ndespres

27 ms·

1. 241.▲
   by ndespres 9y ago

   Sure, they don't save energy in the sense that the laws of physics must still be obeyed- but by using the power of the catapult to increase the plane's velocity at takeoff, the motor can be optimized for flight rather than takeoff
2. 242.▲
   by ndespres 9y ago

   This is addressed in the article: "We designed and built a pneumatic rail launcher so that the plane does not have to take off under its own power." In the spirit of everything old being new again, the Wright Brothers' origi
3. 243.▲
   by ndespres 9y ago

   Well, it seems unfair to say "investors lost 500k" if they weren't really investing in the ICO so much as taking the bait on a phishing email, which is what it sounds like happened. If a hacker took control of their domain an
4. 244.▲
   by ndespres 9y ago

   I don't doubt that the linked story is true, but I know that individually this can happen all the time inadvertently. I worked for an ISP which provided "dry loop DSL" (DSL without dialtone service on the phone line) in the m
5. 245.▲
   by ndespres 9y ago

   Windows 7 included what you describe as a feature called "Windows XP Mode," which would launch applications inside a Windows XP virtual machine which was closely tied to the host OS. It worked really well for a lot of applications
6. 246.▲
   by ndespres 10y ago

   Space gives you a replacement icon for your time and attention sucks of choice, whether it’s Twitter, Facebook or Snapchat. OTOH the easiest way to do this would be to have the Space app help to automate creation of Safari shortcuts on the
7. 247.▲
   by ndespres 10y ago

   I'm not exactly sure what people mean when they reference "aggressive SJWs" but many would prefer stricter moderation on Twitter. Racists and targeted harassment is a big problem. I doubt that there is a pattern of "soci
8. 248.▲
   by ndespres 10y ago

   Lately for me it's the iOS Music app. Every iOS release it gets further away from the original purpose. Off the top of my head, the "Search" screen used to show the last 10+ things I searched for (artists, playlists, songs, e
9. 249.▲
   by ndespres 10y ago

   I administer my company's internal Confluence server and author most of the content, and I have a few complaints but overall I love using it. What do you dislike about it?
10. 250.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    I'm the type of person who can lose hours reading stories on sites like Jargon File, Folklore.org, Raymond Chen's blog about MS internals, and even more modern internet history stories. And as I wouldn't limit my search on ar
11. 251.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    I subscribed to Chris' newsletter as I hope to hear more about the challenges involved in his endeavor. Starting a small ISP has been a vision of mine since my first after-school job at a ISP helpdesk 15 years ago. I'd really love
12. 252.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    I disagree that the animal welfare labels are doing some kind of lip service to animals, or paying a guilt tax. There is a big difference between a chicken from a factory slaughterhouse, and a grass-fed truly free-ranging (outside) one. Whe
13. 253.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    It reads like the kind of spam that will link me to a program that wants 8 easy payments of $12.99 for a few pamphlets by mail and a patented pheremone spray, guaranteed to help pick up women.
14. 254.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    Here's a "quoted reply" tweet, where the frame that should contain the quoted tweet shows the error page. This is from a few minutes ago. http://www.mynameisneil.com/projects/chickenbucket/files&#x2F
15. 255.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    If the IMDB boards were shut down due to the actions of malicious trolls, sending folks in search of a new movie forum to 4chan is rather ironic.
16. 256.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    Basically this program has NO budget so costs have spiraled "From 2008 to 2012, Lifeline spending grew from $821 million to over $2.1 billion, an increase of over 160%." Sounds like a very successful program that many in need ar
17. 257.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    I remember showing my father the www, probably 20 years ago, and he was incredulous that certain .coms would exist for any reason. "You're telling me I could type 'shoes.com' and there would be a page about shoes? No way
18. 258.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    After using Slack on my team for about a year to get away from the annoyances of Lync/Skype for Business, management made us shut it down for not being an approved product/not defined by company policy/contributing to team fr
19. 259.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    I fear the day I have to call upon my experience birthing livestock to help deliver a human baby.
20. 260.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    Well by that logic, why's the Start menu at the bottom? (Rhetorical question: I assume it's because then it would have been TOO much like the Apple menu).
21. 261.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    One thing I'd like to see explained is the location of "Programs" at the top of the Start menu, rather than right at the bottom where it would be closer and less mouse movement. I do think the Start menu is a much better loca
22. 262.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    I'm so used to the NYC crosswalk buttons being useless, that when I visit other cities I'll find myself waiting at a crosswalk for 2 or 3 cycles before remembering that I won't ever get a "walk" sign without pressin
23. 263.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    A client of mine in NYC was getting gouged for Internet service in their office building, by the incumbent building-wide ISP which seemed to be operated by the landlord. When it became necessary to upgrade to a higher tier of service, their
24. 264.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    You understand that football is a sport, a game, with few long-term consequences outside of the game; sex is usually a deeply emotional experience with many short and long-term effects on body and mind very different from sports.
25. 265.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    Thanks for the link and the correction. I'm going to look into pulling a list of contractors who have used erate funds for infrastructure upgrades which mainly benefited a private prison telco rather than the incarcerated juveniles.
26. 266.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    Not to mention the municipalities that benefit. There's a perverse incentive to pick the vendor with the highest price, since the muni will net a higher dollar value on the kickbacks. I'm interested in seeing more about using erat
27. 267.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    They are part of a cycle of private wealth creation that includes, but is not limited to, the following elements: 1. Local politicians "save money" by outsourcing management of prisons in their districts to private companies 2. Co
28. 268.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    Thanks for sharing. I'm glad this is staying on our radar lately. There was another link discussed here recently ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11648361 ) about how these exorbitant prison phone calls are being r
29. 269.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    Consider that when a woman reports harassment and says "I don't want to cause trouble," it's coming from a lifetime of not having her experiences taken seriously and situations like this backfiring. <i>Boys will be
30. 270.▲
    by ndespres 10y ago

    The American Family Association is a hate group who also believe that gay people are obscene. I wouldn't trust their opinion on what is acceptable.