Hacker News Reader

markbnineon Consciousness as a State of Matter

Anyone with ideas on how can I start my "perceptronium mining" business?

markbnineon Ask HN: Percent of time spent developing internal tools?

I agree. Do the math. If you don't have the man power and the math makes sense, contract it out.

markbnineon What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

If Goldman Sachs didn’t have more profitable market inefficencies to exploit, they might be out there arbitraging stolen bikes.

Funny how no explanation is needed for this line. Goldman Sachs (and hence, Wall Street) is now the poster child for risk-free crime.

markbnineon Your startup is not a startup, it’s just a website.

Trying to define startup these days is like trying to define hacker. The meaning changes, depending on your company. This is a good thing. It signifies a culture shift.

markbnineon Design Tip: Never Use Black

Except for movie posters Clockwork Orange. Aliens. Star Wars. Love the black.

markbnineon Photo shows Mars rover descent

Here is a link to a Nature blog with some info from Alfred McEwen, the PI on HiRISE:

http://blogs.nature.com/news/2012/08/mars-orbiter-plans-for-...

markbnineon Apollo 17 at Shorty Crater

A bunch more Apollo panoramas. . . http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/maps/Moon-Apollo-Landing-Panora...

markbnineon The first animated graphic novel

To constrain a medium is not to cripple it. Why is making photos look retro so popular? Why do ppl write sonnets? What about the moog?

markbnineon No TV for children under 2, urge doctors

It's pretty common. . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_sign_language

markbnineon Trader: I dream of another recession (and Goldman Sachs rules the world)

It's strange seeing a doomer post here. When HN starts colliding with ZH, things must be glum. Is this bizarro day? Typically I come here for the start-up-optimism, technology-will-save-the-world, how-i-made-twelve-million-dollars-from-a-weekend-project posts. . .

markbnineon Mysterious but beautiful paper sculptures

Where is this? Scotland? I'm surprised the bomb-squad hasn't been called in to dispose of these items, the security cameras haven't been checked, and the perpetrator hasn't been tracked down and arrested. . .

markbnineon Google buys Zagat

Bad news for some restaurants? If you are not Zagat material, Google has a new reason to lower your place in search results.

markbnineon Algorithmic trading -- the positive side

But the paper also rightly ends with a further caveat:

While we do control for share price levels and volatility in our empirical work, it remains an open question whether algorithmic trading and algorithmic liquidity supply are equally beneficial in more turbulent or declining markets.

markbnineon Why the #AskObama tweet was garbled on screen

What a cool shot. The prez with a common bug on his screen. And a bug I can fix! Still, even though this is an easy fix, he's going to need to open up a ticket.

markbnineon Amateur Photographer Shoots 37,000 Photo Panorama of the Night Sky

Mosaics that include far more photos are made all the time using spacecraft data. One of the software packages of choice is ISIS: http://isis.astrogeology.usgs.gov/

markbnineon Bill Gates On Nuclear Energy: Compared To Coal, It Is Still Safer

Build a shed? Obviously you do not know about Yucca Mountain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yucca_Mountain_nuclear_waste_re...

markbnineon DuckDuckGo and Wolfram Alpha are now official partners

DuckDuckWolf?

markbnineon Future Timeline

It would be nice if this were more web 2.0. With commenting, voting, and collective stupidity, who knows what time lines would bubble up? The site would also warrant a return visit.

markbnineon Voyager 1 is on the edge, and so is he

Here's a tool to check out some of the raw imagery from Voyager (if you can figure out how to use it. . . the tool is meant for planetary scientists). Check out Jupiter/Saturn. The next dump should get have more stuff from Uranus/Neptune. http://pilot.wr.usgs.gov

markbnineon Mainstream Failure

I agree, nytimes.com has been insanely frantic. I can't figure out if they are rabid anti-nuclear or they simply hate Japan. I recently stopped looking at the site. But where does one go for well-written, in-depth news?

markbnineon NASA ISS Live Stream

Storing stuff must be a constant issue. The ISS always seems cluttered.

markbnineon Self-Doubting Monkeys Know What They Don’t Know

Humans can reflect on behavior and decide to change it - but more importantly humans can realize that it may be desirable to change a behavior. Animals can not do this.

Cool! You can inhabit the minds of animals. Not only are you distinct and unique, you have this weird super power.

markbnineon Impossible for the HN crowd: Do nothing for 2 minutes

reminds me of zenmoo.. .

your typing detracts from your enlightenment

markbnineon Chatroulette Founder Andrey Ternovskiy Raises New Funding: "50,000 Naked Men"

at first I thought this was an Onion article...

markbnineon Dumb and gets things done

I'd first get rid of "smart and doesn't get things done"

markbnineon Look at my silly idea

Now go on Mechanical Turk and offer $1 to people who upload a photo...

markbnineon [dead]

The title is kind of extreme. Google is complaining about not being able to participate in the IGF, a forum for the United Nations. As far as I know, the UN is still about nations, not corporations.

markbnineon Computer Engineering Barbie now available

She comes with a EULA...

Production doll may vary from the photo shown above. Mattel reserves the right to modify the fashion/fabrics, sculpt, hair color/style, and accessories. Doll cannot stand alone. Name subject to change.

markbnineon This Kid Will Do Whatever You Want in Antartica

They just had a turkey trot (5k) in Antarctica...

http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/Summer%20on%20the%20Ice/posts/...

markbnineon Resignation letter from Microsoft Employee

Once, at a Pizza Hut counter, I noticed that all the pens meant for signing credit card receipts had little flowers attached to their tops. Stuck together in a cup, the bunch of pens looked like a bouquet. I asked the cashier whether this was a new Pizza Hut policy. She said no – she had done it on her own. What would you pay to have her in your company?

Maybe he missed the point? People typically attach things to the end of pens to stop them from getting stolen. Not to make bouquets.