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seandhi

297 karma · joined January 9, 2012

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seandhi··on Maine is about to become the first state to ban major new data centers
Ah yes, the vast, undeveloped wilderness of I-35 between Austin and San Antonio. Totally just unoccupied desert.
seandhi··on Don't Mess with Texas
The air was “smoggy” driving through Texas? Uh huh... I’m going to go ahead and put that on the same level as your claim about Texas being lax on litter penalties.

By the way, Texas has more acres of forest land than every state you mentioned as being nature-y and forest-y and having more incentive to care about the environment. The only state with more forest than Texas is Alaska.

Like someone else said, Texas is too big to make generalizations.

seandhi··on During the Renaissance, the beard was the defining feature of a man
It's the same way in chemical plants that handle H2S or other dangerous chemicals. I've always had a beard, but I'd have to shave it when installing or servicing our equipment in those plants.
seandhi··on U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain
The Drug Enforcement Agency and Food and Drug Administration set the drug schedules, and the Surgeon General is under the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
seandhi··on Uber proposes policy that would pay drivers a minimum wage of $21 per hour
Lyft and traditional taxi service are a couple that come to mind... not that Lyft is necessarily lower quality.
seandhi··on Germany for First Time Sells 30-Year Bonds Offering Negative Yields
It’s insulting to Colombians.
seandhi··on Germany for First Time Sells 30-Year Bonds Offering Negative Yields
It’s extremely insulting to refer to Escobar as the Colombian Steve Jobs, if that is the connection you are making.
seandhi··on Juul, Philip Morris Sued Under Racketeer Act for Targeting Kids
Or maybe they genuinely believe that their products are safer than cigarettes and believe that they are helping people by giving them an alternative.
seandhi··on Taming OpenAPI using Racket to create a DSL
I don’t see that quote in the article at all, and it doesn’t appear that the author claims any kind of trickery or sneakiness to trick his team into using Racket. It seems like the team built the tool together.
seandhi··on Insurance Companies Are Paying Cops to Investigate Their Own Customers
Wow. I had the same thing happen in back in '08, but our insurance company pulled record of lightning strikes in the area to determine if lightning could actually have been the cause. Luckily, they determined that it was the likely cause - all in all, I had almost $20,000 in damages.
seandhi··on Speaking to yourself in the third person makes you wiser
It’s definitely not unique to you. Something that helped me was to not try quiet the voice but to counter all of its automatic negativity with realistic, positive counter-thoughts. It took about six months of intense practice, but now the voice is mostly supportive.
seandhi··on The Death of Social Reciprocity in the Era of Digital Distraction
For what it's worth, you'll find people in San Francisco who like to shoot guns and, presumably, go off-roading. I was surprised to be invited to a gun range last time I was there for work.
seandhi··on Unusual, evidence-based ways to get better at a new language
I speak Spanish fluently as a second language.

> Listen to the language, even if you don’t have a clue what’s being said – and you’re not even paying close attention

I totally agree that this is helpful. Playing Spanish music while I work was one of the things I credited helping me learn so quickly.

> Don’t try too hard with the grammar

This, too. When I first started learning, I tried to remember all of the rules that I was taught in high school, but it was easier to just remember how the words are used in different contexts. Asking native speakers the whys behind the languages usually just results in frustration.

> Have a drink…

My verbal fluidity increases significantly when drinking. This probably has to do with letting go of the worry about sounding "dumb" while conversing in a different language. Most people are very forgiving towards people speaking in their non-native tongue, but it's still hard not being self-conscious. Alcohol helps.

I don't know about the other points, as I learned in an immersive environment by the seat of my pants.

seandhi··on Cure53 Audit of Chinese ‘Police App’
People in Vietnam and other SE Asian countries might disagree with this wholeheartedly. They have certainly felt the oppression from China.
seandhi··on Alibaba partner announces 16 core RISC-V chip
Because most of the world has flourished under Pax Americana. The world can only imagine what the Chinese as a world power will bring.
seandhi··on Amazon rolls out machines that pack orders and replace jobs
Bezos goads competitors to raising wages while developing machines to eliminate wages.
seandhi··on Aphantasia: 'My mind's eye is blind'
I used to think I had aphantasia and an uncanny ability to let go of bad experiences. Then, I hit a wall after a particularly rough time in my life which forced me to “look back” at my life, and I realized that I was pushing down extremely traumatic memories. Recognizing that, it was almost as if those events caused me to get really good at blocking out images in my head, and the reason I felt that I could get past bad experiences was because nothing really added up to the things I faced in my younger years. Also, the traumatic events caused me to kind of disassociate, never really being present enough to experience things on a deep emotional level - good or bad.

Dealing with the trauma has opened up a richness inside my head that I didn’t realize I had. I can visualize almost anything I imagine, and I’ve began drawing. I’ve always had very good spatial reasoning, sense of direction and audible memory.

I’m still working on being fully present, though.

seandhi··on The cortex is a neural network of neural networks
Neurotransmitters are not hormones. Some neurotransmitters are also hormones.
seandhi··on AT&T’s “5G E” is slower than Verizon and T-Mobile 4G, study finds
Nice... I need to do some shopping for mobile plans. Thanks!
seandhi··on AT&T’s “5G E” is slower than Verizon and T-Mobile 4G, study finds
Don’t most mobile carriers cap at 5GB?
seandhi··on Suse is once again an independent company
I bought a boxed copy of SuSE from a store (Best Buy?) in the US in the early 00’s. I believe it had a green gecko on the front of the box.
seandhi··on U.S. users are leaving Facebook by the millions, Edison Research says
Nowadays, mostly Elixir, Ruby, and React development.
seandhi··on U.S. users are leaving Facebook by the millions, Edison Research says
It’s mostly passive, to be honest. About 20-30 recruiters reach out daily, so I typically tell them that I’m only willing to work remote contracts (if I’m not looking for something full time) with a bill rate of $125 / hour or more. It only takes one out of a hundred to come back with an opportunity that brings in 20-25k per month for six plus months that I can do in addition to my day job to make the effort well worth it.

There’s so much work out there - let recruiters find it for you and be super selective if you already have income. After a while, repeat business will allow you to raise your bill rates. A motivated engineer willing to put in the work can pull in $300-$400k per year, even in middle America, without trying to source work for themselves.

seandhi··on U.S. users are leaving Facebook by the millions, Edison Research says
I have made hundreds of thousands of dollars through people I have met on LinkedIn, and I continue to make money through them. In business, networking is key. It’s not going to find you clients on its own, but it definitely aids in that process if you use it to network or prospect.
seandhi··on Consumer Protection Bureau Aims to Roll Back Rules for Payday Lending
I’m not sure what you mean. I recently interviewed with Earnin and SoLo Funds, and they have their own risk and reputation algorithms based on many factors. All loans are no interest - borrowers pay a gratuity of their choosing. They are running at a much lower margin than traditional loans, and especially cash advance/payday loans, from what I understand.
seandhi··on Consumer Protection Bureau Aims to Roll Back Rules for Payday Lending
There are a few startups, like Earnin, Even, and SoLo Funds trying to tackle this problem in different ways. Lending options for those markets are vitally important, for sure, but we can find a better way of doing it without abusing the ones who need it most.
seandhi··on With React 16.8, React Hooks are available in a stable release
Edit: this is one reason I don’t do the social media thing. I read that in a totally different frame of mind than you wrote it in, probably. I am not one to get all preachy. I personally get caught up in analysis paralysis sometimes because everyone has convincing arguments. It’s because there are many right answers. There’s probably some deeper psychology there... dunno but it’s on me.

No offense, but it would sometimes be good to remember that quote about sufficiently advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic when taking such an authoritative tone.

There are probably some other equally talented developers who do ‘get it’ who might be a little unsure of themselves and continue to hold back and feel like an imposter.

Anyway, that’s not really a call to change or anything. You do you.

But I did want to remind everyone else, especially those unsure of themselves, that those are, like, their opinion... you also do you.

seandhi··on Denver to vote on whether to decriminalize 'magic mushrooms'
> Though are you serious with meth and cocaine? No one is advocating legalizing those.

Methamphetamine and cocaine are both schedule 2, meaning they are legal with a prescription. Pot and shrooms, arguably way safer, are schedule 1, meaning there are no valid medical uses and are outright prohibited in the US.

seandhi··on Callbacks in C++ using template functors (1994)
I am asking because I am relearning C++, but would it preferable to use Boost for callbacks over using lambdas, assuming you’re on a recent version?
seandhi··on Compelled Decryption and the Privilege Against Self-Incrimination
Say, “hey Siri, whose phone is this?” It will require that your password be entered to unlock the phone; Face ID won’t work.

You can also hold the power and volume up buttons for five seconds on the iPhone X.

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