blinks

What is intuition? What is flexibility? How do you test these things in a lab? Turing's test is based on the most straightforward way of measuring intelligence (loaded word, but common; here I'm specifically talking about "intuition, creativity, flexibility and the ability to learn").

If you can have an interview with a computer, and an interview with a human, and be unable to determine which is which (accurately, over several trials), how can you argue that the computer isn't human-like? Most versions of the test have ways of eliminating everything but the straight communication of information (because whether you can build a convincing robot or amazing TTS software is a different problem).

How do you know that I'm not a computer?

Did you notice that it uses accelerometer data? That's the most impressive part to me.

Dunno about playing un-fun games for achievements, but Civ V (for example) has achievements to push you to explore every part of the game. Going through them has me working on crazy win conditions, the 1-city challenge, different leader strengths, etc. Adds a bunch of replay value for a pretty small amount of extra effort.

Protect static content behind authentication? Hosting static files naked is almost _asking_ for them to be hotlinked.

Have you seen the 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 DNS servers? (http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using.html)

Ah, I like it. :)

Seems like it should just reset in that case.

Honestly, didn't find it too difficult; just dropped into chair-zazen for a couple minutes.

What about opening in Opera? Skyfire?

Note: "Say you have one string of alphabetic characters"

The array of bools, bitmap (remember 32-bit int!), hash map; all are the same basic deal, easy to understand code, etc. Any would probably be fine, imho.

Hash map would be my initial implementation, though, if only because I don't know where it would be used, and the map will be immediately understood.

> I cannot imagine how hard it must have been to learn how to program without the internet[.]

Personally, the hard part was getting good documentation, though my parents' 286 came with a manual on GW-BASIC, which was included. I also managed to procure some BASIC documentation at a garage sale.

Basically impossible to learn computer science, though, except by trial and error. I just did things ad hoc. Experience teaches you how not to do things, but slowly.

> I imagine he's just as angry that the Android UI is basically a second-rate knockoff.

[citation needed]

I used an iPhone for a couple years, got a G1 and used it for a while, got a Nexus One and used it for a while, used the iPhone for a little while longer, and then switched back to the Nexus One for good.

My preference is Android (for a myriad of reasons, including the UX); got anything non-anecdotal that speaks to this, or at least a (neutral) third-party authority on UX?

Minor correction: Gmail has an offline mode that gives archive access.

Personally, I use my web apps for backup already -- images go on Picasa so I don't have to worry about whether my local drive is going to die or not. (I already have Time Machine configured, but that's mostly for music.)

> do not invite police into your house.

Sorry, just made me laugh: can they cross running water? Do they reflect in mirrors?

The TL;DR seems like good advice in general.

You must sync a new iPad (on a computer with iTunes) before first use. I don't know if that still applies for the iPhone (though it probably does, for activation). The iPod is worthless if you don't have a computer, for how would you get music on there otherwise?

> The original Mario has already stood the test of time,...

Just a note: 30 years is not a test of time; I think you need to hit around 200 years to get to that mark. Video games are truly a nascent art form, and I think Mario's got a shot at surviving for a while, but it's too soon to really tell.

Clarification would be good, here: what is the point, exactly, that you'd be missing?

The downside is that they're selling tweets -- you have to wonder about their followers.

There's a bit more going on there. See http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2009/07/code-its-trivial.ht... for a related principle.

Grep for "Being killed does not make the Natives good but the Europeans bad."

People aren't "good" or "bad." Actions are.

> I'll argue that it exists - not everybody who torments a baby has an excuse for it.

[citation needed] -- It's practically a tautology that people take actions for reasons, even if they don't consciously know what those reasons are.

Or ping me; I work there. :) (There are quite a few of us on HN, afaict.)

[citation needed]

> ... (by selling the data, ...) ...

http://www.google.com/intl/en/privacypolicy.html -> grep Information Sharing.

> rather than some half-assed assessment of me as a person > made in an interview.

Any judgement made in a 45-minute (or less!) interview is going to be half-assed. That's the unfortunate way of the world. How do you think people should interview?

(Genuinely curious; I do interviews, and I think I do pretty well, but it's difficult to honestly examine one's own methods without feedback.)

On Edit2: interfaces don't replace generics, they're more like a strong duck-typing system (if that makes any sense).

Generics are being worked on (according to the tech talk), but they haven't determined the best way to do them yet.

This is why a proper test needs to be administered by a professional, I would expect.

Well, I'm still getting free food up here in Google Kirkland, and it's great. The article seemed pretty odd to me, too.

Sometimes; generally not, though. I'd love to come down, but I'll be somewhat busy.

Electronica, compared to Brian Eno and Joe Satriani; I'm on Last.FM (http://www.last.fm/music/Hacker+Blinks) and AmieStreet (http://amiestreet.com/music/hacker-blinks/)

Oh, and tools: earlier stuff was with Reason, later stuff with Logic; mostly just playing around on a little Oxygen synth.