mountain_peak

11 ms·

1.
by mountain_peak 3mo ago
> If you have a hobby no one cares about, hold it dear and close to your chest, and be happy that no one cares about it. Yes and yes. I've often likened [unpopular] hobbies these days to how Joel tries to hide Clementine deeper and
2.
by mountain_peak 3mo ago
Maybe this is just a fantasy, but drink producers were previously responsible for their "waste". Bottlers would pick-up and recycle glass bottles, but the onus shifted completely to the consumer - first with a glass bottle deposit
3.
by mountain_peak 4mo ago
People might not remember, but Word, Excel, and PowerPoint were all released for the Macintosh before Windows. Back then, the Macintosh versions were 1st-class citizens and (and you mention), Windows versions were a buggy mess. Having used
4.
by mountain_peak 4mo ago
About a decade or so ago, I started to see people I used to work with working at Home Depot and Costco. It struck me as odd seeing these brilliant developers stocking shelves and providing advice on sanded vs. unsanded grout. The more I spo
5.
by mountain_peak 4mo ago
I didn't think it was that much, but I checked my receipt from 2017, and sure enough it was! I have in my hand (I guess I like using that phase today), my father's original receipt for the HP-45 (it's with the box and manual)
6.
by mountain_peak 4mo ago
Very impressive, and obviously a labour of love! As a calculator and SystemVerilog enthusiast, it's wonderful to see a project such as this come to fruition - congratulations! I'm holding in my hand a 4-bit Von Neumann Mostek MK50
7.
by mountain_peak 4mo ago
Indeed - Chicago is considered "midwest" even though it is geographically in the eastern US. Maybe that's New York City-centrism from long ago? Edmonton is as far west from the geographical centre of Canada as Toronto is east
8.
by mountain_peak 4mo ago
> central Canada This is part of the issue; the GTA is solidly in the east (the centre of Canada is in Manitoba), but when someone says, "eastern Canada", one automatically thinks "Nova Scotia", but Toronto is a rel
9.
by mountain_peak 4mo ago
In the words of the late, great Hal Finney, "The thing I always love is when there's an intellectual challenge that when you master it gives you practical abilities." Tangential capabilities from mentally challenging tasks ar
10.
by mountain_peak 4mo ago
Absolutely - factory repair guides/apps are the only source of truth for official specs, although 3rd-party manuals are very good as well. That being said, I've often turned 3-hour estimated repairs into 15-minute jobs through cle
11.
by mountain_peak 4mo ago
Personal anecdote. When I started as a wide-eyed university co-op, I was surrounded by a team of aging mainframe developers who had been coding since the 1960s. Their backgrounds ranged from working their way up from the mailroom to astroph
12.
by mountain_peak 5mo ago
Edit: should have read: "sucralose-laden diet iced tea". Stevia-only drinks don't taste all that good to me, but they don't affect my blood glucose.
13.
by mountain_peak 5mo ago
From personal experience (sorry, n=1), I can eat pure Aspartame powder and have zero reaction - no increase in glucose, no "anticipatory" response - nothing. When I have other sweeteners such as taking a swig of a stevia-laden die
14.
by mountain_peak 5mo ago
Those are excellent choices; pure monk fruit drops are great, but they cost a small fortune compared to others, and the affordable version is usually mixed with erythitol, which increase blood glucose, so that's a non-starter. Amazon a
15.
by mountain_peak 5mo ago
I'll impart my n=1 experience, since I've been using powdered Aspartame (in combination with Stevia) in drinks and baking for almost 20 years, and I've tried almost all available sugar substitutes over the years. We already k
16.
by mountain_peak 7mo ago
My original observation wasn't worded as well as it could have been. I meant in situations where hard braking could be required on a moment's notice for no particular reason (e.g. Chicago freeways where everyone is doing 70 mph bu
17.
by mountain_peak 7mo ago
It used to be more of an issue when I was younger. Now that I'm older and more 'seasoned' (plus reflexes do slow down), I'm far more patient and have no issue maintaining a healthy following distance. I think the statist
18.
by mountain_peak 7mo ago
Maintaining a safe following distance is incredibly challenging on busy freeways where hard braking is often 'required'. Most people have likely found themselves in this situation: vehicle changes lanes in front of you; you slow d
19.
by mountain_peak 7mo ago
Interestingly (or possibly not), since my very first computers had ~4K of RAM, I became adept at optimizations of all kinds, which came in handy for my first job - coding 360 mainframe assembly. There, we wouldn't be able to implement
20.
by mountain_peak 8mo ago
> The big mistake I see people make is not knowing when to quit. This is sage advice. I spent the better part of a day trying to steer Gemini into correcting an inconsistency when I likely could have solved it in under an hour. I think p
21.
by mountain_peak 8mo ago
"What an LLM is to me is the most remarkable tool that we've ever come up with, and it's the equivalent of a e-bike for our minds"
22.
by mountain_peak 1y ago
Did not know this existed; thanks very much for posting that - even the comments are insightful. Added to my next order!
23.
by mountain_peak 1y ago
Your thoughtful question is definitely along the lines where the research could change health outcomes. Apple Health currently tracks trends over time and can alert if any disconcerting trends are identified. If Apple were able to capture a
24.
by mountain_peak 1y ago
Kind of a silly personal anecdote, but growing up, my father had a unique "strained" nostril breathing pattern and bad sleep apnea + COPD. I became 'hyper aware' of people's breathing patterns - to the point where p
25.
by mountain_peak 2y ago
Interestingly (or possibly not), I made this [0] comment here (on HN) some time ago and was quickly informed that my technique was used in the 1960s to identify moving celestial objects in successive astronomical photographs. [2] I kind of
26.
by mountain_peak 2y ago
Here's something rather mundane, but definitely works for me: open Internet Archive's Audio section and choose "This Just In". Click on the first interesting thing you see and let it play. Most things I choose are pretty
27.
by mountain_peak 2y ago
I should have a guide, but haven't created one yet - don't want to derail the thread, but here are a few pointers: - The iFixit Apple Watch teardown is surprisingly effective - way more heat (and patience) is required then they in
28.
by mountain_peak 2y ago
Now that I've finally mastered replacing Apple Watch batteries (and replacing one incredibly small battery connector I managed to lift off the board), I asked my son just this morning what we do with the three outdated models we have l
29.
by mountain_peak 2y ago
First off, congratulations on the sale - sounds like the right time and the right reasons for you, and you're 100% right on the seemingly 'backwards' nature of incentives and rewards when working for a large org. I was somewh
30.
by mountain_peak 2y ago
Well said. I've likened technical hobbies to Joel trying to hide memories of Clementine deeper and deeper in the recesses of his mind - away from Lacuna's eraser. Somehow when what hobbyists love to do becomes "for the masses

More ›