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pconner

437 karma · joined November 17, 2013

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pconner··on Eat Real Food
There are a handful of studies referenced by this review that look at health impacts of vegetable oils: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11600290/

For fried food, I'd worry way more about the raw caloric density and the overeating that can be induced by hyperpalatable foods[1] than oxidation.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperpalatable_food

pconner··on Eat Real Food
Actual human RCTs do not show any increased systemic inflammation when consuming seed oils like canola vs. animal fats, and saturated fat consumption from animal cooking fats can still drive cardiovascular risk, even if it is not the singular cause.

Fried foods are bad for you regardless. The idea that one could swap out a seed oil for some other fat and keep all of their bad habits otherwise in place and magically become healthy is a fantasy.

pconner··on Two Ex-Googlers Want to Make Bodegas and Mom-And-Pop Corner Stores Obsolete
It's honestly impressive how tech people continue to exhibit a complete lack of social awareness. This is a product no one asked for (NYers actually enjoy bodegas as they are), and the PR seems to be blatantly pro-gentrification (i.e. getting rid of one of the few viable business opportunities for lower-class immigrants is spun as a good thing).
pconner··on The Google memo isn’t sexist or anti-diversity, it’s science
Interview pass criteria are not based on the gender/race of the candidate. The criteria are the same for all candidates for the same role. The goal of diversity/inclusion programs is to find more diverse candidates to interview in the first place.

Edit: referring to Google specifically

pconner··on Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth
> "Stop. That's stupid, try again."

If you can't say ~why~ it's "stupid," your comment is not useful. And if you do say why it's stupid, those reasons are much more important than the inflammatory adjective "stupid," so just say those instead.

pconner··on Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth
In this cases, shouldn't the discussion be purely about the technical merits of the idea, rather than emotions of the people speaking about it? I would count removing unneeded emotions from the conversation as a positive thing.
pconner··on Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth
> As long as the person you are saying it to understands that you respect him/her

what kind of person would say that with full vitriolic sincerity to someone they respect? Why say that when you could say, "I strongly disagree for the following reasons..." or something else similarly diplomatic and actually productive?

pconner··on Systems Past: software innovations we actually use (2014)
> FORTRAN’s conflation of functions (an algebraic concept) and subroutines (a programming construct) persists to this day in nearly every piece of software, and causes no end of problems

I'm not really sure what the author's point is here. I think "subroutine" is a more descriptive name than the more commonly-used "function," but I'm not aware of any problems this has caused.

pconner··on Harassment at Apple: A personal perspective
> I don't mean to discount your experience, but honestly I don't feel like this is the whole story.

Found the most HN comment I'll see all day.

pconner··on Donald Trump Is Elected President
> trigger-warning=just google it. there are people that go in panic when they hear certain stuff (kinda insane really)

There are people who experience panic disorder/ptsd. Being "triggered" into a panic attack can literally require hospitalization. Just because you are fortunate enough to not experience this doesn't mean that all people are.

pconner··on Is Facebook’s Massive Open Office Scaring Away Developers?
I was there for a bit in 2014. From what I saw, most offices had two people.
pconner··on I Hate Being Single and It Doesn’t Make Me Weak
Inherently, or just due to societal expectations? I'm guessing it's the latter.
pconner··on What Killed the Jingle?
People who complain about downvotes get downvoted, especially if they make a whole new comment (or more, wow) just to complain.
pconner··on Introducing Instagram Stories
Plenty of "real" photographers use Instagram now (and have for several years).
pconner··on Amazon software engineer interview
Late reply from me, but:

1. Introduction to Algorithms/CLRS (~The~ algorithms book) https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/introduction-algorithms

Also, Skiena's "Algorithm Design Manual" for something a bit lighter.

2. I chose to use Python when possible for technical interviews, as it allowed me to focus more on the algorithms/solution, rather than boilerplate. I rarely use Python in my actual job, but I still prefer it for interviews.

pconner··on Amazon software engineer interview
Get the book, "Cracking The Coding Interview." It was the most valuable resource for me in preparing for technical interviews near the end of my time in undergrad.
pconner··on Four common mistakes in audio development
> It's possible in Go, unlike many scripting languages, to write in an allocate-up-front style that doesn't generate garbage, in pretty much exactly the same way you'd do it in C

I am very interested in this. Do you have any links with more info?

pconner··on Reimagining the future of routers
Yup. I like microservices as an architecture paradigm, but they are a tool, and can be used well or misused just like any other tool. And sometimes they are not the right tool for a job.
pconner··on For first time since 1880s, more young Americans live with parents than partner
Do you have any real, hard data to back your statements up, or just your own personal observations?
pconner··on Trying to interview Larry Page
> Suggestion to all potential future reporters out there: pay more attention in your math, science and engineering classes, and less in your liberal (f)arts classes.

No. You do not create technology that serves real humans by refusing to study the humanities.

pconner··on Google's Free Deep Learning Course
NN&DL is great for neural nets specifically, it doesn't really cover other branches of ML. That being said, I found it very easy to understand with no prior ML knowledge, all you need is some calculus and linear algebra experience.
pconner··on Silicon Valley and Black Coders: Howard University fights to join the tech boom
I never programmed before college, and my first job after college is at a highly-reputable SV software company. I know plenty of other people in the same situation.
pconner··on “Subject: Urgent Warning”
This isn't a matter of anyone being "offended," though. No one finds the word "hacker" offensive, they just might have a completely different definition of it depending on what their experiences are. You might as well use a word that's unambiguous.

Likewise, editing a paper to remove grammatical errors is also not "self-censorship." It's improving the clarity of your message.

pconner··on “Subject: Urgent Warning”
It's not "self-censorship," it's understanding that the generally-accepted definition of a word is different from it's obscure jargon meaning. The word "hacker" has meant "someone who maliciously breaks into computer systems" since at least the 1980's (thirty years ago, before some HN readers were even born). Languages are fluid.
pconner··on Free food and misery: the life of a techie
> I have to say I am a true old fuddy-duddy when it comes to Instagram as I can’t think of a single use for it that appeals to me.

On Facebook, people present a polished version of their lives as if it's reflective of everything in their lives.

On Instagram, the purpose is to show polished (and "filtered") versions of what you're doing. I like that Instagram is a bit more honest about what it really is.

pconner··on Free food and misery: the life of a techie
If anything, I think it would be worse outside. Crazy perk culture is mostly associated with bay area companies. Other areas have cheaper costs of living, which may help reduce stress, but bay area companies have better base salaries to compensate, and they tend to provide better stock options/grants than companies based in other areas.
pconner··on How to C in 2016
Over years of development, this wrapper can save tens of seconds of time!
pconner··on Facebook and its news feed algorithm
It's accessible from the Android app as a list (called "Most Recent"), from the same menu where you can access your timeline or the app settings.
pconner··on Show HN: MeloCraft – Pitch detection in real-time
> Calling a signup 'evil' is a bit over the top.

On HackerNews, the word "evil" might as well mean "kind of annoying." Use Mailinator or a similar throwaway email service if you don't want to sign up.

pconner··on Google, Microsoft, Comcast Say Verizon’s New Cellular Tech Could Wreck Wi-Fi
With some uverse subscriptions, you have to use the ISP provided access point (at least as a modem, not necessarily for wireless) because the TV service is through IPTV and the uverse modem is needed do dns for the TV (you also can't use an arbitrary alternative dns server).
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