws of nature and natural phenomena.

Thus, it is sufficient for this analysis for the examiner to identify that the claimed concept (the specific claim limitation(s) that the examiner believes may recite an exception) aligns with at least one judicial exception. ..." [1]

So to answer your question, patents in the way they are granted today, evade the judicial expceptions standards, and, therefore, enable unreasonably burden on businesses and individuals to compete with the unfairly granted monopolies on the inventions.

[1] https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s2106.html#ch2100...

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

I think it would have been much better if the advice was based on specific person's situation.

Age, previous infections, availablity of antibodies that can target Covid's protein outside of the 'spike' , and so on .

Give the added economic cost and complexity that poo -- messaging and management brings, personolized anonymous advice should be a clear option for a desease like this.

5 वर्ष पहलेdiscuss

That was my understanding as well.

'App-scope' or 'micro-workflow-scope' startups using VC capital as a sort of 'business anabolic' for short-term raise, at expense of long-term viability, seems to be a new fenomena.

Another anology that comes to mind is related to 'over-stimulation'. Again a relatively new phenomena as noted in this recent submission: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27942499