Hacker News Reader

technobabbleon FedEx vs. UPS: opposing models in the delivery business raise questions (2004)

FUBAR Delivery.

If it's not f*cked it's free!

To piggyback off of this comment; in bleeding-edge research, one needs a degree of creativity in order to (a) try new things, and (b) have a greater willingness to roll with failure. For me personally, knowing I that "great men" constantly make simple mistakes, have bias and egos that they need to keep in check, and are struggling with other scientist, lifts weight off of my chest.

technobabbleon What Happens to Creativity as We Age?

If you are concerned about your creativity, I highly recommend looking into improvisation.

Although I am on the young side, I have devoted an evening a week to take improv classes. One of my previous professors did his Phd on how improvisational techniques can help with product design [1].

P.S. Spaghetti !?! Maybe tomorrow...

[1]https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/61610

technobabbleon As Computer Coding Classes Swell, So Does Cheating

An additional anecdote from high school three years ago (take it with a grain of salt)

There was a person in my CS class where we built a virtual computer using Python. Almost weekly I saw her cheating, yet during her spare time she devoted that saved time to a side project that won her an award and some publicity.

Starting from then I've learned to focus less on the grade and more on actual projects that are challenging enough that I have to learn.

technobabbleon Human behavioral complexity peaks at age 25: study

I'm not a firm believer in what I consider the common definition of passion. You, and only you, have to make your passion. Personally nothing I've tried jumped out of me. Every career has it's enjoyable, intellectually engaging parts, and it's monotonous, weary parts.

If you want to stick with EE and CompE, sit down and list all of the things you enjoy, no matter how seemingly insignificant.

"For what it’s worth: it’s never too late to be whoever you want to be. I hope you live a life you’re proud of, and if you find you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start over again" - A butchered quote from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

technobabbleon Ask HN: How do you test if a market exists for your product?

A quick and easy way is to create a landing page for your events. Create an email account, track amount of times the page has been visited, and see what/if people respond.

technobabbleon Netflix, Amazon: Is This What ‘Peak TV’ Looks Like?

To expand on the topic anecdotally, my parents still watch TV and all its ad-laden glory for the local news. Sure, there's DNA info, but for whatever reason it still doesn't replace a local broadcaster - maybe it's just habit?

It'd be cool to see a platform where local people could theoretically start their own micro-station and report the news as such.

technobabbleon Google Makes So Much Money, It Never Had to Worry About Financial Discipline

Wow, thank you for the article, I've never read it before.

This happened at the Bike Cooperative I used to work at; everything was informal, but we were able to focus on weird types of bikes and recycling projects that were interesting to us and subsequently we'd dedicate hours to do them. Unsurprisingly, the management came in, and we were wrench monkeys like everybody else; not so say that we were whiny because we didn't feel like "special snowflakes. We lost freedom to focus on our strengths in the cooperative.

technobabbleon Ask HN: Consultants, do you take mobile/credit card payments?

Thanks for the link; it clarified some issues regarding paying cycles that I was fuzzy on.

technobabbleon Ask HN: Consultants, do you take mobile/credit card payments?

I don't think I'm at the point where I need something like Xero. Slimvoice, however, looks very presentable.

Thanks for getting back to me

technobabbleon What the Heck Is Happening at Apple?

https://system76.com

It's not as pretty as a Macbook, but they do exist.

technobabbleon Willpower and cognitive processing draw from the same pool of resources (2013)

Wouldn't this study show that we as humans are not multitaskers? To go with the example, what would happen if the people were given a longer break in between the memorization task and choosing the reward?

technobabbleon The Age of Absurdity: Why Modern Life Makes It Hard to Be Happy (2010)

We don't live in a vacuum. Our lives are still dictated by things we need, such as food, shelter, fulfilling relationships, and meaningful activities. Some people fine actual enjoyment in cars, so they do genuinely become happy when they purchase that new S Series. The bigger issue is that media tries to say that they know what we want better than ourselves, so we should listen to the car dealer/parent/professor/etc.

technobabbleon American society increasingly mistakes intelligence for human worth

How will actual automation impact small and in some cases medium-sized businesses? If I'm running a restaurant chain with 2-3 locations, does it make economic sense to employ robotic sweepers and chefs? Granted that won't replace all jobs lost, manual labor would still be valued in such areas.

technobabbleon Tesla and Tucker – Similarities Between Automakers

Tesla has also delivered the Roadster,Model S, and Model X already. Worst case they will probably be scooped up by a competitor, though based on Musk's record that likely won't happen.

From the armchair.