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Thasc

88 karma · joined September 13, 2010

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Thasc··on James Randi Has Died
Friendly fire isn't friendly, but critical thinking is critical.
Thasc··on Edge install undermines Microsoft’s argument that automatic updates are critical
I wouldn't have been bothered by this at all (including the splash), if Windows hadn't reassigned Edge as my default PDF handler. Delving into the dark guts of the default programs settings, and finding a way to convince Windows that it was alright for Firefox to open PDFs even though it hadn't been installed from the Windows Store, took a far longer context switch than it deserved.
Thasc··on Firefox Multi-Account Containers
Same here. I have a work GitHub account, and a personal GitHub account, and am signed into each in a different container. Saves constant logging out and in, or using different browsers for each.
Thasc··on Tiny PWAs and why I keep building them
Progressive web app. They're kind of like JavaScript-driven websites that think they're native apps. They tend to be characterised by their use of modern web standards to do some useful things, like being available offline, and caching everything heavily to cut down load time. It's like a website you can install, basically.
Thasc··on Sears has another chance to avoid closing down
Even with Prime, the couriers Amazon uses to service some areas take long enough to deliver that most other online retailers are preferable.
Thasc··on SpaceX craft overshot Mars’ orbit and is headed to asteroid belt
I give it less than a hundred orbits until someone takes a rocket over and nicks it.
Thasc··on How to Improve a Legacy Codebase
It's not exactly a general solution fit for all situations and persons and purposes, but there's always TypeScript.
Thasc··on Blocklist of all Facebook domains
This is probably a reaction to the news that Facebook is now officially tracking non-users to create shadow profiles and serve adverts to them off Facebook itself. I think it's the serve-adverts-off-Facebook-itself part that's the actual news; all of the moderately chilling tracking and profile construction was of course happening already.

http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/27/11795248/facebook-ad-netwo...

Thasc··on PayPal does not know how to detect fraud
It'll be about the same level as respect for ticket scalping, and with about as much value added.
Thasc··on Google PDF Search: “not for public release”
I seem to remember that they were using it to punish out-of-date browsers. But since I'm getting it with up-to-date Chrome, it doesn't seem to be very well targeted.
Thasc··on Ask HN: Is it feasible to have children wear “worldview protectors” in school?
Rather than censoring it on the fly, the device could mutter 'he's lying, he's lying, it's not true' into the child's ear in a respectable, commanding voice. 'Your mummy will be so angry if you think he's right.'

Since we're already assuming solid AI to understand what the speaker is saying, it might as well have enough capacity to whisper counter-arguments to the child until it detects that the child's convictions have been sufficiently reinforced. Automated conditioning!

Thasc··on Large Scale Deep neural net falling down the rabbit hole
Please don't tell it to look for cockroaches again.
Thasc··on Hello World: Windows 10 Available on July 29
I've added a firewall rule that blocks outbound requests to Bing. That's pretty well flummoxed it. It's a far cry from an actual setting, though - which would be the obvious solution and unquestionably ought to be present.
Thasc··on How to Lose Friends and Alienate People: Apple Watch Edition
I got halfway through reading that, well enough absorbed, and then an invitation to subscribe popped up in the middle of my field of view and nuked my attention. When are those going to stop being popular?
Thasc··on Ask HN: What are the 20% tips that will get my code to performance 80% faster?
When interacting with a (well-designed and indexed) database, stick as much filtering and sorting as you can in the database query, rather than using a less specific database query and then crunching the result about some more in your own code.
Thasc··on [FR] Je n'ai rien à cacher (I've got nothing to hide)
Easy. I wanted to communicate, so I decided to let that information out.
Thasc··on [FR] Je n'ai rien à cacher (I've got nothing to hide)
So you have nothing to hide except for things that could put you at risk if publicly disclosed. I think that disclosing any information could put a person at risk in some way or another. So I'll hide everything until I decide it's necessary not to.
Thasc··on Introducing UberTAXI
Just popped down. Complete gridlock all the way from Trafalgar Square through Parliament Square and beyond. The air is saturated by beeping taxi horns, and it's hot as hell.
Thasc··on Algorithm appointed board director
Reads like an origin story for Iain Banks' 'Culture' novels.
Thasc··on Dear Internet: Let’s Demo The Slow Lane
Nothing too odd, I think: I get to feel that little bit more insulated against the wacky stuff that malicious JS can do, and if I break a site I want to see, I can make an exception for it.
Thasc··on Toward a Pill That Helps Us Learn as Fast as Kids
Out of curiosity, what simpler term would you instead use for 'acetylcholinesterase inhibitor'?
Thasc··on IL-2 Sturmovik and Oculus Rift
The best experience I've had so far was with the Proton Pulse Rift demo, probably because the head tracking is the only means of movement or interaction. If you're finding cockpit-based games easier to process than FPSes, I'd recommend PPR.
Thasc··on Iain Banks dies of cancer aged 59
I am so glad he had the chance to see how much he and his work are appreciated, and by so many people. RIP.
Thasc··on 4chan's Chris Poole: Facebook & Google Are Doing It Wrong
He's ruined your hard-earned reputation as a slick, suave James Bond-type operator.
Thasc··on Bethesda suing Mojang AB for "Scrolls"
The Elder Scrolls are ancient texts of prophecy in the TES universe. They foretell various major events in the game history (many of which are the player's doing, of course).

So they are important in an overarching plot sense. But that doesn't mean Bethesda has a case against anything with 'Scrolls' in the title.

Thasc··on [dead]
I'm not familiar with Google+'s profile signup process, and whether or not any of it is automatic, but... is it possible he forgot to turn off his webcam?
Thasc··on Google: What do you love?
Try 'fun'. Why? Because Google just invited me to 'scour the Earth for fun'.

No-one give Google nukes, clear?

Thasc··on Google: What do you love?
This is an extraordinarily entertaining thing to put rude words into.
Thasc··on Node-unshortener can unshort any url
Not now it got Hacker News-bombed it can't.
Thasc··on Bit Twiddling Hacks
I had no idea there was a patented way to compute the absolute value of an integer. Insane.
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