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Comment Make it free (Score 1) 145

I'd accept a Fridge that had ads if it were free. Otherwise I can't see it. A fridge can last a decade easily and you can get them for less than 2 grand. 2 grand a decade = 200 a year, and that works out to less than a dollar a day. My time is worth more than that.

So unless the ads paid for the entire fridge I can't see paying cash for it.

Comment Someone made a deal with the devil (Score 1) 35

I cannot imagine any other reason to WANT that brand.

It is synonymous with fraud, deception, and incompetence.

Either someone wants to change that more than they want to make money, or someone made a deal with the devil and the devil said "OK, you can own a big corporate brand, but is has to be an EVIL one. Ha ha ha ha ha"

Comment Re:Gets rid of all internships (Score 1) 49

Worst take on AI, if only because it is common. Everyone misunderstands how AI works and what it does. AI DOES NOT THINK.

It predicts. It is not getting qualitatively better at all. It is getting quantitatively better. They are adding more computers and algorithms that work more efficiently. They are fixing minor issues, like the ability to understand "not", and encouraging it to say "I do not know".

AI has no reasoning. It predicts. Interns are allowed to not think. All of the significant jobs require reasoning, not prediction. AI will not replace those.

Not saying something else won't replace it. But it will require a paradigm shift. Nothing we are thinking of doing with AI will ever achieve AGI, ASI etc. etc. We have learned how to make something that is like the brain of an insect, not that of a man.

Comment Re:health (Score 1) 52

The one thing I left out is portion size. Although I did mention 3x the amount we needed. Was not relevant to what I was saying, but it helps a lot.

Mediterranean diets are anti-diabetic because:

1) They emphasize whole grains - which does help. A 10% decrease is still worth it.
2) They emphasize unprocessed foods so they keep the fiber and avoid the added sugar.
3) They are HUGE on vegetables, which significantly reduces the amount of grains you eat. Of course, it is a problem for super-tasters that find vegetables bitter.
4) They have much smaller portion sizes than American typical diet.

Note, I did not mention alcohol because if you are not an alcoholic it is fairly easy to avoid it entirely. In america, it is hard to avoid carbs and we are given them in huge quantities.

Comment Re:health (Score 2) 52

While some fruit (bananas in particular) are bad for diabetics, a lot are good for us - including apricots, raspberries, etc.

The main cause of diabetes is not fruit. Almost every meal in the entire world includes large portions of:

Wheat (including bread, muffins, pancakes, pasta, etc.)
Rice
Potatoes
Corn

Even knowing about diabetes, it can be hard to find a restaurant that does not include one of these in every single meal they serve. Yeah, whole grain versions are better - as in 10%. That's not enough. Most americans eat 3x the amount of carbs they need.

Worst of all, if the food is processed it removes fiber making it bad for you (and worse usually adds sugar). It's why even unsweetened apple sauce is bad for diabetics - loss of fiber is a major issue.

In America, Diabetes is generally caused as much by wheat as it is caused by added sugar. While it's not hard to eliminate added sugar, it's just too hard to go a day without wheat, rice, potatoes and corn.

Note, even diabetics do need some carbs, but that is NEVER a problem getting.

Comment no evil will escape our sight. (Score 1) 26

In brightest day and darkest night, we will still be able to see everything. So no evil will escape our sight.

Except of course for evil from the stars, cause we won't see crap.

Seriously, that is still one of the benefits of living in the boonies. There are still places we can go more than 10 m iles from other people and have a nice, clear night sky.

But not in my home.

Submission + - Final Fantasy composer shares concern about 'stagnation' in game music (pcgamer.com)

alternative_right writes: "I won’t go as far as to call it stagnation, but I believe directors and producers hold too much power in their hands even when it comes to the music," said Uematsu, according to Automaton's translation. "Even now, game composers aren’t in a position to speak their opinion freely, and no matter how much musical knowledge or technical skills they possess, they’re still in a position where it’s difficult to speak their mind.

"There are almost no game producers who are well versed in worldwide entertainment and are familiar with a wide variety of musical genres, so anything goes for them as long as you make it sound like a John Williams movie soundtrack."

Comment Stupid problem (Score 1) 38

You want to buy a ticket with a physical credit card?
Have a machine at the theater - just like movie theaters do.

To pick up the ticket, you need the physical credit card you bought the ticket with.

You want to buy one without a physical credit card? They take a photo of your face when you buy the ticket and print it on the ticket.

Problem solved, no more ticket scalping/ 'resale'.

Comment A single session = no one is exercising. (Score 1) 14

If a single session may reduce the risk, then it would need to be in comparison to people that did not do any exercise at all.

Look, I am pretty lazy, but even I exercise once a year.

All kidding aside, the real problem is that health issues tend to make exercise much more difficult. Some people get tired when they exercise. That's normal. But some people get headaches (may be a sign of weakened blood vessels in your brain - which can burst and kill you.)

I can easily see how people with certain cancers end up lying in bed for long periods of time.

Comment Re: The real estate market is collapsing (Score 1) 47

I think the issue is that luxury housing has far higher profit margins. So developers build luxury housing, a small amount of middle class housing and no cheap housing.

This means we end up with too much luxury housing and not enough middle class and no cheap housing.

Part of the problem is single family housing. Most places tend to push that. If we instead push for multi-family housing you can turn things around.

The profit margin to build an owner occupied duplex or quad could be as high for a similar sized luxury housing. You get one unit with all the luxury stuff, and another/3 with cheaper quality. A smart developer could make this with a similar profit margin.
It has a lot of advantages:

1) Mixed class housing communities.
2) Lets middle class people buy up and make money on renting out their basement other 3 apartments.
3) Creates an incentive to build cheaper housing.
4) If you do it inside cities, it creates denser housing = less roads = less traffic jams as people have less distance to travel to the center of the city.

Comment Re:Fiction meets reality (Score 4, Insightful) 92

You have tremendously oversimplified the issue.

Among other issues, you have ignored the gifted students. Many of them were used to coasting through high school classes. Some of them continued to do it in college.

The most brilliant slouched through college with minimal effort and came out with good grades. They never needed the diploma.

Then there were the ones that were better than their tiny high school, but not geniuses. Some of them slouched through and failed their first semester. Some of them turned it around and became hard workers, some quit, some turned into slouchers and barely got the diploma. Some of the quitters founded startups and became rich. Others screwed up their life.

Most of the hard workers were never the geniuses. A lot of school has always been about hard work. That is the secret to getting an A. Brains helps, but hard work is more important for most of us.

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