billroberts

9 ms·

31.
by billroberts 18y ago
I'm not picking on these guys in particular, because it's a widely used phrase, but does the English language really deserve "liquidity event" instead of, say, "selling the company"?
32.
by billroberts 18y ago
The UK has the same climate of fear regarding any interaction between adults and children.
33.
by billroberts 18y ago
I don't agree with Stallman. Like probably most HN readers, I use a lot of Free/Open Source software - Linux, MySQL, Rails... and it's incredibly valuable. However I don't expect all software to be free, and to a large extent many major bi
34.
by billroberts 18y ago
I think it was because they just got everyone in the company to work on it and those are the people they've got: with lots of PR people because their main business is running events.
35.
by billroberts 18y ago
The UK Ordnance Survey (government mapping organisation) opening up its data is a big step - and not before time. Until now they've been very precious with releasing any of their tax-payer owned information.
36.
by billroberts 18y ago
I'm not sure that your experience of feeling smarter contradicts cperciva's point about intelligence being determined early in life. I can see that there could be a difference between intelligence as some kind of innate capacity and how th
37.
by billroberts 18y ago
I agree - it's overdue for someone numerate to analyze the options. I've downloaded the book and will read it this weekend. It's always astonished me that most mainstream journalists focus on stuff like not leaving your TV on standby, but
38.
by billroberts 18y ago
I used it for a week or two earlier this year - even when it was up it could take a couple of hours for a message to be delivered. I don't use it any more.
39.
by billroberts 18y ago
IE and FF handle column widths in tables rather differently, which can cause some problems with table based layouts. I've been round this circle recently and ended up back with a 'pure' CSS approach
40.
by billroberts 18y ago
I think it was about as in-depth as you are likely to get published in a (UK) national newspaper. One small but well-written step in the fight against the innumerate sensationalists that dominate the press and no doubt contribute to the po
41.
by billroberts 18y ago
When I was studying for my PhD in Edinburgh around 1990/91, the group I was working with (Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre) bought a Connection Machine. Alas it was just being set up when I finished, so I never spent any time on it. So
42.
by billroberts 18y ago
I agree with the main point of this article. It always feels wrong to me when you see an app that offers an upgrade to get rid of ads. It seems to say we're gonna piss you off with minor irritations to make you upgrade, or at least that we
43.
by billroberts 18y ago
Yeah, fair enough. The definition of what should be on or off topic is always a complex one. And I did enjoy reading it.
44.
by billroberts 18y ago
Isn't this rather off-topic for HN? It's a well-written interesting essay, as always from Paul Graham, but is it at the top of the list for any reason other than it is written by Paul?
45.
by billroberts 18y ago
I understand the difference between cash and profit, but to survive 39 years without making a profit must be some kind of record! Those are patient investors.
46.
by billroberts 18y ago
I second the Steve Jobs Stanford speech. And good advice from my wife: "get outside more and do some exercise". So time to switch off HN and go for a bike ride!
47.
by billroberts 18y ago
That's true, that they get a lot of publicity for their apps, but that's not an accident: they have worked hard at building up their blog and no doubt paid DHH and others for spending their time on developing open source software. Clearly 3
48.
by billroberts 18y ago
Yes, I think you have identified the main point. The shortage of available men for 30-something women is counterbalanced by all the 18 year old guys who can't get a date because their female peers are hanging out with college students, and
49.
by billroberts 18y ago
Never mind Paul Graham, where is Rick Astley?
50.
by billroberts 19y ago
In a previous life I spent a lot of time writing and working with software to solve partial differential equations to describe various types of fluid flow. It's a big and complex subject: very roughly speaking the accuracy of the simulatio
51.
by billroberts 19y ago
mysql>
52.
by billroberts 19y ago
I don't think I could pass Steve's interview - that's why I had to start my own company :-) Hmm, I wonder if I should sack myself...
53.
by billroberts 19y ago
In what kind of job interview would asking any of these help you select an employee?