pksebben (u/pksebben)

pksebben commented on Air Canada returned lost bag, it now had knife,toiletries, ticket scanner inside cbc.ca/news/canada/newfou... · Posted by u/andy99

flying4781 · a month ago

This isn't always an option any more. Everyone wants to bring their stuff onboard because of the horrors of checked baggage, so good luck having room in the overhead compartments if you're boarding zone 5. The article mentions "Royle says she was asked by an Air Canada representative to check her carry-on suitcase for her flight from Toronto to Newfoundland in March", so yeah Air Canada lost her carry on bag. I've witnessed pretty violating experiences with Air Canada with people trying to pack light and then getting stripped of their belongs "because there's no room in the cabin". At the end of the day you have to comply with airline employees.

pksebben · a month ago

solution: lithium ion batteries. Pack in an electric toothbrush, kindle, tablet, etc. "Sorry, that can't go checked. Too bad!"

pksebben commented on The United States withdraws from UNESCO state.gov/releases/office... · Posted by u/layer8

dmix · a month ago

According to Gallup the majority of the US public supports Israel over Palestine, just as it has for decades. It's now "at it's lowest in 25 years" but it's still 46% vs 33% for Palestine, down from around 60% pro Israel in prior years.

https://thecradle.co/articles/us-popular-support-for-israel-...

About 10% of Americans identify as evangelical protestants

https://www.graphsaboutreligion.com/p/how-many-evangelicals-...

pksebben · a month ago

Friendly reminder that all polls are biased based on a willingness to engage in polls. Response rates are stunningly low (10% is normal [0]) so whatever your polls are saying, they're saying it specifically about a statistically insignificant portion of the population that is biased towards trusting institutions and polls.

0 - https://academic.oup.com/poq/article-abstract/83/S1/280/5520...

pksebben commented on Hyatt Hotels are using algorithmic Rest “smoking detectors” twitter.com/_ZachGriff/st... · Posted by u/RebeccaTheDev

camgunz · a month ago

I was sort of with you until Mamdani. He ran as a Democrat, in the Democratic primary. Cuomo outraised him by huge margins. NYC has ranked choice voting. Seems like things worked?

pksebben · a month ago

Ranked choice being the differential, and though a Democrat, Mamdani is a political outsider. Perhaps not the best example for the argument due to the affiliation but a pretty clear picture of the system's antibodies at work

pksebben commented on ICE is getting unprecedented access to Medicaid data wired.com/story/ice-acces... · Posted by u/josefresco

tumsfestival · a month ago

Who cares. Doesn't matter who did it, it matters that it happened and you're about to commit the same mistakes again. It matters that you let this slide just because he's your guy.

pksebben · a month ago

For real. I feel like we need a PSA about how many of us aren't supporters of the opposition just because we don't like 'your guy'.

Ronald Reagan was a trash goblin who destroyed our economy to enrich the wealthy.

So was Bill Clinton.

George Bush was a war criminal who indiscriminately bombed brown people.

So was Obama.

Hillary Clinton was a huckster con artist who worked for her wealthy friends.

So is Trump.

Your dichotomy is a trap. There are no good guys because the system itself is rigged in favor of militaristic capitalist oligarchs, which is the actual problem.

pksebben commented on Hyatt Hotels are using algorithmic Rest “smoking detectors” twitter.com/_ZachGriff/st... · Posted by u/RebeccaTheDev

scoofy · a month ago

Oh, god, this tired nonsense. Yes, obviously, it's ruled by the people. We have parties, we vote, anyone can run for office. Anyone can vote third party, and they occasionally even win. That your neighbors don't share your views does not make it undemocratic. It's not perfect, but it's democratic.

It's like people can no longer imagine living under a totalitarian state... where you don't even get a vote, and if you don't like what's happening and you say something about it, you're shot. That's literally the way things were done before democracies and republics existed... it's still the way things are done in places like North Korea.

pksebben · a month ago

So we ought to be thankful we're not in NK. Got it. Glad your bar is so high. It's apparent that you're decided but other folks will read this so let's break it down barney style.

The 'third parties' argument is a painful joke, statistically speaking [0 1 2]. You can make all sorts of arguments as to why but the fact is that without support from D or R you can go get fucked.

This raises the question - are there only two opinions? With the obvious answer - of course not. We could say 'well, maybe people fall generally into two camps', but that doesn't really pass muster either, does it? I have friends on both sides of the aisle and I agree with all of them on some things. This is evidenced by the amount of voters registered third party despite the abysmal election numbers [3].

So what's going on here? Well, people are being strategic. We're on first-past-the-post in most places. This means you're typically voting not for what you want but for what you don't want. That is not a system of representation, it's a sports game where the prize is some cosmetic social program changes and not much else.

Mamdani is an excellent example of what this system does to third party candidates. As soon as there's a legitimate threat to the entrenched parties, fundraising spikes massively for the opposition [4].

Not getting a vote under this system wouldn't be more totalitarian, it would be more honest.

0 -https://pressgallery.house.gov/member-data/party-breakdown

1 - https://www.senate.gov/senators/SenatorsRepresentingThirdorM...

2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-party_and_independent_me...

3 - https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-voters-have-a-party-a...

4 - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/nyregion/mamdani-adams-do...

pksebben commented on Hyatt Hotels are using algorithmic Rest “smoking detectors” twitter.com/_ZachGriff/st... · Posted by u/RebeccaTheDev

scoofy · a month ago

Yes it is. “Democracy” from the Greek: “common people rule” and “Republic” from the Latin: “the thing, public.”

Republic and democracy mean the same damn thing, rule by the people as opposed to rule by a monarch.

pksebben · a month ago

In what way is this country ruled by the people? You're periodically given a non-choice between two options that have equal disdain for your actual concerns, who then go on to play games to see who can get the most bajiliionare backing for reelection, and if you don't like what they're doing you're perfectly free to vote for the OTHER jerk who also doesn't give a shit about you.

This is oligarchy. The 'democratic' process is a smokescreen, and an increasingly thin one.

Look up 'liquid democracy'. It's the best example of what an actual democracy might look like if we did it. We won't, but I also enjoy Blade Runner and Star Trek, so there's no harm in fiction.

pksebben commented on ICE is getting unprecedented access to Medicaid data wired.com/story/ice-acces... · Posted by u/josefresco

pstuart · a month ago

> they're going after the poor

That's just a bonus feature

The tariffs serve 2 purposes:

  1. They can replace income taxes and protect the wealthy (per their reasoning)
  2. They are a tool for power over other countries and a mechanism to compel them to pay personal tribute to The King of America™

I would love to be proven wrong because I'm hating this timeline.

pksebben · a month ago

I think it might even be more boring and straightforward than that.

Get power => cause market instability, make trades and bets on volatility (or have your friends do it) => offshore your gains

pksebben commented on ICE is getting unprecedented access to Medicaid data wired.com/story/ice-acces... · Posted by u/josefresco

hcurtiss · a month ago

What evidence do you have to believe that’s true?

pksebben · a month ago

the 1950s comes to mind...

pksebben commented on Psilocybin decreases depression and anxiety in cancer patients (2016) pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/arti... · Posted by u/Bluestein

pstuart · a month ago

But those modern drug laws picked up where the older drug laws petered out, and in both cases they were intended to punish their users, not protect them.

pksebben · a month ago

To bang a fairly weathered drum, this is largely a matter of conservative policy. Psychedelics were far more common in leftist circles (some might argue that this is cause as opposed to effect - mind-expanding experiences tend to shift politics towards that end of the spectrum).

This means that if you wanted to use the law as a political cudgel without being accused of thought-policing, you could outlaw psychedelics and be confident that the blast zone would exclude the politically faithful while locking up loads of political undesirables; like hippies, panthers, etc.

Of course, these days you have right-wing podcasters discussing DMT with billionaire CEOs, so it's a little trickier. Thus the tentative steps toward legalization.

pksebben commented on Tell HN: Notion Desktop is monitoring your audio and network · Posted by u/HoyaSaxa

eddythompson80 · a month ago

I admit I haven’t been in any of the mustash twirling meetings. They probably happen, but I have also been in the room with engineers and PMs discussing solving problems with analytics attribution to user.

pksebben · a month ago

Given the structure of hierarchical orgs, both can (and likely are) true.

Moustache-twirler A: We've identified these metrics that correlate with increased shareholder value

Moustache-twirler B: But what do those metrics say about user privacy?

(both laugh. This is very funny)

MT A: no but really, fire any PMs that don't make these go up and let the survivors figure out why

MT B: sounds great. See you at golf this weekend

(some time later, in a less fancy conference room)

Engineer: This new feature is great, but could be construed as an invasion of privacy. Can we make it opt-in?

PM (panicking): Oh good heavens, no! Also send the opt-out button to the UX team, that way it doesn't come down on us.