Posts by Nick Z

There is a saying, "Don't do unto others that which you don't want to be done to yourself."

Americans broke this rule when they established a double standard, one for themselves and another one for foreigners.

And now everybody is a foreigner as far as US intelligence agencies are concerned.

It was a foot in the door to do something unethical. And once this became acceptable, then it wasn't so hard to move it a little further and include everybody.

Dictatorship usually leads to human rights abuse

I think it all comes down to the fact that the workplace is not a democracy.

It's a either a tyranny, a dictatorship, or an oligarchy. And of course there is a lot of variation in how harsh or how benevolent the dictatorship is, depending on the person in charge.

It's the power imbalance that causes people to think and feel differently and misbehave as a result of that. Some scientists go so far as to say that having power over others causes brain damage.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/07/power-causes-brain-damage/528711/?utm_source=nl-atlantic-daily-062117

Telling people to stop it once and for all, while leaving the mechanism that causes it in place, probably won't solve this problem.

Because this is like telling autocratic Kings and dictators to be benevolent, and leaving their dictatorship in place, rather than changing the whole government to a democracy.

I'd say that both the police and the courts are to blame here.

Because the police should've used a neutral investigator to get the evidence for them.

And the courts should've dismissed the case, when the police clearly biased the evidence by using the accuser as their investigator.

It would be nice to have some papers and presentations that deal with objections to some of the things Agile proponents say.

I've been reading an Agile textbook, Introduction to Agile Methods by Sondra Ashomore and Kristin Runyan. And the authors there is say that open office environment, where everybody works in the same room close to each other, is the way to go. And they also say that managers and workers, who don't fit into the Agile environment, might need to be fired.

And this book doesn't have any references to any scientific journals from Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, or any other social science. It's all a bunch of management gurus and self-appointed experts promoting Agile ideas.

I did some googling to find out what social scientists have to say about the open office work environment. And I was surprised to see a lot of negative research findings.

https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-open-office-trap

I think Agile proponents need to take such objections seriously. Or else this whole movement is going to lose its credibility.

USA itself has a poor human rights record, both internally and even more so externally.

https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/united-states

The US government is literally responsible for tens of thousands of deaths in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and probably Syria too.

I'd say that killing people is worse than restricting the freedom of speech. USA is in no position to criticize China on its human rights record.

Mail held overseas probably belongs to a non-US citizen

If the US government starts using US companies to extend its jurisdiction to other countries, then these US companies won't be so welcome in other countries anymore.

At least some countries will probably protect their sovereignty by prohibiting their citizens from using online services of US companies.

Age bias tells young people that they have no future in the IT industry

Everybody becomes an older worker eventually. Who wants to have a career that lasts only 10 or 15 years?

Age-bias is discouraging even the younger people from going into the IT industry. Because it doesn't make sense for young people to invest a lot of time, money, and effort into a career that won't last.

The way employers treat older workers shows younger workers how they will be treated, when they get older. Which means that age bias probably has a demoralizing effect on both older and younger workers.

Without examples, good English doesn't tell you much

The reason, why Stack Overflow is such a popular reference for developers, is that you can find many real examples there and not just good English.

Good English gives you a general idea. Which might be enough for some people, when they are already familiar with the code. But when you are doing it for the first time, then you need real examples in the documentation. Or else this documentation doesn't help you much.

English language isn't a programming language. Which means that you lose a lot of details and information, when you translate code into English.

Testing is a lot easier than creating the original program

It took Einstein to come up with the Theory of Relativity. But plenty of ordinary physicists have devised tests for this theory and have tested it thoroughly.

The same is true for creating a computer program. Machine learning can create a very complicated program. But you, as a human, can create all kinds of tests for it to determine how it will perform in various circumstances and perhaps add to it some human-written code to correct its flaws.

There is no reason why computer programs have to be either completely done by machine learning or written by humans. The best result is when you have a combination of both.

Consciousness and self-awareness doesn't require any great intelligence

Even cockroaches are in a way conscious of themselves and their place in their environment.

Their consciousness and self-awareness is of the same kind as that of animals and human beings. The difference is in the amount and the complexity, but not in kind.

Perhaps the power of computers isn't yet enough to create this kind of consciousness. Because consciousness involves simulation of one's environment and of oneself in this simulated environment in real time, based on sensory inputs.

The key is that it needs to be done in real time. Which requires a lot of computing power. But there is no fundamental reason why in the future people won't write computer programs to create such simulations and create artificial consciousness and self-awareness this way.

It's not like there is some law against it that will stop people from doing it. And even if some country makes a law against it, then people in some other country will probably develop it anyway.

It's hard to know who is right and who is wrong, when you don't know the evidence.

But given the recent anti-Russian hysteria in USA by US politicians and mainstream media, it's hard to imagine that this guy will get a fair trial there.

This would be like sending a Jewish person to Nazi Germany for trial in 1930s. Because there is some ethnic hate going on there. This isn't just some political disagreement, the way it was during the Cold War.

The word 'Russian' describes nationality and ethnicity. And if you read US media, then they definitely have something against Russians there.

There is so much spying going on that you can't really avoid being spied upon. You can only choose who will spy on you by picking either US-made, or Russian-made, or Chinese-made software.

I'd rather be spied upon by foreigners, who have little interest in what I'm doing, than by a domestic government, who has all kinds of legal and illegal powers to do things against me. And this is probably true for most other people too.

Ordinary people in Russia should choose US-made software. And ordinary Americans should choose Russian-made software. This way they would at least be safer from surveillance by their own government.

It all depends on who has the least interest in you.

This is a political decision, rather than a commercial one

The TransTelekom company is a subsidiary of the Russian Railways company.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransTelekom

And the owner of the Russian Railways company is the Russian Government.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Railways

Both China and Russia don't want to establish a precedent by letting North Korea have nuclear weapons. Because then Ukraine and Taiwan might want to get nuclear weapons too.

But they also don't want USA and its allies to take over North Korea and surround them both even more in military terms. That's why they will only go half-way against North Korea. And they'll do whatever it takes to help North Korea survive.

Data exporting is a way to get around data protection laws

One of Snowden's revelations was that USA and its allies where spying for each other on each other's citizens. This was a way for them stay legally within their law, while in practice trashing and disrespecting their law completely.

US citizens are protected by US law from unwarranted government surveillance. But if their data happens to be in UK, then the US law doesn't apply there anymore. The UK government is free to do all the spying it wants on US citizens and then pass on that information back to the US government.

And of course, it was done the other way too, where the US government spied on UK citizens for the UK government.

Exporting data outside of legal jurisdiction is basically exporting it outside the law. It's literally a way to get around the law and disregard it completely, as if the law doesn't even exist.

The human brain itself is a simulator of the universe

Our experience of the universe is created by our own brain.

There is no such thing as color or solidity or even movement of time out there in the universe. All of these experiences are created by our own brains.

Which literally means that we all live in a simulated universe.

The universe itself isn't simulated. But our perception and experience of it is simulated.

Restrictions on speech need to be balanced by freedom of speech

If the things people say on private platforms is considered public speech, then this speech needs to have the same human rights protection that normal public speech has.

Focusing only on restricting people's speech, without any balance to ensure that people are free to say legitimate things, is what dictatorial governments normally do.

If the law extends to speech hosted at private companies, then the human rights protection for freedom of speech should extend there too. Or else you end up with privatized dictatorship, where governments subcontract dictatorship to private entities to get around democracy and human rights protections.

Diversity mixed with discrimination doesn't work

The problem with recruiting more women for diversity purposes is that only young women need apply.

Once the woman gets older, then she'll have a hard time finding a job. Which is also true for older men.

Why would young women want go into the IT industry and work for companies like Amazon, when the IT industry is so famous for its age bias?

Why would young women want to have a career that lasts only 15 or 20 years, and then they aren't wanted anymore?

Being logical and reasonable is no guarantee of being right

The problem with explaining anything is that being being perfectly logical and reasonable is no guarantee that you are right.

Because perfect logic can lead to false conclusions, when the assumptions for your logic are either incorrect or incomplete. And there is no sure way to know if all of your assumptions are correct and complete.

That's why ancient Greeks came to some spectacularly wrong conclusions using logic about the Solar system. They thought that the Earth rotated around the Sun.

And that's why today's standard for truth isn't logic. It's evidence based on scientific experiments.

The world is full of examples, where people rationalize anything they want to do. Even Hitler rationalized his atrocities and probably seemed reasonable to his people at the time.

USA has one highest incarceration rates in the world

Going to USA is like going to the prison capital of the world. Because they imprison more people per capita than virtually any other country in the world.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/uk/06/prisons/html/nn2page1.stm

This isn't well-known in western countries, who are friendly with USA. This is like a blind spot for westerners and even for people who live in USA. Which isn't surprising.

It's a lot easier to focus your attention on the faults of your rivals and enemies, than look at yourself and your friends with a critical eye.

Good reason to stay away from the IT industry

This kind of large layoffs coupled with reports of widespread age discrimination in the IT industry is probably enough to discourage many people from going into the IT industry.

http://observer.com/2016/04/when-it-comes-to-age-bias-tech-companies-dont-even-bother-to-lie/

Because nobody stays young forever. And if you get laid off in your 40s or 50s, then you might not find another job.

Perhaps men don't have much of a choice. The same thing happens in many other industries too.

But women have some better choices, such as Nursing for example. Nurses don't have massive layoffs. Their employment is more secure, even when they get older.

This isn't about Russia or voting security at all

Right now, US State governments are in control of voter registration and voting in Federal elections. Which doesn't sit well with Federal politicians.

It's a power grab by the Federal government at the expense of State governments. And of course, they need to justify it somehow. That's why they are making up all kinds of stories about Russia, without any evidence.

The outcome of all this hoopla probably will be a big recommendation for the Federal government to take over the electoral process from State governments.

It's hard to argue with evidence.

When a system to ensure fairness is in place. But it's very ineffective in achieving its stated goal. Then you need to wonder if this system is there just for show, or is it a sincere effort?

When people are doing something wrong, then they normally either try to hide it or put on some show of legitimate appearance.

Which means that you can't really judge companies and people by their self-projected image. Only the results of what they do can tell you the truth.

Secrecy and democracy are incompatible with each other

The problem is secrecy itself.

Consent isn't valid, unless it's an informed consent. That's what the law says in medical type of consent and other types of consent. And that's how it is with the consent from the people to be governed by their government. This consent needs to be informed, or else it's not valid.

When the government is hiding not just some specific operations but the laws and rules which it follows. Then it's fair to say that the consent from the people to be governed by their government isn't valid anymore.

What we have now is just an illusion of democracy for propaganda and deception purposes. It's like the Soviet Union also claimed to be democratic, because they had regular elections. It was done for propaganda purposes.

There is only so much you can do to extend an existing field of knowledge.

Exponential growth in knowledge happens only when some new field of knowledge is discovered, and almost everything is unknown in there.

A good example was the discovery of electromagnetic waves. Before their discovery, people didn't even know that such waves existed. And of course, there was a lot to discover, once this field was opened up for research.

Running out of ideas is inevitable, when you are just trying to extend existing fields of knowledge. The only way to keep ideas going is to discover new fields of knowledge, where almost everything is unknown.

Constant war turns public opinion against democracy

War makes people feel insecure.

Because killing in war is seldom one-sided. The other side might be weaker, but they can still do some damage. And it's this feeling of constant insecurity that destroys people's support for democracy.

Because according to Maslow's theory of human motivation, known as The Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, people's need for safety trumps all of their higher needs, including the needs associated with the need for freedom and democracy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs

And warning people about it won't change their opinions. Because as long as the government can make its people feel insecure by constantly waging war on others, then the people will truly feel insecure and behave accordingly. They will not support democracy.

Snowden's revelations, about US spying on the whole world, made sure this will happen

I'm actually surprised that it took this long for the Chinese government to make such a law.

The US government openly spies on the whole world. The only privacy protections USA has is for American citizens. There aren't any restrictions at all for spying on foreigners.

The Internet originated in USA. Which means that a lot of the Internet infrastructure is located in USA. And this gives the US government a huge advantage over other countries in spying on the whole world, including people living in China.

China isn't the first or the last to make such a law. It doesn't make sense for any country to let USA spy on them, the way Edward Snowden has revealed a few years ago.