HNHacker News
TopNewBestAskShowJobs

e15ctr0n

9,014 karma · joined January 30, 2014

submissionscomments
e15ctr0n··on A dumpster arrived behind my university's library
Many libraries have a Friends organization that receives books culled from the library's collections. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friends_of_Libraries

The Friends are a separate nonprofit from the library, usually run by volunteers. They can also accept donations from the public, keeping books out of dumpsters. They organize regular book sales which are generally popular with the reading public. https://action.everylibrary.org/from_book_sales_to_big_impac...

If you think that books should be kept out of the landfill or the shredder, please consider starting a Friends group for your local library. https://www.ala.org/united/friends

National Friends of Libraries Week is usually the third week of October every year. https://www.ala.org/united/events_conferences/folweek

e15ctr0n··on Ask HN: How would you start a small private math circle for talented kids?
> In my head, this looks more like a math circle or enrichment workshop than a school. The idea is a small group, maybe 6–8 students.

You're correct, this sounds more like an after-school math club.

> I loved olympiad-style problems. The non-trivial ones. The kind where you sit with a problem for an hour, try three wrong approaches, and then something clicks. That feeling. I’d like kids to experience that early.

Math Kangaroo is an international organization that promotes mathematical problem solving through logical thinking in children. https://mathkangaroo.org/mks/about-math-kangaroo/

> We’d explore patterns, [...] invariants, creative geometry, counting tricks,

Math Kangaroo holds a competition every year. Their question papers for the past several years are available for sale. You can take a look at some of the questions from last year's exam and see if they fit into your categories of patterns, creative geometry, etc: https://mathkangaroo.org/mks/practice/free-question-samples/ https://www.thethinkacademy.com/blog/2025-math-kangaroo-real... If so, you can base your math club on solving these problems, or analogous ones that you come up with yourself.

> The focus wouldn’t be speed or grades, but depth and alternative approaches.

You can use educational toys from the company Learning Resources. They help to provide materials that children can hold and manipulate in their hands, establishing a neural pathway to abstract thinking for the same concept. For example, here is one that uses pegs and rubber bands to teach concepts in shapes, symmetry, angles, and fractions: https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Resources-Double-Sided-Assor...

> We’d explore [...] strategy, [...] maybe even some early economics and decision theory.

There are board games that are excellent for teaching these concepts. Many of them have been awarded 'Game of the Year' and 'Mensa Select' awards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mensa_Select_recipient...

You can select almost any from this list but here are the ones I have seen in various after-school math clubs:

(A) Matching colors, shapes and sizes under constraints

1. Sequence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequence_(game)

2. Qwirkle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwirkle

3. Blokus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blokus

4. Gobblet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gobblet

5. Azul https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azul_(board_game)

6. Rubik's Race https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXZ8B8B8

(B) Territory control

7. Hive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hive_(game)

8. Battle Sheep https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Sheep

9. Reversi / Othello https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversi

10. Pylos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pylos_(board_game)

11. Santorini https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorini_(game)

(C) Path Algorithms

12. Tsuro https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsuro

13. Ticket to Ride https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Ticket_to_Ride_(board_game)

(D) Rules-based moves

14. Checkers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkers

15. Viking Chess https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tafl_games

16. Stratego https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratego

17. Chi Shogi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_shogi

18. Five Crowns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Crowns_(card_game)

19. Flip 7 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DWGVM7RY

(E) Early Economics and Decision Theory

20. Catan Junior https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007N0KZ64

21. My First Stone Age https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CSJ7IKA

(F) Mathematical Concepts

22. Snakes and Ladders https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_and_ladders

23. Proof! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C5TKRL8

24. SkyJo https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XZ9K244

25. SET https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000IV34

26. Prime Climb https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PG9590G

27. Pentago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentago

There are board game cafes where you can drop in to see the latest craze.

> If you were building this as an MVP: 1. Would you pilot a short 4–6 week program? 2. What age group would you target 3. How much curriculum do you design before you start?

Take a look at the Brain Quest Workbooks (8 book series) and get an idea of the general curriculum prescribed at each level Pre-K through Grade 6. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09D7ZJPG4

I expect you would design at least as much curriculum as you need to match the Common Core State Standards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Core

> 4. How important are credentials vs demonstrated ability?

There are many organizations that provide STEAM-oriented after-school enrichment classes to school children. You can contact them and see if you could work with them, offering your uniquely designed curriculum. You could build up your ability to teach while conducting the classes. At the same time, you could enroll in online classes for teacher training to build up your credentials.

> If you’ve started a math circle, tutoring program, micro-school or anything similar, I’d really appreciate hearing what worked, what didn’t, and what you wish you’d known at the beginning.

1. The Math Revolution: The number of American teens who excel at advanced math has surged. Why? | Peg Tyre | March 2016 https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/03/the-mat... https://archive.ph/oJK4D

2. Raising Problem Solvers podcast hosted by Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) https://artofproblemsolving.com/blog/podcasts/raising-proble...

3. Let's teach for mastery -- not test scores | Sal Khan, founder Khan Academy | TED Talk, November 2015 https://www.ted.com/talks/sal_khan_let_s_teach_for_mastery_n...

(Disclaimer: Not affiliated in any way to any of the organizations mentioned above.)

e15ctr0n··on House prices are surging once again
The skyrocketing cost of home insurance in Florida is causing some residents to sell their properties and relocate. https://www.newsweek.com/florida- homeowners-relocating-insurance-crisis-cost-1893248 · Apr 24, 2024
e15ctr0n··on India's Alphonso mangoes are virtually impossible to find in America (2018)
There's a great podcast episode on the Gastropod that discusses this issue: Mango Mania: How the American Mango Lost its Flavor—and How it Might Just Get it Back (2018) https://gastropod.com/mango-mania-how-the-american-mango-los...

The Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami, Florida (mentioned in the podcast episode) has been hosting a Mango Festival for nearly 30 years. https://fairchildgarden.org/events/mango-festival/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_Tropical_Botanic_Gar...

e15ctr0n··on India's Alphonso mangoes are virtually impossible to find in America (2018)
Start with this list https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acquired_taste and then explore the entire Wikipedia portal on food https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Food and drink https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Drink .
e15ctr0n··on IKEA Redesigns Its Bestsellers
> The only thing I would have wished was solid wood is our dining table.

Try the IKEA JOKKMOKK. Made with solid pine and stained with clear lacquer. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/jokkmokk-table-and-4-chairs-ant...

e15ctr0n··on Why buying furniture is so miserable
> 0. Literally, $19.96! https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-4-Slice-Toaster-Oven-Bl...

It's a really good toaster, surprisingly. Still going strong for me, even after 4 years.

There is an electric kettle in the same brand series, also very good. I still use it several times a day.

e15ctr0n··on Pay. Productivity. Commuting. The War to Define What Work Looks Like
https://archive.ph/5UNzF Rarely have bosses and workers been so at odds over so much.
e15ctr0n··on The case for bad coffee (2015)
My aunt endlessly researched all the options at Starbucks and then finally came up with this gold standard. (She writes out on a post-it for every visitor to her home and sticks it in their wallet so they can recite it in front of the barista.)

Cafe latte, tall, non-fat milk, one splenda. (This is fairly zero calorie.)

A stronger option is: Cafe latte, tall, an extra shot of espresso, non-fat milk, two splendas.

Ask for it to be made with Reserve beans.

e15ctr0n··on The case for bad coffee (2015)
Safeway's Signature Select Coffee Ground Medium Roast Colombia - 11 Oz for $7.99 (about $12 per pound) https://www.safeway.com/shop/product-details.119010190.html
e15ctr0n··on WeatherKit
A quiet note of appreciation for Adam Grossman, one of the co-founders of Dark Sky. It's one thing to have an idea about a weather app, quite another to pursue it successfully within a small design agency and then make it polished enough over the years to sell it to a giant corporation like Apple. Even during that acquisition, Grossman went to bat for DarkSky's users, making sure that the API was kept live (for 2+ years running now). Post-acquisition, he has evidently become comfortable enough in a corporate environment to help evangelize the API's transition to an Apple-native SDK and Swift API. The creation of the REST API with a full mapping guide means that Grossman continues to bat for DarkSky API developers. The use of the native Swift API to create brand new Apple weather apps also appears to be well done. All-in-all, it has been a remarkable journey from a small, independent agency to a large corporate while keeping core values alive, a journey where many others have flamed out. An inspiration to all. Hats off to you, Grossman!
e15ctr0n··on Ask HN: How should I find a wife?
Go for a professional match-making service in your city. They will understand your needs and set you up for several dates with different women who also desire to get married.
e15ctr0n··on Ask HN: Selling framed physical art online
See artfullywalls.com for more options for your family member.
e15ctr0n··on The FDA's Restrictive Regulation of Home-Testing Devices (2017)
> The fda won’t allow anyone to get these if they aren’t already diabetic.

1. You need to get a doctor to write you a prescription for it. Any doctor will do, even your Primary Care Physician (PCP).

2. Medicare will only pay for it if you are diabetic (HbA1c > 7.5%).

3. You can reduce your out-of-pocket payment for it by using Pharmacy Discount Coupons from GoodRx and the type.

You are "free", you just need to get the facts right.

e15ctr0n··on A 1,300 sq/ft house in Sunnyvale, Calif. has sold for $823,000 over asking
Meanwhile, a 4,826 sq/ft house in Los Altos Hills sold for almost $2 million above asking (~35%) after 16 initial bids and a bidding war among 3 of those bidders.

https://www.redfin.com/CA/Los-Altos-Hills/25680-Elena-Rd-940...

https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/12/02/even-less-affordable-...

e15ctr0n··on JFK Assassination Records – 2021 Additional Documents Release
Jesse Ventura's book on the assassination is also highly recommended. It provides a great alternative to the Lee Harvey Oswald narrative. It's so impressively thorough.

They Killed Our President: 63 Reasons to Believe There Was a Conspiracy to Assassinate JFK (October 1, 2013, Jesse Ventura with Dick Russell & David Wayne) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17593244-they-killed-our...

e15ctr0n··on Show HN: Simple Weather App
It would be great if you could make it an interactive webapp, in the sense that anyone could put in their location, and then your code would fetch all the corresponding images and data from the NOAA site.
e15ctr0n··on Show HN: Compare top news headlines by keywords
I like your project and the thinking that you've put into it. I feel that if you carry forward your thought of comparing several news headlines, scraped from more than just 2 RSS feeds, you are basically on track to creating a full-blown news aggregator. So why not?
e15ctr0n··on Show HN: Simple Weather App
I loved your app; it is indeed very simple to use. I would have liked to see the location name and current weather right on the home page of the app. Do you have a Github where I could download the code and deploy it on my own servers?

Great job overall!

e15ctr0n··on As the Pandemic Recedes, Millions of Workers Are Saying 'I Quit'
Those people probably wanted to pay with cash. Walmart self-checkouts[0] switched to electronic payment only[1] when the national coin crisis hit in June 2020[2].

[0] https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2020/06/30/new-checko...

[1] https://www.quora.com/Why-are-Walmart-self-checkout-register...

[2] https://www.frbservices.org/news/communications/063020-feder...

e15ctr0n··on Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?
I got dwarf tomato plants this year, my very first attempt at growing tomatoes or any other vegetables for that matter. I'm growing them in containers on my patio. So far, they have sprouted two tiny green tomatoes each and, for now, they don't need a cage to support the growth.

Bonnie Plants Organic Husky Cherry Tomato Dwarf Indeterminate https://bonnieplants.com/product/husky-cherry-red-tomato/

Bonnie Plants Organic Globe Tomato Compact Determinate https://bonnieplants.com/product/organic-globe-tomato/

I also got a Serano Hot Pepper plant https://bonnieplants.com/product/serrano-hot-pepper/.

All three starter plants were about $4 at my local big box store.

Apart from these, I planted some green bean seeds and one of them has sprouted.

Last year, I bought a dwarf Meyer lemon tree which has lived up to its promise of growing well in a container and providing abundant fruit year-round.

I also bought solar-powered garden decor. These stakes look pretty during the day but at night they are absolutely magical. https://www.target.com/p/gerson-international-43-inch-high-s...

e15ctr0n··on We Are Preparing a Class Action Lawsuit Against Robinhood
> Bank of America/Merrill Edge also shut down buy orders for GME.

I heard that Bank of America/Merrill Edge was requiring posting a 100% margin as collateral if wanting to buy GME options. I didn't hear that they shut down buy orders for GME stock.

e15ctr0n··on Larry King has died
> Clinton's cameo was unauthorized

Wikipedia has a good discussion on this topic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_(1997_American_film)#B...

e15ctr0n··on Hounded by Wildfires, Californians Rethink Their Willingness to Rebuild
For those curious about the fire-resistant plants mentioned in the article, here is a list: http://firesafesdcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Compr...
e15ctr0n··on “Appointment” as professor at Harvard was an elaborate phishing attack
> Raghuram Rajan, who was the Governor of Reserve bank of India, was chief economist of IMF, and now a professor in US

Raghuram Rajan has been a professor at the University of Chicago since 1997 except for a 3 year period from 2003-2006 when he served at the IMF. He was given a "public service" sabbatical from the University of Chicago to serve at the RBI.

https://www.chicagobooth.edu/-/media/faculty/raghuram-rajan/...

e15ctr0n··on Bumble S-1
There was a reality TV show on Netflix where people were looking to matchmakers to help them find someone to marry. The only participant who did end up getting married found her guy through Bumble.
e15ctr0n··on Bill and Melinda Gates: America’s Top Farmland Owner
All the others on the list are actual farmers.

* Number 2 on the list, Offutt family, grow potatoes in Minnesota. https://www.rdoffuttfarms.com/

* Number 3 on the list, Stewart and Lynda Resnick, have many agricultural innovations to their name, the biggest being Cutie oranges.

Here is an in-depth article: A Kingdom from Dust | Jan 31, 2018

https://story.californiasunday.com/resnick-a-kingdom-from-du...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19072078

* Number 4 on the list, Fanjul family, are Cuban brothers who own sugar plantations and the Domino Sugar company. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanjul_brothers

* Number 5 on the list, Boswell family, pioneered cotton farming in California. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Griffin_Boswell

e15ctr0n··on My Favorite Books 2020
Try The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni. It's gothic fiction with a science twist. https://www.amzn.com/B07S6NM6TG
e15ctr0n··on Ask HN: What is the best book you read in 2020?
Agree. The psychology of money (https://www.amzn.com/0857197681) is a take on personal finance through the lens of history and human behavior, quite different from the usual in this genre.

I found the postscript absolutely fascinating: 'A brief history of why the U.S. consumer thinks the way they do'. http://reader.epubee.com/books/mobile/ac/acc521dcbf15f206f9b...

e15ctr0n··on Gmail having issues
SMTP seems to be down as well. "Login to server smtp.gmail.com failed." using an email client

IMAP seems to be working, though.

Page 1 of 11Next →