efremjw's comments

efremjw | 6 years ago | on: iRobot Terra Robot Lawn Mower – First Impressions

Man look at that little critter fly!! I think the principles for using an AM radio are sound. I found two radios, and used them, but I couldn't quite make sense of what I was hearing. Perhaps there was a ton of localized interference. I stepped up my approach by purchasing an underground wire locator from Amazon. This gizmo sends an amplified steady signal down the perimeter wire and a separate portable device listens for the signal as I walk along the perimeter. This didn't work as easily as I'd hoped. My guess is that due to the existence of one very large perimeter wire and three intersecting shortcut-to-home wires, there's some interference/signal degradation that complicates finding the break, especially since there's normally multiple breaks due to the relatively large population of squirrels. There's got to be an easier way to find a break! I think the conclusion here is that I should just keep a bunch of loaded bird feeders to occupy their time!

efremjw | 6 years ago | on: iRobot Terra Robot Lawn Mower – First Impressions

Same problem here! Squirrels have gnawed through my perimeter wire dozens of times. I have the Husqvarna Automower 450x, which allows for three shortcut home wires. Repairing the broken wire is easy...finding the break, however, is extremely difficult and time consuming. I've had the mower for 2 years and it's been awesome in every other way. I'm thinking of pulling up my entire perimeter wire and installing a new wire deeper. No doubt this will make finding future breaks more difficult, but I hope that by being deeper, the squirrel problem will go away.

efremjw | 7 years ago | on: Ask a Knifemaker: The Truth About Damascus Steel

Right, but even raw pure stainless of let's say 304 or 316 will rust in naked form due to the small crevices left on the surface straight from the mill...if multiple dissimilar layers of stainless or folded, it seems to me that stainless Damascus will be very vulnerable to rusting... unless there is something in the chemistry between the individual layers that mitigates this, no?

efremjw | 7 years ago | on: Ask a Knifemaker: The Truth About Damascus Steel

Is it possible to make corrosion resistant stainless in the Damascus style...or will the dissimilar materials cause galvanic corrosion or the spaces between the different alloys result in crevice corrosion?

efremjw | 11 years ago | on: Ask HN: What is the argument against a custom integration vs. API?

Obscure ecommerce platform ABC doesn't have an API with inventory management software XYZ. The ABC customer is considering paying a few thousand bucks for the integration with XYZ. Other ecommerce platforms have an API with XYZ. Should the customer pay for the integration or seriously consider changing ecommerce platforms? What are the critical ongoing performance and maintenance factors to consider?

efremjw | 11 years ago | on: NYC Rat Map

Two weeks ago, I actually met a city health department employee who focuses on rat populations in NYC. She was doing a survey of businesses along Avenue C (Alphabet City) in reaction to complaints of a swelling rat population on Avenue B. Apparently, Hurricane Sandy had washed significant parts of the rat population from Avenue C to Avenue B...and with the start of the cold season, those rats will be looking for warmer places to hang...perhaps on Avenue B.

efremjw | 12 years ago | on: Worse

so don't pay for it you moron

efremjw | 12 years ago | on: How many hours are startup team members working on average?

the guys who care are probably working nonstop...anyone with skin in the game (meaningful equity) will work their asses off. but this doesn't translate cleanly into hours worked. i also somewhat harshly believe that lazy founders should forfeit the equity and quit altogether. tech guys focus in spurts and work whenever they want (as they should!); and if they know what they're doing, they also properly manage the risk of burn out. so a tech guy who's hustling will prob code for ~40 hours but also do a ton of background research and toying around throughout the week to make his product better. non-tech guys consider networking work, so the number of hours doesn't mean much. working that biz dev relationship from 10pm-2am doesn't count! i've certainly seen teams come together and work insane hours to meet a deadline, or fix problems...but unless you want to see tons of mistakes, this type of schedule is hardly sustainable. as a rule: in a normal environment, balance is crucial.

efremjw | 13 years ago | on: Show HN: Instant Google Street View

Any idea why typing in 568 Broadway NY gives you an inside view of the Armani Exchange store across the street from the actual correct address? This works on both qsview and showmystreet...so I assume there's an error in the Google database.
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