Hacker News Reader

brandenon Dropbox TOS Includes Broad Copyright License

"...to the extent we think it necessary for the Service."

brandenon Google reminds users to "Call Dad", makes users angry

Those are completely valid appeals to emotion, because it is the emotional context of the reminder that makes it significant. If you don't understand why someone might feel bad after seeing that show up in their todo list, then you don't understand the problem.

That said, as someone with pretty unhappy history with his father, I think what Google did here is fine. But really, not every emotional appeal is a fallacy.

brandenon A fifteen year old TCP bug?

printf debugging is too simple and intuitive to justify an entire blog post. ;)

brandenon The State of Version Control: an Infographic

Stash, pull, stash pop. Arguably not the most intuitive solution, but there ya go.

brandenon Tons of movies in your Netflix Que? What to watch? Qpicker can help.

Nope, not giving you my Netflix password at least until I know exactly how this works and whether it's worth the risk. A demo, a video, a description, something.

brandenon RIM thought iPhone was impossible in 2007

It rapidly consumes your precious battery. Of course it's not a common case.

brandenon What happens when you give homeless people a prepaid credit card.

They're hard to distinguish up close, too. No matter how you get there, whether it's mostly by choice or mostly by circumstance, rock bottom will likely involve you doing whatever you can to relieve your misery for a few short hours. I have a hard time faulting someone for short-term behavior when they don't have much of a future to work toward.

But you're (somewhat) correct when it comes to aid. Giving a homeless person 5 bucks won't do anything to alter their condition. It'll fill their belly, at best. But consider what 5 bucks probably means to me or you and what a meal means to someone who can't always count on one.

brandenon Ask HN:How many of you nerds "read" wikipedia?

It's pretty rare that I head over to Wikipedia so I can read any random article, but I'll use it to satisfy the mildest curiosity about nearly any noun I interact with. For instance, I used BART for the first time on Thursday, and now I kind of want to know all about it. So off to Wikipedia.

brandenon Dell's list of why to buy one with Ubuntu

It's free. When that's your starting point, "it doesn't suck" is pretty compelling.

brandenon How I Built an Apartment Buzzer for Multiple Roommates

That frequently regurgitated phrase means that execution matters more than an idea for a business, not that ideas are literally worthless and therefore undeserving of attribution.

brandenon Ask HN: What's missing in a CS degree?

History of Computation. Read some old papers, study the people who wrote them. I would've loved a class like that.

brandenon YC Founders at Work Series: Reddit interview tomorrow at 1:00pm PDT

Reddit was acquired in 2006. http://techcrunch.com/2006/10/31/breaking-news-conde-nastwir...

brandenon Work at a Startup

Most people just want to work, get paid, and go home.

That implies a certain apathy that I didn't (intend to) convey. Strlen's comment is a good expansion of what I said: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1346626

brandenon Manufactoria - a game about Turing machines

Wow, that's way more elegant. Mine looks obfuscated by comparison :)

brandenon Manufactoria - a game about Turing machines

This is amazing. You're forced to do some really complicated stuff. Here's my solution to Rocket Planes that uses all 4 colors, 4 subfunctions, and recursion: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6625091/rocketplanes.png

Is there a simpler solution to that one?

brandenon Don't Talk to the Cops

I'd dare say you have a civic duty to answer questions that aren't about you if a Cop asks them.

I think this is the key difference of perspective between you and the people you're debating. But what's interesting is that you're arguing the tactical disadvantages of something you believe people have a civic duty not to do. Are you sure one opinion isn't influencing the other?

brandenon Don't Talk to the Cops

If your job was to get information from someone else wouldn't you be upset if they just said "no comment" and wouldn't tell you why they were saying it or even if they had the information you were looking for?

I might be miffed, but if I had the unique ability to ruin their lives with arrest and prosecution, I'd understand a little mistrust and defensiveness.

brandenon Don't Talk to the Cops

I don't see how you could be detained or have your car towed for refusing a search or any requests beyond your name, driver's license, and insurance. Maybe the officer could fabricate a traffic charge, which you could contest. (I'll agree you're likely screwed there - when it comes to traffic infractions you're guilty until proven innocent.) The officer might decide he smells something and force a search which makes you late for an appointment. Unfortunate for sure, and spiteful on the officer's part. But I don't think this reaches the level of martyrdom, and it'd be worth the shot of pride I get from defending my rights (though I understand not everyone would feel that way).

Am I missing something? What else could a cop do that doesn't require documented evidence of wrongdoing? I suppose Chicago-level corruption could wreck your life, and if that's the environment you're in then it's probably best to keep your head down. And take part in local government, or consider moving.

brandenon Don't Talk to the Cops

The more you say the more that can be twisted against you. "I'm not guilty." -> "Not guilty of what? We haven't accused you of anything. Why are you acting like you've been accused? What exactly are you not guilty of?" And so on.

The response with the smallest attack surface is "No comment."

brandenon Don't Talk to the Cops

If everyone who is innocent cedes their rights then yeah, asserting your rights will make you look suspicious. So never cede your rights to a cop under any circumstances. That's too important a principle to sacrifice for a more convenient traffic stop.

brandenon Ask HN: Too much soap opera news as of late?

This might be a matter of recent circumstance. iPad release, Apple's new developer guidelines, Gizmodo iPhone scoop, the Facebook privacy hubbub, and Google IO happened one right after the other. We could just be experiencing an uncommonly dense (and hopefully short) sequence of sensational tech news events.

brandenon Ask HN: Too much soap opera news as of late?

Someone mentioned http://www.reddit.com/r/coding/ in a comment a day or two ago. I've been enjoying it.

Edit - I found it in http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1365094 which has a bunch of other suggestions.

brandenon Reddit releases fully functional VM with their source code

Hah, I once had a boss wig out when he heard someone mention a "Java VM." He thought we'd done something crazy with VMWare behind his back.

I like that HN gets confused in the other direction.

brandenon Are you an Asker or a Guesser?

Dupe http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1346241

brandenon Plan B - Skip College

Or is attending college necessary to earn more because employers hire people with degrees? That's hard to quantify, and you'd have to control for it to get the answer.

brandenon Lightweight Living (1999)

Twice since 2008 I've left one state for another with all my possessions crammed into my Honda Civic. It's liberating in a way that's hard to explain to someone who doesn't already understand the feeling. I learned what I really valued (apparently some books, my computers and gadgets, and old letters and other mementos). And a car is large enough that there was still plenty of room for junk I didn't need.

brandenon Google Voice invites for students

I'm sure that adds something, but half seems a little high. The invitation tree must be highly valuable information when it comes to fighting spammers.

brandenon Work at a Startup

I just want to code. I'm okay with the risk and glory going to someone else.

brandenon British exam board removes C and PHP from Comp-Sci A-Levels

My alma mater just moved from C++ to Java in the last couple years. Not that I think it's a good decision, but yeah, that's hardly the case.

brandenon Why Aren't There More Terrorist Attacks?

A crime's motive determines in part how you understand it and how you prevent it. Terrorism isn't random; it is focused on a particular goal and planned in advance. Unhinged mall shooters won't be stopped by coordinated intelligence gathering, and they can't be investigated for links to other such shooters. Any similarity between such acts and terrorism is superficial at best and requires that you ignore the crime's context. A media that doesn't distinguish the two will either trivialize terrorism or needlessly sensationalize random violent acts.