Steko

> nobody knows what to do with it yet though.

I've sent a lengthy email to Atomic Rockets strongly suggesting that cloaking devices are back on the menu. No reply yet and I know I've said this a few dozen times before but I really think we got 'em this time!

> it doesn't sound very convincing

That's because it's not a strong conclusion. It's a "better than the alternatives" hypothesis. Repeating my tldr above "they don't know it's alphabetic".

> doesn't bring any EVIDENCE .. some morphological characteristics of the inscriptions

I'd say the "morphological characteristics of the inscriptions" count as evidence and I'll just recap everything linked that I think counts as evidence: the graphemes include several repetitions even with only 12 signs in total; they don't resemble cuneiform at all; they have a weak resemblances to some Egyptian glyphs but weak and Egypt didn't have these clay cigars; they have a weak resemblance to some Indus glyphs and (later) Byblos glyphs but again weak; they don't appear to be numbers, potmarks, etc.; but what they do strikingly resemble is later alphabetic signs, to the point where the author, one of the foremost experts on Semitic epigraphy, really wanted the dating to be wrong.

Now the blog post doesn't go into much detail on these items but Schwartz's 20+ page 2021 paper (I had no trouble getting a free, legal copy) does (not always a lot more detail but also covers more possible alternatives). But, like the blog post says, the case Schwartz 2021 makes is still extremely cautious and he basically concludes that we just have to hope we can find more examples to confirm what kind of system they are from, and to increase the chance of deciphering them.

I thought the article was fine, historically, as a pop travel article. You seem to have hate-read it because it wasn't encyoclopedic enough and left out some of your favorite bits of Arthurian trivia.

I think the author's issue is he conflates feudalism, which is generally held to begin in the 10th century, with the entire medieval period, which is traditionally dated as starting in the late 5th century. He also thinks of feudalism as this static culturally defining force but in reality it waxed and waned depending on the time and place.

It also had some huge holes in who and what it covered, and it's not hard to imagine any of the OD&D classes (cleric, magic-user, fighting-man) in those gaps. The largest of these gaps by far was The Church, but we also have universities (which developed under protection of the church), guilds (which developed in places under protection of the universities), and the rising merchant class (who could form guilds to reinforce their power). There were also mercenaries, hermits and various other free people.

> You misunderstand how personality rights work .. Called it in the other thread

One of the great things about HN is you get all kinds of experts from every field imaginable.

> is not prosecutable

Yikes.

> if housing is so affordable in Japan, why are there still people who don't own homes?

Mostly because they don't need or want their own house and/or they spend their money on other stuff.

> Can an average McDonalds worker in their 20-ies just go and buy a home easily

The median McDonalds worker in Japan is 17 and lives with their parents. And maybe 3/4 of the ones who aren't teens are freeters.

If you don't make a lot of money you can certainly buy something but it won't be the nicest or in the best location.

> without applying for a lifetime-long mortgage?

Many people buy with cash, many get nicer homes with 35-year mortgages at super low interest rates.

Yeah I also travel with a battery pack and, if I'm overseas, a pocket wifi. And my airpods, although lots of people like big headsets too. Apple also thinks their VR rig is great for air travel. So potentially 7-9 devices.

I'm personally not as bothered by the number of devices as much as all the forced redundancy. Like the core devices could have 3 desktop quality processors, 13 microphones, 3 selfie cameras, 2 rear cameras, 2-3 cellular modems, etc.

I'd love a design where the phone is my chip, 5g radio and storage. The camera can be worn as a bodycam (for lifestreaming or personal safety) but also docks to the phone. The phone speakers and mics are a 2nd set of airpods you can cycle in to keep them charged (both sets can be docked at once). The tablet is just a bigger screen with extra battery/storage and the phone docks to that. The watch screen is weaker and monochrome so the battery life is better and it keeps the health functions.

Speaking of 'grossly mischaracterizing' Volokh, why do you think he is "uniquely qualified" to weigh in here? Is it because your views usually align with his? He seems no more qualified than the sources mhneu provided. This decision has been soundly roasted across the spectrum.

Whether Hans cheated OtB is not really the main issue although most commenters get hung up on it.

Occam’s Razor suggests we should strongly believe he didn’t cheat OTB.

The bigger issue is that known cheaters create a cloud of suspicion that puts their opponents at a huge disadvantage. Magnus has spoken about this before - if you think someone might be cheating you can’t concentrate on chess.

This suspicion can be allayed with extra security but that extra security was only deployed after Magnus left.

* Headphone jack.

Louis CK assured me my stuff was already going to space.

This place has lots of world class thinkers but is heavily overburdened with title janitors and tone police.

This is an actually interesting development but there’s zero discussion of it and 50 comments that want to split hairs about whether conclusions reached by simulations count as evidence or not.