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betelnut

44 karma · joined November 17, 2012

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betelnut··on The Department Of Homeland Security Is Now Bitching At Me On My Blog
I dislike TSA as much as the next casual traveller, but why are they such a bugbear for HN?
betelnut··on Ask HN admins: please stop editing submission titles
Seeing both would be nice - something along the lines of:

"Original Title [A brief description if the original title is insufficiently detailed]"

betelnut··on How Android devices are keeping webOS alive
webOS was my first introduction to mobile computing so it'll always hold a special place in my heart.

Didn't some of the members of the webOS team join the Android team after HP shut down development? I could be wrong, but I remember something like that happening.

betelnut··on "I Will Ruin Him" – How it feels to be stalked
There was a similar story in Texas:

https://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/jp/former-u-of-texas-stud...

betelnut··on Self-Destructing Email
Yeah, you're right. I was responding to the general problem of finding stuff in your inbox as restated by others - not the suggestion of self-destructing email. Sorry I was unclear.
betelnut··on Self-Destructing Email
If you help doctors, researchers, and others working on life-threatening problems get relevant information they need faster, then you are indirectly helping with these efforts. Not everyone can be the person on the frontline of these critical efforts, but if you can improve their working conditions then surely you've helped out a bit?
betelnut··on We are raising a generation of deluded narcissists
It's worth keeping in mind that the people you grew up studying are invariably selected/memorable for their contributions and that it's very hard to identify the same people in your milieu.

Kind of like saying "50s music is better" or "19th century novels are better" - you're benefiting from history's sorting process.

betelnut··on My Dream College Won't Accept Me Because I'm a Woman
Agree with this 100% - we need to get past the consumer-oriented "dream school" thinking.
betelnut··on Kid Sends Blunt Cover Letter and Now People are Trying to Hire Him
You're right, I should be more clear. What I meant by that is that there's no clear explicit reason why he's interested in investment banking rather than marketing, consulting, publishing, advertising, whathaveyou.
betelnut··on Kid Sends Blunt Cover Letter and Now People are Trying to Hire Him
I wouldn't say it's a great cover letter - it's pretty generic and could easily be tweaked slightly for any job/industry.

Also it's sort of sad that he has to debase his university and himself for the lords of finance to consider him.

betelnut··on A Simple Suggestion to Help Phase Out All-Male Panels at Tech Conferences
Choices aren't made in a vacuum.
betelnut··on Half the Facts You Know Are Probably Wrong
That reminds me of the old joke about medical school: half the things you learn are wrong, and half you forget - you just have to hope it's the same half.
betelnut··on xkcd: Instagram
Thanks for answering, I appreciate it. I'm curious how this data is then used by the stores.

The only example I can think of is optimizing store layout based on neighborhood demographics and what those demographics purchase.

However, big box stores all seem so similar - it doesn't appear on the surface that they do a lot of demographic-based differentiation. Unless their demographics are so similar, which defeats the purpose of profiling?

betelnut··on Introducing Poke for Mobile
Hmm...maybe cheating on exams?
betelnut··on What were the top research papers of 2012 on social media?
I would recommend amending the title - it's a little vague, and led me to expect research papers about social media, not research papers shared via social media.
betelnut··on xkcd: Instagram
How so?
betelnut··on How to Download Your Instagram Photos and Kill Your Account
As far as I can tell, some Android devices also save your photos (with filters) in a separate album, so you may not need to download them from Instagram directly.
betelnut··on The Torture of Bradley Manning
Source? I'm pretty sure the US abolished "people as property" a while back.
betelnut··on Lottery Winner Jack Whittaker's Losing Ticket
I don't disagree with you starting from the third sentence, but those first two are remarkably self-congratulatory. It's not clear how being a CS type who follows startups leads you to understand human societies better than anyone else.
betelnut··on diary.io - should we build this?
Yes, but (sorry to be immature) maybe register a different TLD so the product name doesn't sound so much like diarrhea?
betelnut··on The hum that helps to fight crime
The police don't even have to go that far - the "expert witness" was on their staff.
betelnut··on Show HN: Boldfaced, a portfolio designed for showing off writing
There's a site called scripted.com, but I'm not sure if the profiles are public and shared - it seems like a direct hiring clearinghouse.
betelnut··on WillWorkFor
One of the firms behind the site calls it "a design provocation intended to spark a reaction and fuel a conversation" on their Tumblr.

So I guess you're supposed to react and start talking.

betelnut··on Neuroscience: Under Attack
I think it cuts both ways - sometimes pop science writers cherrypick data that reaffirms existing biases. In other cases, they'll cherrypick tenuous data to contradict these biases. Both are effective headline strategies.
betelnut··on Stop Marketing, Start Selling
This is incorrect. Marketing isn't just "selling without accountability" - marketing is an omnipresent (to varying degrees) feature of business, from product development to launch and popularization.
betelnut··on Neuroscience: Under Attack
The 'attack' is a useful counterweight to the recent tendency to "Just Add Neuro- to Everything" (as someone suggested during the "Five Word TED Talks" Twitter trend)
betelnut··on Man Arrested At Airport for Unusual Watch
Airlines have also historically been the beneficiary of government subsidies and patronage, which could be withdrawn.

While I agree that they'll be reluctant to raise prices, the damage of being represented as the airline that refused to "contribute to public safety" would be worse.

betelnut··on How a Homeless Guy Inspired My Startup
Scale is going to be critical here - it has to make sense for a shelter or a food bank to pick up whatever a restaurant is offering, and there's probably a threshold number of meals below which the cost of gas and travel time doesn't justify picking up the meals. Meanwhile, if the shelter collects and saves up its tickets, the restaurant has to be ready for bulk orders, so to speak.
betelnut··on Gene Helps Predict Time of Death
"Time of Death" is a little deceptive here - I was expecting the article to pinpoint a year, not a time of day!
betelnut··on The False Promise Of Kickstarter | The New Republic
The author of the article alludes to, but doesn't pursue, another possible concern: the rise of Kickstarter-funded arts projects will lead to reduced interest in NEA and other government-endowed sponsorship, which will in turn lead to further budget cuts for these organizations. I'm in favor of the individual patronage model, but there should remain some funding for arts in the public interest.
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