a4isms

48 ms·

511.
by a4isms 5y ago
"but this usually turns into..." You're arguing with someone who isn't present. If and when someone makes that argument here, you can refute the argument they actually make, rather than the one in your own head. Until th
512.
by a4isms 5y ago
> Increased road capacity means people could plan more car trips without worrying about sitting in traffic. You've got it in one. People think that the biggest highway with the most lanes will mean less sitting in traffic, so they p
513.
by a4isms 5y ago
non sequitor?
514.
by a4isms 5y ago
> In light of Kraken’s decision and the social crises in San Francisco, the region’s hold on crypto and the future of finance may falter. It is interesting that one of crypto's guiding principles is to decentralize finance, however
515.
by a4isms 5y ago
Do you mean your competitors buying ads for their product, but using your product's name as keywords? Or do you literally mean your competitors buying ads that deceive the public into thinking they're clicking on your ad which wil
516.
by a4isms 5y ago
I did not read this as suggesting advertising is useless, the author says outright that it can help build up a critical mass of brand recognition. But the author's point is that once you reach that critical mass, advertising may begin
517.
by a4isms 5y ago
The author made an excellent point in TFA: If you do your SEO right and use advertising to build up some brand recognition, you reach the point where your web site appears on the first page of search results alongside your paid ad for your
518.
by a4isms 5y ago
The author says right in the article that paid search is valuable for bootstrapping when you have no or few users, which suggests that the author does not think they would have reached their current profitability without some paid search ea
519.
by a4isms 5y ago
"Metaphors are abstractions that leak like sieves."
520.
by a4isms 5y ago
That's how Ruby meta-programming works, just as that's how inheritance works, just as that's how function calls work. They're mystifying at first, then you learn how to use them without looking under the hood, then you l
521.
by a4isms 5y ago
Alas, controversy and debate do not always go hand-in-hand. Highly controversial comments and posts often contain a lot of comments, but many of them end up being people yelling past each other, rather than engaging with each other. They ha
522.
by a4isms 5y ago
Another reason to avoid "I'll get downvoted for this" is the possibility that moderators will consider it a violation of HN's guidelines. In general, whinging about upvotes and downvotes is discouraged: Please don'
523.
by a4isms 5y ago
Presuming we agree with the post I was replying to, this "shallow advantage" is only relevant if the outcome we want is upvotes and shallow engagement. Sometimes, that's exactly right, for example if we're promoting a ne
524.
by a4isms 5y ago
I couldn't work it into the my comment, but an example that came to mind is a quote from Dr. Adele Goldberg: "In Smalltalk, everything happens somewhere else." I vividly recall that when I first installed Digitalk's Smal
525.
by a4isms 5y ago
I agree that there are times when challenging the reader's bias can be effective. Yes, that's slightly different than challenging an entire community's bias, but certainly worth calling out. Thank you.
526.
by a4isms 5y ago
My perspective as detailed in the full message is that the sense in which meta-programming in Ruby is magic is more akin metaphorically to prestidigitation than to the supernatural. In that sense, it does not imply "stop asking questio
527.
by a4isms 5y ago
I've heard similar things, but with "sand" instead of a rock. Presumably a nod towards silicon.
528.
by a4isms 5y ago
I own a slab of glass I can talk to, it talks to me, and it can recognize my face. This is absolutely magic in a figurative sense. And never mind that, I'm typing this message on a device that is thinner, lighter, and does so much more
529.
by a4isms 5y ago
Every industry has jargon, words which have one meaning in everyday use, but a different meaning within the industry that can be confusing or even hostile to outsiders. "Magic" is an example of jargon when used within the programm
530.
by a4isms 5y ago
Well, if what you're saying is that a reader who is already biassed towards agreeing with the post will be motivated to upvote a post that complains about "cancel culture" because "culture wars," so use this one wei
531.
by a4isms 5y ago
> HN is very anti-crypto so I expect any conversation on this topic is an uphill battle A "word" of advice from someone with decades of experience writing and public speaking: Don't. This type of line has two problems with
532.
by a4isms 5y ago
I don't disagree with you, but I'm not sure I worry about it. The article is presented as a letter to a car thief, a preposterous proposition right up front. It is not presented as a repair guide or an "evaluate whether a 914
533.
by a4isms 5y ago
The logician, concert pianist, Taoist, and magician Raymond Smullyan has always been of interest to computer scientists. Besides being a polymath, he had Feynman's knack for being able to explain complex subjects in an accessible way.
534.
The Raymond Smullyan Society(raymondsmullyan.com)
75 points by a4isms 5y ago|19 comments
535.
by a4isms 5y ago
This is unproductive quibbling. If I, a middle-class independent contractor, attempt to bribe a government employee to award me a contract, I am going to jail. If someone with even lesser means attempts to bribe a social worker to award the
536.
by a4isms 5y ago
"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect." —Composer and Software Architect Frank Wilh
537.
by a4isms 5y ago
Would you agree that the general term for the market crash is the "AI Winter?" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_winter
538.
by a4isms 5y ago
> If Lisp is [so] efficient for development, why are there essentially no commercial products that use it? I’m sorry you’ve been downvoted for asking this question, even if it was a rhetorical question. It’s easily the most important que
539.
by a4isms 5y ago
No, they may not have the contractual opportunity to intervene, just as if I leave a location on unfavourable terms, I may not be able to compel the landlord to solve a noxious odour smell. But that's the risk I willingly take when I n
540.
by a4isms 5y ago
When you run a business, you choose a location. If the landlord does something that causes a noxious smell, it's on you to fix it. We don't say, "Well, that's the landlord's fault." Your business, your leasing

More ›