tom_rath

13 ms·

61.
by tom_rath 17y ago
I'd like to believe in Zubrin's plan more than anyone (I still have a well-highlighted copy of his "Mars Direct - Humans to the Red Planet by 1999" Acta Astronautica paper amongst my many cabinets of the stuff) but that plan is built on ass
62.
by tom_rath 17y ago
...then question some of the 'miracle technologies' used in Zubrin's infrastructure. Yes, if we had Single Stage to Orbit fully reusable rockets and if all issues involved in living on another world were understood, Zubrin's plan(s) would b
63.
by tom_rath 17y ago
Okay, worst case: It doesn't sound as though you would be facing bankruptcy. You would just have burned through 100% of your savings and be left with nothing. That's still not pleasant, but it's a big difference from being bankrupt. I al
64.
by tom_rath 17y ago
Real or not, saying "I Bung it" is going to replace "Googled" for me.
65.
by tom_rath 17y ago
I'm already seeing a fair amount of traffic (paid and organic) arriving from Bing from a variety of geographic locations. Of course, Google still dominates by a monstrous margin, but it's more traffic than I ever saw from Live.com or Yahoo
66.
by tom_rath 17y ago
The Bing interface is prettier and is as-fast-or-faster than Google. That's 'better/more' enough for the typical computer user. Remember: If you're reading Hacker News, you're not a "typical computer user". You're not the type of person
67.
by tom_rath 17y ago
Why does it have to 'kick Google's ass'? As long as the search result quality is comparable, there is no consumer lock-in keeping users from changing their habits and typing 'bing' rather than 'google' in their browser-bar. Remember: Powe
68.
by tom_rath 17y ago
Exactly what I hopped on here to say. To add to it: If someone is going to open their wallet and bother to enter a credit card number on your site, $10 is the same as $25. If your product saves someone a few hours of effort, $25 is a triv
69.
by tom_rath 17y ago
Wasn't that TiVo's business plan before they decided to focus laser-sharp on TV instead of a generic difficult-to-describe home server?
70.
by tom_rath 17y ago
Well, your comment: ""landing a job as an accountant" "I wish I had gone to prison" What's the difference?" Didn't add anything to the discussion more than a brief joke which attacks those who have chosen a difficult, strongly certified pro
71.
by tom_rath 17y ago
Thanks for that. After reading the two-chair tale o' woe, the comment that they "sold the business in pieces" leads me to think his company collapsed after the dot.com bust. Sure, their 1999-2000 balance sheet looked spiffy, but that was th
72.
by tom_rath 17y ago
I know that's intended as a joke but, for what it's worth, you've given a staged example of a 'known unknown' (that is, a teammate unexpectedly being an idiot). An 'unknown unknown' is something neither known nor anticipated. For example,
73.
by tom_rath 17y ago
In artificial worlds and closed environments, the rules are well-defined and success can be planned. There are no 'unknown unknowns' in a gaming environment: Success is granted simply by showing up and hanging around long enough. If you
74.
by tom_rath 17y ago
That makes it easy: There is no in-game sound. If you would like the DF music to play in the background, just fire up the game's mp3 (under /data/sound) on your player and you're off.
75.
by tom_rath 17y ago
I think it was supposed to be Kerouac with up-arrows or something, but the style just doesn't translate well to business writing. The gent's previous blog posts were more coherent, so this appears to have been an experiment.
76.
by tom_rath 17y ago
For those of you who might be looking for something similar in a strategy/empire-building game, Dwarf Fortress is available for free at: http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/ With a free graphics front-end for the game at: http://mayday.w.s
77.
by tom_rath 17y ago
I'd offer only commission on sales (perhaps add in profit sharing if he'll do other work in addition to sales -- you don't want to penalize him for those parts of his job which do not involve selling), that way his performance will be rewar
78.
by tom_rath 17y ago
No kidding! I used to have frequent back pain, with aches that wouldn't go away even after an age of stretching. Six years ago I started on the RCAF's old 5BX program (a quick Google search will lead you to the booklet that describes it --
79.
by tom_rath 17y ago
Exploiter and parasite? How many jobs and how much wealth have _you_ created today?
80.
by tom_rath 17y ago
Have you folks learned nothing from previous examples? Just a few weeks ago, the 'hacker community' was raising torches and pitchforks to defend a logo creator accused of "stealing his own work". We later learned he was likely guilty as ch
81.
by tom_rath 17y ago
So, there should be a follow-up! Can anyone spot if he hit his objectives despite The World Changing around him?
82.
by tom_rath 18y ago
"You're doing it wrong" personified right there. If you're using MacAfee or Norton, that's like wrapping a seatbelt around your neck (as those numbers show). If you're working without at least common-sense anti-virus protection, you're goi
83.
by tom_rath 18y ago
If that's the case, "You're doing it wrong".
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by tom_rath 18y ago
That's like saying a seatbelt doesn't help crash victims much. The trick for both is using it.
85.
by tom_rath 18y ago
I love these articles. Ten years ago, the same dreck would claim 2010 would see us away on extended vacation while WebVan and Pets.com delivered goodies to our internet-automated homes. Of course, everything would be paid for by effortless
86.
by tom_rath 18y ago
It's not laissez-faire and it's not 'suddenly imposed' If there's plenty of bandwidth to go around and existing providers impose caps, then new entrants will lease that bandwidth and provide residential customers with unlimited bandwidth pl
87.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Why? I used to pay for $30 per month for 20 hours of dial-up access, with an extra $1 per hour charged after that. Market forces reduced that cost significantly as new entrants with new technologies emerged to tap into a growing customer b
88.
by tom_rath 18y ago
You're not "relying on Twitter" for a source of news, you're relying on unattributed hearsay which just happens to be transmitted through Twitter. That's not smart.
89.
by tom_rath 18y ago
An e-petition will do diddly. Write your senator, congressman and governor on paper , sign the documents and mail them. Paper letters are the currency of elected representatives, and a stack of 10k letters descending on numerous offices w
90.
by tom_rath 18y ago
I've yet to meet a superb marketer or manager who thrives in a stifling environment. That repeated stereotype among techies reflects the closed-mindedness of cliques rather than some supposed 'liberated' viewpoint of hackers.

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