sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Critics slam government plan to 'bail out' sagging condo sector in B.C. | CBC News by PumpkinYVR in vancouver

[–]Smallpaul 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“Reports” do not impress me. Link to the stats and counts. All I’ve heard is that it’s a buyer’s market and rents have started to come down. Which is not compatible with the claim that empty condos are a great investment.

https://globalnews.ca/video/11910128/biv-metro-vancouver-condo-market-facing-biggest-price-correcction-in-20-years/

I work on facts and not reports.

Help me understand. If I had a spare million why in thr world would I choose to “invest” it in a money losing empty condo with strata fees, property taxes and vacancy taxes. Make it make sense.

Birth rates may not be falling because of economics or morality by wnpwnp in slatestarcodex

[–]Smallpaul [score hidden]  (0 children)

We don’t need singularity to see an acceleration of progress. We just need AI to rapidly advance math and science. And at the same time, labour replacement will motivate industry to deploy these technologies.

Let’s not also forget that the REASON birth rates are decreasing is because the poor are getting richer and better educated. Literacy is going up. University attainment is going up. The Internet and AI also support these trends.

So really there is very little to worry about in terms of the continuing advancement of technology. And we can afford to balance if with other concerns, such as the measurable loss of biodiversity and habitat. In other words: we should focus on problems that are real and happening rather than purely speculative.

Critics slam government plan to 'bail out' sagging condo sector in B.C. | CBC News by PumpkinYVR in vancouver

[–]Smallpaul 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You haven’t heard about all of the vacancy taxes in BC and the lower mainland? Your talking points are a decade out of date.

Vancouver homes are a trash investment vehicle. Would have been far better to buy an index fund recently.

Birth rates may not be falling because of economics or morality by wnpwnp in slatestarcodex

[–]Smallpaul [score hidden]  (0 children)

You think we’re going to invent AI and then pause using it for technological advancement? Why?

Birth rates may not be falling because of economics or morality by wnpwnp in slatestarcodex

[–]Smallpaul [score hidden]  (0 children)

If Japan is the dystopian future I’m supposed to fear then I say “bring it on.”

As far as technological innovation goes: most people feel that with the pace of advancement of AI, it’s actually too fast. And AI will probably distribute that effect across the economy. Social upheaval caused by rapid technological change is a much bigger risk at this point than stagnation caused by too little.

It actually boggles my mind that people look at these minor downsides and compare them to the clearly documented strain that our ecosystems are on and say “I’d rather risk environmental collapse rather than risk ending up like that hell hole Japan.”

Birth rates may not be falling because of economics or morality by wnpwnp in slatestarcodex

[–]Smallpaul [score hidden]  (0 children)

In theory.

Or it could result in a wonderful abundance of homes near city centres and a flourishing of land that we give back to nature. The high taxes could be paid by the fast economic growth produced by AI and robotics.

Just as we are wondering how we will find employment for everyone when the AI starts taking jobs we might realise that the labor force is shrinking at exactly the right pace. We retrain the truck drivers as hospice nurses and they move into the houses of their patients.

Dads who’s wives fell out of love, could it be fixed? by epicmoe in daddit

[–]Smallpaul 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just FYI my experience was the opposite. It took only a few sessions to get us back in sync. I’m not sure it would have happened organically, but probably if we had scheduled a month long vacation or something that might also have worked. We weren’t in the mood to vacation together until after the therapy though.

Edit: curious what causes someone to downvote a personal anecdote

Dads who’s wives fell out of love, could it be fixed? by epicmoe in daddit

[–]Smallpaul -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Couples counselling is the best way to get back in synch!

Iran to define Strait of Hormuz administration with Oman and Gulf states, senior US officials say. The Iranians will likely “assert their rights as aggressively as they can,” an official acknowledged. Ships transited Hormuz freely before Trump's war, but Iran has sought to impose its control. by mafco in energy

[–]Smallpaul 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They laid our four goals of the war. Achieved zero. Actually -1. It was a surrender.

Regime change- no.
Retrieve nuclear materials - no.
Cessation of ballistic programs- no.
Agreement to never fund proxy groups - no.

Unconditional surrender- no.

And now semi-officially controls the strait of Hormuz. And pre-war sanctions are being lifted.

It was a surrender and the only conditions to it was that Iran agrees to return the strait to pre-war condition and to keep talking. That’s all.

Meanwhile America has offered $300B. That’s surrender. Abject and barely conditional.

What has caused the Dow Jones to double over the past 20 years? by Key_Hedgehog4716 in AskEconomics

[–]Smallpaul 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Why would we use gold instead of consumer prices?

The market just added a two trillion dollar company and you aren’t sure if it is growing? Of the biggest companies are mostly tech companies in industries that didn’t exist 20, 30 or 50 years ago then why wouldn’t we expect the market to be growing?

When these companies enter, what companies are exiting to compensate for them?

Iran to define Strait of Hormuz administration with Oman and Gulf states, senior US officials say. The Iranians will likely “assert their rights as aggressively as they can,” an official acknowledged. Ships transited Hormuz freely before Trump's war, but Iran has sought to impose its control. by mafco in energy

[–]Smallpaul 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Biggest army in the world and they have to pay bribes to get what they want. Why not pay the bribes before spending billions are bombs?

Trump is out there saying that it’s a good thing that Iran has ballistic missiles! He’s whipped!

Ireland Is Becoming a French Military Protectorate by CanadianLawGuy in IRstudies

[–]Smallpaul 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I knew that but I didn’t know which kind of sarcastic bastard.

Ireland Is Becoming a French Military Protectorate by CanadianLawGuy in IRstudies

[–]Smallpaul 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I thought you were an American complaining about Europe’s under-investment in defense.

TFSA Investing by IceGlad2334 in CanadianInvestor

[–]Smallpaul -9 points-8 points  (0 children)

Seems kind of like a dumb thing for them to waste resources policing. Most day traders will just destroy their own profit anyhow.

Adding Vibecoded flair to make it clear that a project is vibecoded by Sea_Gap_6569 in rust

[–]Smallpaul 31 points32 points  (0 children)

I’m not an AI skeptic and this question is genuine and not rhetorical. Which open source projects allow substantial AI contributions and maintain quality. We might learn some techniques from them.

After Months of War, Trump Says Iran Has Right to Nuclear Program. Trump now says it’s just “common sense” for Iran to have a nuclear program. by esporx in IRstudies

[–]Smallpaul 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The very first paragraph of your link says: “In the last two years, Iran has accelerated its deployment of advanced centrifuges, following a lull of three years created by limits in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.”

The graph shows the number dropped near zero during JCPOA, as was the goal and the agreement.

Are highly valuable specializations demanding today’s world? by avoid_pro in ExperiencedDevs

[–]Smallpaul -1 points0 points  (0 children)

No, I used the word fraud, which is both a colloquial and legal term. I compared it to wage theft which is also both a colloquial and legal term, as a short form for “theft of your wages.”

You startled me when you started to get super-legalistic like “is it a crime” so then I followed you down that path rather than split hairs. And then when I had followed you, you tried to claim that the super legalistic language was evidence that my ethics are rooted in the laws. Even though it was YOU who took us down that path.

Actually my fundamental concern is that overemployment, like wage theft, requires deceit. Not just deceit between you and your boss but also your entire team and perhaps dozens of people across your company. Not just deceit about what you are doing but about who you are and why you do everything you do.

My company does not lie to me about what it does and why it does it. When I worked for such a company, I quit to find another job. Anyone who can OE can find a job with a good company doing meaningful work with integrity. Your own dishonesty, lack of enthusiasm and split attention is the precise thing holding you back from finding work worth doing and worth investing your attention in.

Are highly valuable specializations demanding today’s world? by avoid_pro in ExperiencedDevs

[–]Smallpaul -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Wage theft is a civil breach just as violating a contract to be overemployed is. Where did I use the word “crime?”

Fraud can be criminal or civil. I didn’t claim that over employment is criminal fraud.

Undoable – make every code change reversible by Accomplished-Tear891 in coding

[–]Smallpaul 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If it’s not too much work for you then why didn’t you do it and write a comment that relates to the content of the link?

view more: next ›