fanf2 on Dec 25, 2015 [dead] | parent | prev | next [–]
I quite like "understanding and writing compilers" by Richard Bornat - written in the 1970s using BCPL as the implementation language, so rather old-fashioned, but it gives a friendly gentle overview of how to do it, without excessive quantities of parsing theory.
> But Franklin Computer Corporation’s hardware, software, and ad concepts were stolen intellectual property, which, I think, qualifies as “bad.”
"Intellectual property" is doing a lot of work in this sentence, in that it's a legal-sounding blanket term which somehow fails to mention which actual law Franklin broke. It's implying something is illegal without actually making the case. The cancerous growth of the vague concept of "intellectual property" leads to things like the DMCA, where formerly legal acts are outlawed in a kind of "penumbra" or "emanation" from acts which are concretely illegal, because they're getting "too close" to the imaginary line.
> Reviewers were even able to pull cards out of an Apple ][ motherboard, plug them into an ACE machine, and they’d work without any other modifications.
My God, such an Architecture might have become an Industry Standard!
> The ISA term was coined as a retronym by IBM PC clone manufacturers in the late 1980s or early 1990s as a reaction to IBM attempts to replace the AT bus with its new and incompatible Micro Channel architecture.
> In contrast to studies cited in recent decisions to end CWF in Utah, Florida, and elsewhere, we find no evidence that CWF is negatively associated with adolescent IQ or adult cognitive functioning.
As if we didn't know.
Not being snarky at the scientists, but the people who passed insane, invasive laws against fluoridation.
Interestingly, the Wikipedia app devs prevent you from opting out of sharing supposedly-anonymous data with their app. Supposedly-anonymous because I think we all know how deanonymizing works by now, and how easy it is:
It makes perfect sense: Rust compilers will never beat a human at scheduling every single opcode perfectly based on the deepest microarchitectural analysis short of decapping the chip and breaking out the ol' electron microscope. Whether it's worthwhile to be that efficient over a whole program, as opposed to a preternaturally tight compute kernel, is definitely questionable.
Some of the items and services Medicare doesn’t cover include:
Eye exams (for prescription eyeglasses)
Long-term care
Cosmetic surgery
Massage therapy
Routine physical exams
Hearing aids and exams for fitting them
Most dental care: In most cases, Original Medicare doesn't cover dental services like routine cleanings, filings, tooth extractions, or items like dentures.
I rely on Medicare as a disabled person. I love it. The reduction in stress I experienced when I got to transition from my former employer plan to Medicare is pretty indescribable. I want every American to have at least this as a baseline.
Most of the complaints around Medicare come from those who get sold (conned) on takin Medicare “Advantage”, which is a privatized option for Medicare that denies a lot of coverage.
IIUC, the difference (for USG) of Medicare vs Medicare Advantage is that Medicare subsidizes the cost of a procedure done by a provider while Medicare Advantage (MA) pays a fixed rate per treatment to an insurer.
So if the MA rate is less than the provider changes then the insurer is highly incentivized to deny you coverage. While for Medicare you'd have a higher co-pay.
This also leads to scenarios where MA insurers upcode patients so that the treatment is at a higher rate [1]. (ex. Marking patients as recovering drug addicts when prescribing opioids to get both money from both counseling and the opioid treatment).
Just as a data point, depending on a country of course, the European public healthcare systems don't cover some/most/any of these either.
For example the eye exams for glasses are usually done at the store where you buy the glasses and included in the price, dental might be covered only for children, routine physical exams may not exist as a concept, etc.
> My bad. I used that as a stand in for a single payer system like Medicare. Good idea, yes? Or do you object to that?
My objection to that is putting too much power over healthcare in the hands of the Federal government ends badly when someone like RFK Jr is in power in the Federal government.
My ideal is closer to the German system, with state-level public options which preserve private insurance.
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