nick_urban

13 ms·

61.
by nick_urban 14y ago
I wonder if the two groups are 1. the ones who discovered the "Slow" setting in preferences, and 2. the ones who didn't. When the transition is set to Fast, I find it very jarring. When it's set to slow, I barely notice it.
62.
by nick_urban 14y ago
'Spend time with people who want to have the kind of life you want to have.' This is a great motto if you actually know what you want. If not, you might choose the wrong people and end up with something that doesn't make you happy. Also be
63.
by nick_urban 14y ago
Arts and Letters Daily collects links to a variety of interesting articles, mostly from the humanities. http://www.aldaily.com
64.
by nick_urban 14y ago
BMI is a misleading indicator in this case. It doesn't differentiate by body composition at all (e.g. fat vs muscle). I doubt very much that adding muscle to an underweight person would decrease that person's life expectancy. Probably it wo
65.
by nick_urban 14y ago
I just finished a year of living out of a suitcase. I was pretty careful in choosing what clothing to bring, but even still, there were lots of things I barely used. Minimalism takes time to perfect. And for those who are wondering: nobody
66.
by nick_urban 14y ago
The most blunt approach is not always the best. People know how to read between the lines.
67.
by nick_urban 14y ago
The biggest take-away for me is that we are changing the way we do... pretty much everything. Two things I noticed: 1. There is a big shift towards convenience and broader participation. 2. An increasing proportion of our activities are con
68.
Thou shalt not commit logical fallacies [pdf](s3.amazonaws.com)
3 points by nick_urban 14y ago|0 comments
69.
by nick_urban 14y ago
Between Socrates and Hardy lies is a long tradition of "Apologetics", the intellectual defense of beliefs or actions (especially religious ones). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apologetics
70.
by nick_urban 15y ago
Do something completely different. Don't code for a year. If you loved it once, it will come back to you.
71.
by nick_urban 15y ago
It's not that client-side applications are easier to reverse-engineer. If the application is all client-side, it can literally just be downloaded and reused by a would-be competitor.
72.
by nick_urban 15y ago
I really wanted ActiveResource to work for me, but I had a few requirements that it couldn't meet, like camelCased attribute and resource names, HTTP caching, and the ability to change authentication at runtime without race conditions (sinc
73.
by nick_urban 15y ago
Thank you. Well said. When I was a student of software engineering, I felt strongly that there was not enough emphasis given to what effect the use of computers has on humans, and what sort of software we ought to make to benefit humans. Th
74.
by nick_urban 15y ago
Studying Zen made me realize that most of the teachings which people interpret moralistically (or theologically) actually point to a psychological reality.
75.
by nick_urban 15y ago
Hackers frequently have an idea, build 90% of an MVP and then never launch. Why would they get so close and never cross the finish line? It seems obvious: if you don't launch, you can't fail. A subtle fear of rejection is understandably com
76.
by nick_urban 15y ago
That would be an incredible, sci-fi level achievement, but it would not be a "perpetual motion machine" in the common sense, because it would derive its power from the sun rather than producing it internally. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P
77.
by nick_urban 15y ago
Thank you for a very clear, informative post. I've thought about this a fair amount, and you still managed to explain it in a way that made it new to me. You do credit to lawyerkind.
78.
One Way Forward: Feedback for a Revolution(oneway.lessig.org)
1 points by nick_urban 15y ago|0 comments
79.
The New Age of Collaborative Consumption(zirtual.com)
1 points by nick_urban 15y ago|0 comments
80.
by nick_urban 15y ago
I can think of a few reasons: 1) MacBooks are pleasing to the eye. ThinkPads are well-designed functionally but ugly. Aesthetics don't matter to everyone, but to those for whom they do matter, they are not a frivolous concern. Working in an
81.
The Virtues of Being Ridiculous(nickurban.com)
1 points by nick_urban 15y ago|0 comments
82.
by nick_urban 15y ago
Since our respect for cartoons is so great, some of it ought to wear off on "books", which apparently inspired them?
83.
by nick_urban 15y ago
How about a high desk that you can stand at, with a stool or drafting chair for when you want to sit? A tall chair seems a lot easier / cheaper than an adjustable desk.
84.
The best source of intelligent articles online(aldaily.com)
1 points by nick_urban 15y ago|0 comments
85.
by nick_urban 15y ago
I agree with that as well. One subset of this is "The MBA Effect" where managers who are also engineers are replaced by profesional managers. This is what leads to things like trying to compete on lowest costs rather than building the best
86.
by nick_urban 15y ago
I started programming because I was fascinated by computers. It wasn't until years later that I found out it was a lucrative job. It sounds like your recommendation would be for everyone to chase money regardless of their passions. You have
87.
by nick_urban 15y ago
Thank's for introducing "regulatory capture" to my vocabulary. It does seem to capture much of what people are angry about (bailouts, etc.). I'm guessing you haven't heard it used by the protesters, it's because it sounds so academic. If th
88.
by nick_urban 15y ago
Are computers inefficient and software complex and unwieldly? Sure, but I suspect the sense of fatigue and disappointment is due mostly to the cause he mentions last: the irrelevance (or even hostility) of most computer applications to a li
89.
by nick_urban 15y ago
I agree that people who are capable of doing high level work should do so, but the comparison shouldn't be a high-powered lawyer vs. picking up trash, it should be: being a high powered lawyer vs. being a "high-powered leader" of a social m
90.
by nick_urban 15y ago
I don't think we're are doomed to be narcissistic, but it's very easy to be so. This is a question which deserves to be taken seriously. The author is expressing a position that a lot of people fall into without actually being comfortable a

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