Hacker News Reader

jobeyonekenobion Top officers of a Navy nuclear sub have lost their jobs over undersea collision

The vast majority of the time, boats don’t use active sonar. Whilst giving a high resolution view of what’s around them, it also allows any other signals collector (often defined as an enemy aggressor) to accurately pinpoint the location and deploy countermeasures, even if only updating threat assessments. Ultra detailed charts are used that have the terrain mapped. Occasional positional fixes when a boat surfaces can be used to ‘reset’ where they thought they were whilst running silent.

jobeyonekenobion Vending machine in Kyoto serves high quality French cuisine

The current exchange rate for ¥1,000 for the UK is £6.60, or $8.93 Given the prep, ingredients and distribution I’m intrigued what the margin is. It also makes me wonder whether this has scaled in any way. The article makes it feel like this is a singular machine - that’s a lot of work involved to only stock one location. I wondered whether this was a way of a caterer that serviced airlines (Air France would have similar offerings in First class and potentially business class), but Kyoto is farther away from the airports than other more obvious places to put such a machine like Osaka or Tokyo. So I figure this is ‘extra’ output from one of the French restaurants in Kyoto. It’s fascinating and I very much would like to try it.

jobeyonekenobion How to Get Things Done When You Don't Feel Like It

Agreed. I was recently (6 months) diagnosed as an adult with ADHD. The experiences of the parent are in line with mine.

jobeyonekenobion Massive networks of stripes appear in Chinese Desert--visible from space

Looks to be a water treatment centre. On a rather large scale.

jobeyonekenobion Jack Dorsey does 8 hours at Twitter, 8 hours at Square daily

The definition of Overtime is actually getting paid, yes? The law I am referring to over in the E.U is actually working, full stop - paid or not. I am at a position where I am not paid any overtime - I'm still not allowed to be present at work for more than 70 hours a week. Does nothing like this exist in the U.S? As in, you could technically work 168 hours with no legal ramifications?

jobeyonekenobion Jack Dorsey does 8 hours at Twitter, 8 hours at Square daily

I posted this in the other thread about his hours:

Being a manager and accutely aware of legal ramifications of hours worked (boring I know), does anyone have any insight into whether there is something in the US akin to the European Worktime Directive? Over here (UK, but the E.U as a whole) the average working week is 40 hours by law, and the worker must opt in to be eligble to work upto a maximum of 70 hours per week. As well as this 70 hour maximum, 11 hours must be taken between end of work one day and start of work the next, and an entire 24 hour period of non-work must be taken once every 7 days, or alternativley a period of 48 hours of non-work must be taken in a 14 day period.

Any comments?

jobeyonekenobion A guide to Jack Dorsey's 80-hour workweek

Edit--my spelling is rather shakey.

jobeyonekenobion The Demon Machine

Just to test my understanding on this sentence (I have re-read it 4 times now), JGC is saying that if Kissinger was a programmer, he would be saying "sex is better than power"? I think I have totally missed the meaning of this - could someone please point it out to me?

jobeyonekenobion Letter from a psychopath

A wonderful book - available free here: http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm

jobeyonekenobion 3D printing could reduce raw material needs by 90%

For me, the point of interest comes from locking down a blueprint distribution model. Everyone can print certain items depending on their access to raw materials/power/specification of fab, but depending on how much they pay for the 'blueprints' will be the difference between generic and premium branding with every tiny difference in between.

jobeyonekenobion Ask HN: moving to Thailand for 2-6 months, any advices? Anyone join me?

Hey there. Like many others, I lived in Thailand for a number of months, boxing. I don't have too much advice regards the housing.

I do however have some advice regarding your time there. Be very aware that no matter where you go, you will be perceived as well off. You will (seriously) be batting women away left right and centre. Very pretty women who see you as their ticket out of there.

If you do gain a girlfriend, don't be surprised that your money will go nowhere as far as you had hoped. Scooters, money for family, eating out more - all will make their way into your life very quickly.

It's easy to say it will never happen to you - you don't have to go looking for a partner out there. They will find you and persue you. For Western men, this can be a huge change from the generally more entitled women of the West. Please excuse my asumptions that you are interested in females - I don't know if the same is true for Thai men.

jobeyonekenobion Ask HN: Do you know any amazing space epics?

The Night's Dawn trilogy by Peter F Hamilton will absolutely rock your world, going by what you are asking for. After this, go for The Commonwealth Saga by the same author. You really, really are missing out on a treat, but the best thing is that you have around 6,000 pages worth of epic space opera waiting for you in those books, and I envy the fact that you have all of them still to read - as quickly as you want!

jobeyonekenobion Homeless Man Leaves Behind Surprise: $4 Million

I would find it very enlightening to find out what kind of organisation system he used for his trades/paperwork. Did he have a stash somewhere where he could store documents? Did he have a PO Box?

How would people on HN organise themselves without any permanent address...or by the looks of it, laptop/smart phone/access to computer, whilst tending to a portfolio that would end up being in excess of $4 million?

jobeyonekenobion Answering The Should I Go To College/Drop Out? Question For Young Entrepreneurs

From a UK point of view - I left University in 2001. I finished paying off my student loan this month. And this is strictly because I have a very well paying job (I believe that you do not start paying off the loan until you earn >£18k per annum). The job I have has nothing to do with my degree (getting a First in Multimedia Design and Virtual Reality didn't count for a lot 10 months after those 767's got flown into the towers). However, I do believe, had I chosen to do a degree that was actually useful, I may have felt that higher education was the only way. As it is, I could have got a job at 18, arrived where I am now at 26 instead of 31 and then got my company to put me through a degree at their expense. Not done much research, but if there was an option to study a large amount of entrepreneurialism at degree level, then this would really float my (and a lot of other peoples) boat.

jobeyonekenobion Southwest's acquisition of AirTran: Why they're doing it and why you should care

Several years on smaller routes, yes. But ultimately, they will not bother type rating any new pilots on the 717, move as many over to the 737 as possible (not forgetting the 65 extra 737's that Southwest will be getting from the deal) and the 717 will die it's own death. Whether Southwest choose to then go for another smaller (90 - 100 seat) option is the really interesting question. Possibly if Boeing decided to step into the A318 market, then it could be a go - type ratings could be transfered down to the smaller jets, and commonality would keep costs down.

jobeyonekenobion Southwest's acquisition of AirTran: Why they're doing it and why you should care

Looking at the fleets, the article does not mention the fact that AirTran has 65 Orders for 737-700's (the type that Southwest uses), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirTran_Airways#Current_Fleet and is looking at options to replace its current 717 fleet.... As well as landing slots, increased build slots at Boeing are always very welcome.

jobeyonekenobion Ask HN: What do you perceive as worth spending money on?

Books - yes, the physical kind. Although this has to be calmed down a bit, because I can only get through about 2 a week, but they make me feel very wealthy indeed.

Food - We have an excellent butchers in the town, and it's game season, so I am looking forward to getting a brace of Partridge and cooking something up.

Travel - it really does expand the mind. I did not realise how educated I had become from being 'dragged' away 5 times a year by my Mum. Even if I can only go 100 miles away for a weekend, it's still wonderful.

And the deviation from everything else I have read so far on here:

Exercise: I really value the money I spent on my MTB. I love my Bouldering gear (shoes, crash mat and chalk really), and I wouldn't be without going to Muay Thai twice a week. Doing all of this makes me feel like I have more of a rounded life - Yeah, I get to be sedentary for 14 hours at a time tweeking stuff on various VM's, but I also get to test my body to (what feels like) its limits, and I get physical camaraderie from the boxing, or the biking that just isn't the same from a book.

jobeyonekenobion Can we live 1000 years?

The third world country's / developing country's. How would they get a piece of this? I'm quite sure they wouldn't - or if so, it would be an order of magnitude below what the western world would have. Already more than enough to go to war for, by the havenots.

And resources? Would we just ultimately end up allowing 1 child per 1k couples to try and stem the rampant population explosion and resultant resource drain?

Would we tackle extreme age with a longevity based tax on a log scale?

It's the little things that add up and kick us in the arse, because even though we could live 12 times longer, the human condition would not advance anywhere as much.

jobeyonekenobion Ask HN: What has been your biggest mistake?

.Getting a degree. Honestly, I didn't need it. Contentious subject I know, but from the Hacker perspective, I have always relied on self learning in concentrated bursts to get me through - want a thorough understanding of TCP/IP? Spend 3 weekends going through the documentation and then playing around. Not 6 months in rigidly structured classes with no leeway for progression above and beyond what is in the curriculum. I could have got a job that paid my pocket money, whilst learning more and coming out with less debt. "but would this have paid off?" I hear everyone say. My degree or time in education has absolutely no standing of where I am now, apart from the fact that I feel I could have been here by early twenties instead of mid twenties

jobeyonekenobion Coffee shop programmer

The only thing I find is that I need to manage the volume of Caffeine flowing throuh my veins - the initial rush can last 30 minutes, during which time I start getting seriously distracted until I calm back down again. Slow and steady rules the day where the coffee intake is concerned.

jobeyonekenobion Website traders get rich quick

So out of interest, what do you think is the proportion of people who really know what they are doing vs the wannabes?

I think that those of us with our collection of domain names are going to see an exponential increase in value over the next two quarters. The question is, how bothered are all of you about the impending Get Rich quick rush.

jobeyonekenobion A Plane Hacker

I can't quite remember when I saw it, but it was an amazing self build, all stramlined - even the rivets had been made flush with the body work. I think it was an employee of Scaled Composites who did it for a learning experience to pick up credit with work. I remember being pretty amazed. Can I find it doing a search? Nope. I wish that I could remember just a little more!

jobeyonekenobion Why Zappos Pays New Employees to Quit—And You Should Too

Quite a smart strategy. I wouild love to impliment this and infact, I think I could come up with a very good business case for it. As with most of you I suspect, I at first thought about the angle of "it's a quick $1k, I'll just quit in a week and be better off for it". But of course - Zappos has already weeded out unsuitable candidates in interview/tests. That 10% figure is highly realistic because Zappos have a good idea that the vast majority of their new hires ARE right for the job, before they even start their training.

jobeyonekenobion Ask YC: Do you love or hate software piracy?

I put myself through university and gained extensive skills using pirated software. At the time I decided I would do what needed to be done and because I could. I resolved however to get licensed copies once I was working.

7 years later I have an annual budget of £2.3 million and am responsible for buying decisions relating to the software we use. Autodesk, Macromedia (until a while ago) and Adobe have all been represented largely.

All I can say is that at the time, I used software piracy to my advantage - now I am trying to repay my debt.

jobeyonekenobion How to Live Well Without a Job and with (almost) no Money

Can you guess what 'Long Pork' is?

jobeyonekenobion What the inside of a container data center looks like

http://www.sun.com/products/sunmd/s20/specifications.jsp

Nice big power outlet, and don't forget to hook it up to the water as well. I'm guessing it is water cooled.

jobeyonekenobion Want to Remember Everything You'll Ever Learn? Surrender to This Algorithm

Touched on slightly before, with no answers - however, I feel that the question as to different peoples memory retention is a valid one. I know myself that being Dyspraxic, I have quite a low retention rate when it comes to short term memory. Could be of use to set a base level of memory retention and then use that to define the length of time between repetitions?