dbecker

21 ms·

181.
by dbecker 14y ago
That's fine. Armstrong may be wrong in this case, but he doesn't deserve the ad hominem attack.
182.
by dbecker 14y ago
It's worth pointing out that the original comment claimed Armstrong had no OO experience... not simply that Armstrong wasn't the most knowledgable OO programmer on HN.
183.
by dbecker 14y ago
Designing Erlang is an impressive accomplishment as computing goes. I don't know why you insist Armstrong is a dilettante without any basis.
184.
by dbecker 14y ago
When this happens on sites run by tech-savvy folks, it makes me wonder: How frequently is this happening (and going undetected) on sites with less savvy admins?
185.
by dbecker 14y ago
I'd expect they'll find a way to restore the wiki content. The bigger concern is that someone downloaded their password file.
186.
by dbecker 14y ago
I hadn't downvoted you (yet), but you seem to be suggesting an equivalence between: i) Dying while fighting in trench warfare ii) Paying back money loaned to you for your education (presumably, while living in a comparably safe and climate
187.
by dbecker 14y ago
Would being a slave in the past be any worse than being a slave today? Historically, slaves could be (and were) raped or killed by their "owner." When you talk about "slaves" today, are you talking about someone with a low wage? That's
188.
by dbecker 14y ago
We are one of the few generations that can expect to live past 50. According to Historian David McCullough, the functional literacy rate in 1900 was 11%. Sure, the article focus on students. But, by historical standards, you are extremely
189.
by dbecker 14y ago
Credit card debt is typically sold to debt buyers for about $0.06 on the dollar, and the buyer/collector is usually very happy to collect a fraction of the debt if it means they earn a profit on your account. It is common for them to get so
190.
by dbecker 14y ago
The vast majority of comments here (and, I would guess most non-commenting readers) think this list is pretentious BS. Though it's a tangent: I'm curious about why it has received this many upvotes?
191.
by dbecker 14y ago
For econ PhDs, there is http://cber.uark.edu/2011-12_New_PhD_Labor_Market_Survey_Rep...
192.
by dbecker 14y ago
The value of EC2 depends a lot on your use case. I frequently want quick and easy access to a bunch of instances, but I don't expect to use any single instance for very long. For example, I might partition my data into 30 pieces, and I wan
193.
by dbecker 14y ago
> a phd pays out 150K over six years I'm not a CS PhD, but I'd be astounded if they pay tuition. I knew PhD students in a variety of fields when I was doing mine, and everyone received money from the University rather than paying tuitio
194.
by dbecker 14y ago
I haven't looked at this in depth, but I'm glad to see someone is doing this. We need it.
195.
by dbecker 14y ago
Ok, maybe there isn't else they can do. That doesn't mean that this rebranding is going to help.
196.
by dbecker 14y ago
Currently owning both a macbook and a dell laptop, I assure you that there are differences besides the number of lines they carry. The same holds true if you look at tablets or phones instead of computers. The difference you describe isn't
197.
by dbecker 14y ago
Stata won't work on data that don't fit in memory. It is fast, but it isn't an option for very large datasets.
198.
by dbecker 14y ago
1) This is just ad copy 2) It is dishonest ad copy This model could have been estimated with the biglm library. Revolution's claim that they are the only game in town for big data computing with R is bullshit.
199.
by dbecker 14y ago
If you are looking for a book, "The Art of R Programming" is (by far) my favorite R book. It explains a lot of the general principles behind the language, so you can figure out details for yourself (in comparison to, for instance, the R Coo
200.
by dbecker 14y ago
Personally, pandas was the library that converted me from R to python for general data work.
201.
by dbecker 14y ago
That makes a lot of sense... though people that telling you to "learn language y to become better at language x" never tell us they mean "become an expert in y." And suggesting a 1000 hour investment is a lot different than suggesting a 100
202.
by dbecker 14y ago
I spend most my time doing Python (for scientific programming). Knew Java, C++, Matlab and Perl before I learned Python. A couple years ago, I learned R... I still use that a few times a week. Don't think it's improved my python programmi
203.
by dbecker 14y ago
It is widely recommended that learning a new language will improve your skills with languages you already know, and I've never heard anyone contradict this. But I've never noticed this in my experience. Moreover, whenever I come back to a
204.
by dbecker 14y ago
Though I personally dislike LinkedIn as a company, I think this is unfair criticism. They modified their API to be more sensitive to users' privacy concerns. There is nothing inherently wrong with a company respecting its users' privacy. Th
205.
by dbecker 14y ago
I wish they shared a URL for where the videos will be.
206.
FTC actions on Google set Rules of Patent Wars(nytimes.com)
1 points by dbecker 14y ago|0 comments
207.
by dbecker 14y ago
The "information war" seems like a strange way to look at the world. I use data, and I benefit from access to data. But my use of data doesn't make someone else worse off, and others' use of data doesn't generally make me worse off. If the
208.
by dbecker 14y ago
Thanks to Nathan for writing this post, and thank you Neya for commenting and letting us know about your transition. I occasionally see posts on HN by people right as they are quitting their day-job (or dropping out of school). Those posts
209.
by dbecker 14y ago
If you ask for an explanation in 10 words, you shouldn't complain when it doesn't address all your concerns.
210.
by dbecker 14y ago
Nice job. It's interesting as a list... and I think there's scope to do a visualization that is even more interesting (and also easier to read).

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