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robotico

70 karma · joined October 14, 2012

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robotico··on Half of Americans approve of NSA program
Or those just not paying attention. If one is to believe the survey, this attitude is more dangerous IMO than the program itself.
robotico··on Half of Americans approve of NSA program
That's really scary if the survey is to be believed. Especially considering more than half believe the government is abusing this data and collecting more than just metadata...
robotico··on Python-powered "real-world" interface pyMCU giveaway
I see what you're saying, but I really like it for various projects to control stuff with the computer. Like this one: http://www.jcopro.net/2013/01/30/servo-light-graffiti-pixel-...
robotico··on Building a Foundation For Life Without a Job
Enjoyed that article. Thanks for submitting!
robotico··on The Game of Books now has Reader Cards. Earn XP and level up by reading books.
Interesting idea, would have to figure out how not to let people cheat though - a test or something?

I like the whole genre-specific experience thing, maybe it could be used with an actual game that you would play when you're not reading? Maybe that would somewhat defeat the point...

robotico··on US Math Achievement: How Bad Is It?
Yeah, it's a shame that math is taught mostly as procedures and not concepts. I was never much of a "memorizer," but once I got it I was good.

As such I got a "D" one 9 weeks in algebra 2, but later graduated as an engineer with over a 3.0. I think I just had to 1. work harder and 2. learn how I had to understand stuff, not just memorize.

robotico··on Don't Use Black For Links
Yeah, I use Zbench which defaults to black (or gray maybe). There may be a better way, but here's how I changed it: http://www.jcopro.net/2012/09/06/change-the-link-color-on-th.... There is probably a better way, but it worked with my limited knowledge, and should work for any WP theme.
robotico··on Attention, Authors: I Tripled My Royalties, and You Can Too
Tucker Max is writing for the Huffington Post now?

Edit: Good article actually...

robotico··on How to make a stop-motion video in Ubuntu Linux
Would also like to hear about any better and/or different ways of doing this.
robotico··on Billboards Are Like Facebook
That's a big reason that I don't use it anymore! That and the interface changing constantly and security issues!

Admittedly, I do have a fake account for my website that's updated automatically if anyone actually cares.

robotico··on Copyright Industry Madness Takes 6 Years To Catch Up With The Worst Satire Of It
Good comment! Although it seems like it MAY have that application, the facts seem to be conveniently parsed.

That being said, after trying to watch some football on the internet today and being told I need a cable subscription, it seems like the more people try to prevent piracy, or in this case just legally not paying subscription fees, the more it pushes people towards it. Or worse yet (for medial companies), people decide that it's not worth the effort or even pirating it, and decide to just do something else, as I did. Sure, some people would be encouraged to buy cable, but some it certainly just hardens their resolve not to pay for the crap they put on TV.

I like sports, but I'm not paying for 90% Honey Boo Boo and America's Top Model to watch the 10% football and other worthwhile content that they have on!

robotico··on Do you guys hear music when you mouse click?
Oh wow, yeah whether it's only in my head or not I do hear a difference after paying attention to it. I'm using the buttons on my Lenovo T60 laptop closest to the spacebar FWIW.
robotico··on HN I am buying a website. Show me what you have.
Here's my site: http://www.jcopro.net/ - not really looking to sell, but I think it's cool at least...
robotico··on Ask HN: What is a minor in computer science worth?
I'm a mechanical engineer, and I do a lot of stuff involving electronics and programming (PLCs, so a little different than you would probably learn).

Anyway, in my job at least it would probably be quite helpful, especially understanding some of the networking side of things. I'm not sure I even considered it if it was even offered as a minor at my school.

robotico··on Live Map Poll: Who will be the 45th President of The United States?
Obviously not Barack Obama... Bush II had 2 terms, but is only #43, not 43 and 44...
robotico··on New startup looking for opinions
NP - Good luck!
robotico··on The change in America's debt by presidential term
Pretty sickening. 90% top tax rate though - that's pretty ridiculous.
robotico··on New startup looking for opinions
I wouldn't use it personally, but it might be useful for some.
robotico··on Do you want to raise a prodigy
Interesting question. I'd say it depends on what he/she is a prodigy in and whether or not it comes with any side effects.

That being said, I'm sure raising any kid has it's specific challenges and rewards. Probably good we're not allowed to choose!

robotico··on A little hexapod robot that I made
Thanks!

"Sensor array" would be a bit of a stretch in this case, but it has two switches near the battery that I hit with my finger at the beginning. Hitting this causes it to back up and turn left. Hitting the right sensor would back up and turn right. I meant to put some sort of "whiskers" on them, but never really got them to stay on the switches like I wanted. In theory if it bumped into something, it could correct it's path and keep walking.

robotico··on A little hexapod robot that I made
Thank you!

Yeah, it's a bit short - was made quite a while ago. The video is the only one that I have up in it's final form, but here's one of it before I made some pretty major improvements: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfpAWJ23OA4 - As for what I mean by that, this article has some info on its original form and how it got to be quite a bit better: http://www.jcopro.net/2010/12/08/pegleg-the-six-legged-hexap...

robotico··on Ask HN: How do you deal with high-volume spam?
IMO, I don't mind the 'new links' section. Seems like spam will naturally filter out anyway, since it would probably not get any upvotes.
robotico··on Hi, I'm Mark Bao.
Well, good luck...
robotico··on Using Python to produce "pixel" gcode for a CNC router
I would agree with VBprogrammer's response - "Automatic" tools are available, but generally it takes some work to get everything correct.
robotico··on Zuckerberg admits: If I wasn’t the CEO of Facebook, I’d be at Microsoft
True -

Depending on if they can pull it off, Windows 8 could be a real step forward in computing. Unifying the desktop and PC worlds is the goal in my limited understanding. Will they do it? Who knows, but I think it would be an exciting company to work for at this moment.

That being said, I hope the system doesn't end up being closed off to outside development.

robotico··on Python 101: An Intro to logging
That looks like an interesting site - I've gone through most of LPTHW, so some extra tips to keep up with like that would probably be good. Just signed up on Twitter.
robotico··on Cyberpunk Text Adventure, "Cypher"
The art looks quite nice. Hadn't heard of that one before.
robotico··on Kim Jong Il's Grandson Gives an Interview
Kim Han Sol? Seriously, Lil' Kim the Illest was a huge movie buff, I wonder if that played a part in his naming?

He speaks English quite a bit better than his interviewer. He sounds like an American.

robotico··on Mozilla tries to woo Chrome diehards with incentives for reviewing add-ons
Chrome is a good browser, used it at work until recently. I use Firefox at home because I'm very familiar with it now. More importantly to me, whether it really makes a difference, I like at least one part of my online experience not to be totally dependent on Google.
robotico··on Hacked terminals capable of causing pacemaker deaths
Wow, seems like I saw something about hacking insulin pumps like that a while ago.
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