tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post655597970757611056..comments2024-03-27T18:24:19.683-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: Monopoly is more fun than competitionUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-24902201117951005992012-04-25T12:12:00.506-07:002012-04-25T12:12:00.506-07:00PS. As a Jew, and one with some talent, it's w...<i>PS. As a Jew, and one with some talent, it's worth mentioning that when in search of some community with which to share my talents and for whom to advocate, being sane I stop short of the self abnegation required in joining the alt right. I'm happy enough to be a public, sane, vociferous advocate for citizenism but know damn good and well that achieving any successes there will offer me nothing more than the antisemitic rancor of following generations of alt-righters. Being able forsee plainly and clearly how my efforts (particularly should they be successful!) won't result in the embrace of Community a decade hence but rather in villification and enmity keeps me and mine from joining you and years, much as some of us, moi inclusive, feel drawn to.</i><br /><br />Considering the activities of the Scotch Irish; in banking, in law, in media, we would be as loathe to accept your help as you are to offer it.<br /><br />The solution is assimilation: you must consider this country as your own. To take its founding people as your own blood. You must sacrifice for this nation. To daily increase its strength, its health, its prosperity<br /><br />To avoid doing so would be to abet the evildoers. You would be a mean man making ill use of his talents. You would be fulfilling all the stereotypes of Jews, that of an alien people, not part of their host nation and not having its best interests in mind. We wouldn't want that now, would weDifference Makernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-82374773981770637762012-04-25T09:43:31.110-07:002012-04-25T09:43:31.110-07:00All economic rent should be sent out as citizens&#...All economic rent should be sent out as citizens' dividends. Economic rent differs from what Thiel would call "monopoly" profits in that economic rent is the portion of Thiel's "monopoly" profits that arises from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effect" rel="nofollow">Network Effect</a>*.<br /><br />A good example is virtually every dime Bill Gates made: The only reason MS-DOS was valuable was the Network Effect -- and this formed the foundation for 90% of all of Microsoft's future profits.<br /><br />The remainder of Theil's "monopoly" profits are simply the marginal advantage that a <b>particular</b> owner brings to an asset -- and belong in his pocket as increased wealth -- tax free.<br /><br />The citizens' dividend then forms the basis for societal cohesion which is basically the recognition that wealth and power concentrations of that society are legitimate. You don't have to worry about military or police in that situation -- the people will organize themselves into effective self-policing bodies and militias for defense of their corporate interest.<br /><br />*A good approximation of this is the risk free interest rate of modern portfolio theory applied to the in-place liquidation value of the asset as established by escrowed bids.Jim Boweryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12686155123469135528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-37503090985887929552012-04-25T08:34:09.274-07:002012-04-25T08:34:09.274-07:00I have, and actually have read in full, this book:...I have, and actually have read in full, this book:<br />http://www.amazon.com/The-Diversity-Myth-Multiculturalism-Intolerance/dp/0945999429/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335367515&sr=1-2 <br />"The Diversity Myth: Multiculturalism and the Politics of Intolerance at Stanford" by David O. Sacks, Peter A. Thiel <br />Reasonably honest book.<br />Respectfully, Florida resident.Florida residentnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-71138539522844556092012-04-24T21:04:49.459-07:002012-04-24T21:04:49.459-07:00Where have you been Albertosaurus? Was worried abo...Where have you been Albertosaurus? Was worried about you...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-28440899953827418102012-04-24T18:26:43.755-07:002012-04-24T18:26:43.755-07:00"there was great clarity in the early communi..."there was great clarity in the early communications. There was no debate on how to build that first database"<br /><br />As someone in an IT shop that redefines "scatter-brained" every day (and also possesses quite a diverse showing in all the intelligence/culture/background/ethnicity/ideals qualities), this statement is incredibly accurate.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-67704100218556055232012-04-24T17:54:58.113-07:002012-04-24T17:54:58.113-07:00What's with all of the condescending tones con...What's with all of the condescending tones concerning nerds? Almost all of you are nerds. <br /><br /><a href="http://heartiste.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/starcraft-nerd-has-cute-girlfriend/" rel="nofollow">Roissy</a> had an interesting analysis of a competitive alpha nerd.Semi-employed White Guynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-70103700346025948612012-04-24T17:53:08.188-07:002012-04-24T17:53:08.188-07:00I've gained respect for Thiel since he's s...<i>I've gained respect for Thiel since he's spent the last few years going around criticizing the slow pace of innovation in America. We have lots of new social networks and coupon websites and cell phone games, but most categories of electronics and machinery are stuck in cycles of very marginal improvement (e.g. HDTV's are skinnier than they were 5 years ago but otherwise not that different). Considering the insane pace of new life-changing inventions throughout the 20th century, the 21st has been kind of a drag.</i><br /><br />This is the tragedy of the Internet, it really is all about the cat pictures and buying dog food on line.<br /><br />The mentality in the VC community, and hence, then the startup industry, is that this whole process has been rationalized. It really is like Hollywood, which does a pretty good job of regressing everything to the mean.<br /><br />It is a particularly dispiriting form of capitalism, sort of a slash and burn, feral variety, where if you can't show the concrete, absolutely compelling use case in a few quarters, your idea is worthless.<br /><br />So much for investing in long range, deep technologies. Hey, hasn't it been a while since we've gotten really excited over new releases of operating systems?<br /><br />And now that both everyone is poorer and self abnegatingly worships at the altar of the Valley money men's superior genius, there are fewer going it alone, self funding "big ideas" that the establishment (the VC industry).<br /><br />Taking a page from Thiel's book, the obvious place to be is where everyone isn't. If you can self fund a deep tech thing and you believe in your ideas, the competitive field for truly new IT technologies is much less crowded these days. Almost everyone else is now just trying to write apps to get their cat pictures on Facebook and Linkedin or some other quick buck, 6-18 month deal.<br /><br />Generally speaking, when you are the only one working on an idea, it means one of two things - it is a really stupid idea, or it is an idea before its time. And the ideas before their time can also be stupid, but some aren't.<br /><br />Given the thinning of the field for longer term, deep tech, the traditional calculation about a singular idea has reduced the odds of a new idea requiring long, deep dev being a bad idea than in the past.<br /><br />Now is the best time ever for starting up these kinds of deep tech things almost since the beginning of the pc era just due to reduction in competition.<br /><br />FWIW, my money is where my mouth is as I am working w/a small group, self funded, on a long-range, hare-brained idea.Ex Submarine Officernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-32919806502419318242012-04-24T17:20:16.155-07:002012-04-24T17:20:16.155-07:00I was going to say welcome back Albertosaurus - bu...I was going to say welcome back Albertosaurus - but thats been covered.<br /><br /><i>what I loved were Albertosaurus's tales of the couple-swapping and the sex parties and the BDSM</i><br /><br />Wtf?!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-27292513864086813112012-04-24T17:14:07.510-07:002012-04-24T17:14:07.510-07:00it's O(n^2)
Yeah, my wording was really slopp...<i>it's O(n^2)</i><br /><br />Yeah, my wording was really sloppy since "proportional" doesn't care about the leading constant; something like "to be more precise, the first order term is n^2/2" would have been better.<br /><br />Anyway, I was amused by how far off "25" was; the leading constant can't be ignored when you're giving a point estimate.DoJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-82893796559996370392012-04-24T17:03:55.732-07:002012-04-24T17:03:55.732-07:00I surmise that the next step change will be micro-...I surmise that the next step change will be micro-manufacturing, growing out of the 3d printer concept. Then everyone who can't be Steve Jobs can at least be a sort of artisan.<br /><br />Gilbert P.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-62608398219780323642012-04-24T16:50:40.175-07:002012-04-24T16:50:40.175-07:00Thank you Steve but I must correct you. I'm no...Thank you Steve but I must correct you. I'm not super smart but I am easily bored.<br /><br />Whoever said I was writing fiction by introducing myself into events is wrong. Everyting I have ever written here or anywhere else is true. OK, I have been known to instigate a couple preposterous Internet rumors from time to time but those should be obvious. <br /><br />I am back here because my back has gone out and I'm stuck in a straight backed chair in front of the computer 16 hours a day. My little dog pulled me over a cliff at the beach. I'm trying to get an MRI. Hurts like hell.<br /><br />I went away to sing and digitize <i>Don Giovanni</i>. I have about 130 videos posted on YouTube. Here is a very, very short excerpt for the skeptics.<br /> <br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-aZBd7z2qY" rel="nofollow">Le Cor excerpt</a><br /><br />I recently created a blog on homosexuality expanding on Greg Cochran's infectious theory. I was writing it as a book for publication but I wanted to get on record with my theory ASAP.<br /><br />The real super smart guys on the web are Greg Cochran, Steve Sailer and Razib, not me. I was going to relate a story about another supersmart guy I met through opera - Jeff Raskin (the father of the Macintosh). <br /><br />I'm not anywhere near as smart as any of them (nor William Schockley whom I also knew) but I try to be amusing.Pat Boylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13477950851915567863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-11982211050208357422012-04-24T16:10:00.859-07:002012-04-24T16:10:00.859-07:00"I guess now that "everyone should be a ..."I guess now that "everyone should be a college graduate" isn't working out, the narrative is moving on to "everyone should be Steve Jobs"."<br /><br />The Patent Reform Act of 2011(which kicks in next March) will eliminate the patent protections that a young Steve Jobs depended on. So if one wants to do this, he has less than a year.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-47618239774218758502012-04-24T16:01:06.408-07:002012-04-24T16:01:06.408-07:00The Reagan Administration shot down the merger on ...<i>The Reagan Administration shot down the merger on antitrust grounds because clients like P&G complained that the two remaining firms would make higher profits by not cutting prices as fast.<br /><br />That seems so 80s now.</i><br /><br />Steve, sorry, but you're misinformed. A merger in a three-company industry would be just as likely to get stopped today as 30 years ago. A recent example is H&R Block trying to buy one of two competitors in the digital DIY tax return-prep market. The DOJ went to court and blocked it. I see you already brought up AT&T-T-Mobile yourself. You can subscribe to the DOJ Antitrust Division website and see mergers challenged, altered or abandoned all the time. <br /><br />But Facebook didn't get to where it is now via merger. And Exxon and Mobil didn't have the same kind of market share that your old employer did.keypusherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07176947522040838625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-981934860506524472012-04-24T15:58:58.626-07:002012-04-24T15:58:58.626-07:00I'm more protective of the privacy of people I...I'm more protective of the privacy of people I know, but I've got lots of anecdotes that connect to famous people. For example, once in 1988 my wife and I were staying in Seattle with a guy who used to work for me and his wife. My wife said, "Where shall we go tomorrow?" and my friend's wife broke into tears, and exclaimed, "We can't go anywhere with you tomorrow because we have to jump out of an airplane with Bill Gates and we're going to die!" <br /><br />See, Gates had decided he wanted to try skydiving and he wanted to try it with his girlfriend of the moment, but she refused unless another woman jumped with her. So, Gates looked down the Microsoft company roster for somebody ambitious and married and picked by old employee. He in turn talked his terrified wife into doing it too because it would help him become friends with Bill Gates, which would be good for his career. <br /><br />I tried to get my friend to promise to call me if Gates chute didn't open so I could sell Microsoft short before the news got out, but he thought that was against the insider trading law. I argued that skydiving was the quintessence of outsider activity, but he didn't buy my legal theory.<br /><br />Now, that's a better story about Bill Gates than Albertosaurus's story about Steve Jobs, but they're equally true.Steve Sailerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11920109042402850214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-69329935873132697292012-04-24T15:54:01.337-07:002012-04-24T15:54:01.337-07:00I dunno - Albertosaurus's recollection of the ...I dunno - Albertosaurus's recollection of the NeXT matches my own pretty darned well.<br /><br />BTW, what I loved were Albertosaurus's tales of the couple-swapping and the sex parties and the BDSM...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-48235770702352386022012-04-24T15:49:26.360-07:002012-04-24T15:49:26.360-07:00"Forest Gump serendipities"
Albertosaur..."Forest Gump serendipities"<br /><br />Albertosaurus' stories almost always involve events taking place in the San Francisco Bay area from the 1960s onward, typically involving teaching at various local colleges, working in local government bureaucracies, doing some computer work, and the like. He's a supersmart guy who gets bored and changes jobs frequently, and he knows so much that he can tie his personal anecdotes into larger trends that have been widely written about. (Since the 1960s, the SF Bay Area has been covered closely by many of the top journalists of the era.)Steve Sailerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11920109042402850214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-54329198726645125012012-04-24T15:49:25.426-07:002012-04-24T15:49:25.426-07:00"PS. As a Jew, and one with some talent, it&#..."PS. As a Jew, and one with some talent, it's worth mentioning that when in search of some community with which to share my talents and for whom to advocate, being sane I stop short of the self abnegation required in joining the alt right. I'm happy enough to be a public, sane, vociferous advocate for citizenism but know damn good and well that achieving any successes there will offer me nothing more than the antisemitic rancor of following generations of alt-righters. Being able forsee plainly and clearly how my efforts (particularly should they be successful!) won't result in the embrace of Community a decade hence but rather in villification and enmity keeps me and mine from joining you and years, much as some of us, moi inclusive, feel drawn to."<br /><br />Wow, great proof of Jewish intelligence and verbal skill.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-28622362799857646302012-04-24T15:40:21.323-07:002012-04-24T15:40:21.323-07:00I've always enjoyed reading albertosaurus too ...I've always enjoyed reading albertosaurus too but it was pretty plain that he kinna made up historical events in which he was an actor in pretty much every single post. <br /><br />I recall the day somebody finally called him on it, complete with a list of his Forest Gump serendipities. I didn't enjoy that list as much as I enojoy the occassional list of whiskey wildly-off predictions regarding what would happen when communo-socialo-homo Obama took over, but I laughed anyway. I also recall that having been the day Albie stopped posting.<br /><br />We missed out on a lot of good fiction from an ideologically pure mythical character (the old stuff is still available in The Googel i'm sure) but I don't miss the freedom from having to cringe knowing many of my fellow istevers were taking these "autobiographical vignettes" as anything other than what much of it almost certainly is, the creative fiction of a sorta bored old guy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-79089629395273365202012-04-24T15:16:08.741-07:002012-04-24T15:16:08.741-07:00Albertosaurus, we missed you!Albertosaurus, we missed you!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-61091055675625127032012-04-24T14:51:38.433-07:002012-04-24T14:51:38.433-07:00Whatever happened to the American ethic of simply ...Whatever happened to the American ethic of simply building a better mousetrap? [As opposed to poisoning the wells of all the competing mousetrap manufacturers?]<br /><br />Are there any historians on here who can cite an Andrew Carnegie or a George Westinghouse or a Thomas Edison spewing this kind of nihilism?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-77537295949127825342012-04-24T14:25:02.382-07:002012-04-24T14:25:02.382-07:00OT @ Albertosaurus:
I am not big fan of Jobs and...OT @ Albertosaurus: <br /><br />I am not big fan of Jobs and his company but NeXT was great and way ahead of its time. I used it extensively in the early 1990s and it worked great. What killed it was not cube shape - it was that it was B&W only when everything else had colors. That, and the fact that the hardware required to run the thing was simply too expensive at a time. With color and no serious hardware limitations it would be basically today's Apple/MacOS X.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-81976283674343452292012-04-24T14:16:59.008-07:002012-04-24T14:16:59.008-07:00According to the Keirsey Temperament scheme, nerds...According to the Keirsey Temperament scheme, nerds are NTs and jocks are SPs. His other two temperaments are the idealistic NFs (religious/spiritual leadership) and the Guardian SJs, upholders of institutions. I guess you can see how the proportions would change post the agrarian revolution.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-90612352314623693352012-04-24T13:51:04.724-07:002012-04-24T13:51:04.724-07:00Who but a libertarian, desperate to put a fine spi...Who but a libertarian, desperate to put a fine spin on the inevitable monopolies in technical spaces brought about by network effects, would come up with an absurd concept like "creative monopolies" to cover up the obvious deficiencies in their own brainless ideology? <br /><br />Yeah, when we think about, say, Microsoft, the very first word to come to mind is "creative". <br /><br />Apologists like this are as stone stupid and rigid as an Ayn Rand cultist; in fact, likely they are Ayn Rand cultists.candid_observernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-89711994395162822512012-04-24T13:45:39.538-07:002012-04-24T13:45:39.538-07:00Dear Albertosaurus:
Welcome back. We missed you.
...Dear Albertosaurus:<br /><br />Welcome back. We missed you.<br /><br />SteveSteve Sailerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11920109042402850214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-22969767929762622242012-04-24T13:43:18.117-07:002012-04-24T13:43:18.117-07:00http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-immigratio...http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-immigration-20120424,0,27569.story<br /><br />I'm beginning to like this recession.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com