Recent submissions

Comment · 13 years ago
I would say that the "opening your mind to grammar" is true of learning any new language. Obviously one like Latin where the grammar is very different than English might be more effective on that front, but with any new language you are forced to think about every word as a specific part of speech. It's like when someone tells you that your tongue doesn't fit in your mouth and you spend the rest of the day consciously thinking about something that is usually completely involuntary.
Comment · 13 years ago
The return of the blink tag?
Comment · 13 years ago
Although I don't agree that the name "Drake" is an issue, I do find it interesting that an even more apt name for an application of this type might be "Usher"!
Comment · 14 years ago
I believe I read this in Bill Bryson's `A Brief History of Nearly Everything', which is a great book if anyone is interested in the history of how scientific discoveries are made and how credit is taken for them.
Comment · 14 years ago
I have really internaized this recently; more specifically I have made sure to think about my code from an outsider's perspective and address complaints this person might have.
Comment · 14 years ago
I was thinking about this just yesterday. I think Google's spam blocking accuracy is just a reflection of their advertising acuity. The better their advertising becomes, the better they can fight spam because they know what you want, and by extension what you don't. Furthermore, any advances in spam blocking technology are also advances in advertising technology.
Comment · 14 years ago
The headline should read: "Fish Use Laws of Physics, Become Mirrors."
Comment · 14 years ago
I think that the news article is a result of the Sixty Minutes Episode that aired yesterday on Huawei. The points I got from their report were:

1. Huawei (like many Chinese companies) works in close partnership with the Chinese government, which has subsidized many of its processes.

2. Huawei may be stealing IP from U.S. based companies

3. The U.S. is totally reliant on foreign companies for swaths of our communications infrastructure (which would be unsettling to a Congressional committee)

4. Then again, just because U.S. companies and the government were asleep at the wheel when it came to these technologies, does that mean we get to be choosy beggars? Is Huawei a threat to security or just a threat to the economy?

Comment · 14 years ago
The article's statement that these bikes wouldn't get stolen didn't really assure me, so I looked at the stats for my city's bike sharing service. According to one news report:

> One bike went missing the first year and it was later recovered. Last year all were accounted for. This year three or four are missing, but Dossett expects them to turn up.

I suppose the distinctiveness of the bicycles has something to do with it, plus, they're relatively difficult to maneuver.

Comment · 14 years ago
Only if you take 'ten' to be a number in base 10. /s
Comment · 14 years ago
You can always tell a left-handed person when they say they like a pen because it dries quickly!
Comment · 14 years ago
Nope, In the US it is illegal to deface currency for any reason.

---------------------------------- Title 18 United States Code, Section 331

Whoever fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the mints of the United States, or any foreign coins which are by law made current or are in actual use or circulation as money within the United States; or

Whoever fraudulently possesses, passes, utters, publishes, or sells, or attempts to pass, utter, publish, or sell, or brings into the United States, any such coin, knowing the same to be altered, defaced, mutilated, impaired, diminished, falsified, scaled, or lightened -

Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both ----------------------------------

Comment · 14 years ago
Comment · 14 years ago
I think my current terminal window is prior art...
Comment · 14 years ago
I would assume their 'anti-gaming layer' is perfectly adequate. Admins and employees have stated multiple times that much time and effort goes into making sure that Reddit is run by actual users posting content they want to. This is affirmed by the fact that virtually none of the comments are of the style 'slj2wkvje Said: please review my site: w w w dot myxxxstuff dot c@m'

The automation becomes much less useful when real-live users are the issue. It's easy enough (and probably enjoyable) to spar with the onslaught of link-bots, but paid users (if such users really exist) create a problem which can't be solved programmatically.

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