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d3fault

Re:The inflated promise of science education on Tuesday September 13, 2022 @08:43AM (#32823521)
> Perhaps we need to create a new degree program for, among other things, interpreting and reporting on press releases such that extremely basic facts and terms of art aren't mixed up.

I agree with this, but I think it needs to come from the other side. I personally think the scientific (community? world? sphere?) needs to step up and work on disseminating information to the general public in a way almost everyone can understand. Get rid of the middleman journalist who has to translate a press release or research paper that they probably don't understand, even if they had the time to look into it, into something the general public doesn't really completely understand either.

I also think this won't ever really happen, because the scientific community (imo) has a bit of an ego problem - same as the guy who makes themselves feel smarter by only explaining things using jargon.

There should also be more focus on critical thinking in middle and high schools, but that's a whole other can of worms.

> I suggest this binary positioning is a very American phenomenon

I really don't think so. Binary thinking is something I've personally noticed and thought about for a while, and I think it stems from the human brain just trying to simplify things. In most scenarios, it is far easier (and time efficient) to only consider the 2 extreme options rather than the entire spectrum of possible options, even if those two extremes are far worse than the alternatives.

Plus, I've seen Europeans do the same thing all the time [0]. Remember, polarization (which is really just an extension of tribalism imo) isn't an American condition, it's a human condition.

[0] I've lived in both the US and Europe

Re:Ask HN: What's Your Favorite Novel? on Sunday August 28, 2022 @06:27AM (#32627215)
Fahrenheit 451 is a classic! I last read it in high school though, I definitely need to give it another go
Re:Ask HN: What's Your Favorite Novel? on Saturday August 27, 2022 @05:00PM (#32623154)
What about the story appeals to you? When were you first introduced to the story?

Ask HN: What's Your Favorite Novel?

While many enjoy those non-fiction technical reads, there's more to life than that! What other (i.e. fiction) books does the HN community like?My personal favorite is definitely Cat's Cradle (Vonnegut), but Kafka On The Beach (Murakami) has become my close second.

( Read More... | 9 comments | 4 points | on HN )
Re:Slack’s free plan change is causing an exodus on Saturday August 27, 2022 @04:31PM (#32622894)
I haven't seen Mattermost [0] mentioned by anyone here, especially considering it's open-source and you can self-host. Admittedly, it has been a while since I've done some research on these platforms, but is there something I'm missing that makes Zulip or Rocketchat better?

[0] https://mattermost.com/

Re:The great Miyazaki watch of 2022 on Friday August 26, 2022 @08:59AM (#32606849)
I've only skimmed some the paper, but does it distinguish between _types_ of anime fans?

I think the people the non-fans are probably thinking of are more likely "weeaboos", or people who are so obsessed with Japanese culture that they completely reject their own (the ones in really cringey videos). However, there are so many more people now that are either more open to the medium or just openly enjoy it but aren't really as visible - I'd love to see a reproduction of this test with this distinguishing factor.

Looks extremely cool, I could see myself picking this up when it comes out to take to work with me. My only concern (like others) is the rotary dial. I like it, but it would be great if it was removable almost like how teenage engineering do the cranks for the OP-1 [0]

[0] https://teenage.engineering/products/op-1/original/overview

I've had a bit of a similar experience in reference to the mundane. As a kid, I absolutely hated doing the dishes or laundry (as most kids do). However, around when I turned 19 I started listening to music (sometimes a podcast) while doing the dishes and everything changed. I realized I can basically mentally automate the process of doing dishes, and almost completely shut my brain off. I'm a habitual over-thinker and usually quite anxious, so this was absolutely amazing for me. Its gotten to the point now where I almost get excited to do the dishes.

I personally don't consider what I was doing meditation, but I wouldn't be surprised if I accidentally mimic'd some meditation-like behaviors to aid in this.

Re:Twitter set to accept Musk's $43B offer – sources on Tuesday April 26, 2022 @11:10AM (#31168433)
> Interesting to note the lack of 'accountability' forced on him in this case however.

He got banned from all Academy events for 10 years

Re:Downpour: A game making tool for phones on Thursday March 31, 2022 @06:22AM (#30865601)
This reminds me of Floors [0], an app where you could scan hand-drawn platforming levels on graph paper. I was only 12 or so, but I had so much fun with that thing. Unfortunately it seems the app has been discontinued as of 2016.

[0] http://www.projectpixelpress.com/floors

Re:Thank You, Valve on Monday February 07, 2022 @12:32PM (#30248094)
As far as I'm aware Valve does use ML (called VACnet) to detect cheaters. At the time of the GDC talk[0] it was only implemented for CSGO but it could've expanded since then

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTiP0zKF9bc

Sad to see them go, but at least the archive will be there.

Eater has quite a good collection of long form articles on food and culture, if that's your thing.

https://www.eater.com/longform

Re:Safari 15 on Mac OS, a user interface mess on Saturday June 19, 2021 @11:01AM (#27561000)
I usually have a max of 2 windows open with anywhere between 4 and 9 tabs open. We do exist!
Re:Bevy: A game engine built in Rust on Sunday February 14, 2021 @11:32AM (#26133686)
I believe they're talking about Rust's performance vs C/C++, but I could be wrong
Re:Ask HN: Are books worth it? on Sunday January 05, 2020 @12:15AM (#21959788)
As a lot of other people are saying, yes, books are worth it.

I'm 19 right now, so I grew up reading paper books and interacting a lot with the internet and video games. Around when I turned 15 I pretty much stopped reading altogether. I was (and still am) very into CSGO and kind of just dropped reading literature for playing CS with my friends. While that was/is fun, dropping literature as a pastime left a hole in me that couldn't be filled by any video game, podcast, blog post, or even eBook. I only got back into reading fiction because my best friend here at uni was talking about how much she loved Agatha Christie, and I happened to have a compendium of 5 Hercule Poirot books that had been sitting on my bookshelf (and taken with me when I moved) for about 4 years. Now I can't stop reading (again).

Reading books (for me, fiction; for others, non-fiction) widens your understanding of the world around you, the perspectives of those around you, and most importantly your own imagination. Reading literature helps me creatively solve problems and come up with inspired ideas that would've been very difficult for me to come up with otherwise. It is something I would be incomplete without.

P.S. For me paper books are 100% superior to ebooks. The feel of holding, seeing, and smelling a paper book, especially an old paper book, is so comforting and impossible to replicate with an ebook. Though, to their credit, ebooks are nice if you read relatively quickly and want to read while on the road.

Ask HN: Is Google Chrome's autotranslate feature a huge vulnerability?

First, let me say that I am not a professional of any kind. I'm actually just entering my first year of undergrad.Anyway, let's get to the point:If someone were to use the auto translate feature to look at a foreign bank account (as an expat or something), couldn't the server request to translate your page be intercepted and read by a malicious party? It seems like a much easier point of entry...

( Read More... | 17 comments | 27 points | on HN )
Re:Say Yes to Markdown, No to MS Word on Thursday March 15, 2018 @11:09AM (#16593472)
As a current high school student: hell no.

I've tried writing study guides for myself in Markdown, and while it is useful, it is 10x easier to do it in Word.

Plus, as many people are saying, everyone uses Word. My school even gives out Office 365 subscriptions for free.