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alpineon Ask HN: Disrupt Housing?

This is also the case in the UK. Property price here is a trivial expression of the supply/demand function. Yet no one from any of the political parties will suggest the obvious: build. Those with £1MM+ houses (which includes all our politicians) seem to be against this (for some reason).

alpineon Ask HN: What software does your business need?

I guess your friend isn't an entrepreneur, otherwise he would conclude there is clearly an opportunity for this service, with money to be made.

alpineon Ask HN: What software does your business need?

I would pay serious money for this. Maybe $100 for a single 'call out' on the assumption that it would be an infrequent happening. Ferriss' 4HWW logically demands this, I guess.

--Supplemental--

Before anyone accuses me of being cheap, I'd be happy to pay $100 per hour, assuming the 'call out' would most likely be short in duration since it would be part of the deal that I supply a detailed wiki of the software under support.

alpineon LIFE on the Moon (1969)

"It's ugly but it gets you there."

Who says a German's PR company doesn't have a sense of humour?

alpineon [dead]

Why? This token gesture will achieve what exactly? If someone obscure, but non-the-less important in sci/tech had died, this might be an interesting way to draw attention to a life you might want to brush up on. However, Armstrong, despite his desire for privacy, has never been obscure. Come breakfast tomorrow morning everyone on planet Earth will know he has died.

alpineon Customize Twitter Bootstrap To Not Look Bootstrap-y

Anyone with experience starting with a Bootstrap theme then handing it over to a designer to see what they come up with?

alpineon Steps to become a good hacker?

Hackers can be found in all walks of life, it is not a label to be restricted to those working in technology or writing code. Hackers are people that can effect leveraged change on a system (eg human, technological, natural), taking delight in the outcome. Above all, I would say a sense of mischief and fun is the common trait found in hackers. Read a couple of Richard Feynman's books. He's quite explicit - his work was often done simply 'for the fun of it'.

alpineon Ask HN: Asking what you did wrong in an interview?

It's important to get over the idea that you have done anything wrong. Think of it as a percentages game... if you have been invited to interview then your potential employer is definitely interested. So if the interviews keep coming, be assured it is just a matter of time until someone makes you an offer.

alpineon Sun is the most perfect sphere ever observed in nature

As a spinning ball of gas, astronomers had always expected our nearest star to bulge slightly at its equator, making it very slightly flying-saucer shaped

I stopped reading at this point.

alpineon A Proposal To Improve Hacker News

Some things have a natural life then die.

alpineon Ask HN: Asking what you did wrong in an interview?

I once interviewed a potential hire in person and at the end of the process he asked 'How did I do?' then pulled out of list of questions in the expectation of forensic debrief as to where he could improve his interview technique!

Frankly, interviewing is a game with many unwritten rules - one is if you don't get the gig, you are expected to politely accept the decision and move on. Another is the interviewer will often decide in the first 60 seconds if you're getting hired, so asking for feedback on where you 'went wrong' is a waste of everyone's time.

Remember, when you interview, your potential employer has every intention of hiring you assuming you tick a few boxes. This is also part of the game. Can you figure out what those boxes are? Put yourself in their shoes. What would you like to see in you? As long as you continue to land interviews, don't become disheartened - keep going and you will get hired.

alpineon Why I now, unfortunately, hate Hacker News..

Why don't you charge eg 10 cents per comment?

alpineon Ecuador grants Julian Assange asylum

Pinochet was a useful asset to the UK during the Falklands war, keeping regular Argentine troops committed to the mainland and helping UK Special Forces carry out clandestine missions there. In actuality, 'morality' and the 'rule of law', when quoted by politicians, are platitudes. The reality is rewards are expected and granted for political favours, and I think it is likely Pinochet's ill health was simply a convenient excuse to release him.

alpineon Ecuador grants Julian Assange asylum

As for 'LibDems and Labour'?! You appear to be suggesting that it should be self-evident to everyone reading your post that the LibDems and Labour have a claim to moral superiority over Tories? The LibDems pay lip-service to Civil Liberties (they never expected power, they never expected to be called to deliver) and Labour are the most authoritarian party to ever hold power in the UK. It's just as well Labour are not in power, else Assange would have been shipped to Gitmo months ago.

alpineon DoubleRobotics: Telepresence gets sexy (and made in the USA)

Can it run iPad apps at the same time as being in telepresence mode? Imagine two of these meeting and exchanging photos or agreeing to a game of chess autonomously.

alpineon Whats the most inspirational quote you ever heard?

'I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.'

Henry David Thoreau

alpineon ToS;DR — TL;DR for Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

My preferred ToS:

Be nice.

alpineon Quants and the crash

I suppose what is new is the speed of execution.

alpineon Quants and the crash

I think the market makers (who are often just skimmers) and Investment Banks have cooked their goose. How many 'muppets' have now left the market never to return because of all the outrageous revelations, scams and bad news?

alpineon Twitter must tackle trolls say police

There are a few choice quotes to pick from. My favourite is:

"If people come to us and say 'I am really upset, I've been offended, my life has been made a misery and I want somebody to do something about it', then yes the police should, whenever possible, try to help."

So, I'm wondering: how much of this is an example of the new intolerance to freedom of speech in the UK and how much is due to newly created 'e-crime' positions trying to justify their existance?

alpineon Neither the Will nor the Cash: Why India Wins So Few Olympic Medals

Yes, that the impression I have as well, corruption being pretty much woven into the fabric of life.

alpineon Neither the Will nor the Cash: Why India Wins So Few Olympic Medals

The Party is still in charge. What is there not to get with this argument? It is also debatable that China has had its darkest years. One could argue that with the Party now having access to technology only dreamt of by totalitarian regimes 30 years ago, the darkest years are now.

alpineon Neither the Will nor the Cash: Why India Wins So Few Olympic Medals

So if the local Party official came to your house and said 'we're taking your child to athletic school, aren't you happy!' what would you call it?

I suppose you could whisper in the child's ear 'remember to under perform when you want to come back'.

Now that is ridiculous.

alpineon Neither the Will nor the Cash: Why India Wins So Few Olympic Medals

maxwin, it's a bit of a stretch to say the parents have a choice. Consider this:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/01/20/145360447/the-secr...

So it was 1978 and a lot of 'capitalism' has happened since, but the Party is still in charge.

alpineon Neither the Will nor the Cash: Why India Wins So Few Olympic Medals

However, I think they eat a lot more meat in Pakistan?

alpineon Neither the Will nor the Cash: Why India Wins So Few Olympic Medals

I would have thought India aping China in the appropriation of youngsters to boost their medal count at the Olympics would be indicative of an unhealthy democracy, but whatever.

alpineon Neither the Will nor the Cash: Why India Wins So Few Olympic Medals

Being neither Indian, nor Chinese, jealously doesn't come into it.

Children are being kidnapped. Believe me, if the local Party official came to a house in the West and said 'we're taking your child to athletic school, aren't you happy!' it would be considered kidnap.

alpineon The Naked and the TED

There is no way we are going to agree on much in this domain. I just so strongly disagree, it is painful to me!

Consider your 'post-political person'. I believe this is a conceit. In my opinion no such person exists.

Are you seriously arguing that politicians will soon be a thing of the past? That, in essence, is the conclusion you must reach. A little further down the line, I expect the Singularity will happen as well, yet I have a sneaky suspicion the first to get there will execute the ultimate political act which will be to deny access to the several billion people that weren't part of their cohort.

-Supplemental-

Since we don't really know how the Singularity will express itself, 'get there' should be read as 'to contact', 'integrate with' etc

alpineon Facebook unfriended

I really, really wish an Open Source alternative to Facebook and Twitter would happen so we can put the proprietary social era behind us.

alpineon The Naked and the TED

I disagree strongly with most of the points you make.

I don't think this is a case of sour grapes... and if it is, so what? Because the argument made is entirely reasonable and well done. Whether you agree or not, it is an important view point that has to be aired more often. I personally agree with the author's premise and I think your view that TED doesn't have a political agenda is naive in the extreme.