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Comment by barmstrong | Hacker News Reader

Did they really include a shot of him writing formulas on a window at Harvard? That cliched "genius" shot is getting worn out. Of all the smart people I've ever met, I've never seen one write forumlas on a window.

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Better yet, what mathematics did he specifically use when developing Facebook? It's my understanding that most of the "innovation" that went on involved stealing someone's code and marketing the end result to a niche community (Ivy Leaguers), and using the reputation gained from that to appeal to the masses. It took people out of the ghetto of MySpace and put them into a pristine, controlled environment.

Tortured genius, or lucky asshole with a lot of money? You decide.

(Having seen the script: the equations determine, based on past user votes, the probability that each of two Harvard girls will be voted "better looking" in a head-to-head match-up.)

Huh. A brooding genius that does not make, but at least they didn't throw random math in there for no good reason.

Sounds like puppywar.com could use that equation to pre-determine who the winningest is.

Exactly! My impression was that starting Facebook just took some PHP and HTML skills not differential equations and quantum mechanics.

I remember in the earlyish days of Facebook (after the Ivy League exclusivity ended but before it went outside of colleges) their FAQ page had a snarky response to the question "what graph theory algorithms do you use?" or somesuch.

Massively over-cliched, yes. But I feel I must point out: glass cleans better than those always-cheap dry/wet erase boards. i.e., perfectly, instead of leaving shadows / requiring alcohol.

My wife leaves me messages on our mirror every morning:)

Glass also fits into proper decor a lot more than that awful white shiny material whiteboards are made of.

A Window is perfect when you don't have a large enough white board. I did it many times for college programming assignments.

I can't afford a whiteboard so I use the glass coffee table for visualization instead.

Nonetheless it does have the tortured genius cliché attached to it. As shallow as this sounds it actually makes it cooler. I like messing with people by writing poetry (Keats, Byron, Frost...) on it. I would recommend it to anyone who is sick of pretentious people who judge others.

What writing implement works best? Dry-erase markers like you'd use on a whiteboard?

Yeah those work good.

Does Steve Jobs cameo and say "How do you like them Apples?", pointing to a line of G5s? </awfuljoke>

The Santa Fe Institute has absolutely enormous windows researchers can write on, complete with markers and erasers. It's surprisingly useful, because they're far larger than any blackboard or whiteboard.

I feel like this is becoming standard in lots of places, or at least vogue. I worked in a chem lab at the University of Washington that had indoor windows expressly for notes and presentations, and the science library at my school has rooms with glass walls and markers for group studying.

It's not "genius", just convenient.

I keep a few whiteboard markers lying around the house for when ideas strike. The shower and bathroom mirror are also good places.

I used to work in a modern office building with floor-to-ceiling windows and had a window desk. Suffice to say the windows were always covered with algorithms, scribbles, diagrams and all sorts of shit.

Same here. My former boss would draw diagrams and algorithms on the office windows all the time.

Yes, which one do we have? I only know the shot of 21.

A Beautiful Mind and Good Will Hunting, offhand. Well, Will was writing on a mirror not a window, but it still fits the "tortured genius doodles in grease pen" cliche.

Not a window, by the bathroom in my old house had a freaking ENOURMOUS mirror in it that I would use as a whiteboard all the time.

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