Hacker News Reader

ohjeezon Shopping in stores like Target, Macy’s has become a miserable experience

As you say, the independent stores found a sweet spot. Compare the success of independent bookshops to the big chains like Barnes & Noble. The former are inherently browsable; you know you'll find something interesting, even if you have no idea what it'll be. And they draw you in with events like book-signings.

Mostly, I think the big retail industry stopped innovating the (cough) shopping "experience." They put more attention on helping people find things they are actively looking for ("I need a blue left-hand widget") than encouraging serendipity.

Both things can exist in parallel. I find myself comparing in-person retail shopping to sports. You absolutely can get a more comfortable sportball experience sitting on your couch, with cheaper beer and immediate analysis. But in baseball, for instance, the teams have done a lot to encourage people to attend games... not because one is better than the other, but because they are interestingly different.

ohjeezon Ask HN: I'm trapped in a golden prison, any advice?

This is a time to ask for advice from people who can help you decide what YOU need, not what worked for someone else. A therapist or someone who can give you spiritual help, whatever is most comfortable for you.

It's time for you to discover what gives you joy.

ohjeezon Unix Recovery Legend (1986)

And that is perfectly okay.

ohjeezon San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

At least 20 minutes, given that it's through a casino. With you probably carrying a backpack full of conference swag.

And that's from the front entrance -- not counting getting from one hotel to another.

I've gone to dozens of conferences in Las Vegas -- so much so that I know the name and location of the meeting rooms in many of the hotels. I can compare that to attending several dozen conferences elsewhere, from Hanover to San Francisco to Orlando to ohgeez so many other places. Las Vegas has benefits, but the travel issues cause me to ALWAYS stay at the conference hotel whenever possible.

ohjeezon San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

It is a full mile from the entrance of the MGM Grand to the convention center. A full _mile_.

I agree that Las Vegas is a good convention city, but please don't suggest that it's easy to get around.

ohjeezon Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?

I came here to make sure Crossing the Chasm was on the list.

ohjeezon PLATO: An educational computer system from the 60s shaped the future

Plato Homelink was my first online community, circa 1984 (?), after a positive writeup in PC Magazine. It had a lot of positive tech features (graphics!). But mainly it was a warm and welcoming place, with friendly people who were really interested in learning from each other.

ohjeezon Performance analysis and the geographic use case

Lots of specifics about how Intel and Redis sped up geo-specific data management, but it has an overview of "how to go about speeding up any application."

ohjeezon The “Build Your Own Redis” Book Is Completed

When I see poorly written prose, it makes me distrust the technology imparted. If you can't take time to get the grammar right, why should I believe that you got the code right?

ohjeezon Wyoming senators want to phase out sales of EVs

I will waste no time putting your advice into action.

ohjeezon Wyoming senators want to phase out sales of EVs

(Me: Checks HN karma.)

I'll give your opinion the respect it deserves.

ohjeezon Wyoming senators want to phase out sales of EVs

That's what the voting buttons are for.

Submission quality is in the eye of the beholder.

ohjeezon Buzzwords in the 1950's

Oh fractals were EVERYWHERE in the 80s! I knew someone who was convinced they'd change the world.

ohjeezon Wyoming senators want to phase out sales of EVs

Oh, that's interesting. Rather a chicken and egg situation then.

"The median ratio across the US is 14.2 EVs to ports, with Wyoming having the best (lowest) ratio at 4.2 to 1 and New Jersey had the worst (highest) at 41.7 to 1."

https://evadoption.com/ev-charging-stations-statistics/charg...

Would be nice to factor in population, too.

ohjeezon Wyoming senators want to phase out sales of EVs

While the headline was imperfect, the article had the key piece up-front: someone submitted a bill with this premise. That was enough for my needs.

If the community is interested in the topic, typically the comments point to more germane information, backstory, and other data that supports/refutes what an article says. That's a healthy behavior, and it's why online communities remain popular.

ohjeezon Wyoming senators want to phase out sales of EVs

I shared the one I discovered. Please don't take this the wrong way, but sincerely -- how much investigation do you expect someone to do?

ohjeezon Wyoming senators want to phase out sales of EVs

Well as the OP on this one, I contemplated changing the headline (which was too long in any case)... but in other circumstances we get in trouble with a community for changing a headline to opine.

I err on the side of "just report what the publication says" and let others (appropriately) criticize bad headline-writing.

ohjeezon CDC File Transfer

I'm so old that I assumed this post was about interfacing with Control Data mainframes.

ohjeezon Students Rebel Against Heat-Sensing Crotch Monitor Surveillance Devices

My thought on this was, "You could go your whole career without getting to write a headline like that."

ohjeezon Twitter turns its back on open-source development

That's a big "if," no?

ohjeezon Alzheimer's drug lecanemab hailed as momentous breakthrough

I'm really excited about this. My mom died of Alzheimer's. I wouldn't wish that on anybody.

ohjeezon A Big List of Mastodon Resources

In this case, I think of it as a resource, because a lot of people want to at least experiment with Mastodon.

ohjeezon Twitter may have lost more than a million users since Elon Musk took over

nodding

Anecdotally, I lost .5% of my 13,000 followers in the last week or so. But I see a lot of people saying, "I'm here until after the election" so I suspect the exodus will continue.

Also, many of my friends -- especially those with some industry visibility -- are cautioning one another to NOT delete their accounts. Otherwise someone else can grab the account name and do icky things with the apparent identity. So I expect quite a few accounts to simply go dark (optionally with a pinned tweet, "find me at Whatever, now"), rather than pull the plug.

ohjeezon A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace (1996)

We were so idealistic then.

I still am, but it's harder to hold onto it.

ohjeezon The Forgotten Operating System That Keeps the NYC Subway System Alive (2019)

If you want an in-depth examination of OS/2's history... https://medium.com/@estherschindler/os-2-is-25-years-old-201...

ohjeezon Free Book: Linux IP Stacks Commentary

That wasn't my project; it was Stephen Satchell's. (I've known him for 25+ years; good guy.)

I did edit one of the Coriolis "black books;" I cannot fathom that it's still useful, but I guess some copies are still around. https://amzn.to/3CeFwwM

More to the point, I'm good friends with Coriolis' Jeff Duntemann. He lives about a mile away from me, and comes to Thanksgiving dinner at my house. Coriolis was WONDERFUL to work with, as writer, editor, anything. Marvelous people. I miss that business.

ohjeezon Free Book: Linux IP Stacks Commentary

The table of contents...?

ohjeezon Ask HN: What does “past” mean on an HN post?

Thank you. At least now I know whom to ask!

ohjeezon Ask HN: What does “past” mean on an HN post?

That'd make sense if it was an old link, like the one I reposted from 2011 the other day.

But the post was from today?

ohjeezon Nichelle Nichols, Uhura in ‘Star Trek,’ Dies at 89

She had such an amazing impact on young women and PoC.

And she had the grace to understand what it meant to every one of us.