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rtra

196 karma · joined March 25, 2008

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rtra··on Matrox: Graphics for Professionals
Wow, I loved that game when I was a kid. Thank you!
rtra··on Show HN: An anonymous P2P social network for Android, written in Clojure
OT: One thing I don't yet understand is why security-critical software is usually written in C instead of a language like SML.
rtra··on Hosting a Static Site on Heroku
What are the dyno unidling times nowadays?
rtra··on Fat-free framework
I clicked thinking it was related to the fatfreecrm project.
rtra··on Bitcoin Hits $1 Billion
How would you get people to invest in ZitCoins? Isn't that problem a major barrier to entry?
rtra··on Ask HN: Is Algol used anywhere today?
I can't answer your question, but I immediately thought of Perlis's preface to SICP: "Algol 60, never to be an active language again, lives on in the genes of Scheme and Pascal."

Did racket revive Algol 60, even if with a weak pulse?

rtra··on What Should We Call the Language of Mathematica?
I think it's marking the positions of the word 'Wolfram' on the document.
rtra··on Happy New Year!
Happy New Year from Portugal.
rtra··on Is It Now a Crime to Be Poor?
I haven't done any of those things. Yet I'd wage it would be better to live on a shelter than on the streets, unless one has some serious psychological demons, in which case an hospital with specialized care should be preferable.
rtra··on Is It Now a Crime to Be Poor?
Why indeed. Where I live we have vacant free shelters where one can get a bed, a shower and a meal, and yet there are those who absolutely insist in pan handling for their next bottle. A sad picture.
rtra··on Poll HN: Where do you spend more time, FB or HN?
HN everyday.

FB about once a semester. I already spend too much time on more worthy information to even remember it exists. Its emails are automatically moved to a maildir folder that i tend to ignore.

rtra··on Sleep Hacks: The Geek's Guide to Optimizing Sleep
I tried running, but it didn't help at all. the only thing that has worked, so far, has been a strict meal/sleep schedule and melatonin.
rtra··on Why I will not analyze the new WikiLeaks data
I'd really like to get an honest try at the motion to see how far it goes.
rtra··on Why I will not analyze the new WikiLeaks data
> WikiLeaks’ motivation is that of a court jester

Can anyone elaborate on that?

rtra··on WikiLeaked Cables Confirm China’s Politburo Was Behind Google Hacking Incident
if the sources were deemed extremely reliable one would imagine that it would be enough confirmation.
rtra··on WikiLeaks Archive — Cables Uncloak U.S. Diplomacy
Do you have reasons to suspect that wikileaks has withheld leaked non-US documents?
rtra··on WikiLeaks Archive — Cables Uncloak U.S. Diplomacy
And the realization of this really undermines the assumption that these leaks threaten the US national security. These could have been leaked privately to an enemy just as easily - how worse would that be?
rtra··on WikiLeaks Archive — Cables Uncloak U.S. Diplomacy
His books should be worth reading...
rtra··on Caught Spying on Student, FBI Demands GPS Tracker Back
The comment doesn't justify any sort of spying. It's not a threat, but a seemingly true observation. Schneier has said essentially the same.
rtra··on Caught Spying on Student, FBI Demands GPS Tracker Back
I don't know much about US law and I'm wondering what could have happened if he didn't hand them over the damn device without some sort of proof of ownership or a formal request.
rtra··on Truly Ergonomic keyboard available for preorder
There's a video on youtube of someone typing on a Kinesis Advantage, where one can see a lot of wrist adduction to reach the tab key. The Maltron keyboard might be a better option for heavy tab-key users.
rtra··on Thank you, Ubuntu
I'd say "Everything just works as expected"
rtra··on Ask HN: Python gaining popularity
Yeah. I wish heroku offered more than 5MB on its' freebie plan.
rtra··on Modern Perl: The Book: The (draft) PDF
some interesting comments on Perl: http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/node/3564

This is also good: http://www.perl.com/pub/2007/12/06/soto-11.html

rtra··on Ask HN: Do we need caffeine?
This seems to be the general opinion of the specialists: The amount of sleep a person needs is not universal. If you don't sleep what you need you'll be harming yourself, and abusing coffee will only worsen things.
rtra··on Ask HN: Do we need caffeine?
>I know from direct experience as my doctor told me "go to bed before midnight and throw away your alarm clock" and I've thanked him for it ever since.

I wish I could be a morning person. I've been trying for years. I started running first thing in the morning, and I loved it. I would give up sex for it.

What ends up happening is, I start sleeping 4-6h each night and become sleep deprived. After 3-5 months I'm burned off.

Now, my neurologyst, who does sleep research, says it will be probably impossible to make me a morning person. She put me on melatonin and english breakfasts, and on a 10-to-2-AM cycle, and I found out about a new state of being, well rested and fresh.

So, that may not be possibility for everyone...

rtra··on Ask HN: Wrist pain from coding?
In my experience, ergonomically-sound typing technique is somewhat independent of the keyboard layout, specially if you're not a touch-typist.

It all boils down to watching your wrists. Don't rest your fingers on the home row when you're reaching for distant keys. If your kb layout makes you abuse the weaker fingers that may become a problem though.

rtra··on Ask HN: Wrist pain from coding?
Me too. After recovery my symptoms would re-appear whenever i used the mouse for more than a few minutes. I began using a trackball on my left arm. It's closer to the home row and now I have very good left-hand dexterity :-)
rtra··on Ask HN: Wrist pain from coding?
This may not be a very good idea. By supporting your wrist you will be imobilizing your arm and straining the weaker wrist muscles. Try to avoid the mouse. When you do have to use it, try to maintain your wrist in the neutral position and move your forearm instead, as you'll be using the stronger muscles of your arm and shoulder: http://content.revolutionhealth.com/contentimages/h9991464_0...
rtra··on Ask HN: Wrist pain from coding?
STOP right now! I can't stress this enough. I had to stay away from computers for 2 years because a a sudden pain that appeared on one night of development and which i tried to ignore.

Read this book: http://www.amazon.com/Pascarellis-Complete-Repetitive-Strain...

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