jcousins's comments

jcousins | 7 years ago | on: What did Google+ get right?

I scrolled through my long dead plus profile before I nuked it a few weeks ago. The main thing I noticed is that I posted a broad spectrum of things there from all the hobbies and interests in my life. When I moved to twitter my profile became almost two dimensional - mostly about two topics of interest and nothing in between. Lots of quips and no longform posts. Although I do like being able to curate my feed and my own posts down to a very limited set of topics, I also miss the way I could discover new things on Plus and, long before that, Stumbleupon. It was easier to break out of my echo chamber. I don't have a modern day tool to fill that role (would love to hear some options if anyone has suggestions)

jcousins | 7 years ago | on: On Overcoming Pain

I'm always glad to read of another person getting multiple benefits from low/ish carb eating. I live with chronic pain from a spinal infection and also happen to have disordered eating issues. Low carb was _an_ answer to both of those problems. It's not magic, I won't hail it as the one solution to myriad problems but my inflammatory markers, blood sugar markers (reversed t2d), weight (lost 200lbs) and ability to live with a modicum of normality (was bed bound) don't lie.

For anyone that likes complex problem solving and wants to start down the low carb road, I cannot recommend Ivor Cummins'[1] and Dr. Jeff Gerber's[2] work on diabetes and cholesterol enough.

[1] https://twitter.com/FatEmperor

[2] https://twitter.com/JeffryGerberMD

jcousins | 7 years ago | on: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

I will desperately miss the clean inbox paradigm when Inbox goes. I am struggling to go back to the old way of managing my email with no done button and poorly configured categories. I feel like I have to do it now or I won't adjust in time for Inbox being sunsetted early next year.

jcousins | 7 years ago | on: Radiolab: Post No Evil [audio]

I find the style patronising to the point of irritation. Overly edited, repeatedly cutting to the hosts instead of letting the subject just damn well speak and letting the listeners damn well think for themselves. Maybe I am overly critical but I listen to a wide spectrum of podcast content and their style really gets my back up to the point I gave up listening recently.

jcousins | 7 years ago | on: Twitter company email addresses why it’s #BreakingMyTwitter

> People who didn't watch him still don't watch him

I'm not sure. I think this might be the type of advertising that money can't buy. It puts him and his enterprise, even if temporarily, in front of a wide range of people who would otherwise never waste a single cycle on his content.

jcousins | 7 years ago | on: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

I had mood issues with one meal a day regime, I managed to resolve it with Tryptophan supplementation (an amino acid known to act as an antidepressant, avoid if taking SSRIs) for two months and upping my cruciferous vegetable intake significantly (half a kilo a day). This was after reading The Diet Cure by Dr. Julia Ross. I have since stopped taking the Tryptophan and mood remains stable.

jcousins | 7 years ago | on: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

Congratulations on what you have achieved. I have had very similar experiences going from 450lbs+ to 250lbs and counting as a disordered eater. The low carb change had a marked impact on my willpower, among a plethora of benefits, but introducing long term and intermittent fasting took it to another level where I was finally comfortable stating that I am in control after 20 years of battling disordered eating. I am thrilled to read of others getting the same results.

jcousins | 7 years ago | on: StumbleUpon closing after 16 years, accounts can be migrated to Mix

I have many fond memories of Stumbling back in the day, made some genuine connections with a few Stumblers, more so than I ever did with Friendster etc.

The only other social media service that resulted in similar genuine connections with other like-minded folks was MySpace music. I've not found that x-factor - serendipity, I suppose, with a platform since.

jcousins | 8 years ago | on: 2018 Stellar roadmap

There was a guy who scripted himself a huge number of the facebook giveaway airdrop. I have vague recollections of his hoard being invalidated via a hard fork or some other method!

jcousins | 8 years ago | on: 2018 Stellar roadmap

It was 6000 in the original airdrop, and after that there was an airdrop against bitcoin addresses in a proportional fashion (only if you chose to claim them, if i am recalling correctly.)

jcousins | 8 years ago | on: Ask HN: How do you stay healthy?

At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, low carb eating and intermittent fasting have changed my life. The way it puts you in touch with yourself and naturally regulates your mood and caloric intake is almost magical. It takes some time and tweaking to get to that point but if a person can be consistent about it for six months, it then becomes a natural way of eating/living. The knowledge on why it works is all out there now for us to absorb, it's just a matter of having the confidence to take control of our own health rather than relying on doctors that wouldn't recognize a research paper if it hit them across the head!

jcousins | 8 years ago | on: ETH price hits $500

If you invested 1BTC in the ethereum presale in 2014 (about $600 at the time) and kept that ether, you now have the equivalent of $1M in ether.

Has that much value really been created?

jcousins | 8 years ago | on: Vitalik Unveils Ethereum 2.0 Roadmap

Putting aside the contributors and developers I think people invested based on one theme - chasing gains. The technology sounded great, I imagine people spent some time learning about an area of computing they really had no understanding of but the technology was probably far from the main reason they chose to invest. I doubt that the economics came into the decision making process at all.

Back in 2014 it made sense to divest a small proportion from bitcoin if you made significant gains. Fresh, crypto-wealthy people with little to no investing experience (or even basic wealth management) tended to look to new cryptocurrency projects rather than fiat vehicles for divestment. Say what you will about that line of thinking, but it paid off for anyone that held onto their presale ether. At the time there were many new similar projects running presales. Some of those are now at a loss based on bitcoin's value, others are breaking even or failed and ethereum has gone parabolic.

The going rate if you participated near the beginning of the ethereum presale was 2000ETH/BTC which was ~$600 at the time. This was an easy gamble for anyone with double digit bitcoins and the foresight to invest conservatively. One bitcoin invested in the ethereum presale is now worth nearly $1M.

Does it make sense invest in this space now as an independent investor? Definitely not. The signal to noise ratio is god awful, the economics don't make sense (to me, at least), the sharks are circling and it is going to take a long time for the technology to catch up with the hype.

When we see crashes of epic proportions I believe it is going to bring heavy-handed regulation and many are going to lose everything. People will be looking for blood and they will look to projects like ethereum for their pound of flesh.

page 1