troycarlson | 7 years ago | on: Ask HN: How are you building cross-platform (mobile and browser) apps?
troycarlson's comments
troycarlson | 8 years ago | on: Life as an entrepreneur can be a tough and lonely ride
I loved the marketing video on your Product Hunt post. It's the first app video I've ever laughed out loud at (the message thread emoji's). Great work.
troycarlson | 8 years ago | on: Ask HN: Side project you're working on?
https://getdevour.com (marketing site and old app)
https://app.getdevour.com (new app I'm slowly migrating users over to)
This is incredibly niche at the moment, but people who follow Renaissance Periodization nutrition templates can upload their template and turn a complex spreadsheet/PDF into a simple, filterable app experience. Soon expanding to more nutrition plans.
troycarlson | 8 years ago | on: The Unhealthy Desire for Prestige
One interpretation of this is leaders viewing a young, "hungry" employee who likes to spend money as being more reliant on a salary than someone who's identity isn't so tied to spending money. If the hungry one needs a steady salary to maintain their lifestyle, they're more likely to be loyal to the company because they can't afford to leave. Of course that depends on the employee being someone the company actually wants to keep around and and whether the company can afford to pay them above market value.
troycarlson | 8 years ago | on: Ask HN: How do you keep up the energy to work on side-projects after work?
This is my life.
troycarlson | 8 years ago | on: Ask HN: What books do you keep on your desk?
This book has helped me recognize various cognitive biases and heuristics that I or the people around me are demonstrating. Sometimes people say things that just "feel" wrong and this book has helped me identify and name why it feels wrong. It can get a little dry at times, but for the most part the research and examples are memorable. I also find the framework of the "two systems" to be a simple reminder to slow down and think about things that surprise/frustrate me before arriving at conclusions (or responding to that frustrating coworker :P).
troycarlson | 8 years ago | on: Zuckerberg on Cambridge Analytica situation
I like the part where he says, "We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you." Facebook doesn't "serve" consumers, it built an RPG that harvests user data and sells it to the highest bidder.
troycarlson | 8 years ago | on: Unnecessary medical care is harming patients physically and financially (2015)
Bundled payments are slowly gaining traction and help align incentives a little better.
troycarlson | 8 years ago | on: Introducing Uber Health, Removing Transportation as a Barrier to Care
I believe a missed appointment will cost the provider more than the cost of a ride. Also, I believe CMS reimburses for non-emergency medical transportation, which may include Uber Health.
https://www.cms.gov/medicare-medicaid-coordination/fraud-pre...
troycarlson | 8 years ago | on: Ask HN: Change career at age 30 in 2018?
I think the intro level courses from Harvard, MIT Open Courseware, etc. are excellent resources for people just getting started. Instead of watching that 3rd episode of TV on Netflix...just watch an MIT lecture. Then watch it again next week and see how much you remember. And the week after that. Throw it on while you’re cooking or doing laundry or something.
troycarlson | 8 years ago | on: Ask HN: How did you like your job in 2017?
You may find those technical inefficiencies are what enabled the business to mature and sustain itself...I know several people whose “business” has extremely “efficient” tech but zero revenue. I.e. customers don’t care how efficient the tech is so long as they can pay you money to solve their problem...and putting too much energy into the tech prevents you from other revenue-generating activities such as lead generation, sales, etc.
troycarlson | 8 years ago | on: Hired – Technical Interview Score
Any suggestions for how to improve the process? I've been conducting a lot of technical phone screens lately and I'm always interested in how to make it better for both parties.
troycarlson | 8 years ago | on: Ask HN: What's an important problem that more people should work on?
Not sure how you're soliciting feedback but you'd probably have pretty good luck volunteering for them and observing/conversing while getting first hand experience. Plus you'd make some friends (beta users).
troycarlson | 8 years ago | on: Magnesium and the Brain (2011)
I started supplementing Magnesium about two years ago after listening to Tim Ferriss' interview with Charles Poliquin [0]. It has absolutely improved my sleep quality, workout recovery, testosterone levels (likely due to improved sleep), and mild depression. I recommend listening to the interview if you're interested in this type of stuff. Charles is a bit polarizing but he has consistently produced world class athletes over the years so he knows a few things.
troycarlson | 9 years ago | on: Juice may taste good, but unlike the fruit, it’s not healthy
I see a lot of people consuming things like juice, whole grain breads, breakfast cereals, sugar-filled nut butters and yogurts, etc. claiming they made "healthy" choices. Of course everything is fine in moderation but a heaping pile of sugar and simple carbs with no lean proteins, good fats or greens is far from healthy. The solution would seem to be better nutrition education so that more people recognize the fat free yogurt they just felt good about eating had 25g of added sugar per serving.
troycarlson | 9 years ago | on: Ask HN: What newsletters do you read every day or week?
There are a handful that I actually look forward to reading:
My Quora Digest
Money Under 30 [0]
Strength Sensei [1]
troycarlson | 9 years ago | on: Introducing Cloud Functions for Firebase
A lot of people use the Firebase Queue library for this:
troycarlson | 9 years ago | on: NASA C Style Guide [pdf]
I love seeing internal documents like this that are used at reputable companies. They're both educational and a fun glimpse into how high-performing teams operate.
troycarlson | 9 years ago | on: Slack may regret its letter to Microsoft
One thing Skype doesn't do so well: when a new person joins they then have to add every other team member one-by-one. With Slack you simply join the team and have immediate access to everyone. Not a huge deal with small teams but adding 50+ people on Skype is a real PITA.
troycarlson | 10 years ago | on: GiveDirectly Planning to Give $30M in Basic Income to East Africa
I'm not an economist so I'm sure there are variables I'm not accounting for, but here's my opinion. I think the difference is that an endless supply of money (we know it's not truly endless, but a large influx of cash) allows commerce to occur and people can buy/sell more than commodities. The mere existence of a bank doesn't improve the lives of citizens if said citizens have no money to purchase food/goods and no assets to offer as collateral to take out a loan in the first place. There needs to be some sort of economy in place before a bank will benefit a population anyway. The bank could also benefit because residents now have assets to leverage when seeking cash above and beyond their basic income since I'm assuming starting a business may cost more than donations or a basic income would provide.
I would love to hear others' opinions on this.
It works great for my simple web app. Obviously, your mileage may vary.