msb

Never been much for commenting, but absorbed a lot from the knowledge you dropped back then.

Good memories. Anyone remember the user nickb?

I will tell you why I use Gnome. Gnome/Fedora was the first distro that played nice with my 4k XPS display AND the various 2k and HD secondary displays I use. I switched from Ubuntu/XFCE about five years ago. As I get older, I look for applications and DE's that require as little mouse use as possible. In Gnome 3, it's super+space, type application name, enter and use. Super+arrow to snap around the screen. A minuscule top bar gives me the perfect amount of screen real estate. The only application that I like to tile is a terminal and tmux works just fine. So for my use, Gnome just seems to stay out of my way.

FWIW, I put a PaperLike brand screen cover on my ipad and it is eerily similar to paper when using the apple pen.

The smoke comes from the chaff of the bean and steam as the beans release moisture. The actual bean never gets hot enough to produce smoke. Unless you over roast, but then your coffee is undrinkable.

Sure you can, you just have to change the way outcomes are measured.

1. The things you learn by yourself stick; the things that are “taught” to you do not stick.

This is called Active Learning and there are decades of work that have gone into demonstrating it's effectiveness. Also see: Constructivism. Although the majority of k-12 education still emphasizes passive learning, constructivist approaches to learning are being taught around the world and in the U.S. (Papert's work is a good resource for those who are curious)

3. Schooling mostly fails at giving you this deep understanding.

I think calling 'schools' (so many, not sure what type this person attended) a failure is a bit harsh. The type of freedom in learning that the author is arguing for is HARD at scale. It requires smaller classes, more engagement from teachers, and an entire re-evaluation of how academic achievement is measured. We humans are still evolving...we'll get there. A good start would be to pay teachers more. A better start would be to prepare parents to support active learning in the home.

4. Video games will become a core component of education.

They already are: https://clalliance.org/

The general sentiment of this article is fair, but if you are going to make a statement about education you should reference educators rather than bloggers and biographers.

Edit: One more thought about the PG tweet...

"you'll surprisingly often have to teach yourself. I had to teach myself Lisp, how to write essays, and how to start a startup. I had examples to work from, but no teachers or classes."

First, I would argue that school provides us with the ability to teach ourselves. Paul taught himself Lisp, but did he learn how to program at all in school? Probably. He had to teach himself how to write essays, but surely school taught him how to write? Also, there are plenty of schools that offer writing classes...usually electives. Startups, well...that's silly...that's why we have MBA programs. Actually, I am not sure what PG's point is with this tweet. Is it a critique of the educational system in the U.S. or a reflection on missed opportunities from his youth?

If your eyes work.

That's a fair question. If the website was accessible, we might be able to learn the answer:) From the perspective of HN, the usefulness of the linked content is far less important than a person's ability to participate in the discussion. The product might not be useful for a blind user, but there is no reason for the content that explains it to be inaccessible.

While I agree with your sentiment, I would argue that translating digital information for physical consumption (paper, e-ink, etc.) does lead to improved access for people with disability.

Digital textual encoding is only universally accessible if the context it is situated within is also textually encoded. The lack of context (i.e., poor accessibility compliance) across digital mediums is the single largest inhibitor for the visually impaired community. Once digital information is prepared for print, the source of output is simply a matter of changing peripherals (printer, braille embosser, braille display, text-to-speech).

The authors may not have intended to directly address the needs of disability, but I do not think that their use of "universality" is misplaced. We should applaud any effort that encourages society to think beyond the constraints of the graphical interface.

This is me. I am 43, entering my fourth year of PhD. If you have money saved and want to challenge yourself in new ways a PhD is a worthwhile goal. A couple of thoughts:

1) Many of my 20 something peers are struggling financially, 20-30k a year is difficult to live on in CA. I made good money in my 20s and enjoyed life, having less now does not bother me. 2) I don't have children. My peers with children face a much different set of challenges than I do. I suppose it comes down to the support structure in your life, but I am not sure I could do this with school age kids. 3) I cannot stress enough the importance of a top tier school and a strong advisor.

This question came up on StackOverflow a number of years ago and sparked an insightful conversation. I recommend reading through the thread to anyone interested.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/118984/how-can-you-progra...

That's fear of missing out talking.

I think it is more a fear of managing expectations than a fear of missing out. When instant communication is the norm, choosing not to instantly communicate being perceived as neglect, for example. While in reality, you simply need to block the distractions for a few hours to get work done.

"An overabundance of rabbits leads to a shortage of lettuce."..."a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention."

Herbert Simon talked about this when we were still sending men to the moon [1].

This should be the charge of HCI practitioners, but the needs of consumers have largely been ignored. AI might provide some relief (my phone is getting better at learning when not to disrupt me...but it has a long way to go), but mostly I think it is up to us to close, ignore or turn away. What I fear the most is that by choosing to do so leaves us appearing lazy and/or disengaged in important professional and personal situations.

[1] http://zeus.zeit.de/2007/39/simon.pdf

Bookmarked this list the first time I saw it on HN seven years ago. I have been slowly working my way through it, with some personal curation, ever since.

Some of my favorites:

Conscientious Objections

Freedom and Culture

Visual Thinking

Notes on a Synthesis of Form

The Character of Physical Law

and anything Tufte

Here is the old post, with some good discussion:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=664324

"The relationships built between bootcamp instructor and student are deeper than those between college professors and their students. The advice is solid too, because instructors come from the actual industry the students are trying to get into."

The relationships exist in academia too, but the students have to want to them. As a PhD student with actual industry experience I make sure I have room for at least 3-4 undergrads during any given quarter. We love research in my lab, but we also respect mentorship.

This product is vaporware. Every six months or so it gets spammed around sites like HN and r/blind to promote the latest award they won. Meanwhile, the images on the site continue to show either a non-functional static prototype or 3D renderings. Given that this group has provided no evidence of this device actually functioning, I find it highly offensive that they are now taking preorders. It's a shame, because bringing awareness to the lack of innovation in assistive tech/nonvisual computing should be commended. But the approach they have decided to take, especially considering the site isn't even usable by their target market, is manipulative and bordering on exploitative.

Maybe I am misunderstanding the intent of the point system, but in what situation would I upload something and NOT give myself a point? If none, then you are just giving me one more step to perform after each comment.

I created an account and added some comments to existing designs. Noticed that I could up vote my comment, not sure if that is intentional or not. Maybe just start comments off at 1?

The design is nice. The site is simple and easy to understand how to use, but the simplicity kind of leaves me wanting more. There is definitely something up with the interactive elements, noticeable delays on each page. Might be worth introducing some type of visual feedback that indicates the page hasn't completed rendering.

Of course it's not new, the article (as brief as it is) states that this work builds upon the electrode based efforts that you referenced from 2003.

I think Ben nails it here. Unlike the Ohanian debate, Ben uses Rick Cotton's talking points against him. He refutes the 'only foreign websites' mantra that Cotton has been spewing lately with an accurate and measured response. Brilliant. Ben clearly won that debate and highlighted a successful strategy for dealing with proponents.

Unfortunately fifteen minute segments in which the opponent is given 75% of the talking time does not provide enough opportunity to create a strong defense. It was clear that any attempt to highlight the inaccuracy of Mr. Cotton's statements would have been met with interruption. Either that or you fall into a 'yes it does', 'no it doesn't' debate.

I think the only successful response to "shutting down illegal foreign websites stealing american content" is to point to industry experts and other various authorities that claim SOPA goes beyond that goal. Hayes attempted to do this at one point, but was quickly contradicted by Cotton. At that point Alexis needed to reaffirm that Hayes was correct and hammer home the idea that the legislation is far from clear.

I hardly think that because one friends passion turned into a career that wasn't recession proof constitutes enough evidence to say we should give up on following our dreams. I know plenty of people who pursued the 'big problem' and have had successful careers, yet remain unfulfilled because they don't have a passion for their work.

I like the idea of finding the problems to solve, but I don't think this has to mean we leave our true passions behind. Life is short, pursue your passion. When you hit a wall use the knowledge and experience you have gained to solve problems within the field you are passionate about.

That was one of the most rational discussions about the SOPA debate that I have seen. There is far too much vitriolic debate over the extremes of this type of legislation, it was nice to see you avoid that entirely. Your reference to Louis C.K. managed to subtlety communicate why SOPA is more about power than preventing piracy, a focal point that is often missed. Well done.

Solaris.

Or rarely submit or comment. I am logged in and on HN everyday, but do not show up. Maybe with this comment I will.

I swear by it. Haven't used shaving cream in probably 2-3 years and I have a very thick fast growing beard. I use a little lather from the soap bar while in the shower and rinse the blade in a cup of piping hot water between strokes. I find that the increased sensitivity on the skin prevents me from pushing to hard or performing too many repeat strokes (which is where I usually get my razor burn from).

Assuming that the techniques the author describes really work, is it any different from taking a pill to relieve the pain? I tend to operate under the assumption that when our bodies present us with pain, then we are doing something to deserve it. Instead of attempting to remove the pain we should be trying to discover what we are doing to cause it.

Vacation, chiropractor, surgeons, acupuncture, massage, micro-breaks...but no exercise? A light dumbbell routine and a few walks or runs per week can work wonders on RSI and any other aches and pains we encounter while at the computer.

There is a certain "common knowledge" among computer workers that RSI is the result of poor ergonomics. This fails to explain why some people can work for long periods of time under conditions of atrocious ergonomics, but not experience the same pain that I did.

In my experience, an increase in RSI and back pain correlate directly with my level of physical activity outside of the work environment. A combination of fitness and ergonomics have absolutely made the difference.

I have to put my vote in for the Kinesis Advantage as well. For anyone reading this that might be on the fence about the cost, you will not be disappointed. I was suffering from excruciating pain in my forearms, wrists and fingers. That pain disappeared almost as soon as I started using the Kinesis. For me, the big difference is having a wide split between home rows. This keeps my arms almost completely parallel and alleviates the forearm pain. The key layout is a little funky at first, but what I have realized is that each individual key is positioned exactly where your fingers naturally curl and extend. The other change I made was to add a trackball. I keep the trackball on the left and my regular mouse on the right and switch up usage as often as I can.