donw

82 ms·

841.
by donw 9y ago
This brings to mind one of my favorite little idioms: "If you think hiring experts is expensive, try hiring amateurs."
842.
by donw 9y ago
The follow-on question to an ask like that is nominally a variation on "So, what would that enable you to do?" From there, I can then start digging into what the real problem is. Maybe it was a desire for greater performance, or e
843.
by donw 9y ago
> In July a friend of mine, who is a mac user, said she wouldn't even consider looking at fontforge on her mac unless it behaved more like a mac application. So I figured out how to build a mac Application... > > My friend sti
844.
by donw 9y ago
I was skeptical as well, but it turned out to be a good read. Not quite up to the standards of Anathem or Cryptonomicon, but still definitely worthwhile.
845.
by donw 9y ago
Absolutely; Neal Stephenson's latest book ("The Rise And Fall Of D.O.D.O.") touches on this, in asking what series of "small" changes it would take to unravel the modern world. Was a good read. From where you sit, w
846.
by donw 9y ago
I suspect that it is easy to fixate on fantasies of massive technological leaps forward, because the truly revolutionary changes that underpin our lives are like air: so common that we overlook them all the time. If you were to sit down wit
847.
by donw 9y ago
My big question is: what do people do with theirs? Other than notifications and fitness tracking, I'm struggling to think of a use case for owning one.
848.
by donw 9y ago
"Just be positive" is horrible advice, even for non-depressed people. Sometimes your world really has gone to shit. There is no shame in admitting that. Despair isn't limited only to people that have mental problems. So you t
849.
by donw 9y ago
(2) is very important advice. Don't worry about the big picture. Every day, find yourself some wins and celebrate them. Maybe it's something as small as brushing your teeth. Dental hygene rocks -- go you! Or leaving the house and
850.
by donw 9y ago
If you haven't tried it, a splash of cognac really makes the applesauce pop.
851.
by donw 10y ago
If the team can't hammer things out in a timeboxed meeting, there are some options. With new technology, I'll have a pair of team members spend some time doing exploratory work. Spend some time with the top 2-3 technologies and se
852.
by donw 10y ago
This is an especially big problem for people buying precision tools. I've been looking at picking up some Mitsutoyo calipers, and the overall consensus is that if you buy from Amazon, you'll likely end up with a well-executed coun
853.
by donw 10y ago
Disabling notifications, both on my phone and on my laptop, was one of the best things I ever did, hands down. For the laptop, I've experimented with logging out of most social networks with some good results. I block out an hour every
854.
by donw 10y ago
It works the same on both sides of the political divide.
855.
by donw 10y ago
Also a good idea.
856.
by donw 10y ago
Mind if I ask where in in SE Asia? I'm having a hard time coming up with a place where a couple of retirees could live reasonably on less than about $2k monthly (when factoring in age-related healthcare costs). Which is still probably
857.
by donw 10y ago
Then we need to build an entirely separate practical education track in the United States, similar to how things work in Germany. We could base it in community colleges to leverage existing mindshare and infrastructure. I would actually lov
858.
by donw 10y ago
From my experience working in management over the past decade, I can say with some confidence that most computer science programs excel at pushing out people that can not, in fact, code in the real world. Sure, they can solve ACM-style chal
859.
by donw 10y ago
If the goal of universities is to pass on "deep knowledge", then I would argue that the vast majority of such institutions are utter failures at their mission.
860.
by donw 10y ago
What happens to those people if the dollar plummets in value compared to native currency?
861.
by donw 10y ago
I didn't discover UHT milk until I moved to Germany, and went to the supermarket. It seems that every culture has its own grocery taxonomy, so I had to ask an employee where I could find the milk. She pointed me towards the milk aisle,
862.
by donw 10y ago
This has been my experience as well. Chatbots in China over WeChat act as a lightweight Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, which is highly successful due to a set of market factors which are (at least from my perspective) unique to Ch
863.
by donw 10y ago
Smoked sardines with a splash of lemon are amazing . Capers, or specifically caper brine, also make for a wonderful addition. You could also go for a combination of salt, dill, and Old Bay.
864.
by donw 10y ago
For a couple of reasons. Probably first and foremost is that the goal is to terrorize, not necessarily to kill. You don't need to invest a large amount of resources to make that happen in an age where the political-media complex will l
865.
by donw 10y ago
I'd actually be fine with a mandatory year of military service, but not sure how well that would sell politically to other Americans. Personally, I think it would do a lot to connect Americans from different walks of life. I know a lot
866.
by donw 10y ago
Right now, provided a serial number, American police can trace a gun used in a crime to its last legal owner. It takes a number of phone calls -- first to the manufacturer, then to the gun store, then to the first owner, and down the chain
867.
by donw 10y ago
Good luck!
868.
by donw 10y ago
Same here. From where I sit, Starbucks Via Instant is the competition. It's a notch above the urns of Folgers Freeze-Dried in the grocery store, but like all things Starbucks, still too bitter to really enjoy on its own. Okay, so I&#x2
869.
by donw 10y ago
Fruit in Tokyo is both ludicrously overpriced and, in general, mediocre. Japanese people prefer soft fruit, so crunchy apples are very hard to come by. Many common ingredients in Western cooking don't exist -- I would kill for a supply
870.
by donw 10y ago
Have lived in Japan for about eight years now, with a year-and-a-half somewhere in the middle spent bouncing around Germany. Originally, it felt... very odd, every time I came back Stateside, especially when visiting the podunk suburb where

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