martalist | 8 years ago | on: What Dog Shootings Reveal About American Policing
Or maybe disarm the population a little so that police don't feel like they're in an arms race?
martalist's comments
martalist | 8 years ago | on: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
>Many (most?) households don't have clothes dryers, using clotheslines instead.
We have a clothes dryer in our home (in Australia), and have used it about once a year over the last 10 years. Usually only in an "emergency". Generally speaking it's always warm enough to dry laundry naturally here, which is why dryers are not so common.
> opting to just layer up when it's cold or try to use fans in the summer.
Insulation in Australian homes is generally terrible. I wish it were different. But I have rarely seen people hesitate to use a heater or AC.
martalist | 8 years ago | on: How MIT OpenCourseWare transformed a learner's life
Is there any reason that you chose MIT OCW exclusively, as opposed to other universities or MOOCs?
Also, how did you decide which psets or labs to do, and which to skip?
martalist | 8 years ago | on: Ask HN: What's the best way to relearn math?
I'm reading Code right now. It really is a fantastic read.
martalist | 8 years ago | on: US Household Debt Surpasses 2008 High
Yes and no. Many of the MOOCs provided by the likes of MIT, Stanford, Berkley, etc, are not watered down. For lesser known providers the quality of content is less certain.
I think a standard in terms of grading would be a huge win.
martalist | 8 years ago | on: US Household Debt Surpasses 2008 High
I can't argue with #3 - some MOOC graders are particularly terrible, too.
However, there's nothing to stop a person studying just as many topics/subjects online, and to cover them in about as much depth.
martalist | 8 years ago | on: US Household Debt Surpasses 2008 High
> the most successful learning experiences I had in university were during face-to-face problem solving sessions with other classmates, small group discussion, and participating in a community of learners of a shared subject.
Paying tens of thousands of dollars per year to associate with others doing the same seems odd.
martalist | 8 years ago | on: Solar Roof
I didn't mention price. It could have been a high-priced, low performance, average-looking, electric, family sedan, and it would have been more effective at transporting people (more seats in a sedan) plus better for the environment. The point is that the appearance and performance sold for personal and emotional reasons.
martalist | 8 years ago | on: Solar Roof
Is it enough if we're ok, but we continue to cause a mass extinction event?
martalist | 8 years ago | on: Solar Roof
> There are other reasons Tesla started with a high-end model.
True, I didn't mean to imply it was the only reason - more that it's good example of appealing to human self-interest to fix a larger problem.
martalist | 8 years ago | on: Solar Roof
One reason I don't see mentioned here is the element of risk. Establishing a solar farm is an expensive operation, and likely carries a lot of risk - particularly as a first mover. Contrast that with a potential ROI for home owners.
martalist | 8 years ago | on: Solar Roof
While noble, it seems the opposite is true. I think most people don't care about future problems, let alone other life forms. Musk has done so well precisely because he's marketed his products in a way that they appeal to people on a personal level. I mean, he could have started with a low performance, average-looking, electric, family sedan. Instead he sold something much more emotive/egotistical, with huge success.
If you want to do the right thing long term, provide products that do the right thing and market them on a personal level.
martalist | 8 years ago | on: U.S. likely to expand airline laptop ban to Europe: government officials
Less chance of the battery terminals coming into contact with a random conductor and short circuiting, maybe?
martalist | 8 years ago | on: Don’t Let Facebook Make You Miserable
> Nothing of value is lost. Real friends and important info finds a way to get through.
I've also found this to be true.
martalist | 8 years ago | on: Don’t Let Facebook Make You Miserable
Along with the groups app, you can get a browser extension to block the news feed, and liberally disable notifications that you don't care about (including email/sms).
martalist | 9 years ago | on: How to Remember More of What You Learn with Spaced Repetition (2016)
huh, nice! I hadn't noticed that before either.
martalist | 9 years ago | on: Biomedical companies bleed 500k horseshoe crabs a year
A mentioned above, cockroaches are not a vulnerable species.
> This is saving human lives.
Maybe I'm weird, but I often wonder why we value our own kind so highly above all others. Is a human life that much more important/valuable than another species? If so, why?
Or is it just a preservation instinct?
martalist | 9 years ago | on: Biomedical companies bleed 500k horseshoe crabs a year
If it's a question of the level of intelligence of the sentient being be exploited in relation to the perpetrating species, precisely at what point would it be ok for a sufficiently intellectually superior alien species to exploit humans for their benefit?
martalist | 9 years ago | on: Who will remember you in 100 years?
It's not morbid, but sensible. No-one gets out of life alive.
An unexpected death in my immediate family several years ago helped me realize how underprepared most of us are for death; for all the people and living things around us to die. Rather than be caught surprised, I've tried to remember that life can end in any moment, and it's best to make the most of things (and borrowed atoms, as you say) while you can.
martalist | 9 years ago | on: The US South’s manufacturing renaissance comes with a heavy price
indeed