take_a_breath (u/take_a_breath)

take_a_breath commented on Ex-Google boss Eric Schmidt: US 'dropped the ball' on innovation bbc.com/news/business-541... · Posted by u/kristianpaul

NalNezumi · 5 years ago

I haven't fully checked that source but whats the filtering criterion for "new business creation"?

I remember someone used to call Sweden an "top innovative country" and when I took a closer look, he based that argument on amount of new business creation (weighted with population)

Taking a closer look, it was evident that they didn't sort the business by size, or how long they stayed, revenue or amount of employer. And as a person who lived there I know a lot of people start businesses just to circumvent the high tax rate, very restrictive hiring laws/taxes, and essentially do consulting (freelance) job. This is a symptom of how the society was made: hiring and income are heavily taxed, but not the same can be said for businesses. The claim that the country was innovative based on number of business creation quickly fell apart.

take_a_breath · 5 years ago

== hiring and income are heavily taxed, but not the same can be said for businesses.==

Same is true in the US. We just changed to tax code to make it even more beneficial to be a business over a salaried-employee. Did you apply the same skepticism for the US numbers?

take_a_breath commented on Advocates want to name heatwaves like hurricanes to raise awareness of dangers cbc.ca/radio/day6/naming-... · Posted by u/pseudolus

chrisseaton · 5 years ago

> Couldn’t any form of bad news make people panic, sleep deprived, and stressed?

Yes... and that's unavoidable but the person I'm replying to is talking about deliberately inducing more panic, sleep deprivation and stress by increasing the dramatics of bad news. That seems bonkers to me.

> I don’t think communicating the science or real world impacts is too hard for people to handle.

I don't think giving dangerous heatwaves whimsical names is any kind of honest 'science communication.'

> We told citizens about Pearl Harbor and 9/11 attacks and it caused panic, sleep depravation, and stress. Why is this risk different?

I think you've imagined that I wrote 'don't tell people about the risks'. I wrote don't artificially ham it up to deliberately cause additional stress.

What you want is people taking effective action. Panic, sleep deprivation, and stress isn't the way to get there.

take_a_breath · 5 years ago

I haven't seen nearly enough action taken, so maybe sounding the alarm louder will push more action?

==I don't think giving dangerous heatwaves whimsical names is any kind of honest 'science communication.'==

We do it all the time for other weather events, specifically for communication purposes. I'm not sure people think of hurricane names as "whimsical" rather a way to understand specific details about a specific weather event.

==What you want is people taking effective action.==

And what might that "effective action" entail?

take_a_breath commented on Oracle’s TikTok deal accomplishes nothing theverge.com/2020/9/14/21... · Posted by u/FillardMillmore

zwieback · 5 years ago

The current government being Ellison-friendly probably helps this deal over some other possible configurations.

take_a_breath · 5 years ago

Maybe the opposite is true? Ellison being administration-friendly acted as a stalking horse and gets the deal because it doesn't really change TikToc's business, but makes for a campaign press-release.

take_a_breath commented on Advocates want to name heatwaves like hurricanes to raise awareness of dangers cbc.ca/radio/day6/naming-... · Posted by u/pseudolus

chrisseaton · 5 years ago

We want effective solutions.

Panic, sleep deprivation, making people feel sick and stressed is not the way to get those.

take_a_breath · 5 years ago

Couldn’t any form of bad news make people panic, sleep deprived, and stressed? I don’t think communicating the science or real world impacts is too hard for people to handle. If it is, we are going to have a lot more problems as the climate continues to warm.

Edit: We told citizens about Pearl Harbor and 9/11 attacks and it caused panic, sleep depravation, and stress. Why is this risk different?

take_a_breath commented on Ex-Google boss Eric Schmidt: US 'dropped the ball' on innovation bbc.com/news/business-541... · Posted by u/kristianpaul

wbl · 5 years ago

Europe has the single market, and lots of English speakers. But it also has very conservative capital and tax and employment systems that make entrepreneurship difficult. Some of that is easy to fix, some hard to fix.

take_a_breath · 5 years ago

==But it also has very conservative capital and tax and employment systems that make entrepreneurship difficult.==

The rate of new business creation is higher in Europe than the US. I would guess that the US has more venture-backed entrepreneurs, but more businesses are being start by Europeans than Americans.

“The net rate of business creation among the EU economies has been over three times faster than in the USA and Canada since the financial crisis, according to research by RSM International, the seventh largest global network of independent audit, tax and consulting firms.”

== https://www.businessawardseurope.com/news/item/rate-of-new-b...

take_a_breath commented on Vinyl LPs Sell More Than CDs for the First Time in 3 Decades synthtopia.com/content/20... · Posted by u/anigbrowl

mytailorisrich · 5 years ago

Indeed. As a medium CDs outdo vinyl in every way. There is no point using vinyls if CDs are available other that wanting to 'play' with a turntable like in "the olden days".

take_a_breath · 5 years ago

I can listen to the exact same record my mom listened to 50 years ago, complete with her initials on the sleeve. I can’t do that with CD’s. Since she passed, this has taken on even more meaning.

take_a_breath commented on Vinyl LPs Sell More Than CDs for the First Time in 3 Decades synthtopia.com/content/20... · Posted by u/anigbrowl

systemvoltage · 5 years ago

I always found these artificial constraints weird. So the problem is not with the media but with the brain. Then fix the brain problem through self control. Why justify the presence of an inferior medium because of the problem with personal discipline! I know it works on a lot of people but that doesn’t make it more rational.

It’s like keyboards without printed keys for those aficionados who prefer to learn to type without looking down. Just don’t look down, problem solved.

take_a_breath · 5 years ago

==Then fix the brain problem through self control==

Oftentimes, something is far easier to type than it is to do. If you have a reliable way of implementing self-control this simply, please share it.

take_a_breath commented on The User Always Loses thenation.com/article/cul... · Posted by u/musha68k

benjaminjosephw · 5 years ago

This is exactly the kind of thinking we need. We've been blinded to possibilities like these because of dogma and tradition but maybe it's time to seriously explore alternatives.

Does anyone know any tech ecosystems/communities promoting a worker co-op model?

take_a_breath · 5 years ago

Always wish we talked more about Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), in the US. Maybe there is a startup idea in making this type of program easier to implement, like Stripe Atlas for employee ownership. Imagine, further, if our tax law incentivized this type of ownership structure instead of incentivizing dividends and capital gains.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_employee-owned_compa...

take_a_breath commented on Interview with Paul Graham pullrequest.substack.com/... · Posted by u/sprague

hkai · 5 years ago

The federal government doesn't promote the covid fear only because of which party is in power right now. One of the presidential candidates promises a nationwide mask mandate, and, judging from the actions of authorities in NYC or other places, there will be other severe restrictions on freedom of business, assembly and travel.

So yes, I also tend to agree that many people will continue supporting the health theater and fears for the foreseeable future.

take_a_breath · 5 years ago

This isn’t proof that those measures will stay in place after the pandemic subsides, as they have for travel. Since you brought up political parties, it’s worth noting that the party who lead that round of fear is the one in power.

take_a_breath commented on Science and steely nerves spared Houston from a nightmare hurricane evacuation arstechnica.com/science/2... · Posted by u/BerislavLopac

ghaff · 5 years ago

Significant areas of Midwest can have floods though and they tend to be able to affect much larger areas than in less flat areas of the country.

take_a_breath · 5 years ago

All that fresh water can certainly cause problems.