The computer is the most remarkable tool that we've ever come up with. Yet the modern computer is the equivalent of a bicycle with stabilisers: the added support might be nice for children, but comes at the cost of agility and manoeuvrability. Do we really need the PC to become another device used exclusively for entertainment?
I don't think any VC would like to be attached to the app if the author were to be committing fraud under the FTC Act. Not only are the app reviews suspicious, but the testimonial pictures[0] are definitely faked.
He does have a GitHub account[0]. He successfully founded his own company. Entries from his blog also made the frontpage on HN several times[1].
You, on the other hand, do not have a GitHub account tied to your HN account, or any other records of your achievements, for that matter. You also don't seem to have made any meaningful contributions. But people still took the time to read this comment.
The author's history of contributing to OSS projects shouldn't be relevant here. You shouldn't use it to attack his claims. If someone wants to read the article, they can read/evaluate it based on their personal opinions/knowledge.
I don't think that laws that dictate companies how they have to manage their property are inherently bad.
> Consumer protection law should protect consumers, not their convenience.
My comment was targeted at the claim that mild censorship on privately owned platforms should be regulated in such a fashion, because their users depend on it. If you sign up for something, you should know what you sign up for. It's perfectly alright if you disagree with their measures. That doesn't mean you should call upon a body of law to penalize them. If Mrs. Fisher doesn't like the fact that her landlord is asking her to lock the door on her way out, she shouldn't be lobbying for the OPEN IT act. She should settle matters responsibly, or... move?
Basically, I'm just saying I found the grandparent a bit... overkill ;-)
Cyc got hyped for while in the early 90s. It became apparent, however, that rule-based wasn't going to play as big a role as ML in the future of AI research. It still exists, but the company is really secretive, and hasn't released anything viable in years.
[edit: I wasn't alive back then, so most of what I know comes from the Wikipedia article and a recent HN thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21781597 . My view of Cyc probably comes across as slightly negative. Their (Cycorp) view seems to have evolved since then, and they seem to be creating some really interesting stuff.]
> I think it's dangerous when platforms function like a public utility and is yet allowed to do whatever it wants because it's _technically_ private property.
It _is_ private property. The companies in question are just exerting their rights. The users agreed to the ToS while signing up, and it's perfectly reasonable for them to cut off your access to their service, as long as it's within the legal bounds of the ToS. I don't think companies should be directly regulated/penalized for banning users. I do think however, that people should be more conscious of what they're signing up for. Consumer protection law should protect consumers, not their convenience.
Linking to one flagged comment from a green account doesn't really support your position that the entire community is "racist-adjacent". Neither does linking to a blog post that claims Scott shut SSC down to protect his patients support your position that he did it to evade justice.
I don't know the movie, so I agree with the title being a bit strange, and I probably could have done with a slightly more factually oriented article, but I appreciate the effort to keep it light. And the stereotypical girls' cliques the article seems to riff on do exist... Girls are known to be more relationally aggressive than boys, who tend to be more physically aggressive than girls. Girls also behave in a more pro-social fashion, so girls' cliques are often larger than boys' cliques, creating more complicated power dynamics. That said, I don't really get what you mean. That's like saying a book called "Good Habits for Incompetent Managers" reinforces the stereotype that only managers are incompetent.
I think I read about something about a subscription bankrolled by the US government in an early edition of Make Magazine (2006-ish). Every month you'd get an item + a booklet of some sort which suggested an experiment. Apparently you got things like small fossils, and if I remember correctly, a small chunk of some radioactive material. It got cancelled in the 70s... I'll see if I can find it again.
Would you (or the parent post) care to explain what's boring about them? Not everything can appeal to everyone, after all - that would seem to be an inherent flaw of the crate model.
I had a look at their catalogue... A lot of the Eureka crates seem to be sports-related (a table tennis robot and a golf putter for instance), and some of them haven't got any moving parts (the golf putter), which would've certainly made it more attractive to some - but personally, I don't _really_ have a problem with that. From what I could gather, they also explain the design choices behind each kit, which makes it all the more interesting. I'm a bit concerned about the durability, since neither their tiny printing press nor their pendulum clock look like they'll make it for longer than a week, but overall, it seems like a fun thing to do on a rainy afternoon.