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thebigredjayon A Better HN: Aligned

I skim submission titles and consider everything else subtext. The titles aren't distinguished enough for me here, I find my eyes jumping around more than I'd like them to.

thebigredjayon [dead]

I'm not sure if this is spam or a legitimate post of someone's new project. It doesn't help that you submitted this twice with different names. I'm going to be nice, assume there is a friendly face behind zenslim, and idea dump.

I really like the idea of personalized diets and an online program. If I could ensure a program would give me realistic goals and recipes catered to my body I could be interested. You have to convince me though, and your site isn't doing it. I filled out your questionnaire but then it asked for a Paypal. I still have no idea what you're asking me to pay for. Is it a pdf? I can buy books and pdfs everywhere, something more interactive is what caught my eye. Can I see some suggested recipes from my program? Do I have access to a community? Also, I had to search a little bit to find out where I was supposed to go. There needs to be a clear flow, a quick explanation of the product, and a big link that says "BUY" or something similarly simple.

Next time, if this is legit, post a Show HN or something more rather than just a link. Don't do it anytime soon though, 2 is enough for one day. Tell us the story behind your project and ask for feedback. Maybe talk about conversions, what programs bring the most money in, etc.

OK, idea dump over. Good night!

thebigredjayon Why men can't and shouldn't stop staring at women

I was expecting the author to actually answer the question in the title.

thebigredjayon Afraid/disgusted of Facebook? Use this link to delete your account

I have been off Facebook for sometime now for a variety of reasons. People who know me are probably tired of my rants about privacy, data retention, and other Facebook woes. But I have years of pictures on there, and conversations, and memories. I have downloaded a back up of it all but can't bring myself to click that delete button. It'd be like burning my journals!

thebigredjayon Experiment: Living Without A Home Internet Connection

Absolutely. I have a wireless button on my laptop and I generally disable wireless when I want to get work done. I like the idea of a physical ritual, I kind of want to build a big cartoony internet switch now. It's like forcefully inserting a brief moment of reflection before you use the internet.

thebigredjayon Experiment: Living Without A Home Internet Connection

That actually sounds incredible, I might just start using it. Thanks!

thebigredjayon Experiment: Living Without A Home Internet Connection

But I am also much more effective at tasks on the computer when I don't have internet.

thebigredjayon Experiment: Living Without A Home Internet Connection

I have been considering making the same leap.

For me it's about forcing some boredom into your life. With the Internet and TV I feel hyper stimulated all the time. To find entertainment I merely collapse into my chair, click a few buttons, and begin passively consuming.

Without something neurotically occupying my attention (ie internet) I quickly become bored. When bored I then proceed to think through everything I could possibly do, prioritize the ideas, and choose one to act upon. Even if I end up watching a television show the important thing is that I chose to watch that specific show rather than passively accepting whatever was being played at the time. I have not had TV in a long time, so that's not a problem, but whenever I've momentarily had no internet I find I eat better, exercise more, have a cleaner house, and knock more things off of my to do lists.

It's not that I want to go without internet, it's just that I do not want the internet at home. I've been without it before and really enjoyed the experience, now I just have to make the leap of canceling internet completely.

thebigredjayon Educator suspended when she refused to show her Facebook page

I'm assuming she just deleted the photo and they were fishing for some kind of proof.

thebigredjayon Educator suspended when she refused to show her Facebook page

Do you really consider Facebook a private setting?

thebigredjayon Educator suspended when she refused to show her Facebook page

Soon after, the district’s Special Education Director wrote to Hester, saying “[I]n the absence of you voluntarily granting Lewis Cass ISD administration access to you[r] Facebook page, we will assume the worst and act accordingly."

To be fair she did post something that would get her fired if posted in a truly public setting. If the parent of a student was able to see this picture then it's hard to consider her Facebook profile private. If they had a screen shot of this photo on Facebook I doubt they would require her password to suspend her.

That being said I still think it is horrid that anyone would even think of asking for a Facebook password, and the "guilty until proven innocent" thing doesn't fly with me.

thebigredjayon What Happens When You Piss Off the Internet

Ideally that could be classified as a derivative work, which one could argue is fair use. But, that argument will happen in a court after you have been sued. The "Kind of Bloop" affair should give you an example of what I'm talking about: http://waxy.org/2011/06/kind_of_screwed/

Honestly though this is just couch-analytics from me. I'm not sure how copyright applies to meme pictures and am fascinated by related court cases. Anyone else have interesting meme/copyright-related court case suggestions?

thebigredjayon What Happens When You Piss Off the Internet

Fair use is a fickle beast and not something to rely on. I have no idea how those sites exist without lawsuits but I would not consider them shining examples of web success.

thebigredjayon What Happens When You Piss Off the Internet

You have two problems:

1. On the internet large amounts of traffic means that you will have trolls galore. In my eyes some of those comments are normal internet fodder and just need to be moderated out.

2. You are using IP that you do not own. Memes are not public domain. Of course that is going to get people angry, particularly when there is money involved.

thebigredjayon Ask HN: Help a Hacker Out

I love the positive response this is getting! Sometimes I fall back into thinking HN is just another list of news, but a real sense of community pops up at a moment like this. Good luck finding work lesterfremn!

thebigredjayon Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

I can't really stand up for Megaupload, but I'm frightened by the power wielded by labels. Perhaps it's time to start a movement of only consuming local and independent art.

thebigredjayon Code Optimization Techniques for Graphics Processing Units

Link to source, which includes slides and examples: http://homepages.dcc.ufmg.br/~fpereira/classes/gpuOpt/

You might also be interested in the work of a prof at the University of Alberta, Jose Nelson Amaral.

A Complete Descritpion of the UnPython and Jit4GPU Framework https://www.cs.ualberta.ca/system/files/tech_report/2011/Gar...

Jit4OpenCL: A Compiler from Python to OpenCL http://webdocs.cs.ualberta.ca/~amaral/thesis/XunhaoLiMSc.pdf

thebigredjayon Universal Censors Megaupload Song, Gets Branded a “Rogue Label”

Why isn't this video hosted on Megavideo?

thebigredjayon Developer open-sources 200+ hr project after client refuses to pay

Where is a good place to learn the ins and outs of contracts? Is there a comprehensive website or book that you can recommend? I am early in my career and have been on both sides of writing contracts. While I am figuring a lot of things out as I go it would be nice to sit down and wrap my head around this for good.

Also, to the OP, is a few weeks really enough time? If those were 200 billable hours it seems like it's worth a tad more hunting.

thebigredjayon Gabe Newell on Valve's business model

That sounds like a really great place to work and a good guy to work for.

thebigredjayon Startups Open Sourced: Stories to inspire and educate

I think you could have come up with a more appropriate title, the connection is a bit of a stretch. The content, however, looks great. I just purchased a physical copy.

thebigredjayon Friends Don’t Let Friends Take Education Advice From Peter Thiel

Tom Katsouleas "It is during one’s undergraduate years that one discovers oneself, where one fits into the world and what it means to be human."*

Four years and $200,000 for a piece of paper and a false understanding of where you fit into the world.

thebigredjayon The Pyramid Method: A Simple Strategy for Becoming Exceptionally Good

The trick about this concept, and this strategy, is that you have to consider just what exactly you are practicing. I took a peek at his MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/sickabodsane) and honestly, he is not the most technically adept rapper. His rhymes and rhyme schemes are usually fairly simple and his topics aren't particularly striking. He has good cadence and breath control, he is easy to follow, and his stuff is catchy though.

I would argue that in this process his key outcome was not improving his rapping ability. He learnt about stage presence, handling a microphone, interacting with a crowd, picking suitable topics to entertain that crowd, and probably more. As a result of consistently performing and being in this place he has likely built a network of people doing similar things and of fans. For someone who wants to succeed in a rap career these are all important things, but my question is did his rapping actually improve?

It's all a question of metrics and of knowing exactly what you want to get out of your project.

thebigredjayon Are founders really 1000x more valuable than their employees?

I've always found that nothing ever happens unless I do it myself. That's generally how I treat problems, and it has left me in a better place because of it. On the rare occasion I meet someone else with the same drive I'm usually just thankful for their company. Thanks for doing what you do!

thebigredjayon Are founders really 1000x more valuable than their employees?

I don't think it's amoral. There are "world-shakers" in this life who aren't satisfied with how the world looks and they strive to change it. They develop an idea that provides value to others and they build a beast from nothing. With out people like this there would be no change, no progress. Founders create the world as we know it.

And, a slight adjustment to the original phrase will correct it. Founders, in general, are not 1,000 more valuable than their employees. Successful founders are 1,000,000 more valuable than their employees.

thebigredjayon How My School and District Failed its Students

QFT "Never underestimate the motivating power of boredom."

thebigredjayon Remove the "extra load" from new installed machines

I wonder what kind of money I would have to pay to get an application of mine installed with every HP computer. :)

thebigredjayon Ask HN: Soon to be high school graduate with two full time job offers. Help?

Take the job. You get money and learn. If the job stagnates think about going to school, but for now take the job!!

Sincerely, Second year Uni CS student.

thebigredjayon "What society overwhelmingly asks for is snake oil" (1994)

He seems surprisingly dismissive of the "real world."

Academic computing science is doing fine, thank you, and unless I am totally mistaken, it will have a profound influence. I am not referring to the changes that result from computers in their capacity of tools. Okay, the equipment opens new opportunities for the entertainment industry, but who cares about that anyhow. The equipment has enabled the airline industry to make its rates so complicated and volatile that you need an expert to buy a ticket, and for this discouragement of air travel we can be grateful, but the true impact comes from the equipment in its capacity of intellectual challenge.

thebigredjayon "What society overwhelmingly asks for is snake oil" (1994)

I sensed a bit of that too.