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wrt54g

30 karma · joined January 28, 2011

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wrt54g··on How An Introvert Learned To Be A Leader
I'm not a fan of the introvert-worship on HN and related sites- I see it used as a crutch, an excuse, a softer form of the typical claim to having Asperger's to explain how you can't talk to people. Not saying Asperger's or introversion aren't real problems, just that you can make yourself feel OK sitting inside all night by putting a label on it and talking about it on the internet.

I'm not quiet because I'm an introvert, I'm quiet because of past personal failures wherein I didn't learn social skills because I was dicking around with books and computers all day. So now I'm a loser, but at least I can admit the truth rather than wrapping it in pop-science.

(Btw, clearly the OP is not a case of this - just a related observation)

wrt54g··on Rent-a-coder hilarity (2008)
Ok, so lots of people bid on projects without fully understanding the requirements, some people understand but want to solve it as an engineering rather than a math problem, and others get it. Where's the hilarity in this or OP? HN Sunday night, aiyiyi...
wrt54g··on Breaking the MintEye image CAPTCHA in 23 lines of Python
Since the algorithm can only detect the relative swirled amounts of a set of the same images, a solution could be to, rather than using a set of the same image, use a set of different images swirled different amounts (or with some other transformation), and the user must select the unmodified image.
wrt54g··on Microsoft releases tool for creating Windows 8 apps in the browser
I actually use my Google email address to log into my Windows account too - they know we don't want yet another email address to manage.
wrt54g··on Skrillex Quest
I see him as part of the first wave of the new pop-electronic which I think will be only more popular through this decade. It's certainly not typical traditional electronic music, so no, you aren't missing anything.
wrt54g··on Frustration, Disappointment And Apathy: My Years At Microsoft
I'm starting at Microsoft out of college in July and this worries me. Could I ask which product you were on?
wrt54g··on Regrets of the Dying
Posts like this always depress me. I spend all my time in class or working, and for no use - my last 8 months of work were removed last week due to a bureaucratic decision - not the first time, so I can't argue that my life has any purpose. I don't really have any friends, have had few opportunities to collect memories or feelings, etc. I'm about to graduate, move 1000 miles away and move on, so I sort of have this assumption that everything will change, but I know myself well enough to know that in all likelihood I will end up playing video games by myself every night.
wrt54g··on How can I foster a "hacker culture" at my university?
We're going to start pushing the ACM ICPC competition more, also Topcoder, Spoj, etc. I hadn't heard of codercharts.com, thanks for that. We aren't quite sure how to get people involved in this area though, since freshmen and sophomores aren't confident enough in their abilities to join a competition, and juniors/seniors are too established and seem to rarely want to join a new group.
wrt54g··on How can I foster a "hacker culture" at my university?
Thanks for the suggestion. Good point that I can't expect this to happen overnight.
wrt54g··on How can I foster a "hacker culture" at my university?
Starting small and expanding- that's a good thought. I should probably focus on that rather than attacking the entire undergrad email list. Thanks.