13ren

28 ms·

241.
by 13ren 18y ago
There's a long tech history of companies making record profits just before they go out of business. It happens when they hone their product during the adolescence of a disruptive innovation. Microsoft is staring down the twin barrels of lin
242.
by 13ren 18y ago
I agree that functional programming is very closely related to mathematics. I think that for programmers who think mathematically, FP is a breath of fresh air, and to them it is obviously, intuitively, right . By "thinking mathematically",
243.
by 13ren 18y ago
If we're headed for a depression: what business types flourished during the Great Depression? Is it really true that facilitating laughter and connection isn't worthy?
244.
by 13ren 18y ago
Underdoing - if you forget about all those details that people tell you that you must have, and instead make a really useful product, people will find ways around those details, and buy it.
245.
by 13ren 18y ago
Target nonconsumption
246.
by 13ren 18y ago
Totally agree, although great technical innovation and marketing is no guarantee of success if the industry is disrupted. Jobs is unique in that he disrupts the industry (well, he facilitates it): Apple, Pixar, iPod
247.
by 13ren 18y ago
I like their products, and buy them, but the above is not my experience (great to aim at; very hard to do): Apple's LCD display had a really annoying design (splayed supports, where I want to move my mouse; no connection to a PC - to be fai
248.
by 13ren 18y ago
HP's primary goal was to make great products. And our primary goal here is to make the world's best PCs -- not to be the biggest or the richest. We have a second goal, which is to always make a profit -- both to make some money but also
249.
by 13ren 18y ago
Does anyone know that comic, where two voices discuss society's need to have some class to look down on, and then at the end we hear: "...and that's where we come in. But it's not all bad - in what other society could a toaster and kettle
250.
by 13ren 18y ago
By a new technology that changes the nature of the value proposition, for customers. Warren Buffett seeks monopolies (like Coke). He avoids high technology because of the uncertainty of technology revolutions (they can still happen but les
251.
Ask HN: an exit strategy of "quit after 2 years"?
3 points by 13ren 18y ago|0 comments
252.
by 13ren 18y ago
Maybe now, but just before the DS (and Wii), they weren't looking very healthy financially.
253.
by 13ren 18y ago
great link within article, on competence vs. the unknown: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/31/sgodin.html Competent people have a predictable, reliable process for solving a particular set of problems. They solve a problem the same
254.
by 13ren 18y ago
I agree it's useful to assume it's true - also, comfortingly reassuring, that, well, one has to go step by step. One way to disprove the "law" is to look for instances of "leaps in complexity" beyond mere evolution. The only example I can
255.
by 13ren 18y ago
thanks - I'd change it, but I just saw your reply now, and it's after the edit sunset.
256.
by 13ren 18y ago
I think you're suggesting "tallness" as an alternative to "looking competent", but I'm already happy with the article's definition and method of measuring "looking competent" as objective. I was asking for an arena with an objective measure
257.
by 13ren 18y ago
It's not a "should", but a belief that everyone is the same, in some sense; an identification. By happiness, I mean an experience of freedom and clarity that tells me this is the right way: that to think less of another human being is to th
258.
by 13ren 18y ago
That explains why I love the training sections of kung fu movies so much. achievement through great effort http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_fu_ (term)
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by 13ren 18y ago
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=297737
260.
by 13ren 18y ago
"More than three decades of research shows that a focus on effort—not on intelligence or ability—is key to success in school and in life" http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-secret-to-raising-sm... http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id
261.
by 13ren 18y ago
I saw your reply just after posting mine (though you posted ahead of me). Very similar. One factor that is counter to your point 1: it could be that in our evolutionary past, there was greater variation in physical appearance than today tha
262.
by 13ren 18y ago
"Looks are just noise" is the conventional wisdom. I'd be surprised if there was no correlation at all, between "looking competent" and "actual competence". Isn't beauty (for want of a better word) associated with symmetry? And isn't that a
263.
by 13ren 18y ago
I try to respect everyone, because I've found my own happiness seems to vary directly in proportion with how well I do this. In both directions. I think you're also asking about who you admire, and what achievements you admire. Great questi
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by 13ren 18y ago
I use both HN and progit (programming subreddit); though HN < progit for technical programming articles. However, the big plus of HN is the 100% absence of trolls (or maybe I just don't notice them here because they aren't encouraged).
265.
by 13ren 18y ago
"Voters are not that rational, after all" What if people make accurate snap judgments of competence? Not necessarily perfect, but better than 50% (e.g. 68.6% and 72.4% in TA). To test this with politicians, we'd need to test the judgmen
266.
by 13ren 18y ago
That's very interesting, because I've always felt that it should be possible to parse the regex and match the target at the same time... (though nobody ever does it that way, instead doing it with 2 passes). Do you know of a proof that grou
267.
by 13ren 18y ago
A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. While it's good to grow a system, and I (and many others) practice it and recommend it, I'm not sure about the invariably part. I'm sure t
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by 13ren 18y ago
Pedantic mode activate: it's actually the developer of the atari home-console clone of Nintendo's arcade Donkey Kong. I suspect the original developer comments might be in Japanese. Maybe I'm imagining things, but I just don't like it that
269.
by 13ren 18y ago
I don't know much Haskell (it's on my list), but am I right in thinking that code doesn't implement parenthetical grouping or alternation? eg: (ab)* a|b I think it's aiming at Perl or command-line style of regex, not mathematical r
270.
Regular expression engine in 14 lines of Python(paste.lisp.org)
4 points by 13ren 18y ago|1 comments

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