betelnut's comments

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: The Department Of Homeland Security Is Now Bitching At Me On My Blog

I dislike TSA as much as the next casual traveller, but why are they such a bugbear for HN?

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: Ask HN admins: please stop editing submission titles

Seeing both would be nice - something along the lines of:

"Original Title [A brief description if the original title is insufficiently detailed]"

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: How Android devices are keeping webOS alive

webOS was my first introduction to mobile computing so it'll always hold a special place in my heart.

Didn't some of the members of the webOS team join the Android team after HP shut down development? I could be wrong, but I remember something like that happening.

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: "I Will Ruin Him" – How it feels to be stalked

There was a similar story in Texas:

https://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/jp/former-u-of-texas-stud...

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: Self-Destructing Email

Yeah, you're right. I was responding to the general problem of finding stuff in your inbox as restated by others - not the suggestion of self-destructing email. Sorry I was unclear.

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: Self-Destructing Email

If you help doctors, researchers, and others working on life-threatening problems get relevant information they need faster, then you are indirectly helping with these efforts. Not everyone can be the person on the frontline of these critical efforts, but if you can improve their working conditions then surely you've helped out a bit?

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: We are raising a generation of deluded narcissists

It's worth keeping in mind that the people you grew up studying are invariably selected/memorable for their contributions and that it's very hard to identify the same people in your milieu.

Kind of like saying "50s music is better" or "19th century novels are better" - you're benefiting from history's sorting process.

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: My Dream College Won't Accept Me Because I'm a Woman

Agree with this 100% - we need to get past the consumer-oriented "dream school" thinking.

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: Kid Sends Blunt Cover Letter and Now People are Trying to Hire Him

You're right, I should be more clear. What I meant by that is that there's no clear explicit reason why he's interested in investment banking rather than marketing, consulting, publishing, advertising, whathaveyou.

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: Kid Sends Blunt Cover Letter and Now People are Trying to Hire Him

I wouldn't say it's a great cover letter - it's pretty generic and could easily be tweaked slightly for any job/industry.

Also it's sort of sad that he has to debase his university and himself for the lords of finance to consider him.

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: A Simple Suggestion to Help Phase Out All-Male Panels at Tech Conferences

Choices aren't made in a vacuum.

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: Half the Facts You Know Are Probably Wrong

That reminds me of the old joke about medical school: half the things you learn are wrong, and half you forget - you just have to hope it's the same half.

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: xkcd: Instagram

Thanks for answering, I appreciate it. I'm curious how this data is then used by the stores.

The only example I can think of is optimizing store layout based on neighborhood demographics and what those demographics purchase.

However, big box stores all seem so similar - it doesn't appear on the surface that they do a lot of demographic-based differentiation. Unless their demographics are so similar, which defeats the purpose of profiling?

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: Introducing Poke for Mobile

Hmm...maybe cheating on exams?

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: What were the top research papers of 2012 on social media?

I would recommend amending the title - it's a little vague, and led me to expect research papers about social media, not research papers shared via social media.

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: xkcd: Instagram

How so?

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: How to Download Your Instagram Photos and Kill Your Account

As far as I can tell, some Android devices also save your photos (with filters) in a separate album, so you may not need to download them from Instagram directly.

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: The Torture of Bradley Manning

Source? I'm pretty sure the US abolished "people as property" a while back.

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: Lottery Winner Jack Whittaker's Losing Ticket

I don't disagree with you starting from the third sentence, but those first two are remarkably self-congratulatory. It's not clear how being a CS type who follows startups leads you to understand human societies better than anyone else.

betelnut | 13 years ago | on: diary.io - should we build this?

Yes, but (sorry to be immature) maybe register a different TLD so the product name doesn't sound so much like diarrhea?