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abarrettjo

70 karma · joined August 12, 2015

Living that DC life, using technology and data for social good.
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abarrettjo··on Ask HN: What do you nerds spend your money on?
I also highly recommend a good financial planner. Not only can they help you with the complicated financial stuff (all the work you might typically expect from a financial planner), they also are experienced at helping you figure out what you care about (and therefore how you should allocate your resources). I find it to be almost like 'financial counseling'.

There was a NYTimes article recently that is sortof on the topic: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/20/smarter-living/why-you-sh...

A good financial planner should be certified (have their CFP), and will offer your first visit completely for free.

abarrettjo··on Bringing back the Somali shilling
I would question your assumption there; plenty of Somali diaspora move back and live in Somalia or Somaliland.
abarrettjo··on Bringing back the Somali shilling
Fair, but I would argue that the Somaliland government is about as existent as the one Somalia also technically has. It exists, but doesn't do anything.

But please correct me if you disagree! I really appreciated your comments down below, particularly your question about whether re-introducing bank notes is an effort to diminish the influence of the Telcos.

abarrettjo··on Bringing back the Somali shilling
Or the even better example of Somaliland, which is perfectly safe. I lived and worked there for a few months last summer, and loved it.
abarrettjo··on Show HN: Verb Master – A site for practising Spanish verbs
I've been working on learning spanish for a while and this looks super helpful - thanks for creating and sharing it! It would also be sweet if you could add an example of the verb used in a sentence after you've submitted your answer/guess, and then maybe a button to see that example sentence translated back to english. That would be a lot, but just a thought.
abarrettjo··on Chan-Zuckerberg’s Chief Of Staff Reveals Plan For Big-Bet Philanthropy
There's causality in both directions, which is not in dispute when saying that these issues are tied to education.
abarrettjo··on YC Open Office Hours
But it isn't just the 20 minutes, it's the transaction costs of transportation and interrupting your day. What if you choose to travel from a couple hours away, or even very far away?
abarrettjo··on How to Remove Obstacles to Learning Math
1. 'Kids considered to be “gifted” suffer from ability grouping the most because they develop the ultimate fixed mindset. They become terrified that if they struggle they’ll no longer be considered smart.'

2. 'Removing the time pressure from math is another important issue for Boaler. Neuroscience research... has shown that time pressure often blocks the brain’s working memory from functioning. This is particularly bad for kids with test anxiety. “The irony of this is mathematicians are not fast with numbers,” Boaler said. “We value speed in math classrooms, but I’ve talked with lots of mathematicians who say they’re not fast at all.” '

I have experienced the truth of both of these points during my math education, and have recently started talking with professors (I'm an undergrad stat major) about the idiocy of timed exams in math. Timed exams test for speed, which is not something that matters in real mathematics (if you can prove a theorem in one week vs. two it doesn't really matter), and this can push people out of the discipline who would otherwise stay. As people discuss retention rates in stem fields, particularly with under-represented groups, I hope they will consider getting rid of time limits as an avenue of effective policy change.

abarrettjo··on Independent bookstore fan showrooms Amazon Books
You could argue that these are not actually fungible products, that when buying from the independent store you are also paying for a public good - the existence of independent stores.
abarrettjo··on A better way to gauge how common sexual assault is on college campuses
Interestingly, the University of Virginia recently required all of its students to complete a sexual assault awareness module lasting many hours. (This module had both educational components and survey components.) It likely had a 100% response rate, as failure to complete would lock students out of collab, which is necessary to obtain and submit class assignments.

So UVA is currently compiling what is likely to be a complete and deep set of data, and I am very interested to see what they do with it.

abarrettjo··on The Bail Trap
The same author writes on this topic/related issues somewhat frequently. Here's one on the origins of the police force itself: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/18/magazine/the-point-of-orde...
abarrettjo··on The Bail Trap
This makes me wonder whether a possible solution path could be to bring a case about this to the Supreme Court.