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jonmbon Your high IQ might kill your startup (2010)

Indeed. A lot more people could be happy if they didn't believe in the lie that says you must be super rich to be happy. Lottery winners have already proven that a ton of money doesn't guarantee anything. Rich celebrities deal with depression.

Going from poverty to middle class is definitely an improvement, but there comes a point where more money doesn't help. Diminishing returns.

jonmbon EasyRPG

I'm not so sure this is a problem with RPG Maker though. The majority of indie games don't make much money and have a limited life, no matter what game engine they're made with. Know what I mean?

jonmbon Is It Better to Rent or Buy?

Leasing is almost always more expensive, but there are some benefits. This page explained it well: http://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/compare-the-costs-buying-v...

jonmbon Ask HN: What is the most difficult tech/dev challenge you ever solved?

I'm a senior compsci student at one of the largest (by # of students) universities in the nation. I assure you, most of my classmates could not do such a thing in a week!

jonmbon What if you didn't need money or attention?

I think what Khan Academy has managed to do is very useful. If you are looking to improve the world's education, I'd get in touch with them.

jonmbon The Engineer Crunch

What you said makes sense to me on its own, but there's more to it than that. If your cost of living is much lower in Orlando, perhaps you can save 20% of your $90k income instead of 10% of the $150k income.

I really enjoy owning a house. I wouldn't be able to afford it in SF. I bought a nice 3/2 in Orlando for only $110k a couple years ago. My dog loves it too. :) So there's also that.

jonmbon Meta-study says too much carbohydrate, not fat, leads to obesity

To be fair, the article never says you can eat 10,000 calories and lose weight.

I know a lot of people think low-fat = healthy, and that fat makes you fat, which isn't really the case.

This article just seems to be confirming that "simple carbs" should be moderated, which is commonly suggested in health and fitness books.

jonmbon How Seinfeld's Productivity Secret Fixed My Procrastination Problem

I think having a large physical calendar works better for some people, but there are many excellent apps for using this technique too.

Web:

http://www.joesgoals.com - http://www.42goals.com/ - https://chains.cc/

Phone Apps:

Streaks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/streaks-motivational-calenda...

(Free) Goal Master: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/goal-master/id347105327?mt=8

http://wayoflifeapp.com/

jonmbon An open letter to Rockstar Games

Right. Another alternative is to call yourself Santa Claus and give it all away to other players during December.

jonmbon How I left a 4 year career in finance and became a software engineer in 5 months

Nice! Thank you.

jonmbon How I left a 4 year career in finance and became a software engineer in 5 months

Right, I know of Udacity and Treehouse and those other services, but I don't believe (just from checking them out) that they go into the same kind of hands-on training that a 10 week, in-person 12 hour/day course would.

jonmbon How I left a 4 year career in finance and became a software engineer in 5 months

My fiancee and I are both studying computer science at a large university. She's graduating in late 2014, I'll be in early 2015.

In terms of employment as a developer, sometimes I wonder if we would have been better off attending one of these San Fran developer schools. I wonder though how much of the fundamentals do they learn? Do they ever hear the words "Big-Oh"? Do they know what a binary tree is?

And then I wonder -- does it matter? They're getting $90k offers. Perhaps these things don't matter as much, at least for web development.

So I suppose this is one of the benefits of a traditional path: you're well prepared for many types of development, not just web. The web is pretty cool though. :)

Question: if one wanted to teach themselves at home, is there an online curriculum that covers the same topics as these schools do?

jonmbon It's A Terrible Time To Buy An Expensive House

Right. This calculator is helpful: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/buy-rent-calcula...

jonmbon Don't Comment Your Code - Write Better Code

"My code is so good it doesn't need comments!" says the first.

"What the hell was this guy thinking?!" says the second.

jonmbon Your Feedback Matters – Update on Xbox One

The most expensive Xbox 360 at launch was $399.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360#Retail_configurations

jonmbon Programming and Report Designer - Maximum Age: 40

What is their perceived benefit of hiring young? They can pay less?

jonmbon Electronic Arts Sues Zynga, Says The Ville Is An “Unmistakable Copy” Of The Sims

I'll go with EA on this one. Zynga is perhaps the most unethical video game company I've come across in my 20+ years of gaming.

jonmbon Stephen Covey, "7 Habits" author, dies at 79

The truths it speaks are pretty obvious.

I think most great truths are like that. The Golden Rule is a good example.

jonmbon What We Should Have Said To PG

Interesting... how did you write an app without knowing what it is for? It seems very backwards to write an app (or create anything, really) and then later figure out what to use it for.

jonmbon What We Should Have Said To PG

"It's always improving."

But what is "it"? It does sound like a wiki, or an article with comments.

Tell me a story. Get me to empathize. :)

jonmbon Make Something People Love: Lessons From a Startup Guy

Interesting. Thanks for clearing that up for me. A 200k visitor boost is hefty, but not as much as I guessed it was.

I was aware of Reddit, and checked it out briefly. Amusingly, the interface/design is what turned me off. It's amusing to me because nowadays I highly prefer it over Digg's design, and even back then I generally preferred minimal interfaces. So I don't know why I didn't like Reddit from day one. I guess I was just used to Digg.

jonmbon Make Something People Love: Lessons From a Startup Guy

I've got an honest question. It seems Reddit owes a lot of its success to Digg. Reddit was popular, but it didn't really take off until Digg screwed up and users had an exodus.

At least, that's how it appeared to me, a Digg user at the time who also left for Reddit. I've wondered if Reddit would have ever been so popular if not for Digg's mishap.

Am I totally off base? Anyway, I'm a fan of Reddit and it looks like a good book.

jonmbon Show HN: Stachify, Instagram for mustaches

I wouldn't describe watching a movie as useful. It's enjoyable. There's a distinction.

But hey, it's a funny app. I was just joking a bit. Obviously it's not meant to be something like Evernote. :)

jonmbon Show HN: Stachify, Instagram for mustaches

Possibly the most useful app ever created. Evernote, take a back seat. Kudos!

jonmbon Hunting Down My Son's Killer

It also depends on age and marital status. Young couples tend to be less happy with children, according to this study. I'd bet it also depends simply on how strongly the individuals want children. If you don't feel like you want kids, then it's probably a bad idea to have them.

jonmbon Hunting Down My Son's Killer

Agreed. Saying children are not worth it is an extreme position, but saying that life is pointless without children is perhaps even more extreme. It's like saying life is pointless without a wife, or without God.

jonmbon First Retire... Then Get Rich

True, most of us define retired that way. I don't think Mr. Money needs to work anymore either, but he/they do.

jonmbon First Retire... Then Get Rich

Mr. Money Mustache defines "retired" as being able to do whatever he enjoys, including work he enjoys. From what I can tell by reading his blog for the past couple of months, he has no desire to sit around on a beach or play golf all day.

jonmbon First Retire... Then Get Rich

"Some people are so poor, all they have is money."

jonmbon Confessions of a recovering lifehacker

Steve Pavlina wrote a related article titled Self Help Junkies: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2007/04/self-help-junkies/