Hacker News Reader

deltaqueueon HD 555 to HD 595 mod (or: how Sennheiser cripples cheaper headphones)

FWIW, I did the mod, but I don't have an effective way to AB test. Tried one ear at a time, but could not detect the difference. Went ahead and removed the foam from the other, and the increased sound stage sounds great (though without an accurate test it's difficult to say how much of a change is placebo vs. noticeable).

deltaqueueon HD 555 to HD 595 mod (or: how Sennheiser cripples cheaper headphones)

The blog post doesn't mention all of the aesthetic differences--which, at the current Amazon price point, could justify the price difference for some--so I thought I would mention the others here:

-the headband is leather -cans have a Sennheiser logo on them -cans have a chrome ring around them -comes with a nifty headphone stand / mount

disclosure: I own some 555's, and will be trying this mod at the office on Monday.

deltaqueueon HD 555 to HD 595 mod (or: how Sennheiser cripples cheaper headphones)

Yes, the HD595's have a leather headband and some sort of chrome accents. Also, the 595's come with a headphone mount/clip you can attach to your desk.

deltaqueueon My 1st article for the New York Times -- the psychology of financial willpower

Interesting subject, but I felt like the suggestions lacked substance--cutting down discretionary expenses as generic as "eating out" ties into the question of willpower and the battle of "trying to save on everything". If willpower really is unlimited like the study jiganti referenced, how does one transfer the concept of something like Flow (which the Stanford article inadvertently focuses on) into financial willpower (which is more of a day-day decision-making process)?

Also, small typo in 8th paragraph - I think you meant to say "extraordinarily".

deltaqueueon A Follow-Up to "The Web is Public Domain"

Interesting--the Cooks Source page you linked is indeed the official group (created long before this debacle), and that appears to be a post from the group itself (so it is probably the real Judith). That being said, when this story went viral someone created a fake Judith profile and proceeded to troll everyone by posting extremely similar statements simultaneously apologizing and defending her stance.

Regardless, I think we can all agree this person is clearly in the wrong industry and still has little personal accountability for her mistakes.

deltaqueueon A Follow-Up to "The Web is Public Domain"

For what it's worth, the person who wrote that was not the real Judith--someone created a fake Facebook account and made several posts like (and including) this one.

deltaqueueon Ask HN: What to do in Portland?

I just spent a week in Portland last month, and agree with everything posted so far (also agree Voodoo is overrated, but I'm a health nut so it was difficult to stomach the maple-bacon donut without dreading the aftermath).

I haven't seen anything about Multnomah falls to the east or Cannon beach on the coast -- both are beautiful places to check out if you're renting a car and like nature.

Here are some pictures I took on the trip, since they might give you a good idea of some of the places others have mentioned: http://www.jasoncazes.com/photos/portland/

deltaqueueon Wanna have zillions of google profiles?

sitemap-3278 is the upper limit, so there appear to be roughly 16.4 million profiles available. I would be interested to see how many of these have public information (name, address, etc.).

deltaqueueon One year of Amazon Prime free for students

Prime is an extremely smart program. You WILL end up spending more money at Amazon, but it's OK because their prices are great and you end up saving an incredible amount of time. You have to be careful to use it efficiently (and not "shop"/browse and accumulate too much stuff), though. I've bought thousands of dollars worth of stuff over the past few years--electronics, books, toothpaste, vitamins, and even oatmeal--and haven't been to Bed Bath and Beyond / Walmart / etc. in ages.

This means I can do enjoyable things on the weekend instead of running errands.

deltaqueueon How to take a screenshot

AutoHotKey + snipping tool has served me well.

Link to script: http://thirderror.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/snipping-to... (if you're running Vista or 7 x64: Run, C:\Windows\Sysnative\SnippingTool.exe)

Gyazo (gyazo.com) is also very quick (automatically uploads the images for you).

deltaqueueon HN Members' Workspaces

Good eye--806v bookshelfs. I picked mine up on Craigslist for half off, and would highly recommend anyone else to do the same. Listening to music is an entirely new experience in hi-fi (I'm new to this).

deltaqueueon HN Members' Workspaces

I bought this at Fry's a few years ago--it's called a Razer "Mantis", and although it's supposed to be sold for gaming I find it great for daily usage.

deltaqueueon HN Members' Workspaces

I just recently installed some spotlights on my home office desk--much better lighting than using a lamp on the other side of the room...

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/9687/deskqn.jpg

deltaqueueon What I Have Learned About Health and Fitness

Body builders (specifically that forum) have some good and some bad information. The problem I've noticed over the past year or so is with the amount of people answering questions based on "what they heard", not what has been proven or tested. Cliches aside, it's a giant case of citation needed. I find it mind-boggling how many "body builders" make claims to the effect of, "nutritionists don't know what we need, they're not the ones in the gym and they don't have testimonials." Yes, serious athletes (including body builders) have specific requirements, but basing your logic on individual testimonials instead of thorough trials is a bit presumptuous.

deltaqueueon Stanford Research on Happiness and Meaning

http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/

or if you're using Chrome...

https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/jggheggpdocamnea...

deltaqueueon Jeff Bridges' totally different website

Wow, Carrey's site is truly one of the more amazing things I've seen on the internet in quite some time. I'm curious to see what something like this costs, and whether or not 65 Media took a hit to get some publicity from a guaranteed traffic source.

deltaqueueon How to make yourself happier in just a few seconds

Excedrin is probably the most popular example in the US--it contains 60mg of caffeine.

deltaqueueon How to make yourself happier in just a few seconds

Coffee is not bad for you, as long as it is consumed in moderation. I have one cup a day, usually mid-morning, and experience no adverse symptoms. Granted, consuming any caffeine after 3-4PM can disrupt your sleep cycle (even if you easily fall asleep, it can cause you not to sleep well), but there is nothing harmful about 1-3 cups a day in the AM. There are several studies indicating coffee is even a preventative for a few diseases (diabetes and heart disease, among others), and it is a well-known fact coffee contains high levels of antioxidants.

deltaqueueon Please Rob Me

You're correct--the Castle Doctrine only pertains to places when you physically occupy them (home, or car/work in some states), so setting up something to injure or kill someone on another one of those premises does not fall within those guidelines.

deltaqueueon Obama's Data

deltaqueueon Think big with a gig: Our experimental fiber network

There seem to be a large number of comments on the possible effects, motives, and general thoughts about Google's effort, but I'm intrigued with what it's going to take to get them to consider a particular community or city. Will they be partial to urban or rural neighborhoods? Densely- or openly-developed communities? Newer or older cities? Will demographics play a role?

I'm sure they're going to be considering all of these, but short of keeping my fingers crossed and filling out an application I hope some part of Austin, TX gets on the map.

deltaqueueon Ask HN: If Apple didn't approve apps, would you install them on your only phone?

Aren't viruses typically a factor of OS market share? E.g., viruses are prevalent on Windows because the market share is around 85-90%. Symbian and RIM still hold a sizable lead on the mobile front, so unless Apple plans on obliterating the mobile OS market, viruses will continue to be a non-issue.

deltaqueueon WTF is up with Dell?

Getting a better deal and spending less time are the two main reasons I go through a rep.

We needed to purchase some blades a year or so ago, and they initially quoted us 45k (which seemed to be well under their website's price). Since we were comparison shopping, we let them know IBM's quote, and after some intense back and forth we got the price down to around 37k (and with some ADDITIONAL components not in the original quote)... a significant savings.

Along those same lines, if we need a new laptop or desktop, the refurbs are usually well-priced, but if speed is important we just shoot them a list of specs and get a quote quickly (instead of spending time on the website comparing optiplexes vs. latitudes, or whatever the different models are.)

deltaqueueon Dimdim - Excellent free alternative to WebEx et al

I currently use TelspanRayo but considered DimDim because of the substantially lower pricing. One major flaw I found was the inability to share a custom portion of your screen (as opposed to the whole desktop), so this was a no-go for my dual monitor setup. Additionally, the performance didn't seem up to par in terms of fluidity, mouse tracking, and overall speed.

That being said, Telspan still has issues from time to time so I'm still looking for a viable alternative...

deltaqueueon 1:35,200 Scale Train is World’s Smallest

That is one of the more impressive feats I have ever heard about. Even after viewing multiple websites (including the TED video) about his work, I'm still skeptical in the back of my mind. That's how good his work is!

deltaqueueon Ask HN: What are your productivity hacks?

Definitely not the case in Texas (yet); although, Austin is better than most cities over here.

deltaqueueon Ask HN: What are your productivity hacks?

You're exactly right. Dining out is an insignificant cost increase unless you're eating healthy (at which point the gap widens). Granted, this is entirely a function of how much your time is worth...

deltaqueueon [dead]

You're right, I incorrectly referred to Alaska as the person they met (probably because the site switches from first person to third person so quickly, but also because of MY lack of comprehension on the second read-through). The conclusion remains the same, though--some people seem to view her story as fascinating despite its bone-headedness.

Also, in re-reading my comment, apologies if that first sentence came off brash...

deltaqueueon [dead]

Breaking down my 300-character comment about something that shouldn't even be on HN? I'm bored, but I'll keep it tweetably succinct.

Alaska managed large sums of money, but could not manage her own. Irresponsible.

You're right, movies are often good indicators of how interesting real life is.

Social networking was just a hyperbolic adjective in my (critical) remarks about modern marketing.

So that this comment isn't entirely useless, here are my two points for you:

1. This shouldn't be on HN because this is neither interesting nor hacker-related. 2. Reading comprehension.

deltaqueueon [dead]

I was obviously exaggerating...

But yes, I agree that this could turn out to be an interesting book, so long as they gathered some interesting experiences or stories. Seems like the sort of thing you publish after the fact, since the odds of meeting your content-related goals seem slim.