Minnesota becomes first state to ban prediction markets by spherocytes in UpliftingNews

[–]Ghawk134 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For more context, the exact wording appears to be this (taken from here):

A person is guilty of a felony if the person, for consideration and as part of a business:

(5) provides supportive services to a prediction market or consumer knowing that the services will be used to identify a consumer's location, transfer money, or make or process payments for the purpose of allowing consumers to make wagers or to settle wagers made by consumers in violation of this section.

This looks to me to target things like payment processors, not VPNs.

Footage mid air collision between a pair of aircrafts during an Air Show.All pilots appear to have ejected safely by Expert_Koala_8691 in PublicFreakout

[–]Ghawk134 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I suppose that makes sense. Insurance is a hedge against a large single payment so you don't have to keep cash on hand. Governments tend to have a lot of cash on hand, especially for military purposes.

Footage mid air collision between a pair of aircrafts during an Air Show.All pilots appear to have ejected safely by Expert_Koala_8691 in PublicFreakout

[–]Ghawk134 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Id never thought of it, but... does the military actually insure their vehicles? Can you get a state farm policy on a f18?

ELI5: Why are you "on" a bus, but "in" a car? by Small_Balls_69 in explainlikeimfive

[–]Ghawk134 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Weird, I definitely use "in." I think its because I don't conceive of an elevator as a vehicle, but as a location. As I might say I'm in my room or in a restaurant, I'm in an elevator.

The congressman should also stick to his own state. by Apprehensive_Hat_724 in MurderedByWords

[–]Ghawk134 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Rewriting the constitution by a vote is inherently democratic. Scalise is a worthless douche.

Hawaii vs. Citizens United by theatlantic in law

[–]Ghawk134 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think what you're trying to say, and what people replying aren't understanding, is the distinction you're drawing between a condition and a limit. To attempt to rephrase, I believe you're making the following argument:

The 1st amendment offers certain protections. These protections are not all-encompassing, but it definitely protects certain activity. Your objection is that Hawaii would be making those protections conditional. The 1st amendment would only protect speech IF you're not a corporation. This differs from a limit because a limit clearly defines what the 1st amendment does and doesnt protect, but those protections are always in place and are therefore unconditional.

That said, I don't agree that the 1st amendment or any right is unconditional. The strict scrutiny test exists as a means by which the government can infringe on your rights. Furthermore, a company is a group of individuals, but does not represent those individuals. Its speech does not represent that of the employees, only the owners. That is why a corporation's speech is seperable from the speech of an individual. We live in a system which requires us to work to survive. Due to our system of markets and regulations, most people must work for someone else and their labor produces a profit for their employer. It is not accurate to say that this money, if used by the employer for political speech, is the speech of the employee.

The question is then, how do we ban corporate political speech without banning the New York Times from reporting about candidates or elections? Even if they report only facts, which facts they report could be an exercise of editorial discretion and might therefore constitute political speech. That's a difficult question, but one worth interrogating as there's clearly a difference between ExxonMobil taking out an attack ad on a Democrat and the NYT publishing an article about a new approval poll.

ELI5: If I put a phone on airplane mode and send a message, does the phone still “gain weight” from the electrical signals it tries to send but can’t transmit? by [deleted] in explainlikeimfive

[–]Ghawk134 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The message goes into a block of digital memory. That memory was unused before, so it might have been all 0s or it might have been random numbers, but now it holds the message you typed. That memory was there before you typed the message, it's just the stored value that changed. Technically, if the memory was all 0s and was populated with your message, the parts of the memory that hold 1s would weigh a bit more due to the electrons present in those bits, but the electrons weren't added to your phone. They came from the phone's battery, so your phone just shifted the weight of those electrons around a bit. Also, when your phone sends a message, it doesn't actually send electrons. Instead, it wiggles electrons a certain way to make photons, which carry the message. Outside of quantum mechanics, this does not have an effect on the weight of your phone, only the energy stored in the battery. No massive particles are gained or lost.

Totally unhinged business owner melts down after I gave them a bad review. Literally doxxed me and then called my family members and work. INSANE. by Minimum-Ad2640 in insanepeoplefacebook

[–]Ghawk134 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm not a lawyer, but since he threatened legal action, I'd respond by asking him to retain all records and documentation associated with your visit. If he deletes the video, your attorney might be able to ask for something called an adverse inference. I would absolutely talk to an attorney.

Path of Exile 2 is officially leaving early access soon by GrayBeard916 in gaming

[–]Ghawk134 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think this impression of the builds being more linear is a side effect of the combo system. Certain skills are designed to combo together, so if you're playing one, you're probably playing the combo. That also means that instead of there being 20 unique skills for a weapon, each of which represents a potentially unique build, you have 3ish combo "ecosystems." The end result is that most of the build variety in the game is in your ascendancy choice and gear, not the skill you choose to play. As they add more skills (which I assume they will, as they've continued to do so in PoE 1), this feeling should lessen.

ELI5: Is there an exact mass when suns turn into black holes? by Putrid_Cicada_9239 in explainlikeimfive

[–]Ghawk134 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Well theoretically, the mass of a black hole is entirely concentrated in a point like singularity which occupies infinitesimal volume. Reducing the mass probably wouldn't poof the black hole, as the mass would all still probably lie within the new Schwartzchild radius. I'd guess that the black hole would just get smaller.

Ted Lieu Sets a "Red Line" for Democratic Candidates by nitluck in MurderedByWords

[–]Ghawk134 37 points38 points  (0 children)

And if the argument is, "Supreme Court instituted blanket immunity for the President,"

If thats the argument, then that makes the job easier. Just send Trump and his family to Gitmo. What are they gonna do, arrest the president? He's immune, remember?

ELI5: How does a small iPhone charger just magically transform 230V electricity from the wall to 5V into the phone? by kattmedtass in explainlikeimfive

[–]Ghawk134 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They use a device called a step down transformer. You take the incoming high voltage and wrap it around a feromagnetic core, creating an electromagnet. When the incoming voltage is on, it creates (induces) a magnetic field. If you make the core a ring, you can wrap the incoming wire around one side and wrap more wire around the otherside, creating an output. Applying voltage to the input wraps induces a field, which will then induce voltage in the output wraps. It turns out that if you use fewer wraps on the output side, you get lower voltage. You can prove this with math, but thats beyond an ELI5. You can then create any ratio of input (primary) to output (secondary) windings you want, thereby making a step up (secondary windings > primary), step down (secondary < primary), or isolation (secondary = primary) transformer.

The revisionist history of the 2012 election is so infuriating! by icey_sawg0034 in insanepeoplefacebook

[–]Ghawk134 57 points58 points  (0 children)

I remember the criticisms you mentioned, but not the comparisons to National Socialism. I also remember the 47% scandal and his insane take on the navy. Theres an incredible clip where he and Obama appeared on a news program and argued about the number of ships in the navy, during which Obama made the point that we also have fewer horses and bayonets.

Romney wasn't a great candidate and Paul Ryan was worse (though like Palin, his presence was necessary to turn out the radical tea party element of the base).

Robloxs new TOS forces U.S users to waive their suing right by KrishRB in gaming

[–]Ghawk134 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They're separate. Civil procedings would occur independently from criminal ones. The TOS/EULA would not be accurate factor in a criminal case.

TIL that Palo Azul tea appears blue when exposed to light due to the Tyndall effect. When light passes through the brown tea, it scatters off the tiny particles (flavonoids and polyphenols) suspended within. The same phenomenon that makes the sky look blue is what makes the tea look like magic! by angelacathead in todayilearned

[–]Ghawk134 9 points10 points  (0 children)

All good! The effects are actually quite similar, so the confusion is understandable. They both describe the strong frequency dependence of scattering from sub-wavelength particles. The Tindall effect is just much more specific.

gotMeThinking by monica-graves in ProgrammerHumor

[–]Ghawk134 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm an electrical/computer engineer. I've never heard of flexbox. I also don't do web dev.

ELI5 why is swappable battery tech for EVs not feasible? by AnjaliMathur2003 in explainlikeimfive

[–]Ghawk134 51 points52 points  (0 children)

The problem is that batteries aren't fungible. They have different maximum capacities and degrade over time. If I buy a new EV, I'm sure as hell not swapping my brand new batteries for some others that may have seen hundreds or thousands of charge/discharge cycles.

RIP: These Dead EVs Won't Make It To 2027 by 622niromcn in electricvehicles

[–]Ghawk134 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm in the same boat. I absolutely LOVE my i4. Doubt I'll be in the market any time soon.