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normloman's comments

normloman | 10 years ago | on: The Internet of Pointless Things

Yeah but that convenience is very useful. I think we're just talking past eachother. Remotes make watching tv way easier. The question is whether some of these internet enabled devices make things easier or not.

normloman | 10 years ago | on: The Internet of Pointless Things

Yeah but in order to reach that conclusion you have to abstract too much. We can all agree that devices are and will change how we live. But now we're not talking about VR, Smart TVs, or the Internet of Things anymore. Because the truth is, we never know what form the next wave of technology will take. And that's why I'd rather experiment than prophesize.

normloman | 10 years ago | on: The Internet of Pointless Things

I agree that the chips could be cheaper with the right killer app. It's a matter of time. Tech "thought leaders" think that time is now. I think it's still a few years off.

But what solves the issue of being useless? And what is that price-lowering killer app gonna be if IOT means shoving a wifi adapter in your blender?

normloman | 10 years ago | on: The Internet of Pointless Things

Remember in the 90s when everyone said virtual reality and smart TVs were the next wave of high tech? And how all the big companies started putting money into R&D for said technologies? Remember how it never materialized? (Well, it's being realized now, 2 decades late.)

The "internet of things" is the same shit. Something people like to mention at TED conferences. But do we want it? Is the market ready for it? No one's asking that. If you ask me, we're not ready. At the moment, the tech is too expensive and too useless. A few things will win out with affluent customers (thermostats, audio systems). But putting chips in everything we own is a far off dream.

normloman | 10 years ago | on: Stop Breaking the Web

Then how come half the blogs today show black pages when javascript's disabled? Not just applications.

normloman | 10 years ago | on: Even the LastPass Will Be Stolen

No, the point is, people without a password manager tend to use the same password for every account. So you steal the bank password, and it opens your email, facebook, and everything else. Hundreds of failure points. With a password manager, there is just one.

normloman | 10 years ago | on: How new data-collection technology might change office culture

> I'm not going to lie, the social pressure is non-zero, and it is indeed another lever for micromanagers to pull, but I think you're being overly pessimistic here.

Anyone who's ever worked a job in the US and seen the toxic work culture can tell you, you can never be too pessimistic.

>More power to employers is coming whether we like it or not and eternal vigilance will be required to stave off the above said toxicity.

What we need are laws that forbid employers to use this.

normloman | 10 years ago | on: The Most Misread Poem in America

Even believing in a lie?

Not saying our choices don't matter, but we often attribute too much of our own success to our choices, and not our circumstance. Gives off a distorted view of reality. Coming to terms with the truth would be easier.

normloman | 10 years ago | on: I'm Begging for Work

"go out and find a new gig. "

Isn't that exactly what he's trying to do?

"If you ARE a programming fool (like me for example)"

You must have a huge penis.

normloman | 10 years ago | on: I'm Begging for Work

I'm sick of everyone shaming the guy for having 4 kids. It's not like he can reverse time and stop them from being born. So saying he can't afford kids only serves the purpose of making the guy feel bad. Besides, you don't know enough about his situation to criticize his decision to have children.

normloman | 10 years ago | on: John McAfee AMA

Thinking out of the box is not mutually exclusive with having a social life. I know many artists and musicians who are doing truly groundbreaking stuff. They all violate the social norms, and have unusual lifestyles. But all of them are very well connected (in art, you have to be). Their social networks are very broad, and very strong.

He's not saying to obsess or be a workaholic. He's saying be creative. The way to be creative is to relax and let your thoughts drift.

normloman | 10 years ago | on: Rethinking Work

Key word: Material quality of life. So we're saving money on plastic deck chairs and pringles cans. But the cost of health insurance, real estate, and higher education has gone up.

normloman | 10 years ago | on: Rethinking Work

" I can't imagine someone like Steve Jobs or Warren Buffett actually wanting to keep people from resources or excess wealth if they had no use for it."

1. Na, some wealthy people would totally do that. It's their hard earned money and they're entitled to spend it however they want, after all. Get a job and stop looking for handouts!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/fact-c...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2012/09/17/ro...

2. Who says they even have excess wealth to begin with? I may make a billion dollars a year, but I'm living in this cramped mansion, and I've still got payments on my super-yacht. Living this lavish lifestyle is expensive!

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/04/secret-f...

normloman | 10 years ago | on: Anti-Web-Design Manifesto (2013)

All the shitty things we do to websites is to make money. We stuff them full of ads because ads make money. We load 10 megabytes of JS trackers because it helps the ads make money. We paginate articles in order to show more ads, to make money. We add unnecessary columns of social media streams, related articles, and share widgets to trap people in an endless cycle of clicks (to see more ads. To make more money.)
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