ajarmst

59 ms·

541.
by ajarmst 11y ago
I'm not sure that's in any way demonstrated here. If Bush didn't have quite a bit of money he wouldn't even be on the ballot for the vote he lost. We've got ample evidence that money is extremely powerful in elect
542.
by ajarmst 11y ago
Some interesting stuff---but I've developed a reflex aversion to languages that proclaim "everything is an object!" as though that were an unalloyed advantage.
543.
by ajarmst 11y ago
For some values of "true".
544.
by ajarmst 11y ago
I should note that, while TAOCP is absurdly important in CompSci, it's probably not a good starting point. I'd recommend Corman's book on algorithms first, and maybe getting your feet wet with Knuth's Concrete Mathematic
545.
by ajarmst 11y ago
I sometimes think of Computer Science (in the classical theoretical sense---and Knuth is a towering figure in that domain) as having a similar relationship with programming as that of Mathematics to Engineering. A basic foundation in the
546.
by ajarmst 11y ago
I'm sorry, but I'm not following. What's the problem this is supposed to solve?
547.
by ajarmst 11y ago
At school, I had a friend (studying to be a Physician) who referred to Chiropractic as "applied regression to the mean".
548.
by ajarmst 11y ago
Withdrawal symptoms with SSRIs/SNRIs (often called a "Discontinuation Syndrome" to avoid a semantic argument about what "withdrawal" means) are quite well documented. The symptoms are exacerbated by long term use an
549.
by ajarmst 11y ago
That's a reasonable point, but I wonder if that problem is usually encountered when mathematicians from a particular branch of study read works from a different one whose usages and assumptions differ. I've bounced of it in even v
550.
by ajarmst 11y ago
Fair enough, and thanks for reminding me of that paper, which is a gem. I'd argue that Lamport makes a convincing case with evidence and proposes changes that would rectify the evidenced issues. This author simply asserts it as a fact
551.
by ajarmst 11y ago
I usually give the benefit of the doubt and assume ignorance, not incompetence. If he was familiar with Abstract Algebra, then the omission of any reference to groups and fields in the examples he gives seems bizarre, as are the pompous dec
552.
by ajarmst 11y ago
The critique that mathematics is far too forgiving of ambiguity and lack of rigour is, however, quite entertaining.
553.
by ajarmst 11y ago
The author could have benefitted significantly from some exposure to Abstract Algebra, as he seems completely unaware of pretty rudimentary things in Field and Group Theory. The author might also benefit from some exposure to an actual math
554.
by ajarmst 11y ago
A lot of problems here. (1) "This study shows that all kids can learn math when taught effectively". Well, as the definition of "teaching effectively" is that students learn from it, this observation really isn't
555.
Reflections on Trusting Trust [pdf](ece.cmu.edu)
2 points by ajarmst 11y ago|0 comments
556.
by ajarmst 11y ago
Yet another example of why all programmers should be familiar with "Reflections on Trusting Trust." ( http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~ganger/712.fall02/papers/p761-thomps... ). Clearly the malware author was
557.
by ajarmst 11y ago
"Its a transition between traditional cards and to new forms of money like crypto-currency" by removing all the distinguishing characteristics of crypto-currency, which I think is the OP's point.
558.
by ajarmst 11y ago
Is it me, or does a requirement to provide your physical address ("Connect your Coinbase account, Order the card by providing your physical address and authorizing the $10 issuance fee") kind of miss some of the point about BitCoi
559.
by ajarmst 11y ago
Scans as a case of the "I like X better than Y, therefore X is objectively better than Y" rationalization fallacy. Someone else could easily use the same set of facts to argue the opposite case: "irc doesn't support code
560.
by ajarmst 11y ago
I don't get it. Why would I do diagrams in ascii when I can use any one of dozens of good programs and export the result via DVI or PDF. I guess it must might be nice if I want to read the document on a text console, but I don't s
561.
by ajarmst 11y ago
The work looks useful and valuable to this area of study. But WaPo and other media outlets persist in a ubiquitous and terrible trend in science reporting, especially those associated with lifestyle and healt : "Here is a study which
562.
by ajarmst 11y ago
I think this is probably just an example of the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon: http://www.psmag.com/books-and-culture/theres-a-name-for-tha...
563.
by ajarmst 11y ago
Interesting article, and it does describe things that we should strive for---an intuitive sense is a key sign of mastery of a subject. However, the idea that we should learn math the way we learn languages has a flawed premise. Human bein
564.
by ajarmst 11y ago
Many institutions, including mine, require a very specific style. Many even provide templates. Irritatingly, mine only provided a Word template, so I had to spend a day or two creating a LaTeX style. (Procrastination bonus: I was "work
565.
by ajarmst 11y ago
Sigh. The plural of anecdote is not data, rodent studies are useful but only relevant for designing proper human studies (not replacing them), and any aging "study" that works with a few dozen subjects over a few months is not sci
566.
by ajarmst 11y ago
Full disclosure: there is pretty good evidence that some of these drugs (like SNRIs) are effective for short-term mitigation of symptoms, although not a great deal above active placebo. Some other therapies are very promising, particularly
567.
by ajarmst 11y ago
One thing that has become increasingly clear is that the simplistic "too much x" or "too little y" theory of Mental illness as a "neurotransmitter imbalance" is flawed to the point of uselessness. Neurotransmit
568.
by ajarmst 11y ago
Well, I was thinking about it as a particularly good example of how common it is for exciting "new" solutions to general problems of multithreading turn out to be cases of a classic algorithm that has been well-studied.
569.
by ajarmst 11y ago
Lamport's Bakery Algorithm from the 1970's seems relevant, as is his frustration that people seem to keep rediscovering a solution to an already solved problem: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/peop
570.
by ajarmst 11y ago
I sometimes think that RMS is to a certain extent the victim of the "the first task of a successful revolution is to kill all the leaders of the revolution" effect. Raymond and others sort of hijacked what was essentially a polit

More ›