ghaff

40 ms·

961.
by ghaff 11mo ago
I don't totally disagree. On the other hand, based on the MOOC I took, had I been going in literally cold (as in college, new experiences, this is my chance to dive into CS and programming), I'd have been completely lost in a way
962.
by ghaff 11mo ago
Way back in the day, you did have a few programming classes especially outside of CS/EE given that it was perfectly reasonable for students to have no or little prior exposure to computers and programming. See FORTRAN coloring book. An
963.
by ghaff 11mo ago
There's definitely a tension at top STEM schools (probably especially in CS) between assuming students have some baseline knowledge of whatever field and just tossing them into the deep end of the pool and figuring out the practicaliti
964.
by ghaff 11mo ago
Outside of the odd anthology series, a film really need to, in general, be at least 90 minutes for commercial viability. The same thing goes on with non-fiction books. Yes, you can have magazine articles but a published book needs to be a
965.
by ghaff 11mo ago
A lot of people probably bought them for the novelty and then decided they weren't really all that useful for their homes and lifestyles. At least that's what a number of friends have told me. Cordless stick vacs also came in and
966.
by ghaff 11mo ago
Novella actually :-) Very good story. Published at about the same time as Vernor Vinge's True Names, which while quite different explored some of the same proto-Internet themes.
967.
by ghaff 11mo ago
Audio only is a lot easier IMO. For one thing, you're not also dealing with waving your hands around so much and thinking about where your eyes are focused. And you can't as easily refer to at least a semi-script. I learned to c
968.
by ghaff 11mo ago
Probably fair. I have a pretty high tolerance for both a level of floor droppings and clutter until I pull out my broom vac every week or two. And I do have a housekeeper every 3-4 weeks to do a deeper cleaning--a lot of which wouldn't
969.
by ghaff 11mo ago
I guess. If I need to vac a room, that's probably 5 minutes work to pull out a broom vac and do it.
970.
by ghaff 11mo ago
I'm not sure that's fair but you need the right house layout and right practices in terms of cords/clutter/etc.
971.
by ghaff 11mo ago
The big thing for me was that hauling out a canister vac was just a big PITA. But I concluded that a 10 minute job with a broom vac (Dyson) dealt with 80% of the headache (and I had a monthly housekeeper anyway). A robovac just didn't
972.
by ghaff 11mo ago
My brother has a house that is pretty much custom-made for a robo-vacuum. One level, no transitions, they have pets. And they like it well enough (not an iRobot)--and it still gets tangled up in stuff from time to time. I have a 2-level hou
973.
by ghaff 11mo ago
I have nothing to do with the medical establishment. I do know that the conferences I do attend are subsidized by companies in the tech space in various ways. You're welcome to bemoan that of course although I'm pretty sure neithe
974.
by ghaff 11mo ago
Probably a difficult question to answer. My sense is that high quality new hardwood furniture hasn't gotten especially more expensive over recent time (adjusted for inflation) but you'd probably have to ask someone in the industry
975.
by ghaff 11mo ago
People (and their companies in many cases) have limited budgets. I do pay out of my pocket for some conferences, and conference organizers and (previously) employers in other cases. You're probably not going to convince me that I'
976.
by ghaff 11mo ago
And there are both cheaper proprietary programs and even free open source programs if they care that much. There are a lot of way cheaper software options, especially on the desktop, in many cases than there were 25 years ago.
977.
by ghaff 11mo ago
Law in the US is actually not that great an overall profession in terms of compensation if you're not talking top schools, white shoe firms, and a prestigious clerkship.
978.
by ghaff 11mo ago
Journals less commonly but pretty much every conference out there of any scope is sponsored by companies. In fact, absent sponsors, very few conferences would exist other than small volunteer-run ones.
979.
by ghaff 11mo ago
I don't really disagree. There's something to be said about being able to watch things at your own pace on your own schedule. At the same time, you give something up by not having historical broadcast TV schedules. Though I expe
980.
by ghaff 11mo ago
:-) I think one of the problems with speaking for video is that you're self-conscious and feel you need to be perfect. When I started doing a lot of recorded presentations during COVID, I just felt uncomfortable in a way that I didn&#x
981.
by ghaff 11mo ago
While it had its flaws, Babylon5 was like that as well. Probably Lost even if it IMO went downhill latterly. I'm not really a fan of binge-watching. A lot of shows are constructed in a way that rewards a slow rollout even if that'
982.
by ghaff 11mo ago
Basically don't have any of that stuff except a keypad door which I don't really use.
983.
by ghaff 11mo ago
I've taken a few public speaking classes and I remember one made a point of remembering to pause. I also remember a senior IBM exec who, during Q&A at analyst conferences, would make notes (or seemed to) which served a few purposes
984.
by ghaff 11mo ago
I get the parent's point though. There's a certain late night weekly thing that, for many of us, is hard to replicate with anytime/anywhere even if you could in principle.
985.
by ghaff 11mo ago
Which is something I have zero interest in doing. If it's a good/interesting podcast, it's not about getting fed information "efficiently" for me. That said, I have recorded some podcasts with people where I felt I
986.
by ghaff 11mo ago
On the one hand, I tend to not do formal rehearsals a lot of the time. On the other, I also find that if I give a live talk for the second or third time, it often is better because I find some things that worked in my head don't work
987.
by ghaff 11mo ago
A lot of walls were open after a kitchen fire. Electrician was redoing a lot of knob and tube and other older wiring. I had previously had a limited amount of DIY wireless switching (originally X10 but then a couple of voice-controlled swit
988.
by ghaff 11mo ago
That's different from the credit cards themselves--given the points degrade in value. (And which I should really start to use more.)
989.
by ghaff 11mo ago
I live well out of Boston/Cambridge. These days, I rarely drive in. (Mostly for flights or the occasional theater). I would absolutely go in more if someone/something were driving me for a reasonable cost. I'm actually fairly
990.
by ghaff 11mo ago
Auto companies, yes. As I understand it, airline credit cards are mostly just co-branded cards with existing banks like Chase.

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