eatitraw

I like process substitution feature in zsh. In bash you can write:

vimdiff <(ls /bin) <(ls /usr/bin) [ It is an example. In real world, I use this feature for comparing outputs of one version of program with another one ]

And this will create two pipes, where output of each ls will go. Unfortunately, vimdiff sometimes needs to do second pass on the files, so this command won't work properly when outputs are large.

But in zsh you can write

vimdiff =(ls /bin) =(ls /usr/bin)

and this will create temporary normal files, instead of just pipes, and vimdiff will work fine.

> Asking a kid to choose a music instrument yields a decision every bit as informed as rolling a dice.

Except that is his own decision.

> Why bother?

Because a kid is a separate person, not an extension of your personality.

I don't know about this questionnaire(and I don't have enough time to check right now), but similar ones are quite reliable tools for self-assessment. They are _designed_ to be used without presence of mental health professional, and they work. Most of your criticism is valid though, and scores may be distorted, but I am quite skeptical that this effects leads to many false positives.

Also, I am not saying that criticising yourself is not normal, I'm saying that spending all time criticising and blaming is not normal.

By the way, if your score actually more than 10, try other tools, Beck Depression Inventory for example. And try reading the book, you may find it useful even if you aren't clinically depressed. BTW, there is a chapter on perfectionism(which is quite common attitude in depressed individuals).

So you _actually_ can put 0s in all other questions and 4s in these two and 2 in another one? In my opinion, such a person would be either misinterpreting the questions, incorrectly stating(misjudging) answers, or actually having other signs of depression. There is a chance though that such a person may exist though.

Take "Worrying about your health", I think "worrying" here means "being anxious". So while normal health-conscious person cares about her/his health(eats well, sleeps well, takes necessary prescribed medications, etc), she/he isn't anxious about it. In contrast, depressed person may worry about her or his health without taking any actual steps to improve the situation.

Or take "Criticizing yourself or blaming yourself"(note second yourself, this question in kindle book is different, maybe I need to prepare correct pdf). If you spend your whole week under pressure of self-criticism, thinking about every mistake you made and every imperfection your work have, however small or large, then this is definitely 4. "Somewhat perfectionistic" is 1 in my book. 4 is "Extremely perfectionistic".

Or "Loss of interest in sex"? Why would an exteme loss of sex drive happen to a normal person?

It sound like you may be depressed. My usual advice boils down to these three things that I posted in this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5685599 Or another version of this advice in one of the previous threads(https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5576320)

1) How to know if you are depressed: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/ao1aqb9vinfcwt2/Burns_De... (there are a number of other questionnaires, but I like this one)

2) How to deal with depression: book by Dr. David Burns "Feeling good" -- really good book, you should try applying methods of dealing with depression described in it. Available on kindle(but even if you don't have a device, you can read in your browser): http://amzn.com/B009UW5X4C

3) How to deal with depression if 2 doesn't quite worked out: find a good psychotherapist. I would recommend cognitive-behavioural therapy, but I may be biased, because I love Burns' books. Anyway, CBT or not, you should find a therapist if you struggle with depression.

Again, worthwhile - to whom? And again, you can apply the very same logic to (some) adults. Many people, actually, do this. That's why they ban drugs, for example. That's why they setup(or allow the setup of) censorship systems(china great firewall and many others). Some people are just too dumb to think.

This may sound irrelevant to the discussion, but it is not. What age is not early age? Parents always be more "grown"(their age number will always be bigger).

Coercion is killer of motivation: force kid to play violin, and he is likely to hate violin in the (near?) future.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't "expose" kids to music, math, programming and other great stuff, but I'm saying that you probably shouldn't force them.

> Spot on. Kids lack sufficient perspective to understand which activities are important and why.

Important to whom? I am pretty sure kids know what is important to them and why. Sure, this may be different to what their parents think(e.g. their parents may find games, sleepovers and other stuff "unimportant").

BTW, you can use the very same logic as justification for controlling adults. [And frankly speaking, this logic is used by (almost?) all politicians]

Oh crap. Why do someone want to do this with their own children?

I am especially puzzled about the purpose of: "- play any instrument other than the piano or violin - not play the piano or violin." I just don't understand the logic behind this two restrictions.

I wonder if it is possible to train people with such condition to successfully recognize faces.

I have some difficulties recognizing faces(not nearly as huge as describe in the article), and I think my ability improved during last couple of years.

There is actually lamernews: http://lamernews.com/ .

I have only vague memories of why this website appeared, but as far as I remember it has something to do with moderation.

I've never noticed dog riding a train in the moscow subway. I could have pay not enough attention though.

The state is the enemy of freedom? Big news!

Journalists don't look further than their noses. The truth is that vast majority of governments restrict freedom on much much larger scale. It is stupid to expect that government in your country is any different.

1) Even if there are drugs(antidepressants, stimulants, etc) which can relieve depression by interacting with dopaminergic, serotoninergic or noradrenergic neuronal systems, it doesn't mean that depression was caused by lack of specific neurotransmitters.

It's like making implication that if reboot solves a problem with your laptop, than this problem was caused by infrequent reboots.

Simple lack of one(or even several) neurotransmitter is an old hypothesis. Modern "neuronal" theories are more complicated and elaborate.

2) I'm going to give advice other than exercising, sleeping and eating well. These things are great, typical HN depression thread contains lots of advice on that by more knowledgeable people than me.

So.

OP and other depressed or anxious people, there are self-help books by David Burns: "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy" and "When Panic Attacks". Both are available on amazon kindle: http://amzn.com/0380810336 and http://amzn.com/076792083X

What's good about them?

First, they contain various scales for deprssion and anxiety. If you like to quantify things like OP, get this book, and measure your score 1-2 times per week.

Second, Burns features cognitive model for depression. It is considered that depression(and anxiety) is caused by unrealistic distorted thoughts, which you often think automatically and may not even notice such thoughts. They have vast impact on your mood though. So, literally, you feel the way you think. Change your thoughts and your moods improves. (easier to say than done, I agree)

Third, these books describe a great amount of cognitive tools, which will help you to think rationaly and realisticaly(and consequently - feel better). Even if you aren't depressed, you may find awesome tools which will help you to beat procrastination(Anti-procrastination sheet and daily activity schedule are my favourites).

Fourth, they are well-written and helpful on its own. The main power of these books is technics though. Reading + Using Tools > Just Reading.

3) If you're having difficulty fighting depression on your own - get professional help. Find a good CBT therapist, CBT shouldn't be very long, so you won't waste a lot of money.

As far as I understand - no. However it's not like other people don't get sad, and always stay happy and motivated, they are just able to break out of their bad moods quickly enough.

Depression is very widespread though. Up to one third of population will suffer from major depressive episode atvleast once in their lifetime(Major depression is the most serious subtype of depression). And around 10%-15% of population currently suffer from various types of depression.

Even if you aren't going to commit suicide right now or in the near future, try to get professional help as soon as possible. Suicidal urges is very alarming sign.

Remember, your problems are temporary, your pain is temporary. It shall pass.

For more practical advice, I will quote myself from another recent HN thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5575144

"There are great books by David Burns: "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy" and "When Panic Attacks". Both are available at amazon kindle: http://amzn.com/0380810336 and http://amzn.com/076792083X The "Feeling Good" book is focused primarily on depression issues and "When Panic Attacs" (as its name suggest) on various anxiety disorder. I suggest to read them both. They are really helpful, but not just because of their content(which is good), but because they present of number techniques from Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, which you can apply on yourself. But please note that reading the book and using these methodics is order of magnitude more effective than just reading the book and internalizing its contents."

I advice you to get these books(if you don't have kindle devices - don't worry - they have cloud reader so you can read them in your browser), and read them. They are not a replacement for professional treatment in cases like yours, but they may help, and they are easily obtainable.

In Russia, there are ballot boxes that automatically count ballots. No fancy technology here - they just scan ballot, detect mark position, and after the end of the election day these ballot boxes just print resulting report.

These ballot boxes are installed on some small percent of polling stations(like 5% or 10% - I don't remember the exact number). But statistical analysis shows that electoral fraud is commited considerably less often on such polling stations. I don't know, whether it is actually more difficult to cheat on such stations(at least there is a physical limitation - you can't put more than one ballot at a time, because it is needed to be scanned, - as opposed to normal ballot box where you can easily put 10-20 ballots at once), or whether they decided to install such automated boxes on polling stations where they had no intention to commit fraud. But my point is: 1) "Paper-voting" is no guarantee of fair elections. 2) Sometimes "hi-tech" may even help you, if you use it properly.

You make a fair point about electronic voting(and I wholeheartedly agree with you), but it looks like you overestimate the reliability of old-fashioned methods.

To summarize, I'm calling you "not-enough-paranoid kook". :)

No, it is the amount of time your program spent in system calls: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/556405/what-do-real-user-...

I can't comment on the whole situation, since I live outside of the USA, but I can give you some advice about Problem #1.

There are great books by David Burns: "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy" and "When Panic Attacks". Both are available at amazon kindle: http://amzn.com/0380810336 and http://amzn.com/076792083X The "Feeling Good" book is focused primarily on depression issues and "When Panic Attacs" (as its name suggest) on various anxiety disorder. I suggest to read them both. They are really helpful, but not just because of their content(which is good), but because they present of number techniques from Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, which you can apply on yourself. But please note that reading the book and using these methodics is order of magnitude more effective than just reading the book and internalizing its contents.

Also, can you please elaborate on your issue with finding a therapist? Can you just go to a therapy session? Or you can't because you have to overcome strong anxiety first? If you are able to come and see a therapist(being able to manage your anxiety if you have any), then find a good CBT therapist and do come see her of him. Therapists are trained to deal with people who have all sorts of issues, even such serious as yours.

> I read the emails and their responses seem perfectly acceptable to me That's probably because you are not the author of this book. Just try to be a little more empathic with this guy: he wrote the book, he did a valuable job(presumably, I'm not an arch linux user, and I looked through the book very briefly). I can see very well that response like "This type of content can create a poor customer experience, and is not accepted" makes him feel exactly the way bis post describes.

If Amazon doesn't support free licensed content, it's time to start doing so.

Added to bookmarks! It may become my favourite website for procrastination. :)

What I don't like is two-column layout: it makes title boxes have uneven height. Even both columns have different weights. It would be nice to see numbered list for sites with numbered postings - like HN(of course, if it's not by design, for example, if your project uses custom ranking and selection systems for publications).

> I hope he is treated humanely by the police. Russian police can be very brutal, here is the video of Kasparov being arrested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf55YyMC6qk He is put into police bus, and then you can hear him screaming: "What are you doing?!" and "Aaaay"(not sure if it is transliterated correctly).

I've read some blog post(from an activist who was in the same bus) pointing that he was actually beaten.

Good point, his description of depression doesn't really match with what I was told by a person who was diagnosed with depression.

Actually, this tiny bit of the article makes me skeptical about its whole content. "Complicated"? - highly likely, but I think the author probably underestimate the real complexity.