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RobertHoudin

126 karma · joined November 15, 2012

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RobertHoudin··on Goodbye Wholesale Brands
Hi, I'm really interested in chatting to you and learning more about your experiences with custom-made clothing. How can I contact you?
RobertHoudin··on What I would have written
This is spot-on.

I feel like I have emerged from a long dream, and now I'm walking around, waiting for everyone else to wake up.

RobertHoudin··on NeoCities can now handle two million web sites
My sites are gone too! WTF?
RobertHoudin··on Show HN: A Kick-ass Google reader replacement
"Is there something wrong with asking one's friends to sign up and share their experiences and give us an upvote."

If you aren't aware of why asking your friends to post reviews about your site (without disclosing their relationship to you) is unethical, I'm not sure I can explain that to you.

RobertHoudin··on Show HN: A Kick-ass Google reader replacement
Looks like the creator of this website has a history of using sockpuppets when he posts on HN.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4514376

Strange how people create new accounts just to say positive things about this site...

RobertHoudin··on Show HN: A Kick-ass Google reader replacement
User created 10 minutes ago.

Hmmmm...

RobertHoudin··on Neurocriminology: Inside The Criminal Mind
Early brain scans could help at-risk individuals receive voluntary intervention (medication, therapy etc.) to help them avoid trouble later on. One would hope that the results of these brain scans would be confidential to avoid stigmatizing individuals.

Treating violent and sexual offenders as human beings who are mentally ill instead of writing them off as evil monsters would be a huge step in the right direction for the legal system and society in general.

RobertHoudin··on Solar planes are not the future of flight
The amount of lift you would get from such a small amount of helium would be practically negligible compared to the weight of the aircraft. Lighter-than-air craft require an enormous volume of helium/hydrogen - due to the cross-section of such a craft, the speed of travel is severely limited by drag. Basically, an aircraft uses wings OR lighter-than-air gas - it can't use both.
RobertHoudin··on Solar planes are not the future of flight
An airfoil (wing) creates lift when air flows from the leading edge to the trailing edge, and the speed of this airflow is one of the factors which determine how much lift is generated. A strong tailwind will interrupt the airflow, induce turbulence and decrease lift. Thus, an airfoil moving into a headwind will generate greater lift than one moving through a tailwind.
RobertHoudin··on Man accused of placing GPS device on victim’s car before burglarizing her home
"The new frontier for crime is bitcoin fraud."

I don't know much about bitcoin but I'm intrigued. Could you please elaborate?

RobertHoudin··on With few other outlets, inmates review prisons on Yelp
I know it's an incredibly radical idea, but treating prisoners like human beings would be a good start.
RobertHoudin··on Show HN: Never watch movies alone
I agree that the idea is brilliant, but there is no way I am reactivating my Facebook account to use this. I am sure there are others in the same boat as me.

Could there not be an option to receive matches/invitations via email?

RobertHoudin··on If People Could Immigrate Anywhere, Would Poverty Be Eliminated?
"All this stuff about being born on the wrong side is misleading, because the difference between the two sides is not natural resources or something* but the people themselves."

Would you care to elaborate on this? In contrast to other segments of your comment, it appears to be incredibly ignorant and chauvinistic, at least to me.

RobertHoudin··on With few other outlets, inmates review prisons on Yelp
Your entire comment reeks of privilege. Many of the people who end up in prison are the homeless people who were getting kicked, robbed and beaten, that you ostensibly care so much about. It is a well-known fact that the poor are severely disadvantaged in the legal system.

Also, your implication that someone who goes to jail for hurting a child deserves to be assaulted (sexually or otherwise) by other prisoners is obnoxiously offensive and ignorant. Abuse or neglect is not conducive to rehabilitating prisoners, so unless you want these people to recidivate (and possibly hurt more children) after their release, you may wish to reconsider your opinion.

RobertHoudin··on [dead]
Ahhh, this old chestnut. It does not take "faith" to believe that something does not exist. There are literally an infinite number of things that you believe do not exist, simply because there is no evidence that they do. For example, if I told you that there is an invisible elephant in the boot of your car right now, would you consider yourself on the fence as to whether I was telling the truth? Or would you simply reject the idea as absurd, until shown evidence to the contrary?

Agnosticism is fine, but for people who place the burden of proof on those who make extraordinary claims, atheism is not a faith-based decision.

RobertHoudin··on Killer escaped prison after being issued picture of master key
I know practically nothing about the smarter keys that cars have these days. Could you please elaborate? I'm intrigued.
RobertHoudin··on What Alexander Graham Bell Sounded Like
Can you explain what you mean? I don't understand.
RobertHoudin··on Student falsely accused of Boston bombings found dead
Previous HN discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5610833
RobertHoudin··on Word Processor's Auto-Save Feature Foiled UK Terror Plot
'the pair had used the computer to have a "silent conversation" to avoid possible surveillance bugs'
RobertHoudin··on Modafinil Is Wall Street’s New Drug of Choice
"a pill that can have some serious side-effects"

Such as?

RobertHoudin··on Statement from Playhaven CEO
Well that was a circumlocutory way of saying, "We got scared by the prospect of negative press and our knee-jerk reaction was to fire someone."
RobertHoudin··on Dongle Jokes
So if I find your use of the word "common" offensive for ANY REASON, I must be accommodated also? What if I am offended by all your words? Do you see where this leads?
RobertHoudin··on Announcing Backbone.js 1.0
For anyone who might be interested, my housemate published a book of Backbone tutorials. You can download it for free from http://backbonetutorials.com/
RobertHoudin··on Men who spy on women through their webcams
Yes, peeping on someone is equivalent to the torture and murder of human beings.
RobertHoudin··on [dead]
He didn't tell you that you couldn't post it. He asked what was the point.
RobertHoudin··on Gwapo's Professional DDOS Service
Publicly offering to commit a felony for payment would be a very risky and pointless "prank", so I highly doubt it is. More likely a scam or ill-considered get-rich-quick scheme.
RobertHoudin··on Why Clarence Thomas Uses Simple Words in His Opinions
I recently finished reading the Handbook of Technical Writing, by Gerald J. Alred. It contains excellent advice on improving grammar, and avoiding jargon and affectation in technical writing. I can highly recommend it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250004411/ref=as_li_ss_tl?... (referral link)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250004411/ (non referral link)

RobertHoudin··on Show HN: An animated history of Reddit
This only goes back one year. I would hardly call that a "history" of Reddit.
RobertHoudin··on Police crack down on Silk Road following first drug dealer conviction
Can you explain what you mean, please?
RobertHoudin··on Show HN: My self-published C# Programming book: Print, PDF, ePub and Mobi
Using several aliases to promote your enterprise is deceitful and yes, there is something wrong with that.
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