throwhauser (u/throwhauser)

throwhauser commented on Epic Games acquires Bandcamp variety.com/2022/digital/... · Posted by u/kylestetz

throwhauser · 4 years ago

I don't know anything about Epic Games, but as a huge fan of Bandcamp, this feels like a bit of a drag.

There's something about Bandcamp that seems exactly right. It's an open, fair and creative way to discover and publish music, that is really distinct from the rest of the music business.

I'm struggling to see how that fits into a gigantic video game company. If it has to pull in so much money that it "moves the needle" at Epic at all, I don't see how it can remain anything close to what it is today.

throwhauser commented on Russian Ruble just lost ~30% of its value cmegroup.com/markets/fx/e... · Posted by u/eifec

EugeneOZ · 4 years ago

Point of no return has passed. Things like this will affect not just 0.001% of the population (as the idea of blocking Github), it will affect everyone in Russia. And this will finally make them fight against the regime.

throwhauser · 4 years ago

"Fight with" can mean "fight for" or "fight against", which do you mean?

throwhauser commented on Why the West is reluctant to deny Russian banks access to SWIFT economist.com/the-economi... · Posted by u/doener

dsl · 4 years ago

The actual reason is because SWIFT gives the US/EU visibility into all inter-bank transfers, which provides us intelligence to build sanctions on top of. It's the financial equivalent of kicking Russia diplomats out of a building where we have every conference room bugged.

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

throwhauser · 4 years ago

That makes no sense. If Russia had an effective way to conduct its business without SWIFT in the event of sanctions, it would also have a way to conduct its business outside of SWIFT any time it has something to hide.

To follow your analogy, if they had a separate office in a separate building that they could use in the event that they get kicked out of the bugged office, they would already be using it whenever they wanted additional privacy.

The only way SWIFT actually forces Russia to be visible is if it's their only option, so no visibility can be lost if they're cut off.

throwhauser commented on Chernobyl power plant captured by Russian forces reuters.com/world/europe/... · Posted by u/tosh

lordnacho · 4 years ago

There's this concept in game theory that it's sometimes worth it to hurt yourself in order to hurt an uncooperative player. If you are always thinking "how do I minimize harm to myself" you get salamied to death. Same as in a poker game, you can't fold every time someone raises big, just because you don't know which times he actually has good cards. If you do he ends up with all your chips.

Other thing is about MAD. At some point this hypothesis needs to be tested. Yes, as a child of the cold war I am well aware of the stories about there being a warhead with my city's name in Cyrillic painted on it, and the same with every city in Russia, in English. We're conditioned to think that as soon as the missiles are launched, countermissiles will also launch, and then we're all doomed, planet is handed over to cockroaches.

I'm not sure it's true. For one, it's actually happened that missiles looked like they were in the air, and a Soviet guy decided it was best not to send missiles back, and we're all still here. I also get the feeling, from introspecting, that a lot of people would not actually press the button if they saw that radar picture. Would you make the world unlivable for little Russian kids? I'm not sure I would, and though I don't know how many people are making these decisions, my guess is it would be really freaking hard.

Which bring me to my next point, and this will cause some consternation. How bad is it if a nuke or two goes off? We care that the whole world isn't turned to dust, but if we get another Hiroshima somewhere, apart from the enormous shock it would cause, it might stand a reasonable chance of ending whatever conflict it happened in, just like the actual two nuclear attacks in Japan. Is that totally crazy, or is MAD literally coded into the machines now? Maybe someone can enlighten me.

throwhauser · 4 years ago

> ...a Soviet guy decided it was best not to send missiles back

In that case the judgment was whether the telemetry was reliable enough to justify launching a retaliatory strike, with all the grave consequences that produces.

An unambiguous order to launch a first strike might not elicit the same kind of hesitation.

throwhauser commented on The Meme Leak Theory drorpoleg.com/chinas-war-... · Posted by u/jger15

croes · 4 years ago

>First Amendment is one of America's finest and most resilient memes.

But it's only valid for US citizens. Other countries have rights that are valid for every human being.

"Human dignity is inviolable"

Didn't find that in the US constitution.

throwhauser · 4 years ago

> But it's only valid for US citizens.

The US Constitution is applicable to anyone within the jurisdiction of the US, regardless of citizenship or immigration status (including undocumented).

throwhauser commented on IRS to adopt Login.gov as user authentication tool fedscoop.com/irs-to-adopt... · Posted by u/danso

throwhauser · 4 years ago

Good. There was something absurd about having to accept id.me's terms-of-service, which involved "deals, discounts, cash back rebates and employment and educational opportunities", to access government services online.