Disqus - Latest Comments for wka

Re: Thought Machine :: Clicking vs Typing

wka — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 11:15:48 -0000

Building programming tools that put the programmer in the position to choose between a set of finite, predefined choices as often as possible will make programming way, way easier.

Yes, I think more people would be able to write programs with such tools because they could make programming easier. I think there is a set of people who are highly technical but for whom programming has always been just out of their grasp; for them, tools like this would really help. I think such tools would also be a great step along the way for less experienced programmers who are just starting out.

But I also think that a finite set of choices will make for less interesting and less powerful programs. I have not seen amazing programs being written using, say, Automator. And that is just one in a decades-long line of visual programming languages. None of these has really taken off.

Re: Dropbox ups free bonus space to 16GB

wka — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:32:38 -0000

Indeed: http://db.tt/bhiFRkbA

Re: Sweet Steve Jobs Street Art Spotted

wka — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:24:11 -0000

Here is a video of the piece which shows how the old/young images are on different sides of the same posts: http://www.flickr.com/photo...

Re: http://worldairmaillinks.com/post/7651138056

wka — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 10:03:22 -0000

I think the statement can apply to many different fields

Re: http://worldairmaillinks.com/post/5360569557

wka — Tue, 10 May 2011 16:07:08 -0000

I think the point is that hiring should be based on whether the candidate can get realistic programming tasks done.

If a position requires a developer to write binary search, they are probably doing something wrong in planning or they have a bad case of not-invented-here syndrome. Either would be a giant red flag for me except in some really specialized positions.

Re: Long Now Media Update

wka — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 22:18:57 -0000

Hi. Any word on when this will appear in the podcast feed? The most recent item in the feed right now is from October 16th.

Re: Smartphone cameras change the game

wka — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 10:02:01 -0000

> On the flip side, when will I start being able to directly connect my iPhone to my Canon S90 and start processing pictures with TrueHDR or Autostitch with those photos?

You may not be able to connect your camera to an iPhone, but you can connect it an iPad (w/Camera Connection Kit) and process images there.

Re: http://worldairmaillinks.com/post/603830746

wka — Mon, 17 May 2010 23:28:34 -0000

Some questioning of Galbraith's conclusions from Kevin Drum

Re: http://worldairmaillinks.com/post/419947628

wka — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:59:30 -0000

There is a counterpoint in this post:

"…If external rewards are incentivizing certain types of behaviors then so long as those incentives remain in place, it is unclear what motivation the user would have to actually internally decide to change his behaviors. If he is playing the game to get points, then surely he is looking to maximize his points in any way possible: the specific behaviors that are targeted for changing are incidental to the gamer's experience since he just wants to win."

Re: Working with windows

wka — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:48:39 -0000

Thanks, this was very helpful.

Just a minor note for those people who find that clicking the mouse and dragging does not work: mouse support may need to be enabled with "set mouse=a".

When I do that, clicking and dragging even works for me in terminal-based vim.

Re: http://worldairmaillinks.com/post/374073754

wka — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 10:20:55 -0000

Indeed. He's written some over-the-top pieces on vote fraud and on the environment, too — pieces which draw significant conclusions when there is not enough evidence, IMO. But this quote struck me.

Re: Cutting Bandwidth Costs for This American Life

wka — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:46:05 -0000

I did contact TAL about this blog back when I originally posted it but I heard nothing back from them.

Re: foursquare pins!

wka — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:24:41 -0000

Awesome. How can we obtain some of these?

Re: new favorites screen on iPhone

wka — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:13:46 -0000

Very useful, thanks

Re: World Airmail Links

wka — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:14:39 -0000

It certainly seems to be painting with a broad brush... but then I read about things like the poll in which a significant fraction of the right, not just the fringe, does not think Obama was born in the US, and I can't help but think the Hofstadter article applies.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsm...

Re: Safari 4? It’s ok, but it’s extensions that get me going

wka — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:15:48 -0000

You hit the nail on the head — extensions are the reason I stay with Firefox. Sure, I'll give Safari 4 a few days, but I strongly suspect I'll be back to FF afterward. Extensions are the major reason I left Camino for Firefox several years back.

(My favorite extension recently: Autopager, which is a great time saver; also useful: Mr. Uptime, to automatically re-check sites that are down and alert you when they are back up.)

Re: Breakfast Links: Paris Bike Trashing, NPH as Flash & Indian Cow Urine Drink

wka — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:55:44 -0000

The other side of the Paris bike share story: http://www.streetsblog.org/...

Streetsblog (which has a very pro-bike point of view), says that the story "is best understood as a negotiating ploy on the part of JCDecaux," which is "the outdoor advertising firm that operates" the bike sharing system.

Re: My thoughts on the Palm Pre Smartphone

wka — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:15:37 -0000

I could see WebOS encouraging Apple to make it possible to run Dashboard-style Javascript/HTML-based quasi-apps on the iPhone. I seem to recall reading some rumors about Dashboard widgets on the iPhone long ago, but they never panned out.

Re: The problem with car salesmen

wka — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:59:34 -0000

There's some great advice in this rather long article from someone who was on the other side of the trenches: Confessions of a Car Salesman.