Disqus - Latest Comments for NathanPralle

Re: GFY

NathanPralle — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 15:09:20 -0000

*slow clap* Wonderful, just wonderful.

Re: QOTD

NathanPralle — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 12:25:12 -0000

Let's be honest -- what man alive hasn't thought this at least once? Good on ya, Emmett.

Re: Conflicted

NathanPralle — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 00:22:08 -0000

I chalk such feelings up as a good sign that whatever I'm doing as a parent and as a family man, it must be a good thing when I miss my kids. Far worse it would be to be away from them and not.

Re: Backblaze Open Sources Reed-Solomon Erasure Coding Source Code

NathanPralle — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 15:32:40 -0000

A great explanation, but I have tons of questions now! :)

So, you have to store the encoding matrix, as well as the original data, right? Or is that computed from the original data, whatever parts are still available? Because if you have to store that as well, that practically doubles the size of the storage needed, right?

Or, can you reverse-engineer the encoding matrix from the parity that's left? Or do you store the encoding matrix AND the parity? In the above example, you have 16 bytes original data and 8 bytes parity and 16 bytes of encoding matrix -- so a ratio of 16:24 original data:encoded data, right?

I'm probably really off on this. I just saw a chicken and egg problem if you have to store the encoding matrix as well as the original data, then what stops you from losing the encoding matrix due to disk corruption as well? And then you have to have an encoding matrix encoding matrix?

Ok, my eyes are crossed. ;)

Re: SMART 22 is a Gas, Gas, Gas

NathanPralle — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 23:37:12 -0000

So with this helium in the drive, and SMART 22, that means that the system is entirely sealed, right? No more "breathing" holes or anything like that to account for changes in atmospheric pressure, etc.

I guess SMART 22 makes sense then, because if the helium starts leaking out of the sealed system, you have a break in the seal, which means probably that the drive has way overheated, has suffered shock of some type, or other trauma that broke the seal and let some helium out. In essence, it's measuring internal barometric pressure, of a sort. Would work with any gas, I suppose, but presumably helium allows for better aerodynamics across the platters and the head? I have no idea.

Or it's a gimmick. Time will tell.

Re: No more Marshalls

NathanPralle — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 17:35:23 -0000

I'll bet someone's being asked the hard questions about who screwed up not vetting out the legal landscape before building an entire structure and then being shut down.

In other news, whoever made that agreement with Kohls should be fired as well. Whoops.

Re: Why One School District Is Throwing All of its Student Laptops Away

NathanPralle — Tue, 05 Aug 2014 18:08:55 -0000

Articles
like this annoy me. "Look at program X that was poorly planned and
executed and ended up costing Y waaaaaay more than they anticipated, and
was eventually scrapped because it sucked!" This is not a headline.
This is something that happens over and over and over in business and
private lives alike because of poor management. Nothing new here, move
on folks.

Re: Kelly Clarkson And New Husband “Do It Like Rabbits” And Now I’m Done With Sex Forever

NathanPralle — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 13:28:39 -0000

Ah, the good ol' days of spending most of your waking moments trying to merge bodily and the rest of the moments thinking about the next opportunity. Of course, back then, we were just in college and procreating was something we were desperately trying to avoid. Upon trying for my own kids, we were doomed by fertility and therefore didn't get that 6 months of wild humping experience.

I'm glad for her...uh, them...but as a cantankerous 36-year-old shriveled husk of a man, I'm jealous in the, "go find a goddamned room and stay there", sort of way.

Re: Coach Gets Fired Over Facebook Photo But Whaaaa?

NathanPralle — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 10:20:29 -0000

TL;DR: More boobs, less sexist assholes = better world.

Also, I think "Football penis boobs tools meat testicles FIRE" is my new social media subtitle.

Re: Gwyneth Paltrow Super Mad At Vanity Fair, But Vanity Fair, They No Care

NathanPralle — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 13:22:07 -0000

I've always considered Paltrow to be hot as sliced and fried sin, but that's only from my fantastical perceptions of her as an unreachable star. No doubt the reality is much more...annoying. You'd think by now, at least, that she'd learn to shut her trap when it came to media and celebrity relationships. I mean, this is what the market feeds on, right? They're like lampreys. Opening your damned mouth just makes more trouble.

Re: Stay-At-Home Dads Still An Anomaly, Despite Pretty Graphs Designed To Say Otherwise

NathanPralle — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 12:19:54 -0000

I wish I could stay home. I would love to. But I have the better job; it makes zero financial sense. But I still wish it.

Re: I just spent $1,924 on blinds

NathanPralle — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 17:30:39 -0000

Yup. :) That was a bit weird, but I hadn't commented, so I thought...oh, what the hell.

Re: I just spent $1,924 on blinds

NathanPralle — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 17:22:32 -0000

Walmarts are $3 each. Per window. I have 20 blinds in the house, so that's $60. I can replace my blinds, all of them, THIRTY-TWO TIMES for the same amount of money. I just can't even. ;)

Re: Public Breastfeeding Gets A Hero, Because A Toilet Isn’t A Restaurant

NathanPralle — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 10:29:52 -0000

The one and only reason BFing in public gets a bad rap is because it's breasts being used for something other than sex. THE ONLY reason. And a stupid one.

Re: Why I Just Said No To My Kids Joining Facebook, Twitter And Instagram [Essay]

NathanPralle — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 11:25:17 -0000

I think that's some exceptional parenting wisdom. Thank you. I'm still learning so much of this as we go along. (Hell, does it ever stop? I suspect not.)

Re: Why I Just Said No To My Kids Joining Facebook, Twitter And Instagram [Essay]

NathanPralle — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 10:44:15 -0000

Interesting. Thanks, I appreciate the insight.

I'm always concerned about the shellshock of not prepping my kids enough in advance for things that will strike them fiercely once they're not under my control anymore....for instance, alcohol. I grew up with a practical ban on it, it wasn't talked about except in evil terms, and when I got to college, I had no idea how to manage it. Luckily I had other skills and so didn't turn into a drunken idiot, but I could have, so I'm trying to make sure that whatever I ease my kids into, I do so at a rate that they'll have already been exposed to as much as I can manage by the time they're turned loose.

I do think your attention to allowing the rational, mature voices to preside over the cacophony of immature squeaks is very sound and smart.

Re: Why I Just Said No To My Kids Joining Facebook, Twitter And Instagram [Essay]

NathanPralle — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 11:25:38 -0000

A fascinating perspective. As a father with littles (5/9mo), I've yet to deal with this, but will at some point. Do you worry that they will have a shellshock, though, as they transition from almost no SM contact to full-on SM contact upon, say, entering college? That they'll lack the coping skills necessary to handle it because they've been isolated from it? That you're missing an opportunity to guide them in managing the SM flood and are, instead, just cutting them off from it, leading to a bit of ignorance about it all?

Honest questions, as I'm pondering all these things, and I think you have some great points. I'm just trying to mull out the balance before I get to that stage. :)

Re: Jon Gosselin Wants You To Know He’s Homeless And It’s All Kate’s Fault

NathanPralle — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 10:13:26 -0000

Moral of the story: Exploit your family for financial gain, reap the benefits sown for you in the fields of publicity hell. When are the Duggars up for their next crop?

Re: Adult Film Star Stoya’s Dad Angry Over Sex Toy Replica Of His Daughter’s Naughty Bits

NathanPralle — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:36:46 -0000

There's too much gold in these sort of articles to not mine a few nuggets. :)

Re: Adult Film Star Stoya’s Dad Angry Over Sex Toy Replica Of His Daughter’s Naughty Bits

NathanPralle — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:24:00 -0000

Frankly, I'd be pretty damned pumped if someone thought my bits good enough to be made immortal in accessory. And as a father...well, I don't have daughters, but I guess I'd be proud, just...I'd use my ad-blocker. :)

Re: Amanda Bynes Needs A Hero (And Also To Not Talk To Strangers)

NathanPralle — Thu, 23 May 2013 11:14:00 -0000

LiLo wannabe?

Re: Stick a Fork In It - Dave Lieberman - Five Legal Foods Just As Cruel As Foie Gras

NathanPralle — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 12:32:38 -0000

We Americans are increasingly skilled at focusing our attentions and efforts on token acts of justice while blatantly ignoring the elephant in the room. "Depressing" really doesn't even start to capture my emotions about it.

Re: Stick a Fork In It - Dave Lieberman - Five "House-Made" Foods That Nearly Always Suck

NathanPralle — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 14:29:53 -0000

Amen to the ketchup, esp. now that they have fructose-free if that's your bag, baby. I don't doubt there's probably a way to improve upon it, but nobody *I've* ever met has done so without making it taste like spaghetti sauce gone horribly wrong. Best we give up for now, I think.

Re: Because it’s still avablog

NathanPralle — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:44:28 -0000

Yes; I've found myself randomly remembering earlier times and when that happens, it feels....slipping. Just...slipping. Where's the brakes?

Re: Stop being strategic about your career

NathanPralle — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:41:35 -0000

I don't fully disagree with you on this point -- taking work simply for the mere fact of taking work is likely ridiculous and even stupid. But...that being said, sometimes for a career to jump to a higher level, it simply seems like you must resign yourself to, at some point or another, taking a job or a responsibility that -- frankly -- sucks, all so you can get to that next higher level where you are both laden with happiness for the job itself and with the responsibility and rewards of making a move for yourself.

I hate to think that my career is somehow dead-ended simply because I can't clearly see a position upwards that I adore with all my heart.