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markcmyers

620 karma · joined February 27, 2009

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markcmyers··on Crazy Elon? Okay, but heed his advice if you're learning a computer language
I’ve spent years trying to get coding students to avoid this fatal mistake , but maybe you'll listen to Elon.
markcmyers··on I earned a million dollars as a mediocre, 70-year-old programmer
Humility is a lovely thing. Thanks for your candor.
markcmyers··on What makes writing more readable?
You're pulling our leg, right?
markcmyers··on Covid-19: the harms of exaggerated information and non‐evidence‐based measures
Whatever the numbers say, it is hardly the case that anybody has underreacted. Everywhere, we've always been at least three weeks behind the curve, which is an eternity when dealing with this virus.
markcmyers··on According to our capitalist overlords, you're broke because you eat lunch
I’m no fan of the overlords, but this is clickbait. It isn’t eating lunch that’s extravagant but buying lunch. Brown-bagging is a time-tested way to cut expenses and a non-cruel suggestion.
markcmyers··on Ask HN: How much time do you spend perusing new submissions?
I spend more time reading new submissions than front-page submissions. There are far more new submissions, and I usually have the time to go through at least four or five pages of them, so the pool is larger. What's more, cumulative advantage boosts good submissions that, for whatever reason, enjoy a strong start and penalizes good submissions that don't get out of the starting blocks as fast.
markcmyers··on Ask HN: What is the purpose of life in your point of view?
The question is humorously anthropocentric. Purpose is meaningful only to humans. Life occurs independently of human notions.
markcmyers··on The Trouble with High IQ
Mensa members are a small subpopulation of Americans with high IQ, so it's a stretch to conclude that high IQ is the problem. To me it's more plausible that someone seeking to boost self-esteem and social status by joining a weird organization tends to be a more troubled person than intelligent people in general.
markcmyers··on Introducing Surface Book 2
It's my understanding that Panos Panay reports to Brad Smith, who reports to Satya Nadella. He is a boss, not the boss.
markcmyers··on Introducing Surface Book 2
As a former advertising executive, I can tell you what the problem is here. The writer and his boss who approved the copy aren't addressing the customer, they're addressing the boss's boss. In a dysfunctional organization like Microsoft, communicating up rather than out is how you get promoted. It's a rare Microsoft employee who moves up the ladder by thinking about the customer.
markcmyers··on A new analysis of age and life satisfaction
The curve for divorce takes the same U shape, though it's steeper. It peaks around 60. This might suggest that unhappiness in marriage plays a role in overall unhappiness. In their early 20s most people aren't yet married to wrong partners. By their 60s most people who ever married have either divorced wrong partners or are living in bearable marriages.
markcmyers··on Ask HN: What was your biggest regret about learning programming?
I'm interested in your Python book. What is the title?
markcmyers··on Ask HN: Developers, how many hours do you feel you are productive in a day?
On your quiz, the average answer is "3-5 hours," and this squares with recent research suggesting that in an 8-hour day, mind workers are doing actual work about 3 1/2 hours on average. The rest of the day is spent on snacking, gossiping, Facebook, etc.

I'm a highly motivated independent developer and writer, and I've been studying my own work habits to try to become more productive. I use toggl — https://www.toggl.com/ — to track my time throughout the day. I'd work 12 hours a day if I could, but I can't. I run out of gas after 2 hours, 3 hours — and sometimes 8 hours. My limit on tedious, fussy, boring tasks is about 2 hours, after which I'm not much good for anything. My limit when I'm writing a book is 3 to 4 hours. If I'm building something out of code or working in Photoshop, sometimes I get addicted, and then I can go 8 hours. Addiction seems to be the only thing that gets me close to being as productive as I'd like to be. Sadly, I can't choose to focus only on the types of tasks that I'm addicted to.

My sense is that most people — probably including your boss — have never measured how much cognitive work they themselves can do before their brain is fried. I'm talking about real work, not meetings. Meetings use almost no brain glucose at all, so are a way to pad "working" hours without increasing fatigue substantially. I'm convinced this is why meetings are so popular in corporate America.

As long as no one is measuring, it's easy for everyone to kid themselves that they're good for 8 hours and that everyone else should be, no matter how unrealistic that may be.

markcmyers··on Correlation, Causation, and Confusion
This is a masterpiece.
markcmyers··on Show HN: FumbleBrag – Learn from Others' Failures
Talk about listening to your users! Well done.
markcmyers··on Show HN: FumbleBrag – Learn from Others' Failures
This is a great idea, but the text styling for posts makes entries hard to read. See http://contrastrebellion.com/
markcmyers··on Ask HN: What are the best product landing pages you've stumbled upon?
Plus, what a beautiful example of great graphic and UX design. Thanks for the link!
markcmyers··on Kickstarter: They’re Like Wreck-It-Ralph in a China Shop
I feel her pain, but in my book it's inappropriate for her to be painting herself as a victim. A business in which she was a principal cheated 3,000 people out of $182,000. Now she's wailing about being inconvenienced. She should sit down and write a personal apology to each of the backers who've been more than inconvenienced.
markcmyers··on What We Do and Don't Know about Software Development Effort Estimation
Well, exactly. If I understand the paper, the only condition you need in order to arrive at accurate estimates is the absence of pressure to underestimate.
markcmyers··on Show HN: A sequence of online courses to learn web development from scratch
Great list, but I think my newish book should be on it, since it takes a unique approach that both beginners and veterans, but especially beginners, really like, as evidenced by the rather wild Amazon reviews: http://amzn.to/1aOyqch
markcmyers··on Developer Bootcamps are Expensive. Learn Python Online with a Mentor for $99.
lem72, here's a thought. I just released my JavaScript course, "A Smarter Way to Learn JavaScript: The Tech-Assisted Approach that Requires Half the Effort." I'm looking for learner feedback. If you purchase the Kindle book for the course, I'll be happy to work with you by email on any problems or questions you have. Here's the link: http://www.asmarterwaytolearn.com
markcmyers··on Ask HN: What's a good resource for a 9 year old to learn programming?
This combination of a diagram-rich Kindle book and free online interactive exercises provides a learning curve so gentle, it's good for both adults and 9-year-olds: http://www.ASmarterWayToLearn.com
markcmyers··on Hacker sends this through the mail to record a video of the process
This seems fishy to me. On a 6-sided package, why is the pinhole side always facing the action? Why is the shot never blocked by another package?
markcmyers··on Multi-purpose wings allow flying robot to walk across rough terrain
Awkward gait, brilliantly elegant design.
markcmyers··on Robotic Arm Controlled in Free Space by Leap Motion
This is such a modest video, yet the demonstration seems so significant.
markcmyers··on Walmart plans to be an online juggernaut
I wouldn't bet on it, Wal-Mart. How many traditional companies managed to catch up with the new kids on the block? Think Barnes & Noble, Microsoft, Blockbuster, Kodak, and Nokia.
markcmyers··on This Is Exactly How Fast the Windows Monopoly Is Being Destroyed
I wouldn't worry too much about this. Shrinking markets usually mean price wars. As PC growth stalls, today's equivalent of your father's $4000 PC now sells for under $400.
markcmyers··on Show HN: Remove backgrounds from images online
A beautiful piece of work. I'll use it again and again. Any roughness in the resulting image can be fixed in a couple of minutes in Photoshop.
markcmyers··on Ask HN: what do you think of these flash cards I made for young kids?
Very nice. I'm guessing little kids will love it. I found some of the labels hard to read because there was too little contrast with the pic. To me the robin didn't look like a robin.