ruralfam

---Couple of things I am proud of---

1) Scalable SVG: Adode Air had a pretty good scalable UI. Needed to replace this with HTML/CSS/JS. Ended up using an SVG process. Works well. Even the printed worksheet uses it.

2) Readable code: Use a pretty old-school JS model with mostly functional modules. When I have to go back and review/revise things it seems pretty readable.

3) ChunkIt: There is an entire topic dedicated to this at the website. Like the topic notes say: "...it really is a good lifetime skill."

4) Long Division: I think the step-by-step for the old-style algo UI works well imho.

5) Printable worksheets for single digit arithmetic: I truly believe in the pencil/paper learning enhancement model. The sheets are printed using SVG. Took some time to get this working.

6) Daniel Kahneman: This whole thing was built given my reaction to Chapter 4 of "Thinking, Fast and Slow". I cite DK at the site, and obviously do believe he is right re: Associative Memory (fluency). Also kudos to Amos Tversky who did not get to enjoy the extended plaudits/recognition from DK's & AT's "Heuristics" breakthru and subsequent applications.

7) Eldest daughter did the RMM art work using Affinity Designer.

---Could Be Better---

1) Sync using Google sheets. I tried to find a "no cost" server that met the specs... nada. The Google Sheet solution works, but obviously there is no way this is optimal. Complete and utter KLUDGE. My apologies.

2) Verbose, opinionated main page: Wife thinks I am crazy to keep this text-heavy, old-style format. My subconscious thinks she is right. My conscious says... "The target is parents who will do anything to help their kids gain Arithmetic Fluency" so they will persevere. Likely she is right, but I lack the gift of knowing how to properly market/explain RMM so it stays as is.

3) Readable Code: (yes same as above). I would really like to use TDD, but my longish, readable functions likely will not support it. So lots of hand testing when changes are made (I think some well-known game coder did this for his game -- so not alone). Hate it when I have to do it, but the lock-in is deep.

---Frustrations---

1) Free Math PWA: Since I started this, arithmetic learning apps have massively moved into the "subscription", "App Store" model. Sadly I now believe that most folks cannot associate a free PWA with quality. "Why is it free??" "Why does my App Store not have it??" Most folks cannot wrap their heads around the fact that FOSS/PWA can provide great solutions because contributors care and PWAs can be pretty damn good (not saying RMM, but...) Not blaming the parents in any way, just a result of massive marketing/messaging by the big guns.

2) Focus on cute characters/animations/games: Given how math apps for young children are marketed, most parents conclude that for young children an app lacking cute characters/animations/games likely going to be worthless. Our experience is this is 100% not the case, but again ... App Store Marketing. Personally --and based on my anecdotal experiences-- animations, cute characters, and gamification are totally NOT NEEDED. However, this assumes a caring and participatory parent, otherwise yeah, go for the App Store stuff because you are busy and c/a/g engage the kids (that is very cynical, many parents care and still will not consider RMM).

3) PWA support: Sort of a mixed bag: support is there... could be better. Main complaint: Local PWA data after installation should not be tied into non-PWA browser actions such as deleting "browser data". Kinda shocking to delete something in your browser, then open your installed, local, off-line capable PWA to find all its data gone. Might make sense to some, certainly not to me. Work arounds (e.g. a second browser account) gonna make folks think PWAs are not worth it. Might be the intention... but again I am a cynic.

4) Everything related to education in the U.S. seems to be about monetization. Do a Google search for links from moms blogging about home schooling. Hard to believe their blog links are not related to affiliate income rather than real, honest evaluations. (I have visited many.) Then there are the school boards / curriculum decision makers with lots of money to spend, and lots of pretty big companies interested in how they spend it. Given some of the decisions we have seen, optimal-for-the-kids may not always be item #1 on the decision tree. Again... I am a cynic so "grain of salt".

---Final note---

If you are a ShowHN reader who hopes their young children gain AF, check out the RMM (sorry for all the acronyms). Costs you nothing, and may work. I freely admit there may be better solutions. Do think, though, that it is worth investigating RMM as it is free, and may be pretty good for your kids. If not --and may God help you-- scroll thru the App Store arithmetic apps to ferret out the good ones. There are likely some there, perhaps better than RMM, but... again God help you. And, you will, of course, be paying a sub.

HTH, RF

FYI: https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2013/06/failing-math-curricul...

About $1B (billion) in stock incentives for top-level execs in 2025 (Tim alone is $76m I believe). Apple stock is up. They are happy imho. Very, very few humans would care about "detail" vs. this outcome. Satya is close to $100M I believe, and we are shocked the M$FT is trading-in on ads/telemtry in Win11. These guys are just human.

Sting ?? They bite, and given a chance will engorge on one's blood. Pretty sure they came after Adam's bite, so I guess as a form of Eden-ruining punishment that makes sense.

Not sure this is a good post, but might be so taking the risk. I am snacking right now on some UPF - my 10% vice. However, my 90% is pretty good. One NOT-UPF staple is steel cut oats that are slow cooked. Very easy, healthy and likely as NOT-UPF as you can get. Recipie: 3 cups steel cut oats (I use Bob's Red Mill Organic), 1+ Qt water, 1 Qt Skim Milk, 1+ Teaspon salt. Combine everything into a suitable pot. Slow cook at 150F for six hours. Stir occasionally. Explore ways to eat. E.g. warm in microwave with some blueberries, and a bit of brown sugar. Stores in the Fridge for a long time. HTH, NSC (+ means "a bit more than")

Taking a sip of my Pelican Brewing "Double India Pale Ale" while reading this... I am F**ked. But seem OK with it (it is a great IPA).

I can relate. Buy a lot from Amazon, and play the "crazy-Chinese-brand-name" routlette a lot. Most are low value purchases which makes the risk not too bad. Most purchases have me saying, "Damn that's good quality (e.g. drill bit sets)." So the China brands do a pretty good job overall. Note: One needs to spend a good amount of time sorting thru reviews to avoid the obviously bad stuff.

So now I want to spend several hundred dollars on a magnetic-resistance stationary bike. This is a whole new level of exposure vs. my "small-dollar, small-risk" previous purchases. Main brands (Peleton etc.) are just way out of my price range. So I have spent several days now researching these products. Am confident I am going to make a good purchase... Why you say ??

I was looking at a very niche "vote your favorite mansion" competition on a football fan forum (chiefsplanet) thread. Some very expensive mansion had a photo of the exercise room, and there was my current contender for first choice. What a strange way to get positive feedback.

The article is about two things: Kareem & Bruce, and Kareem & racism. Very much like "Sunday Best" (Ed Sullivan & racism) on Netflix. If you have a sub, be sure to watch it. Younger folks today have a hard time understanding the depth of racism around the 60s. Couple of scenes in SB will help to provide some understanding. Kudos to Kareem (and Ed) for many things.

Sadly been going to HomeDepot long enough to have been there before all the cages were put up. E.g. if you want a small roll of wire, gotta find an associate to open the cage, get the wire, and walk with you to checkout to make sure you pay. I asked once if all the was necessary, and the experienced associate related some real horror stories such as folks putting a 200 ft roll of 4 guage onto a cart and simply walking out. That is impressive both in regard to the brazenness, and because someone could lift such a roll onto a cart (likely with a partner, but still).

I had a Youtube video account with I think two videos. Got a notice it was suspended for content violations (these were self-created videos with no copyright content). Asked for reinstatement. Nada. This was years ago. On a lark recently decided to ask again. Got approved. Have no idea why/how/what/who/etc.

Not a comment re: AI in Chrome. I did click into the video to hopefully get an understanding of the features,. but sadly did not. Sorta got an idea, but the jump cuts, super-quick overviews, trying to identify everyone speaking, etc. E.g. ...something about tabs... ...used to take 20 minutes, now seconds... ...working with OTHER Google products (WTH)... Hey Google, make a simpler, more accessible video that is "just the facts mam". Dozens of jump cuts in a few minutes is disconcerting, and may prove dangerous to some.

Have "been" a home... Sorry for the typo.

Oh.My.Gosh. "Ich". Have had a home aquarium guy forever. Got a few Ich infestations (always after introducing new, store-bought fish). Although not the same strain (tropical usually is Ichthyophthirius Multifiliis). Sounds pretty much like the same infection progression. Me, and every other tropical aquarium enthusiast, HATES Ich. Now doubly so given a favorable opinion of wild salmon.

What happens when you get Ich in an aquarium: While tendrils start to show up then lengthen on your fish. You try a few treatments, but by the time you see it it cannot be stopped easily. When your fish are covered by pretty long white "shite" strands, they start to die. Worse than any horror film you might have seen. Man do I hate Ich.

Just got my bill for a recent 20 minute doctor visit (with one of the best HC insurance coverages in my state: $1,600 cost, $1,400 adjustment, $200 out-of-pocket given my $3,000 OOP limit was not reacehd). Absurd. The USA will likely never get to an efficient govt. single pay system (unlike every other industrialized company). Given this, the option I hope for is that the FedGov passes a law that requires all Master Charge prices to be based on "Acitivty Based Accounting". ABC would provide insights for greater operational efficiency, and the 1600>1400>200 magic hand-waving would disappear. There would be a great loss of employees for health insurance portfolio analysts, but most of them could move into cost accounting roles for hospitals. Please GOP/DEM consider this.

Lost a pet dog that ate a mouse killed when my sister set out a warfarin bait. It was gruesome. Please, please think very carefully when using poisons. Secondary affects are very common, and can be tragic.

Well, these are barn swallows. They eat up to 1,000 insects per day, and up to 100 mosquitos per day (link below). We have at least a dozen, so perhaps 1,200 mozzie per evening (I hope). I think barn swallows are the most populous bird species. Again they are pretty cool. We also have lots of bats, but they are harder to track. HTH, RF.

https://worldwidebirder.com/what-do-barn-swallows-eat

Mandatory if you have water troughs/tanks for animals such as goats or horses. Also a very good idea to encourage swallow nesting. Many an evening I watch a dozen or so swallows on our property dipping and diving in a sort or aerial mosquito feeding dance. Swallows are very cool btw. HTH, RF.

I can no longer find a link to this... But I do remember an article about the uniquely machined stainless steel screws that Apple used to assemble Macbooks. They were infact unique. Very "square threads". IMHO that was SteveJ (and perhaps Woz). They cared less about share price, and were focused on everything that could add unique value -- including the special screws. Now SHV trumps everything, and we have "...fiduciary responsibilty..." (FR) to cover all decisions no matter how anti-consumer. Sadly the FR decisions today are mostly due to the brand value built during the IDGAS era when high-quality screws were important.

He had a biopsy a while ago. It was negative (and very painful he said). He has been working closely with his urologist who has recommended the PET. Given the PSA jump he is really worried, and cannot get what I presume is his urologist's next recommendation. He has taken all the right steps, just to be denied re: PET. (To be honest I do not know if PET is that effective, but he says it would be definitive.) He was told, though, that should he get cancer the PET would be approved to enhance the diagnosis. My heart goes out to him. RF.

He had the MRI. Not conclusive. The PSA jump (alredy very high) is biggest concern. PET would -- according to him -- be most conclusive. Yet he cannot get it approved, so lives in a cruel medical purgatory.

I have a friend nearing mid-60s. Retired military so now covered by Medicare, then Tri-Care. Having prostate issues. PSA went from 12 to 19. Desperate to get a PET scan to determine his is benign BPH, or cancer. Cannot get his scan approved since both insurances will not approve a PET as an early diagnostic tool (scan is about $7500). Cannot imagine what will happen if everyone getting a cancer DNA signal of this type tries to get clarification via additional tests. USA health care really does not work that way. HTH, RF

Very old coder here. Wrote COBOL to help Atari add features to a inventory processing system to account for the fact that "inventory" intially was items received at the loading dock, fork-lifted to the shipping dock and shipped. So "inventory" needed to be booked immediately as sales. Now I dabble mostly with Python and JS/HTML. My memory of the Atari gig was that the most critical part was the CICS code. There was just one guy who knew enough to setup the CICS. If he got hit buy a bus... Well after about a year, the bus would not have mattered. Atari buried millions on unsold carts, and I went from working in a beautiful office complex next to Great America Park, to a windowless basement closet somewhere near Mountain View now making changess because the "forklift inventory" version was no longer needed. I know this is a bit off topic, but "COBOL" was the into I needed.

I have a good many subs or monthly plans. Only one sends me an email notifying me that I will be soon be billed and the amount billed. All the others never provide any notification whatsoever. Can PA also consider a bill that requires notification of billing via email?? I'd bet this rule combined with easy-to-cancel would be of great, great, benefit to the good citizens of PA.

While visiting New Zealand in the 90's I had my first encounter with no pennies. Everything was rounded up/down. Was an initial shock that came to make tons of cents (intended). Glad the US is doing this.