cdrxndr's comments

cdrxndr | 12 years ago | on: 40 Days Without Booze

Further your point that ti has been integrated into our culture, I've read interesting pieces (probably linked by HackerNews) where it was integral to the founding of culture at all. We're a pretty edgy species, and alcohol has historic significance in helping us come down from the anxiety of and reach political/social agreement.

Back to the topic, though I'd love to spider on the drugs-in-society vein, I'm glad OP documented the experience. Have a feeling it will make me much more conscience of the assisted wind-down when I grab a beer after work.

cdrxndr | 12 years ago | on: American Summer: Before Air-Conditioning (1998)

My wife and I have elected for no A/C in the city for the last 5 years. Pretty much an experiment in stubbornness, but I'm sure it's also saved real money in electricity and we're also probably so skinny because of it.

We try to keep a cross-breeze going whenever possible; ceiling and floor fans are on full blast at all hours; and most recently, I've enjoyed spritzing my feet with water and lying in front of the fan to cool down.

cdrxndr | 12 years ago | on: American Summer: Before Air-Conditioning (1998)

It's only marginally quieter with the windows closed ... and our's are always open anyways.

Was down in FL on vacation and the wife kept waking up because of the faintest repeating buzz since it was the only noise.

cdrxndr | 12 years ago

They say they don't keep shadow profiles of your external Web traffic [though I can't imagine that's true].

In line with other responses, I use a browser plugin that blocks all traffic to Facebook when I'm not on a facebook.com domain, and I exclusively sign in via incognito mode so the session is destroyed when I'm finished.

cdrxndr | 12 years ago | on: My startup is Microsoft-based, here's why

I'm a little late to the party, but can't believe so few people brought up the lack of availability admitted in this article. The OP is admitting that the company's official stance of availability is that it will restore from 1 hour ago ... and lose client data.

Losing client data is the worst thing you could do as a SaaS. The second worst thing you could do is to not be online - e.g., as someone pointed out; because one app (or even something out of your control) took out all your services.

MS is not really the story here. Cost of HA in typical Linux vs. MS stacks, which wasn't addressed at all in the article, is what is relevant.

cdrxndr | 12 years ago | on: Mac Pro

Dyson? You're so far off ... it's clearly Darth Vader.

I can't believe no one has recognized the classic Lucas handiwork. The helmet descending on the tangled mass of circuits. The signature triangular mouth piece is so clearly evident in the heat exchanger. I can just hear it cooling ...

Amazing retro-future design cues aside, it might be user-serviceable for all components - will wait for the teardown. It's gorgeous enough to be on the desktop and may be quieter because of the chimney. And it's finally a really powerful Mac.

If you need something more powerful than this, it seems maybe a server is more appropriate.

cdrxndr | 13 years ago | on: Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech

Hey bruv, another fellow alum from the engineering school.

I agree with your sentiment regarding the value of connections, and that's where the premium cost of on-campus MS programs comes in. But there is a clear value to getting a degree with a reputation and accreditation versus learning the same material independently.

Additionally, defending a thesis to a random professor thousands of miles away isn't far off from my real-world work environment. Worked for IBM and literally never met my manager during my tenure. Currently work at a firm with colleagues predominantly across the world and have to manage direct reports, solve problems, and build rapport all the same. Getting things done despite being remote is the direction.

cdrxndr | 13 years ago | on: Do Elite Colleges Discriminate Against Asians?

It's about recruitment. Every IBank and top tier consulting firm recruits heavily from the Wharton graduating class. That's what you're paying for.

You're also getting the opportunity (not guarantee) to get a top tier education - but that can be gotten anywhere. Study for the CFA tests if you really want to know finance. Go to Wharton if you want to get a job.

Was going to jibe about "high paying" job, but that's not really it. It's just any competitive placement benefits from active recruitment.

cdrxndr | 13 years ago | on: Show HN: Delete with your Macbook Pro's power key

OS X has an delightful affinity for Emacs bindings in standard implementations - try Ctrl-d to delete without leaving home row.

Mind you, if you're in MS Word for Mac then you'll just have to suck on an egg: no Ctrl-d, Ctrl-a, Ctrl-e for you.

cdrxndr | 13 years ago | on: To Fight Gridlock, Los Angeles Synchronizes Every Red Light

Don't need rail, just rapid bus transit like Bogota. Have folks pre-pay so loading is snick-snick and give them an enforced lane to themselves.

Bogota does it right, here. NYC is starting to follow a bit with the Select bus lines, as well.

I'm really just shocked that all this time LA didn't synchronise their lights. What have they been doing?! NYC has scientists tuning our lights for a living, and cars aren't our thing.

cdrxndr | 13 years ago | on: Why did men stop wearing high heels?

Arguably a little off topic, but it struck me that Louis XIV had a well known "trademark" of always wearing contrasting red soles and heels, and that this was even historically notable since he "protected" his trademark by not allowing people out of his court to wear them. And still Christian Louboutin has won the right in the US to a legally granted monopoly on contrasting red-soled shoes?

Slapped down: http://nymag.com/fashion/11/fall/christian-louboutin-red-sol...

Wins on appeal: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/06/nyregion/court-rules-loubo...

I just can't get over the fact that a private company owns the trademark right to contrast red soles on high heels ... Louis, back me up.

cdrxndr | 13 years ago | on: Ask HN: Who is hiring? (January 2013)

## SEEKING FREELANCER ##

Looking for a talented ActionScript developer with experience working with Adobe AIR 3 to cross-compile apps for iOS and Android (both mobile and tablet environments). Pure-play development, with design assets and functional specifications to be provided.

Key skills:

* Strong Flash/Flex development skills with examples of interactive interfaces with 2-D animations

* Experience interacting with native-hooks and mobile UI - e.g., accelerometer, single touch flick/swipe - via AIR

Nice to have:

* Experience developing child-oriented games (e.g., simple mechanics)

* Ideally can work on-site in NYC, but remote is fine.

Nondisclosure, noncompete, etc. required.

Contact: [email protected]

cdrxndr | 13 years ago | on: Apple really needs two passwords, not one for everything

I'm a little late to this, but my wife and I share an iTunes account since we have shared devices. The fact that the same password is used to download a free app and to REMOTE WIPE my primary business machine is terrifying. I would like that nuclear password to be 20 random characters and symbols, please, not one that I have to type in on my iPhone whenever I download the new Cut the Rope.

It's just upsetting to think back to the story of the gentleman who had every single device wiped remotely after someone called into Apple support and impersonated him with publicly available information from his Amazon account. Yet very little has been done.

cdrxndr | 13 years ago | on: The Five NYC Taxi Drivers who Refused My Fare

This. I'm all of punishing the hell out of cabbies that cheat (e.g., fare refusals or the out-of-city overcharged fares that were discovered via GPS data), but the failure to get into the cab ruins the whole case.

Get in the cab. State your business. Snap a photo of the driver's license if you are asked to leave and report him/her to 311. Blog to your heart's content on behalf of your company's alternative service.

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