Hacker News Reader

aganders3on Why Bikes Make Smart People Say Dumb Things

I'm a pedestrian, cyclist, and driver (not necessarily in that order). I totally understand this, but I also think it's a general misunderstanding. Many (most?) pedestrians have extensive experience driving or at least riding in motor vehicles, but few have the same amount of experience cycling. Thus, pedestrians trust cars (even though statistics suggest they shouldn't) to stop or avoid them at crosswalks and driveways because they know they do it, too.

A cyclist may run a stop sign and ride through a crosswalk very close to a pedestrian. They do not consider this dangerous behavior, because they are in control and they know it. Pedestrians (even those with biking experience) may not have inherent trust the cyclist is in control or aware, and this instills fear. The cyclist rides away without even knowing they scared the pedestrian, while the pedestrian feels they were endangered. These interactions then reinforce stereotypes.

My point is that _everyone_ is acting selfish at intersections [0], and nobody thinks they are a threat because they believe they're in control. I think things get most heated with (against) cyclists because while most cyclists are also pedestrians and drivers, the reverse is not true.

[0] http://vimeo.com/24572222

aganders3on Global heatmap of cycling and running routes

Industrial parks are popular for criterium races ("crits") and practice races, which is probably what you're seeing there.

Here's one I've raced in a few times. Looks like it's not quite as popular, though! http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#16/-89.48204/43.05660/yellow...

aganders3on Scientists Make First Embryo Clones From Adults

To me, informed consent has a specific meaning. From Wikipedia:

> An informed consent can be said to have been given based upon a clear appreciation and understanding of the facts, implications, and future consequences of an action.

Of course, as you say:

> I would also question whether these girls are truly "informed" about what's really going to be done to their children.

This is completely fair, and I agree coercion or enticement may preclude informed consent. I know that this can be a sensitive issue, but I believe in working towards this goal rather than avoiding the issue. For instance: many people donate organs and tissues, but it is (generally speaking, and in the USA) illegal to sell these services. Thanks for the rsponse.

aganders3on Scientists Make First Embryo Clones From Adults

Well, all of the egg donors are adults with (presumably) the ability to make rational decisions. They should of course give proper informed consent and potentially be given due compensation, but in that case I don't think it's fair to call it exploitation.

e: I hate to complain about downvotes, but did totally miss your point here or something? I think this is a good conversation to have, and I was replying in good faith.

aganders3on How Americans Die

It doesn't really solve the problem of similar colors, but clicking on the legend entries highlights the data on the graph.

aganders3on Spinal cord work 'is a breakthrough'

Here's a direct link to the journal article PDF. You probably need institutional access for the link to work:

http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/04/07/bra...

aganders3on Brendan Eich Steps Down as Mozilla CEO

No, there are no thought police. There are, however, consequences among your social peers and professional colleagues for public statements. There is no reasonable free speech protection you can put in place to change this.

Throughout history, groups have always sought to stifle alternative thought. The moral difference is in the tactics they use, which have ranged from censorship to violence and bribery to peaceful protest and civil disobedience. I, for one, prefer and even encourage peaceful public outcry of this sort. Say what you want, but if your customers (users, friends, coworkers) don't like it they don't have to buy from you. In fact, they probably feel a moral obligation not to. This doesn't only happen on the left - remember the Million Moms (or whoever) boycotting JC Penny for using Ellen as a spokeswoman?

aganders3on Brendan Eich Steps Down as Mozilla CEO

The beautiful thing is that you are free to boycott or speak against OKCupid for this all you want. You could even write your own browser that puts up a nag screen if you go to OKCupid.

Whether or not OKCupid did the right thing here (they certainly got some press out of it), it certainly wasn't bad for the internet as a whole.

aganders3on Brendan Eich Steps Down as Mozilla CEO

Sure, but equal access to those privileges is a civil right.

aganders3on Thinking About Mozilla

Sorry, I honestly didn't intend to judge or even imply you were advocating that.

What I meant is that I agree marriage is a preference, but only if there are no additional benefits or rights bestowed (by the government) upon those entering the marriage.

aganders3on Thinking About Mozilla

I'm fine with this position if you're advocating to remove government recognition of all marriages and "civil unions" entirely.

aganders3on Thinking About Mozilla

Well, if the difference is a semantic issue between us, then I'm not sure I can explain it. I believe sexual orientation is inherent in the the same way height, sex, or skin color is - e.g. I cannot simply choose to be black or live a "tall" lifestyle. If you think "risk preference" is an inherent trait in that way, then of course the ACA is unjust. I would disagree, but could be convinced given evidence. FWIW, I don't necessarily believe the ACA or the mortgage subsidy are correct or just. I won't comment on KYC laws since I am not familiar with them.

As an aside: I don't think you're comparing homosexual relationships to bestiality, but you're getting close. I hope you understand why this could be offensive and non-productive in a conversation.

aganders3on Thinking About Mozilla

> If you want to argue that gays are a special subset who (unlike all the other subsets) deserve not to have regulations go against their preferences, do it.

You don't get to state this as fact just because it helps your argument. I assume you're well aware people on the other side consider sexual orientation to be inherent, rather than a simple preference.

aganders3on Amazon WorkSpaces

They just announced the new pricing [0]. It's much cheaper, but still about 2x the price of the WorkSpaces. The only difference I can see is the local storage: 4 GB SSD on EC2 vs. 50 GB on WorkSpaces. I have to assume WorkSpaces is using a spinning HDD in that case.

[0] http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/effective-april-2014/

aganders3on Amazon WorkSpaces

Maybe the impending EC2 price drop (predicted by many in light of the new Google cloud pricing) will bring it in line.

aganders3on Fourier transform for dummies

Function to me implies something with known characteristics. I suppose this is true when performing analytic FTs, but I think signal makes more sense when dealing with unknown inputs and numerical solutions. Regardless the relationship (or distinction) should be made clear when learning!

aganders3on New Linux version will reduce suspend and resume times

I think part of this comes down to the vast improvements in documentation over the last ~10 years. The Arch Wiki is an incredible living document for installation and configuration of all Linux flavors. The Debian Wiki isn't as clean or up-to-date, but all the AskUbuntu stuff is helpful in that realm. Installing Debian on a desktop was a headache for me in 2002, but just last week I got it dual booting on my (recently abandoned by Apple) Macbook with 100% functionality.

I don't want to downplay the great work that's been done on the software side, but my experience really reinforced the fact that improving documentation is a real contribution to FLOSS projects.

aganders3on STEM Shortage Claims and Facebook's $19 Billion Acquisition of WhatsApp

> Areas where the tech industry is more "meat space" than "net space" seem to have more PhDs per capita among the engineers.

Can you explain this a little more? I'm genuinely interested.

aganders3on PowerPointless: Digital slideshows are the scourge of higher education

Because it should present the whole story.

aganders3on PowerPointless: Digital slideshows are the scourge of higher education

There are all kinds of considerations that this doesn't take into account. A huge part of presenting involves knowing your audience. For just one example, having text on the slides is very important when you have an audience of mixed language backgrounds.

aganders3on Chromecast now open to developers with the Google Cast SDK

For what it's worth, the app is free if you are a PlexPass subscriber.

aganders3on 129 Cars

Probably not many, but it's worth noting as many people listen to TAL with younger children (e.g. in the car).

aganders3on Could Better Testing Practices Have Prevented the Healthcare.gov Defects?

One thing they could have done that would have saved A TON of load is not require users to sign up before giving them a list of available plans. ... My guess is millions of people just wanted to check prices and eliminating the database load for those users would have probably kept things running fast and smooth.

That's all I wanted to do (I have employer-based coverage for now). I turned back once I realized you needed an account to see this, but assumed it was due to some policy issue or agreement with the insurers.

aganders3on 'Tor Stinks' presentation – read the full document

But then the last slide has this:

> Critical mass of targets use Tor. Scaring them away from Tor might be counterproductive.

aganders3on Programming is a Terrible Job

> Sometimes I also think if it would be different if I was born several decades earlier.

sigh

I cringe whenever I hear this in any context. If you find yourself feeling this way, you should strive to do the things the next generation will feel this way about.

aganders3on Clone Wars: Rise of the Fast Follower Startups

I don't think you should ever let the "possible 'follower' perception" hold you back, especially if you have a legitimate claim to the idea and think you can execute well. Don't let yourself trip over the starting line!

aganders3on The Million Dollar Question

Thanks, I enjoyed this post. I don't resonate with everything he says, but it was worth reading. The more philosophical points of his post were an interesting contrast to this piece I read yesterday: http://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/08/21/the-illusion-of-asymm...

Reading the OP I was actually a bit put off by what seems like vague braggadocio, but then I turned it around on myself - maybe that's me suffering from the same illusion as a mask for my own jealousy?