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Mystitat

208 karma · joined October 17, 2009

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Mystitat··on How one woman got 50% female speakers at a tech conference
If acceptance decisions were made based on gender, that would be discrimination.

The article doesn't say that.

"To keep the selection process fair, Courtney chose applicants based on their pitches only, without looking at the speaker’s identity or gender. The result was a 50/50 split between male and female speakers, which she counted as a success."

It baffles me how you can consider men an "excluded demographic" in this scenario.

Mystitat··on Instacart adds Trader Joe's
Thank you so much, I needed this so badly. I've been at home with the flu all week and haven't been able to get out to buy groceries. I just placed my order. I can have food now!
Mystitat··on A breakdown of how I was talked out of $100
That's the Westfield. Same mall as in OP's story.
Mystitat··on What did you cover in your undergrad CS degree?
The table of results is hard to read. More contrast between the results bars and the background would help.
Mystitat··on Keep a programming journal
I've found that fine-point sharpies bleed through every kind of paper. What kind of paper do you use?
Mystitat··on Keep a programming journal
Zebra Sarasa. $13.24 for a dozen. http://www.amazon.com/Zebra-Sarasa-Retractable-Rollerball-Bl...
Mystitat··on 256 CSS Classes Can Override an #id
1024?
Mystitat··on Wikipedia Redefined
Well ... i is a slightly smaller j.
Mystitat··on Get A Job: The Craigslist Experiment
I think he means that his education helped him make these conclusions.
Mystitat··on Singularity U, or Singularity Woo?
" it is not unusual for all natural remedies (Neem leaves to soothe burns) to be classified as "Homeopathic"."

That's unfortunate that in this day and age, there are people who can't distinguish between scientifically proven natural remedies and homeopathy. Natural remedies work because they contain chemicals that have an effect on the body. For example, willow bark contains salicylic acid. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_aspirin

Science, people!

Mystitat··on Sorry, but your customers don't care if you're sorry.
Great article, though misleading title. Some but not all customers will care if you're sincerely sorry, but probably all don't care how your system is limiting you. If we could solve all problems perfectly with a predefined system, we wouldn't need human customer service. We need people to recognize when the solution lies outside the usual routine.
Mystitat··on Microsoft agrees to $1.2bn purchase of Yammer
I think Chatter is closer to your description of Yammer than Twitter. It really revolves around groups and updates on objects, and it has private messaging now.
Mystitat··on I Can Be Just As Capable. Let Me.
I take issue with the specific wording in your comment, "...but why wouldn't you just say..." It makes it sound like discrimination is not a big deal, because if you were just "taught to be assertive," you could handle it.

There is nothing she could have done to prevent the discrimination other than being a man. The entire article is set up to emphasize the way that anyone should be able to tell she's a gamer from the way she holds her hands on the keyboard, and yet they still treated her like someone who does not belong in the industry.

The point of the article is to increase awareness of discrimination among the "large anonymous audience." It is offensive to suggest that victims of discrimination should just act differently to prevent it.

Mystitat··on I Can Be Just As Capable. Let Me.
The response is irrelevant. The point is that the PR reps made her feel like an outsider in her industry.
Mystitat··on Meet the tireless entrepreneur who squatted at AOL
I hate stories like this. They set unrealistic expectations for managers of developers: "Well, if you won't, we can find someone who would love to do this for free."
Mystitat··on Don’t Be Evil: How Google Screwed a Startup
"Platform as a Service" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_as_a_service
Mystitat··on Todon't app
Went to the About page for context, found none. So ... this is an app to keep track of my failures? Why should I keep track of things I don't want to do?

IIRC, it's more effective to enforce a new behavior by phrasing it in the positive, like, "Stay quiet" instead of "Don't talk." Am I wrong? You should convince me on the About page.

Mystitat··on I know I belong in computer science, but sometimes I wonder.
Self-confidence issue? Yeah, that's the point of the article. She's saying, "I doubt myself in this area, but I am confident about these other things, and it's not just me, so I think I'll be okay."
Mystitat··on Ask HN: Best options for wearable computing? How can I type and walk?
I'm a Vassar CS student as well, and our sysadmin's setup is as awesome as it looks. The first time I met him, I was a little intimidated by how plugged in he is. And yeah, it really is hard to tell when he's using it sometimes. He'll walk through the lab, you'll tell him there's a problem with your account, he'll look into the distance for a second, and he'll tell you he's fixed it.
Mystitat··on After many revisions, I present my "pocket planner". I hope HN finds it useful
Others have commented on this already, but this reminds me a lot of the charts I'd make for the first couple weeks of high school when I had new classes and couldn't remember my schedule. I think this is more suited for that kind of scheduling than something more corporate. It's just enough space to help you remember that English is at 10:45.

This would also be a good template for convention-goers to use to plan which events they'd like to go to. I can easily imagine this being a rip-out page in a convention pamphlet.

Mystitat··on Breakthrough in sewing needles
Yes, it looks fantastic.

Still, needles are not that hard to thread. It's not like there's a great nationwide backlog of sewing that can finally recommence because people can finally thread their needles again.

Mystitat··on Ask HN: Where did you go to college?
Vassar
Mystitat··on I Prefer My Professor’s Illegible Handwriting To Your PowerPoint Presentation
Touché.
Mystitat··on I Prefer My Professor’s Illegible Handwriting To Your PowerPoint Presentation
Could that be because the chalkboard notes were neater? Or the professor didn't have to worry about getting the technicalities just right?
Mystitat··on I Prefer My Professor’s Illegible Handwriting To Your PowerPoint Presentation
This is it exactly. I mean to update the post to include this point, if you don't mind.
Mystitat··on Ask HN: 5th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas
My most successful middle school science fair had me experimenting with different liquids to see which would exhibit the most capillary action. I made it a little more scientific by using different concentrations of sugar water, but he could also use juice or soda or things like that.

Seriously, though, the kid should be expected to come up with ideas on his own. Go through his science book with him and see what he's learned about that's most interesting to him.

Mystitat··on Ask HN: 5th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas
I can actually see a 5th grade teacher nixing this one because it seems to encourage drawing conclusions from research rather than a hands-on experiment.
Mystitat··on In case you haven't seen it before: Star Trek's PADD
The best part of that page is definitely the appropriate advertisers. http://imgur.com/EdH8L.png
Mystitat··on Ask HN: Review my application (2nd try).
Yeah, the design is pretty wonky. It's a simple app: keep the design simple (as in, maybe just one color, instead of a graphic?).