brockf

13 ms·

91.
by brockf 15y ago
There's a big difference between "grunts and basic noises" and language. Or at least, that's my opinion. In this same line, I don't believe dogs/monkeys/birds/bees have language, despite the ability to communicate. This view is just to si
92.
by brockf 15y ago
Where is the existing evidence? And what evidence in modern science can possibly look into the future and make a prediction about something that right now is so far beyond our grasp? Statistical learning explains a lot. I'm a huge fan of
93.
by brockf 15y ago
If that was true, then why did humans evolve to speak at all? Why, if speech is simply a reaction to statistics we are tracking and behaviours that have been rewarded, would the first utterances have been made? And how do we make complete
94.
by brockf 15y ago
Since when has science been reasonable? :) In situations like this, I tend to speak in theoretical absolutes. A computer that "could - like humans - learn to produce infinite, novel, contextual, and meaningful grammatical utterances" isn't
95.
by brockf 15y ago
I absolutely agree. I don't care if the computer that automatically transcribes my voicemail understands speech either - I just want it to be correct. That technology is impressive to the utmost degree, I just don't think it should be the
96.
by brockf 15y ago
Throughout history, there have been many "well known and debated" arguments that have proven to be idiotic. See: the shape of the Earth. This isn't one of them, though. And I didn't mean to imply that anyone was an idiot. Instead of crit
97.
by brockf 15y ago
Chomsky's one paragraph quote at the beginning of this article is more clear and thoughtful than the rest of this. I feel the author's missing the point. In the case of language, observing and reporting statistical probabilities in written
98.
by brockf 15y ago
I advocate for a lot of intellectual and software freedoms, but abolishing copyright and all intellectual property concerns (of which this one is entirely valid) seems a bit ludicrous.
99.
by brockf 15y ago
Thank you. This isn't the first time I've heard this, but it's going to be something I will have to keep reminding myself of, I'm sure.
100.
by brockf 15y ago
Thank you for the warning. I know it's brutal, and it's far from a guarantee. However, if all else fails, I'll just come back to this... or so I keep telling myself :) I'm telling myself not to be nervous about all the brilliant people, b
101.
by brockf 15y ago
Totally. To some people, being independent with their own business - regardless of what the do - is meaningful enough. I find some meaning there too. But in 25 years, for me, I'd rather say I teach students about the developing mind than
102.
by brockf 15y ago
Anecdote: I'm 22, have a successful web application business that earns more than any of those median earnings, and am scaling my involvement (and earnings) down to begin my PhD in cognitive science (under the umbrella of psychology, for m
103.
Ask HN: Is cold calling ever an acceptable marketing practice?
7 points by brockf 16y ago|11 comments
104.
by brockf 16y ago
There is really something wrong in the job market when I work two years to get a good hire for my small development company (at a good hourly rate, telecommuting, etc.) and people like Vladimir have to give away their services...
105.
by brockf 16y ago
I do the designs myself - thanks for the compliment!
106.
by brockf 16y ago
This is the latest, completely rebuilt version of my web publishing and e-commerce platform, Caribou CMS. The name has been outgrown slightly but there is enough of a brand created in subscription membership websites that it's not worth ch
107.
Show HN: Caribou CMS - 14 months of development, one 22-yr old developer(cariboucms.com)
4 points by brockf 16y ago|4 comments
108.
Are you trying to sell a product? Or sell your business?(electricfunction.com)
2 points by brockf 16y ago|0 comments
109.
by brockf 16y ago
Might want to tune up your 404 page as well :) http://www.cosupport.us/blog
110.
What does Jeopardy's Watson mean for artificial intelligence?(brockferguson.com)
1 points by brockf 16y ago|0 comments
111.
by brockf 16y ago
I like the general site design, but they could have spent more time on the blog: http://cosupport.us/blog YIKES.
112.
by brockf 16y ago
Potential confounds: * Google submits many more searches with it's instant AJAX search-as-you-type * Google's speed allows users to hone in on better search results by tweaking terms, whereas Bing/Yahoo users don't waste their time with a 2
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Developer introspection: Benefit #167 of writing software API documentation(electricfunction.com)
1 points by brockf 16y ago|0 comments
114.
by brockf 16y ago
From the article: "I know a union that got a substantial pay raise because a politician did not understand that adding and then subtracting 20% gets you to another result from the one you started." Wouldn't this be a pay decrease? x * 1.2 =
115.
by brockf 16y ago
I guess they believed this too? Or maybe not until too late? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre
116.
by brockf 16y ago
Git/SVN imports, and SFTP are the top 2 features on the roadmap.
117.
by brockf 16y ago
If a file is modified at a dropzone, it will be overwritten with the latest release (if that file is modified in the package). So, if I have an index.php file that is never updated, then a dropzone modification of index.php will live forev
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by brockf 16y ago
Thanks - fixed :)
119.
by brockf 16y ago
Been using it internally for a few months. Turning it into a public web app took a few days, as it was built from the get-go for multiple users and secure independent storages, etc.
120.
by brockf 16y ago
I built this system to keep all the users running our new web framework up-to-date with the latest release. It's made being a beta tester better for my clients because I'm able to send out patches at any moment and keep everyone entirely u

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