throwie_wayward (u/throwie_wayward)

throwie_wayward commented on ASML's Secret: A view from inside the global semiconductor giant [video] youtube.com/watch?v=zQu_T... · Posted by u/timgluz

jdmdmdmdmd · 3 years ago

>construct knowledge as authority

Can you explain why you used the word construct here?

throwie_wayward · 3 years ago

because 'knowledge' on its own will not work to wield power over others just by itself. there are other ingredients in ensuring that knowledge can be used as power; these usually look like 'technology'.

I should also say that it's only due to the internet (and its novel aggregation-theory dynamics) that these old attitudes I am ranting against become truly noxious.

throwie_wayward commented on ASML's Secret: A view from inside the global semiconductor giant [video] youtube.com/watch?v=zQu_T... · Posted by u/timgluz

throwie_wayward · 3 years ago

I absolutely despise the ancient traditional ways they practice: referring to their techniques of 'mystery', secrecy, and occultation of knowledge (which they do in order to construct knowledge as authority and then wield it as power)

they've overdone it. by this point they have made it way to fucking difficult for people to truly come to grips with the complexity of modern life mostly becuase in their zealous protection of 'technical knowledge' they've made a life such as my own impossible to realize (this in turn, stunts the advancement and development of ways to cope with the consequences of modernity and high-technology in the culture at large, becuase people cannot learn to undesrtand enough that they can figure it out; they move us to a scenario in which only their own chosen selected few are in a position from which something could be done; but they select for obedience and dullness; not for spark)

Maybe my reasoning is leaping a lot; but as I see things, this attitude towards knowledge and understanding is the cause of the now troubling distrust in the academic-scientific apparatus by a largely ignorant public (an ignorance which is somebody's profit).

this attitude has stunted my own personal pursuit of happiness. that I cannot easily come to understand their 'propietary' techniques (higher-order logical systems, advanced litography, etc) that they use to do what they do is just frustrating.

I'll end by adding that there are many more instances of this attitude around knowledge in other subjects I've studied... even some which are no longer considered 'sacred' (in more 'developed' countries) but which were still making people act all mysterious and in awe of 'the knowledge' in my own famously ignorant native country.

throwie_wayward commented on A legal dispute that will test the limits of fair use theatlantic.com/ideas/arc... · Posted by u/fortran77

charcircuit · 3 years ago

Copyright only protects against copying. Independently coming up with the same thing is not copyright infringement.

throwie_wayward · 3 years ago

but how do you prove that?

seems like in practice it would boil down to whose lawyers are better which is just a proxy for which party has more money.

throwie_wayward commented on Lua, a Misunderstood Language (2021) andregarzia.com/2021/01/l... · Posted by u/synergy20

Tomte · 3 years ago

He phrased it wrong. What he probably meant was: The first year in the baby's life is – well – the first year, not the zeroth.

It doesn't matter much, because we will never reconcile the "I'm counting objects" and the "I'm pointing at addresses" (or the "I'm doing math… something something Dijkstra") people.

throwie_wayward · 3 years ago

there's definitely something deeper and more significant between start at zero and start at one.

something which mathematics alone is not sufficient to uncover, it requires more foundations/logic to be relevant; it requires computer science (but focused as 'computology' and pure theory).

in mathematics this becomes more aparent with ring algebraic-structures; and when considering exponentials/logarithms/roots and powers.

a way to bring into focus what I'm trying to point out, is to consider the historical development of counting numbers. In a sense, it is not until the foundations are thoroughly considered (which is more logic than mathematics) that the importance of starting from zero really shines. In this 'historical sense' we started at one, and then went back and realized that it's more 'technically correct' to start at 0; this same foundational redefinition makes it important to note that zero is the only natural without a predecessor.

an alternative way to point at this 'deep and significant' issue, is to consider how zero is the additive identity and one is the multiplicative identity; algebraic-rings having both, and the distributive property being the axiom which links both. (I tend to focus on how both elements are identities; they're both instances of an 'identity' element; two sorts of identity).

throwie_wayward commented on Europe braces for mobile network blackouts reuters.com/business/medi... · Posted by u/lxm

toyg · 3 years ago

I was reading the other day that they've made dramatic cuts in most of their local offices, and their material is now largely produced in a central hub in a low-cost Eastern European country. It shows.

throwie_wayward · 3 years ago

they're running a business, after all.

throwie_wayward commented on How Underground Groups Use Stolen Identities and Deepfakes trendmicro.com/en_us/rese... · Posted by u/rntn

Tangurena2 · 3 years ago

This is one of the "new" ways that stolen identities are used.

About a decade ago, there were a number of raids by Immigration on meat packing plants across the Midwestern US. What kicked the raids off was when one Hispanic woman who worked at Immigration was being dinged by the IRS for not paying some $160k in delinquent taxes. Upon investigation, it turned out that her name & SSN were being used simultaneously by more than 50 different workers in the meatpacking industry.

Several newspapers in the Denver metro area reported on the raids. Some of the raids happened in Greeley [0]. I remember one of the papers reporting that the only signs in English in the entire plant were the emergency Exit signs over doors. Also mentioned in the papers were that a valid name & SSN combination was worth about $50 if the name was Hispanic, and about $5 otherwise. Some of the name & SSN combinations were used simultaneously more than 100 times, with some repeats being at the same employer simultaneously. Several of the companies raided by Immigration knew that the workers were in the country illegally but didn't care as long as the name & SSN combo made it through some verification process [1].

Notes: 0 - Greeley is about 60 miles north of Denver. When the wind is "right", one can smell the feedlots. Normally, when you drive out of the mountains, you can see a huge brown cloud floating over the Denver metro area. When the wind is "right", you can see a sharp termination of that cloud. The chemicals in the cloud (mostly nitrates and nitrites from exhaust) react with the chemicals from the feedlots (mostly ammonia from cow urine & feces) to form ammonium nitrate (frequently used in fertilizer & explosives) to precipitate out of the air (leaving clear sky).

1 - This clip from Hogan's Heroes displays the willful ignorance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HblPucwN-m0

throwie_wayward · 3 years ago

that's a fine example of capitalism driving costs down and making things cheaper.

throwie_wayward commented on Why are sex workers forced to wear a financial scarlet letter? thewalrus.ca/why-are-sex-... · Posted by u/pseudolus

charles_f · 3 years ago

> Despite a user base of over 130 million, OnlyFans has failed to attract venture capital

I don't get why that's a problem? They already built their platform, it works, they're the gold standard and they have a massive paying userbase! Why do they need VC money? Why would you want to dilute your stock rather than just build with your already existing, sizeable revenue stream?

throwie_wayward · 3 years ago

because go big or GTFO?

I posit this as an explanation. I think "go big or go home" is a terrible mindset.