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hoopism

Reminds me of the story behind that odd Robot appearance in Rocky movies... https://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/creed/rocky-iv-robot-butler...

It was initially developed to help children with Autism... Stallone has a child on the spectrum and wanted to check it out... it's a pretty neat story.

Re:Ask HN: Best sleep trackers? on Friday April 03, 2020 @01:16PM (#22771674)
Sorry... it did sound snarky. I actually am familiar with few of the apps and devices and they do just make those recommendations. They throw fancy charts and nice UI at you and then make similar recommendations. I honestly don't think the data collected factors in much. They try and get you to normalize your routine and eliminate distractions and known sleep disruptors. I truly mean that you do not need the devices in order to get that advice. If you have a medical condition then by all means seek medical attention.
Re:Ask HN: Best sleep trackers? on Wednesday March 25, 2020 @01:07PM (#22686473)
I recall reading a paper that found that compared to clinical sleep study equipment (you know, electrodes all over your head) that most devices were random at best in terms of measuring REM sleep. I did a lot of research when a friend went all in on sleep monitoring and wound up worse than when he started (worrying over data).

I didn't exhaustively research but based on un-biased available science I found at the time, any investment (in devices/apps) was not worth time and money. Maybe that has changed.

See https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/17/technology/personaltech/s...

"For a person to be worrying about their sleep stages is like being worried about the gas makeup of the air you're breathing in," he said."

For study see https://nutritionalrevolution.org/2019/07/20/why-the-oura-ri...

""From EBE analysis, ŌURA ring had a 96% sensitivity to detect sleep, and agreement of 65%, 51%, and 61%, in detecting "light sleep" (N1), "deep sleep" (N2 + N3), and REM sleep, respectively. Specificity in detecting wake was 48%."

Specificity in detecting wake was 48%! If this was a medical test, it would never be approved by FDA."

The NYT article summed up reality for most nicely:

"Dr. Vallat told me that if I really wanted to get better sleep, I should simply try to sleep and wake up at the same time every day — that would help my brain learn how to build a structure for optimal sleep. He also advised making the bedroom a cool environment (about 68 degrees) and as dark as possible; avoiding alcohol in the evening; not checking email or social media right before bed; and asking myself each morning when I woke up, "Do I feel refreshed?""

Stop drinking and watching tv/screens and go to bed on time... don't need an expensive ring or watch to tell you this...

Re:Show HN: Fraidycat on Wednesday March 18, 2020 @08:35PM (#22623080)
So I was reminded on YT homepage to check him out again... I went through about 15-20 last drink reviews (descriptions). They are all 7-8s. I am super curious if he has ever not liked one now.
Re:Show HN: Fraidycat on Wednesday March 11, 2020 @12:18PM (#22547006)
This is a neat project. And based on your appreciation for things like Funny Mapguy (who I checked out after seeing your video) I think we have very similar taste in online culture. Good luck dude!
Anyone know if this is anyway related to PANDAS condition (RE: inflammation -> cognitive changes)? We were recently introduced to the condition and my understanding is the theory is inflammation is caused by the bodies immunity response to strep virus (I might be off on that explanation). The idea inflammation could give rise to cognitive impairments/changes would appear to lend some credence (or maybe that is just already established??). We have a daughter who checks some of the boxes on what people describe as the condition and are just getting an understanding.
We did a genetic test for small number of well known genetic disabilities when she was younger that did not yield a result. Our neurologist then recommended a "whole exome sequencing" a few years later. This is where we found a result.

Insurance is often reluctant to cover this but it's SOMEWHAT affordable (want to say 2-3k with some hospital magic discounts). I can't say it has affected our course of treatment but we were concerned about what other health related issues may be associated with the diagnosis. And it is somewhat promising that a treatment may someday be available.

I would highly recommend pushing for testing. I am told they continually with run your results against know mutations as they find more. So even if you don't get a result today you may someday.

My daughter was diagnosed with Autism at 16 months. Just this year (she is 6 now) we found a genetic cause (SCN2A, the one mentioned here). We have invested a ton of time and energy into therapies and she is doing very well... I wonder how receiving the diagnosis in reverse would have affected us mentally. I have met others who got genetic results and pushed more into finding a cure. I always felt like any potential "cure" wouldn't be in her lifetime... now I wonder.
I wouldn't lump this in with the recent mini NES or SNES. Nintendo has a loyal fan base and a proven track record. They made something simple and well built for fans of their IP. Atari isn't even a thing anymore. Someone bought the name and attempted to cash in on it. They used crowdfunding and scammed consumers out fo 3M+ dollars.

Basically I can see why people might want something more official than an rPi if it's done well and by original company. But Atari thing is not that.

This came up back in 2017 and I was skeptical then... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15348270

I blame the journalists covering this stuff. There was so many PR release articles touting this thing based on renders... nobody looked into the people who were responsible on executing it.

These guys have no skills in building a gaming console. They bought a brand and scammed people out of 3M+.

Anyone going to dealerships in 2019 is already losing. I made that mistake recently with my wife's car. We went into dealer and I talked to manager. We knew exact model and color we wanted and told him we were there to see it in person and then would get quotes from area dealers... Because he was nice I told him to just give me his absolute best price then and we'd consider it... it was few grand more than I knew I could get so I went the email/quote route. 2 weeks later he won the pricing quote and was 6 grand lower than what he said was his lowest in the showroom. Only shop via email. Ever.
Re:Myth Busting Banksy on Tuesday October 09, 2018 @09:59AM (#18176011)
I did some measurements on stills and it appears to be well within the reason of lining up. Using a ruler and stills taken from same vantage point... the distance is very close.
Re:Myth Busting Banksy on Tuesday October 09, 2018 @09:56AM (#18175980)
An angled razor makes more sense (think about how you shave)... less of a chance that it gets jammed if the paper is sliding over an angled razor rather than vertical.

EDIT: A deli slicer also a good example... it works on an angle... not like a chopsaw

Re:Why Love Generative Art? on Tuesday August 28, 2018 @09:28AM (#17858607)
As mentioned in the article Processing is great! Super easy to start and there's some great sample libraries and code to to use for guidance.

http://processingjs.org/

Came to say same short thing... This really is indicative of a bad place to be... if you need to rent tech, you don't need it.
This. I also enjoy video games and often read up on trends and news... unfortunately I have little to no time to really meaningfully play them. I enjoy watching people who have gotten really masterful play the games I have read about. Not unlike sports.

I also watch things like the Games Done Quick marathons. Those are mostly people who have dedicated themselves to a few games and are mostly interested in completing them in insanely short periods of time. People often spend years dedicating time to shaving off minutes... I would never do that... but I am glad someone does.

Re:Digital Exile: How I Got Banned for Life from AirBnB on Friday July 13, 2018 @02:04PM (#17525236)
I had a disupute with AirBnB long time ago (You can find it in my history because I posted about it here). They had a "sign up a friend" promotion and I liked the service so much that I recommended it to my parents. They used it and liked it too... but I didn't get my promotional credit.

When I emailed them they were adamant the conditions were not met. They then changed the terms in the email to something new... luckily their own website was still active and represented EXACTLY what I had originally stated. I finally got a very patronizing email from support.

Won't use AirBnB again. Plenty of other services.

The one time I don't read comments first :(
Re:OpenSC2K – An Open Source Remake of SimCity 2000 on Monday February 05, 2018 @01:41PM (#16310873)
This is lacking any simulation... and a number of other important features (as the author state very clearly BTW... so I am not diminishing their work).

In this case I would say the advancement of libraries and tools make efforts like this substantially easier than back then.

Re:NBA GO – Watch NBA in Your Terminal on Tuesday November 07, 2017 @10:31AM (#15644158)
Love the NBA and am a cord cutter... this is so slick and well done. Really cool project. Going to try it out for sure.
Got it.

So this company that bought up a failing and abused brand has produced many other types of consumer devices and has a track record of delivering quality products to people based on promise alone such as the kickstarter model...

That's what you are saying?

Here's a news article: http://www.wired.co.uk/article/atari-box-console-2017-specs

"I don't think its really the news sites job to care about a products viability for longterm success"

Viability and credibility should not be confused.

Under your definition if I buy the Coleco name tomorrow and send a press release with a high res image of a console then it's perfectly fine for news sites to just republish my press release without knowing who I am, what I have done or whether what I have claimed is true. This by the way is the primary means of funding on crowdfunding sites... I just disagree with you.

Because time after time the majority of these have turned out to be bad actors buying up old licenses, putting a few thousand into marketing and deceiving a large audience into buying into a vision of a console supported by hoardes of indie developers.

It's a narrative that has played enough times that it warrants at a minimum skepticism.

Like it or not when you do writeups based solely on the press release it lends credibility to the project. Personally I think a little diligence and curation would go a long way. Most these projects end up being funded when these sites all run to be first to publish... nobody actually spends time investigating whether the people involved have track record or whether claims are even reasonable... all of a sudden overnight it's funded... that sucks.

People? Few. Journalists? All should.
Nintendo is still Nintendo. It's the same company. Making hardware based on it's own IP. Many titles being their own in house produced work.

Nostalgia works when it's genuine.

Tech websites need to stop giving these projects coverage. This is not Atari... Atari is gone. Slapping licensed games and selling a shiny box with common internals is not novel and will not somehow grow a magical following. Ouya was the best example but there's been dozens if not hundreds since.

I know it's a content driven world but techcrunch, kotaku, polywhatever needs to stop.

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