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forbin_meet_hal

39 karma · joined December 4, 2015

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forbin_meet_hal··on MyNoise – Background Noise Generators
Huge fan since the beginning. Has gotten me through insomnia, high stress, and so much more.
forbin_meet_hal··on Why the Term Jedi Is Problematic for Justice/Equity/Diversity/Inclusion Programs
I really want to believe this is another "Sokal Squared" attempt.
forbin_meet_hal··on House Prices Drop Again in San Francisco and Silicon Valley
Left Bay Area in mid-2000s. Cannot go back. Not sure if I want to.
forbin_meet_hal··on House Prices Drop Again in San Francisco and Silicon Valley
[speaks in fry register]

"You're, like, a literrrrrrallll Notzeeeee..." /s

forbin_meet_hal··on Singular “they” and the many reasons why it’s correct (2009)
"Harper presented to the leadership committee and they were confused."

Is 'they' referring to Harper or the leadership committee?

forbin_meet_hal··on Ask HN: Blogging to get contracting/job leads?
From my blog, no.

From the work that my blog has linked to (like whitepapers and stuff I've written elsewhere), then absolutely.

forbin_meet_hal··on Seattle's Minimum Wage Killed the 'Five-Dollar Footlong'
The real "minimum wage" is actually "zero."
forbin_meet_hal··on The new age of Ayn Rand
I find Rand tragic.

She had a real opportunity to educate people about a proper relationship between people and their government, during a time of creeping totalitarianism and collectivism.

Sadly, she also wanted to create a cult.

The chapter about her in Brian Doherty's "Radicals for Capitalism" most certainly bore this out. My favorite part was when she sat her husband down and informed him that the Objectivist philosophy dictated that she should be allowed to bang her assistant.

forbin_meet_hal··on Twitter’s New Tool to Crack Down on Politically Incorrect Language
The problem is that Twitter doesn't have a philosophical core beyond "PLEASE DON'T HATE US!!!"

It had an opportunity to develop narrowly drawn rules that could have formed the bedrock of digital free-speech norms.

Instead, it engages in selective whack-a-mole-style enforcement, with a strong bias that favors a progressive point-of-view.

This is nothing but a ham-handed patch.

forbin_meet_hal··on Trends Shaping the Future of HR in 2017
I fear for the folks coming into the workplace who think that HR exists to be their advocate.
forbin_meet_hal··on Silicon Valley’s “megacommute” even worse than L.A
When I was in the Bay Area during the '90s dot-boom, it took me 90-100 minutes to get from Fremont to Palo Alto. During the dot-bust, it was more like 40 minutes. I cannot imagine what it's like now.

I regret that I didn't use that time to learn Japanese or something.

forbin_meet_hal··on Intel, TSMC and other chipmakers weigh extreme ultraviolet lithography
"Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography..."

Because saying "We're using x-rays" just sounds too scary right now...

forbin_meet_hal··on [dead]
Unfortunately, too many will look at this as a rationale to tax more rather than spend less.
forbin_meet_hal··on XFINITY from Comcast vs. Google Fiber
Can confirm... That is the funniest thing ever...
forbin_meet_hal··on When did we stop caring about memory management?
Having worked in the memory chip business for 10 years: It's cheap!! Hell, for a while, companies were dumping memories below cost.

I remember a Fry's newspaper ad that said something like: "$50 1GB DIMM, $0 after in-store discount. (Limit 2 per customer.)"

Kind of similar to the old (and possibly apocryphal) Sun Microsystems legend: Frustrated that too many domestic programmers were spoiled with ample CPU speeds, they hired a bunch of Russian programmers who dealt with the export restrictions on computing gear and thus had learned to write tight, elegant code.

forbin_meet_hal··on How to Create an Innovative Culture: The Extraordinary Case of SRI
I worked with them at more-or-less arm's length from 1997 - 2002. Truly a magical time while it lasted.