Hacker News Reader

nick5768on Why Does Apple Offer Free Engraving?

When I worked for Radioshack a couple years ago, they only made a few dollars per iPod sold, it was all about the high margin accessories added on.

nick5768on Why don't we buy sysadmin books anymore?

Just in case you didn't know, the Safari Bookshelf mobile website is quite good. Most of the books I use are deemed "mobile friendly" and the experience is good enough that at times I will choose to read on my iPhone rather than on my desktop.

nick5768on Solving the Alt-Tab Problem

This is my usage pattern as well, except I am using Chrome, It really highlights (one of) the benefits of having each tab in a separate process: it doesn't need to reload the page saving both time and the keeping the spot I have scrolled to on the page.

nick5768on Ask HN: Do you click "comments" on Hacker News?

Interesting, because I always click the comments link in Google Reader rather than the article. I read the comments first to get a sense of whether I will read the article or not.

nick5768on Things I'm not allowed to do anymore

This was what I thought the link would be from the title :)

Completely and totally off topic, but the first time I read that I laughed so hard I was crying.

nick5768on USB wall outlet - new standard for DC plugs?

My understanding (from memory of an electronics class a few years ago) is that gold is used for the connectors because it resists oxidation better. Copper is actually a better conductor of electricity.

nick5768on Sookie Stackhouse author signs up for 3 more books

I haven't started them, but my girlfriend says they are excellent.

nick5768on Following, liking and people searching

Here's a greasemonkey script to use as a workaround: http://userstyles.org/styles/19590

Taken from: http://lifehacker.com/5317171/user-script-disables-google-re...

nick5768on Windows 7 will bring the 'touch' interface to the masses. Be prepared

I agree, though it will take some time before the price/hardware specs balance becomes reasonable. I'm not sure that will happen before "Windows 8".

nick5768on Red Dog: Can you teach old Windows hounds new tricks?

Some of the back story behind Windows Azure. I find these sort of articles fascinating, not sure if many other people on here do. Should I submit these less technical types of stories? A previous one I submitted ( http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3469 ) didn't appear to resonate, so I was curious whether people enjoyed reading this one too.

nick5768on IBM, Google Health Aim to Blow Medical Records Wide Open

Exactly. For my use case (I'm a diabetic who has moved several times in the past 5 years, which means lots of different doctors) the value I gain by having access to all my records is worth the unease at having Google know SO much about me. I feel out of all the different companies trying to get into this space, I am most comfortable with Google to be the one holding my data.

nick5768on Ask HN: What are the best Arduino starter projects?

http://www.ladyada.net/learn/arduino/

I would also suggest browsing the rest of her site as it is a treasure trove of information related to electronics.

nick5768on Who Is Hosting This.com

Found via lifehacker: http://lifehacker.com/5130019/whoishostingthis-reveals-web-s...

Just one of those ah-HA ideas for a webapp, I know I've found myself wondering what host various sites use before.

The way internet is so amazing at resolving these little "uber geek I wonder how/why/who/what....." moments gets me so excited about these projects.

nick5768on Dave Ramsey: "Why We Don't Take Credit Cards"

This is so true.

nick5768on A visual history of MIT pranks

Something I remember from when I was touring colleges, the hiking club at Harvey Mudd (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Mudd_College) was called "Delta H".

nick5768on Gnip 2.0 Launches, With A Business Model

Agreed with all of the above comments completely. When I first was linked to it, it flattened me with how much sense it makes. Thinking about the amount of hours saved worldwide if gnip fulfills it's potential is mind boggling.

nick5768on Four bars? The disconnect between bars and cell signal

A very readable article about what goes into the bars on your cell phone. I liked it especially because it doesn't jump on the "OMG ATT/VERIZON/WHOMEVER IS THE DEVIL" bandwagon that seems so popular on the internet.

nick5768on Outsourcing Cooking with Craigslist for $60/week

I'll third this as well, for some reason I enjoyed vacuuming before close at Radioshack when I worked there. Normally I absolutely hate it.

nick5768on 12 Add-Ons for PuTTY

Very cool, thanks!

nick5768on Ask HN: Favorite websites for intelligent discussion?

I love the forums over at Ars Technica( http://episteme.arstechnica.com/ ). To me, HN and Ars are head and shoulders above the level of conversation on the other sites I visit.

nick5768on Picwing (YC Summer 08) Debuts Their Social Digital Picture Frame

It's the stuff that is used in the Kindle and Sony Reader displays (also in that upcoming Esquire magazine cover http://www.hackaday.com/2008/07/30/esquires-hackable-e-paper... ). I know the refresh rates are still very "1st generation", but have no idea about how far along color displays are though.