Recent submissions

Comment · 12 years ago
Comment · 12 years ago
Thanks. I've been wondering for a while: How much do we know about human psychology is based on studies performed only on 20-year-olds?
Comment · 12 years ago
Related: Posing as neutral Red Cross health workers to infiltrate a hostage camp. The Colombian government did this to rescue a high profile hostage. Most didn't seem to mind, some thought it was clever and honorable to do so. Now it's even more dangerous for all those, present and future, who work for the Red Cross or are wounded/taken hostage in battle. But so what? The Red Cross and the wounded don't get you reelected.
Comment · 12 years ago
Please authenticate with something that's not a phone number! I guess that's the simplest for most people (look at WhatsApp), but the reason why I use things like Signal is because I despise cell carriers. I'd like to use this on a (cheaper) non-cellular device (for myself and family members).

The Holy Grail of Secure Communications: Group Encrypted Text, Voice, and Video. Right now, Skype gives you the unholy grail, but you get all three (+group). I wish Open Whisper Systems luck.

Comment · 12 years ago
You are never on the tracks. That would change the experiment, right? It would be self-defense and not much of a moral dilemma (that many people would struggle with or hold against you, I assume).
Comment · 12 years ago
BitMessage uses private/public keys, but it isn't built on top of email like PGP. It's meant to replace email. It is its own network and protocol, intended to be private at every level.
Comment · 12 years ago
No. They're working on a firefox port, but it will take some time (you can checkout the github issue). It's the only extension I really envy.

Firefox does have Adblock Edge (open source adblock without the silliness).

Comment · 12 years ago
Can I suggest a transcribers peddle?
Comment · 12 years ago
Managing your podcasts can be a complicated thing.

Shows and episodes can exist in different states and use cases. Do I listen to every episode of this show? Most episodes? Just dip in and out every once in a while? How can a UI accommodate this?

Do I download? Stream? Per episode? Per show? Sometimes one, sometimes the other? What about tools to manage my download queue? Maybe I have lots of bandwidth at the office, but I have 1mpbs at home. I've yet use a podcast app (I think I've used them all) that has a playlist setting to exclude certain shows. I've been unable to to create a playlist that has the "All Shows" feed from popular networks, doesn't make other playlists (based on episode state) unmaintainable.

Settings at the global level. Settings at the playlist level. Settings at the show level. Settings at the current playing episode level...

Downcast, with it's Windows-like feature set and UI, has given me the most power. I have complaints with it (Bloated UI; I want PocketCasts's playback speed slider and "skip first X seconds" feature), but every other app seems to go in the "less is more... until it's not enough and I go back to downcast" direction.

Overcast has some smart features. (What about an "alert me of any appearance of my favorite guest, whatever the show" feature)? I hope it convinces people that there is still room to grow.

Comment · 12 years ago
Hmm. Normalization means you don't have the change the volume between podcasts, but better than that would be dynamic range compression. A podcast with both loud music/effects/screaming and quiet/normal dialogue would be "evened out". You wouldn't have to adjust volume even within a podcast. I don't know of any audio player (desktop or mobile) that has this feature. It would be perfect for podcasts/audiobooks.
Comment · 12 years ago
Grammar Nazi Time. An excerpt from Oxford's American:

1 (of a person) surprised and confused so much that they are unsure how to react: he would be completely nonplussed and embarrassed at the idea. 2 informal (of a person) not disconcerted; unperturbed.

usage: In standard use, nonplussed means ‘surprised and confused’: the hostility of the new neighbor's refusal left Mrs. Walker nonplussed. In North American English, a new use has developed in recent years, meaning ‘unperturbed’—more or less the opposite of its traditional meaning: hoping to disguise his confusion, he tried to appear nonplussed. This new use probably arose on the assumption that non- was the normal negative prefix and must therefore have a negative meaning. It is not considered part of standard English.

Comment · 12 years ago
Even though it's a good example, I think extra care should be taken to avoid the stereotype that Haskell is elegant for math and academic stuff but not for the real word.
Comment · 12 years ago
Does nobody love darcs?! crickets
Comment · 12 years ago
How about downcase all instances of FREE?
Comment · 12 years ago
Instead of addressing the linked article, your post is insightful self-parody, with much sarcasm -- a style more suited to reddit than hn. Please remove it at once, preferably falling on your sword afterwards.

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