neilc

109 ms·

961.
by neilc 18y ago
Human beings ought to live in groups of around 150 people, judging from the logarithm of our brain size The "logarithm of our brain size" meaning what, exactly? I'm curious as to how Dunbar arrived at this conclusion.
962.
Plans for integrated replication in PostgreSQL(markmail.org)
1 points by neilc 18y ago|0 comments
963.
by neilc 18y ago
i think alot of VCs invest other peoples money Essentially all VCs invest other people's money. If you invest your own money, you are an angel investor, not a VC.
964.
Communication can stunt innovation(michaelnielsen.org)
1 points by neilc 18y ago|0 comments
965.
by neilc 18y ago
It used to be, but 1997 is a while ago; the Bishop book is more popular nowadays, I believe.
966.
by neilc 18y ago
Really interesting interview -- thanks for posting it! Just the sort of content I love to see on news.yc
967.
by neilc 18y ago
Sure, in the case of Linux vs. FreeBSD, you're probably right (although there are certainly more factors involved than just licensing). My point is that requiring code to be given back doesn't necessarily yield a healthier ecosystem, or eve
968.
by neilc 18y ago
Of course, more companies contribute back to Linux than contribute back to FreeBSD; they're obligated to. I don't think it's as simple as that. The license has a major influence on the ecosystem around the project, and it is that ecosyste
969.
by neilc 18y ago
Was that not obvious from the article?
970.
by neilc 18y ago
Cool, I will likely also be taking 281A.
971.
by neilc 18y ago
Well, you said that "normal people" would read a book "long before" going to school, which I think is not true in many domains. My second point was not just that you can learn from your peers, but that there is a social environment at a sch
972.
by neilc 18y ago
they'll turn to books and self teaching long before school unless they're extremely young and still think of school as life. On the contrary, many people take classes and attend conferences, workshops and seminars at many different ages.
973.
by neilc 18y ago
Normal people who want to learn such things pick up a book and read about it. I would be very surprised to find very many "normal people" who have the drive to learn, say, probability theory or statistics to any reasonable depth by self
974.
by neilc 18y ago
You'll become part of the founding team; together we'll architect and realize Sproost's vision. Suggests that a considerable amount of equity compensation could be involved. But yeah, when they said "first hire", that was my thought as we
975.
by neilc 18y ago
Why the hate? I thought it was a fairly well-written article.
976.
by neilc 18y ago
Why not just do it yourself via Greasemonkey? The bitching about xkcd is getting annoying (as is the constant speculation about "Is this the moment when HN is going to jump the shark?)
977.
Measuring Informational Distance Between Cities(flowingdata.com)
6 points by neilc 18y ago|1 comments
978.
by neilc 18y ago
Well, those were just madeup numbers. If you use a computer more often, the case for getting good equipment is more compelling, of course.
979.
StickK.com: Motivation via "anti-charities"(michaelnielsen.org)
1 points by neilc 18y ago|0 comments
980.
by neilc 18y ago
If you're optimizing for the best bang-for-your-buck, then I agree. But if you spend all day working on a computer or depend on using a computer to make your living, I think it is very easy to justify buying highend equipment. $2.5k vs. $1.
981.
by neilc 18y ago
One thing that always annoys me a bit is when people say "life is priceless" -- because our behavior is certainly not consistent with that. We could save many human lives via a myriad of expensive policies -- for example, requiring all cars
982.
by neilc 18y ago
Perhaps Gates overstates the case slightly, but I would say that there is a strong correlation between "X is a good programmer" and "X is an effective code reviewer" -- and the ability to quickly and accurately read code and to understand d
983.
by neilc 18y ago
The speed which the code can be understood says much more about the writer than the reader. I think the point is that you hold the writer of the code invariant, and then substitute different code readers; the rates at which two dif
984.
by neilc 18y ago
Neither am I -- but I am from a culture where tipping is a social convention.
985.
by neilc 18y ago
If I tip in a restaurant, it's because I want to be remembered. So you never tip at a restaurant to which you're not going to return? (Suppose you're dining at a restaurant while traveling.) Besides, the chance that you're going to
986.
by neilc 18y ago
Is it just me, or is http://www.chatterous.com/ broken in FF3?
987.
by neilc 18y ago
There are lots of other jobs that involve minimal physical activity -- I think a major factor is that some IT workers have pretty poor diets and don't get much physical activity outside of work. Obviously that's a stereotype to some degree,
988.
The Safest Seat To Sit On A Plane Is...(flowingdata.com)
10 points by neilc 18y ago|10 comments
989.
by neilc 18y ago
It's funny how people are so eager to generalize from "my wireless card didn't work on Gutsy out of the box" to "Ubuntu [has] very broken wireless driver support".
990.
by neilc 18y ago
The "Web 3.0" stuff is bullshit (anything mentioned "Web x.y" invariably is), but the actual Franz database is an interesting product with some cool technology inside it.

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