Hacker News Reader

Ollinsonon Activist tricked into 6-year relationship with undercover cop tells her story

Thanks for the info. I'll be paying attention to see if any of the specific details in this case come out. If it's anything like the stuff you mentioned then yeah I get it.

Ollinsonon What I Learned From Blowing An Interview

The actor acts, that's his portraying. He's not saying fake it till you make it.

If you're a programmer you need to "portray" your programming skill.

Ollinsonon What I Learned From Blowing An Interview

Anyone can find a job to survive, even in the depths of a horrible recession.

I suspect the disconnect is a lot of people who say "eat food" really mean "drive a $60,000 car."

Ollinsonon Activist tricked into 6-year relationship with undercover cop tells her story

I wish the article would have talked more about the alleged danger this environmental group posed to warrant a 6 year plant like this. Did these environmentalists make threats, act on threats, how severe were the threats/actions? It just seems so overblown.

Ollinsonon Ahmed Mohamed: 'Clock boy' seeks $15m from city and school

I think people are more disgusted by how self serving the "plant" is. Rosa Parks sat in the front of the bus to support a movement. Ahmed Mohammed brought a dismantled clock in a suitcase to school to further the political ends of his father's career.

Ollinsonon Ahmed Mohamed: 'Clock boy' seeks $15m from city and school

It's unfortunate that the "hoax" label on this clock story is being considered by some a conspiracy theory.

All it takes is 15 minute to look into the political history of the kids father and the nature of the clock that he "built" to realize something is amiss.

Ollinsonon Ahmed Mohamed: 'Clock boy' seeks $15m from city and school

I think Ahmed and his family forfeit their right to the "American way" when they decided to move to Qatar after receiving an outpouring of support from the American public (including meeting Obama).

Ollinsonon An obsession with safe spaces is not just bad for education

Might as well just say metafilter in general and be done with it.

Ollinsonon Blind teacher loses job after rinsing his mouth with Listerine

I wouldn't count on it. Knowing how this stuff works they'll probably spin it into an outrage blog and then a book deal.

Ollinsonon Reproducibility Crisis: The Plot Thickens

>Psychologists are not taught statistics in their curriculum.

That's just outright untrue. Maybe you have good points somewhere else in your comment but saying such nonsense makes me less inclined to hear you out.

Ollinsonon I thought the Amazon store was a terrible idea, then went there

I'd rather have a corporate bookstore than an independent one. My personal experience with independent bookstores is that they're usually biased about their stock and can be even more vindictive against authors they don't like.

It doesn't help that most bookstore owners I have met (maybe half a dozen) are aggressively opinionated about what books are "worthy."

Ollinsonon I thought the Amazon store was a terrible idea, then went there

There's something to be said for the experience of browsing bookstores (especially ones that stock things other than just bestsellers).

Ollinsonon Why I Quit Ordering from Uber-For-Food Startups

Because the drivers are paid a lower wage under the assumption that they will get tips.

If you want to be righteous call the manager at the place you're ordering food from and complain, don't stiff the guy delivering pizza for a living.

Ollinsonon Rikers Drove My Innocent Patient to Plead Guilty

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/CIAtimeline.html

enjoy

Ollinsonon How an episode of the Simpsons is made

I would say that you are in the minority of Simpsons fans if you dislike "22 Short Films About Springfield" and especially "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer" which is frequently on top 10 episodes lists.

If you often find yourself in conversations about "best simpsons vs downfall" you owe it to yourself to check out The Dead Homer's Society manifesto[0]. One of the author's greatest articles is on what he calls "zombie simpsons"[1].

Ultimately the discussion comes down to taste but Dead Homer's produces a very convincing argument behind his opinion.

[0] http://deadhomersociety.com/manifesto/

[1] http://deadhomersociety.com/zombiesimpsons/

Ollinsonon Diet Advice That Ignores Hunger

I believe that's a paraphrase of the quote "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" by the model Kate Moss

Ollinsonon How the Dutch got their cycling infrastructure (2011)

All of the train cars on the MTA L line were made between 2006-2010

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R160_(New_York_City_Subway_car...

Ollinsonon A neuroscientist who believes addiction is not a disease

I was under the impression that this is what psychology/psychiatry is supposed to do by charter.

Most professionals I know in the field take the attitude that a patient's psychological state should only be corrected if that patient feels they are an impediment to their own goals. This also goes along with the popular alcoholics anonymous mantra "we can't help you till you want to help yourself" (I'm not advocating AA just that it's a popular approach).

Of course this doesn't apply to people who have behavior disorders or are violent and end up committed.

Ollinsonon The End of Rationalism: An Interview with John Ralston Saul (2001)

I think you're being a bit overly pedantic about the use of the word rational. Yes, everything you're saying is true, rationality is framed by the individual's goals. That said, I think it's fair to assume that values, goals and preferences such as "not being poor" and "staying alive" are parameters that are on average not that free. By your definition this is "rationality" and I don't think it's controversial to say your average human is "rational" in this sense.

Ollinsonon On doing things other people can't

I've heard this quote before in various forms but I don't like it.

The luck applies to those who are already doing everything right. The other people are "failures" because you can pinpoint where they were deficient. When I think about luck and success I picture a pool of highly educated, ambitious, type A people. Why does one of them become an industry tycoon billionaire while the others become merely wealthy? You can manufacture luck for the latter but not the former.

Ollinsonon The most profitable source of income for banks? Overdraft fees

Why not just deny the transaction if it can't be paid in full?

The bank isn't doing you any favors by letting you pay with money you don't have, they know they'll be getting that money back and then some.

Ollinsonon Here’s what Ashley Madison members have told me

I wonder if making your social media account mimic a spam bot would get it flagged for deeper deletion on the host servers.

Ollinsonon Dinner and Deception – Serving meals to the super-rich left me feeling empty

And when the system inevitably doesn't self-correct it just turns out that the people at the bottom get screwed. Nothing new there.

Ollinsonon Feynman's Public Lectures on Quantum Electrodynamics

You don't have to understand a model for it to bear fruit.

I'm sure you could find plenty of traders on Wall Street with models of the market who would say "we don't understand and it doesn't matter" as the money flows into their account.

Ollinsonon Ask HN: When you can't fall asleep, what do you do?

I pop a couple benadryl usually works in about 30 mins

As far as drugs go benadryl is pretty innocuous. You could always buy that ZzzQuil stuff but it's the same thing for more money.

Ollinsonon The Strange Appeal of Watching Coders Code

For anyone interested twitch.tv (live streaming website) has a section for programming[1]. Twitch archives all past videos so be sure to check those out as well.

The game development section often has good programming related content as well.

[1]http://www.twitch.tv/directory/game/Programming

Ollinsonon Why we travel

I had a similar realization as you. Sort of a cultural "wherever you go, there you are."

I do hate the elitist aspect of travel though. In a way it's sort of like experimenting with drugs, you really can't have a say on the experience unless you've actually done it.

I've had to be very careful about who I talk to about my travels because I've noticed that even the kindest people can become apprehensive. They act like I'm questioning their knowledge/experience/worth if they are less well-traveled than me. If anyone has any tips for dealing with this please let me know. Note that I'm already very sensitive to the subject and never bring it up unless asked and even then keep the details to a minimum.

Ollinsonon Why we travel

One of the things I hate about travelling as "growth" is that you can't refute it unless you've done it.

So as someone who has traveled around the world for many years let me give you permission to never leave home. The truth is wherever you go, there you are. As someone above mentioned, there is a very common cross section of interests regarding humans.

In my own subjective experience I now see travel as the physical equivalent of channel flipping. It's the replacing of any kind of real introspection or work with novelty. Novelty can be very useful but it can also be acquired for a fraction of the thousands of dollars necessary to travel.

Ollinsonon Ask HN: Best treadmill to turn an existing standing desk into a treadmill desk?

Just a note for all prospective treadmill desk operators. DO NOT use an regular treadmill thinking that you're beating the system. Those things are not made to be used at walk speed for hours a day non stop, you will destroy the motor.

Ask me how I know.

Ollinsonon Ask HN: Best treadmill to turn an existing standing desk into a treadmill desk?

I got a brand new TR1200-DT3 on ebay for $350. The only catch was that it was local pickup 2 states away. So I spent a Saturday picking it up in Ohio and after gas/tolls saved about $550 (not including any savings on tax buying from LifeSpan).

These cheap open box TR1200-DT3s regularly pop up on ebay, check out the completed listings.