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Successful or lasting transitions:
1. Eastern Europe 1989 (Velvet Revolution): Student protests toppled communist regimes; quick move to democratic institutions blocked a return of the old guard.
2. South Korea 1987: Student-led movement forced constitutional reform; strong institutions cemented long-term democracy.
3. Tunisia 2011: Youth uprising ousted Ben Ali; fragile, but managed more reforms than its neighbors.
4. Bangladesh 1990: Student protests forced out Ershad and restored parliamentary democracy.
5. Indonesia 1998: Students ended Suharto’s 32-year rule; transition to democracy largely stuck.
Failed or reversed outcomes:
1. Egypt 2011: Mubarak fell, but the military quickly reasserted power.
2. Myanmar 1988 & 2021: Youth-led protests brutally crushed; no systemic change.
3. Hong Kong 2019: Mass mobilization, but Beijing tightened control further.
4. Bangladesh 2018 & 2024–25: Student protests (road safety, anti-corruption) drew support but faced crackdowns or stalled reforms.
5. Indonesia 2019–20: Youth protests against anti-corruption rollbacks failed to overcome entrenched elites.
Learnings & guidance:
1. Toppling is the easy part.* Building resilient, accountable systems is much harder and requires as much energy as the protests themselves.
2. Institutions matter. Wins lasted where protesters translated momentum into concrete legal and institutional reforms (Eastern Europe, South Korea, Indonesia 1998).
3. Beware the vacuum. Without credible alternatives, old networks (Egypt, Bangladesh, Myanmar) reassert control.
4. Broad coalitions win durability. Success is stronger when youth movements ally with labor, civil society, and reformist insiders — not just street mobilization.
5. International context counts. Where outside powers supported transitions (Eastern Europe), reforms stuck; where they didn’t (Myanmar, Egypt), regimes rebounded.
Takeaway: Gen-Z has shown it can bring a government down in days. The real test is whether it can also build structures that stop corruption and nepotism from creeping back in.
Ask HN: Gen-Z toppled the government. Precedents to guide the next steps?
On Sep 8–9, Nepal's Gen-Z led protests brought down the government in less than 2 days, ending years of frustration over corruption, nepotism, and even a sudden social media ban.Explainer video (by @sabi_shifty): https://www.tiktok.com/@sabi_shifty/video/7548336154102222094Now, Gen-Z is leading the formation of a new government, but there's a real risk that the same corrupt forces could seep...
Note: I am not pro lies, but challenging myself to think from the other angle.
The Power of Lies
Just a random thought I wouldn’t normally explore. Asked ChatGPT to write a prose (in favor of lies) and felt like it's interesting enough to share.---Lies are often condemned as tools of deceit, yet beneath their shadowy veil lies an undeniable power—one that can protect, inspire, and even transform lives. In a world that often demands harsh truths, lies offer an alternative path: the power to...
Children should be allowed to get bored, expert says (2013)
The Struggle for Microservice Integration Testing
- Louis Pasteur (https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_Pasteur)
Creative Commons Licensing Your Dissertations
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SswMzUWOiJg
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. - Apple Inc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_Different
Go to 00:38, and assume that the dummy was hit by a lorry with flat face. The lorry would make a direct impact on the back of the head, before the helmet inflates.
Go to 03:55, and assume that the cyclist had hit a wall. This time too, the cyclist's head would hit the wall.
I wouldn't buy this helmet.
http://360gigapixels.com/tokyo-tower-panorama-photo/?v=108.9... http://360gigapixels.com/tokyo-tower-panorama-photo/?v=108.9...
With two hands and 24 hours in a day, it's just too limited how much you can accomplish yourself.
But how about recruiting the right people for the right job (well, this wouldn't be possible for startups with meager fund though) in each of the startups so that the ideas get implemented as they should, and the founders, rather than actually developing the projects ground up, merely act as project managers, monitoring the progress and validating the results against their vision.
Ask HN: Should an entrepreneur build multiple startups simultaneously?
VCs and angels invest in multiple startups all the time with the belief that 1 out of 20 investments (rough statistics) would probably give them a run for their money. What this means is that roughly 19 out of 20 startups are destined to fail. So what is happening here is that the investors are betting on multiple startups to play safe, BUT, the startup founders are putting their soul on one...