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techiferous

3,316 karma · joined September 28, 2009

Ruby on Rails developer since 2006.

http://techiferous.com

You can find my email address at:

http://techiferous.com/about

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techiferous··on Wealth Inequality in America drawn to scale
Income really doesn't capture a person's experience. HDI is a little closer.

Mississippi's HDI is 0.868, which puts it lower than about 25% of countries of the world. So neither poor, nor rich.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Dev...

techiferous··on Wealth Inequality in America drawn to scale
"by almost any measure, anyone gainfully employed in the USA is rich beyond the world's wildest dreams"

I'm not sure your mental model holds. A lot of Europe has higher standards of living than the USA. And a lot of Asian countries have made huge strides in the last few decades. Also consider the difference between Mississippi and Massachusetts. I wouldn't say that anyone gainfully employed in Mississippi is "rich beyond the world's wildest dreams".

techiferous··on AI didn't cause the tech jobs bust, but it explains why there's no recovery
Strange that this page has weird distracting "gnats" flying around in the background. A key rule as a communicator is: never compete for attention with yourself! If you want people to read your words, why add distracting gnats?
techiferous··on Reforming English Spelling
The other problem is that when I see "leden" my brain immediately switches to German.
techiferous··on The CSS Zen Garden dream, finally shipped
That's where I stopped reading.
techiferous··on Ask HN: What did you find out or explore today?
> Instead of consuming other peoples interpretation of stoicism I decided to go as close to the source as feasible for me.

Good for you! Everybody has their own "twist" on Stoicism, and that's fine. You have to find your own twist on it; you have to make it your own.

In my own experience, what is most rewarding and promotes my progress the most, is when I put philosophy into action. Then I get authentic feedback from life about what actually works. It helps me separate mere opinions and good sounding ideas from true insight.

techiferous··on Ask HN: What did you find out or explore today?
Don't forget how they found a way to squish closed caption information into analog broadcast. The electron beam traces a path on the CRT display by drawing the odd lines from top to bottom (which draws half the image) and then the even lines (the rest of the owl) from top to bottom. While the electron beam is repositioning itself from the bottom of the screen to the top of the screen, there is a brief period of time where other data can be transmitted. That's where closed caption data was shoehorned in.
techiferous··on If you're going to vibe code, why not do it in C?
> I'm considered old here, in my mid 30's,

The 30s is the first decade of life that people experience where there are adults younger than them. This inevitably leads people in their 30s to start saying that they are "old" even though they generally have decades of vigor ahead of them.

techiferous··on I still like Sublime Text in 2025
Same! I use ST for my to-do list and personal wiki, with custom highlighting and commands, and VSCode for coding.
techiferous··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (March 2021)
LinkSquares | linksquares.com | Software Engineers, Software Architects | Boston, MA | Full-Time | OnSite or Remote (Eastern Time Zone preferred)

We are a fast-growing startup that uses AI to analyze legal contracts. We have a lot of exciting new projects in the works and are looking for software engineers and software architects who love to make an impact. Key skills: Ruby on Rails, React, AWS

Check out our VentureFizz Engineering Spotlight to get a sense of what it's like to work here: https://venturefizz.com/insights/engineering-spotlight-links...

Apply here: https://linksquares.breezy.hr/p/5dcd81bdb52d-software-engine... https://linksquares.breezy.hr/p/370e114e4ee7-senior-software... https://linksquares.breezy.hr/p/705e4a657255-software-archit...

techiferous··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (February 2021)
LinkSquares | linksquares.com | Software Engineers, Software Architects | Boston, MA | Full-Time | OnSite or Remote (Eastern Time Zone preferred)

We are a fast-growing startup that uses AI to analyze legal contracts. We have a lot of exciting new projects in the works and are looking for software engineers and software architects who love to make an impact. Key skills: Ruby on Rails, React, AWS

Check out our VentureFizz Engineering Spotlight to get a sense of what it's like to work here: https://venturefizz.com/insights/engineering-spotlight-links...

Apply here: https://linksquares.breezy.hr/p/5dcd81bdb52d-software-engine... https://linksquares.breezy.hr/p/370e114e4ee7-senior-software... https://linksquares.breezy.hr/p/705e4a657255-software-archit...

techiferous··on Classic books for tech leads or those aspiring to be
Power implies the ability to cause change. When you say "real" power I think you might have some specific kind of change in mind. What kind of organizational influence are you considering "real" power?
techiferous··on Classic books for tech leads or those aspiring to be
> those with actual power

The power that comes with a job title or position is actually quite limited. And it also calls into question as what exactly is meant by power. Personal power (getting your way?) or creative power (putting forth your energy for the benefit of the organization). I find that it's actually not too hard to have a great deal of creative power, regardless of personal power -- by listening and responding well to the needs of others and by effectively solving problems.

techiferous··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (August 2020)
LinkSquares | linksquares.com | Software Engineers | Boston, MA | Full-Time | OnSite or Remote (Eastern Time Zone preferred)

We are a fast-growing startup that uses AI to analyze legal contracts. We have a lot of exciting new projects in the works and are looking for developers who love to make an impact. Key skills: Ruby on Rails, React, AWS

Apply here: https://linksquares.breezy.hr/p/5dcd81bdb52d-software-engine... https://linksquares.breezy.hr/p/370e114e4ee7-senior-software...

techiferous··on How to Write Usefully
I found it both useful and interesting. To each their own, I guess.
techiferous··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (December 2019)
I interviewed here recently and know some of the leadership and employees. My sense is that this is a high-quality, well-run engineering team. The office space is really nice, too.
techiferous··on The cognitive costs of air pollution
After watching this Tom Scott video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Nh_vxpycEA I bought this CO2 monitor: https://amazon.com/gp/product/B00MB93CK8 It worked quite well and showed that I don't have anything to worry about. Now I'm trying to pass it on to someone else. I'll be willing to sell it for half price if anyone is interested.
techiferous··on Does the news reflect what we die from?
Moving toward walkable cities (investing more in pedestrian, bike and public transit infrastracture and less in car infrastructure).
techiferous··on Bay Area housing prices drop in tech-heavy counties
> Houses cost what people are willing to pay for them. And when people stop paying what is being asked, the price goes down.

I follow that. Is there a delay in the system anywhere, though? For example, does it take a few years for the price correction to happen? Delays can really mess with a system -- leading to oscillations, etc.

techiferous··on Credder Wants to Create an Equivalent to “Rotten Tomatoes” for News
You're not wrong. But for those of us who want facts and insight instead of entertainment and opinions it would be nice for it to be more obvious where to find that.
techiferous··on Gwern's Law: Ads cost you a tenth of your users
You'd love visiting Vermont. They banned billboards in 1968.
techiferous··on US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians
> Drivers were so much more hostile to bicyclists before these were introduced.

I'm not sure that driver attitudes are the primary cause of cycling deaths. Lack of visibility might be one, though.

techiferous··on Great Divide in How Americans Commute to Work
> USA fails miserably at "interesting and beautiful" part.

> Grid system makes it super boring

> Architecture (in downtowns) is straight up horrible

Sounds like you've never been to Boston! Come on over, you'll love it. :)

techiferous··on A ‘Self-Aware’ Fish Raises Doubts About a Cognitive Test
Because we view animals as resources to be used for our ends. Cognitive dissonance is at play.
techiferous··on ChuChu TV is responsible for widely-viewed toddler content on YouTube
I've found YouTube to be a benefit. My daughter is four and we've been watching a few videos together on an almost daily basis since she's been about two. She never watches videos alone; we're always together. We end up watching educational videos, like how things are made and street science. It's been a great resource as she understands at a very basic level the little explosions inside of pistons that turn an engine because she's seen it on YouTube.

Most of the videos we watch are in German. I'm wanting to learn German and she is, too. So I'm getting educated along with her (and German children's videos talk more slowly and use simpler vocabulary so it's great for learning).

techiferous··on UBiome received $83M in Series C financing
I did. Multiple times. I do not want to relive the experience of trying to get my money back. I also don't want to support the growing tendencies of companies to not care about customer complaints until they hit social media.
techiferous··on UBiome received $83M in Series C financing
Yep. They still owe me the $80 or $90 I paid for a kit. I followed up with them multiple times and never got a resolution. This was a couple of years ago.
techiferous··on Driverless Hype Collides with Merciless Reality
Other edge cases include: Amish buggies, rotaries in Boston, Syracuse's upside down traffic light (green is on top), etc. The possibilities are endless; how can you test them all? Humans are really good about adapting to novel situations on the fly, not so much computers.
techiferous··on People start hating their jobs at 35
Such a powerless attitude. And these things are presented as if they are objective truths that one day programmers will eventually "figure out" rather than a subjective, and very disempowering, perspective.
techiferous··on One Island Grows 80% of the World’s Vanilla
And > 90% of America's wild blueberries come from Washington County, Maine.
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