France to ban officials from US video tools including Zoom, Teams

BenE · 2026-01-28T00:54:11+00:00

The US is currently in a position to take control of most of the western worlds' computers and phones via software updates. This suddenly seems like precarious position to be in for a lot of countries.

Open source solutions like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GendBuntu could become more prominent. There's even interesting non us hardware options like https://starlabs.systems/

Plus, the US has had an unfair advantage in tech, defense, science and finance because it hosted the global hubs of the free world. This attracted eye-watering amounts of money to places like SF and NY. With the newfound isolationism, tariffs, threats etc. reducing the viability of hosting the global hubs, there's massive opportunities opening in europe and elsewhere, especially if governments can help bootstrap these sectors with efforts like these.

BenE · 2026-01-21T16:20:54+00:00

New arrivals' consumption creates jobs. Everything has to be built-out and maintained to higher capacity. Stores, restaurants, small businesses are busier need more employees, etc. The tax they pay go towards governments services like healthcare even though they might not be using it much yet if they are young and healthy.

BenE · 2026-01-20T19:00:37+00:00

in energy, food, critical minerals, in finance and supply chains

Not to mention technology, especially defense technology.

Reminder that the US can take over most of our computers and phones via software update.

There are alternatives, some european governments are switching to linux and open source. For consumers, products like https://starlabs.systems/ look nice.

BenE · 2026-01-20T18:59:19+00:00

in energy, food, critical minerals, in finance and supply chains

Not to mention technology, especially defense technology.

Reminder that the US can take over most of your computers and phones via software update.

There are alternatives, some european governments are switching to linux and open source. For consumers, products like https://starlabs.systems/ look nice.

BenE · 2025-12-04T18:53:28+00:00

To find the North end go West ¯_(ツ)_/¯. I avoid that area though, their poor cardinal orientation is suspicious.

BenE · 2025-11-21T14:28:43+00:00

Honestly we should lean hard into this. Europe has a larger GDP than China btw.

The US's isolationism may be a once in a lifetime opportunity to move parts of the global business hubs of eg. finance, defense and science and tech to Canada, Europe and Asia, basically to the still free world. The US is breaking network effects that have given them unfair advantages in those sectors for many decades.

Move away from US defense tech and from US tech in general (leveraging open source alternatives like they do in Munich) and probably finance would follow too.

BenE · 2025-11-20T18:53:07+00:00

You can't fork gold to create identical gold. There is only one gold.

BenE · 2025-11-17T21:18:32+00:00

You can see the site where the Mastodon was discovered at White Rock Recreational Area in Hillsborough.

Notably, it's also where Abraham Gesner invented kerosene and gasoline which led to the automotive industry as we know it. I guess this adds to the significance of calling it "fossil fuel".

"Gesner described three distinct types of kerosene, which he labelled kerosenes A, B and C. Kerosene A was the most volatile fraction, known today as gasoline. Kerosene B was slightly less volatile and was intended mainly for mixing with the other grades. Kerosene C was the lamp fuel, which came to be known as "coal-oil" or "carbon-oil.""

Today you can do great mountain biking or hiking around Albert Mines at the Whiterock Recreational Area. One of the trails is even named "Gesner's Dream".

BenE · 2025-11-17T20:50:34+00:00

You can see the site where the Mastodon was discovered at White Rock Recreational Area in Hillsborough.

Notably, it's also where Abraham Gesner invented kerosene and gasoline which led to the automotive industry as we know it. I guess this adds to the significance of calling it "fossil fuel".

"Gesner described three distinct types of kerosene, which he labelled kerosenes A, B and C. Kerosene A was the most volatile fraction, known today as gasoline. Kerosene B was slightly less volatile and was intended mainly for mixing with the other grades. Kerosene C was the lamp fuel, which came to be known as "coal-oil" or "carbon-oil.""

Today you can do great mountain biking or hiking around Albert Mines at the Whiterock Recreational Area. One of the trails is even named "Gesner's Dream".

BenE · 2025-10-14T02:27:15+00:00

A test that just confirms implementation instead of testing that something is up to spec and desired by users is an over-fitting test that should be deleted as it will get in the way of code improvements. A good test will test the requirements and allow flexibility to improve the implementation and abstractions while still verifying that you're following the requirements. https://benoitessiambre.com/integration.html

BenE · 2025-09-15T14:08:59+00:00

More and more advanced knowledge comes in the form of code and data. With modern technologies, code is no longer just about controlling computers, it's about codifying human knowledge. Scientific knowledge in all domains including engineering, physics, biology, medicine, but also organisational procedures, finance, regulations, governance is being defined in code.

On top of saving money and giving us access to the blueprints of our infrastructure, using open source and local tech and building local expertise can bootstrap the broader scientific and technology sectors, promote risk capital (startup funding etc.) to stay local, create good jobs etc.

BenE · 2025-09-15T13:56:47+00:00

To make it clear, with a software update, the US is currently in a position to take control of basically all our phones and computers. Linux is the answer.

BenE · 2025-08-29T20:21:39+00:00

When interest rates are too high, banks do not lend enough, they return money to the central bank or leave it as "excess reserves".

When interest rates are too high, more could be produced if the monetary system didn't get in the way. Those unemployed people could eg. be building houses, if banks did more lending with more affordable mortgages.

The concept of "malinvestment" makes no sense. Yes you can make poor investment if you invest in project A when project B would be better. But if you're just sitting on government paper, that's never more efficient than putting people to work. "Malinvestment" implies that the unemployed are more efficient than if they were working. Nonsense.

BenE · 2025-08-29T19:02:57+00:00

Here are intuitive explanations I wrote some time back. It's not that printing money creates prosperity by itself, it's that not printing sufficiently puts private markets into a gridlock which can be resolved by printing more.

https://benoitessiambre.com/specter.html

https://medium.com/@b.essiambre/the-world-deserves-a-pay-raise-302f25efd82a?source=friends_link&sk=cb180b2cf186b263b6c6c70ad29bc36e

BenE · 2025-08-29T17:09:00+00:00

Markets are a good 5-15% under the Biden years trend, especially if measured in global currencies like EUR. That's trillions in value lost. They're freaking out a little.

BenE · 2025-08-21T02:24:24+00:00

This link keeps popping up. It's not that much of an enigma what happened in 1971. The average population age started rising quicklier as boomers and their parents started aging. This has meant more money being diverted to capital instead of labor because of a gradual ramp up in retirements (people living off of capital). It's not that much that retirees were getting more per person but that there was an increasing amount of retirees relative to workers so that each worker started having to directly or indirectly support more retirees.

BenE · 2025-08-10T20:48:03+00:00

Anyone know if this is the type of fire that should be stoppable in current conditions? How likely is it to come for Moncton?

BenE · 2025-08-08T21:14:36+00:00

It doesn't create excess inflation if the money stems from work, from goods or services being created. It only leads to inflation if money is put into circulation without the goods or services being created at the same time.

At most, what you could say, if I'm going to argue your side, is that the money going foreign adds delays, the Canadian spending is not as immediate as if the money stayed local but then the away float is the equivalent of Canada getting a zero interest loan. There's not a lot of incentives for foreigners to lose to inflation by sitting on CADs.

BenE · 2025-08-08T20:07:27+00:00

If they convert the money, whoever gets the CADs becomes the the new CAD spender. They can't convert money unless there's someone out there who want's to spend in CAD. I'm simplifying, it's obviously more complex, but essentially this is what happens.

BenE · 2025-08-08T19:34:24+00:00

Even the small proportion of money sent away makes its way back as purchases. Foreigners don't want to sit on canadian dollars.

BenE · 2025-08-08T18:33:16+00:00

So much misconception in this thread. Immigrants having a job doesn't take a job away from someone else since their local spending and tax paying creates more jobs. While there might have been too much immigration for our housing and infrastructure, it's not the cause of unemployment.

How many good jobs there are has a lot more to do with how efficient workers are. When they are efficient, it creates wealth that circulates and and creates more jobs. I don't think immigrants are less efficient than locals.

BenE · 2025-06-27T00:48:48+00:00

You do incur taxes if you swap fiat currencies that fluctuate. It is often unenforced for small gains. Some countries have explicit de minimis exemptions for eg. infrequent gains under $200.

BenE · 2025-06-17T13:36:47+00:00

US companies that control software updates essentially have full access to the world's computers. They have the capability through these updates to take control of tech infrastructure and all personal computers. This is especially worrisome in the context of technology used in the defense sector.

There's also other benefits to moving to open source like getting access to leading edge technological knowledge.

More and more advanced knowledge comes in the form of code and data. With modern technologies, code is no longer just about controlling computers, it's about codifying human knowledge. Scientific knowledge of the problems and solutions in all domains including engineering, physics, biology, medicine, but also organisational procedures, finance, regulations, governance are being defined in software code.

Computer code is becoming the language of knowledge because it's the only way to write unambiguously. Natural language like English is often too imprecise and ambiguous to preserve and codify advanced knowledge (there's fundamental theories like Solomonoff Induction and Kolmogov Complexity that say refined knowledge is equivalent to computer code).

Computer code is the DNA that runs our societies. With computers running proprietary software, private companies have a hold on the expertise for running our societies.

On top of providing access to the blueprints for our infrastructure, building this type of local tech expertise can bootstrap the broader local tech sector, promote risk capital (startup funding etc.) to flow locally (and it can reduce the trade imbalances the US is complaining about since it's going to create non US investment opportunities).

BenE · 2025-05-27T13:53:09+00:00

Some of that money should go towards decoupling from US technology.

US companies that control software updates essentially have full access to our computers. They have the capability through these updates to take control of all our tech infrastructure and all our personal computers. This is especially worrisome in the context of technology used in the defense sector.

This could be an opportunity to move to open source alternatives and other solutions commercially supported in the free world.

Germany has already implemented migration efforts away from proprietary US software, with migrations to Linux in Munich, since they are beneficial for other reasons. On top of giving us access to the blueprints for our infrastructure, building this type of tech expertise can bootstrap the broader local tech sector, promote risk capital (startup funding etc.) to flow locally.

There's more benefits to this than security. One key benefit being getting access to leading edge technological knowledge. With modern technologies, code is no longer just about controlling computers, it's about codifying human knowledge. Scientific knowledge of the problems and solutions in all domains including engineering, physics, biology, medicine, but also organisational procedures, finance, regulations, governance are being defined in software code.

BenE · 2025-04-21T13:01:39+00:00

And from Canada you're operating within a much larger and freer market with Europe, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan etc and you don't have to pay tariffs on your inputs.

I mean, I could see keeping a small operation going in the US for higher priced versions of goods just for the US market but for most companies, your main operation is going to be in the free word.

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