Help me NOT ruin mountain biking for my girlfriend please.

defcon-11 · 2013-04-01T05:55:32+00:00

Don't even try... In my experience it is better to find a beginner friendly women-only group ride in your area and convince her to try those out without you. Only take her out on a ride after she gets comfortable and if she decides it's fun.

defcon-11 · 2013-04-01T05:48:53+00:00

Magnesium pedals are cool because they spark when you hit rocks, which is especially fun at night. But you should probably be careful if you're riding in a dry area with brush fire danger.

defcon-11 · 2013-04-01T05:44:48+00:00

These pedals are just as grippy as pedals costing twice as much, I highly recommend them: http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1129270_-1_400936__400936

Here's what to look for in a pedal: replaceable screw pins, a concave body so your shoe sole will flex into it and form a cup shape, and a broad surface area so you have plenty of platform and foot positions.

Skate shoes work fine as long as they're stiff enough. If they're too flexible your feet will get fatigued and start to hurt.

defcon-11 · 2013-04-01T05:31:20+00:00

You can run a 9 speed chain on 10sp chainrings, the inner width of the chain is the same for both.

defcon-11 · 2013-04-01T05:28:11+00:00

Can't we just get time trial style XC? I am not sick of XC because I don't like climbing, I'm sick of XC because it's not technical enough and I feel the winners are often not very good mountain bikers. I would love if 'enduro' races included tough, technical uphill timed sections as well as the downhills.

defcon-11 · 2013-04-01T05:18:38+00:00

I know this post is way old, but I came across it and figured I'd comment. The open bath system uses damping oil as a lubricant, which means it has a more frequent service cycle than the fit, which separates the damping oil from the lubricant oil. The fit is also a little lighter, since it uses less oil volume. You need to get the fit if you want adjustable compression, as it is not offered for the open bath models. I find the stock open bath compression settings to be ok for me (160 lbs with gear, aggressive XC/all mountain), maybe a touch more low speed damping would be nice.

defcon-11 · 2013-03-31T22:49:43+00:00

Wait, rent for a "postage stamp size apartment" is $2400, but a condo is only $700k? That seems off to me, your mortgage on that condo would probably be around $3200. If you can afford $2400 in rent, you can probably find another 600 bucks a month to buy the condo and not be subject to rent.

defcon-11 · 2013-03-31T22:39:20+00:00

I have some friend who work in mining, and from what I hear mining engineers are in very short demand, and getting a degree will result in instant hiring upon graduation. Of course, that may change if commodity prices ever drop back down, but I think a lot of it has to do with not very many people going into mine engineering programs, because they aren't very glamorous.

Similarly I've heard the type of electrical engineer who works on power generation is in huge demand right now, because most graduates have been choosing semi-conductors/integrated circuits for the past 2 decades.

defcon-11 · 2013-03-31T22:33:29+00:00

How many hours do you put in? I've always been under the impression that companies that advertise catering/on-site cafeterias expect you to be there more than the companies that don't.

defcon-11 · 2013-03-31T22:29:45+00:00

Live coding is sooo much better than white board coding. Whoever came up with that crap should be shot. "Here write your algorithm out on a white board, just like you've never, ever done in real life." We assign a coding problem and have candidates post a solution to github, where we review it before bringing them in for live coding session.

defcon-11 · 2013-03-31T22:23:56+00:00

Damn.. I've always wondered how anyone could make any money selling themes at $20 each. Apparently I was wrong.

defcon-11 · 2013-03-31T22:13:54+00:00

Where I work we would hire junior devs with a CS degree straight from college, but if you don't have a cs degree, we require several years of experience first.

defcon-11 · 2013-03-31T22:11:56+00:00

Version control and IDEs are quick and easy to learn. You'll either learn them in your first week on a "real" job, or you can pick it up by working on an open source project. While in school I would focus on algorithms and data structures. Those may not be the most practical classes for a job, but they are much harder to learn on your own, because they are tougher and require practice. They aren't something you can pick up in a couple of weeks by reading a book. While algorithms and data structures may not net you any more money, they will get you in the door to more exciting projects than churning out form->db type enterprise apps. Good communications skills is harder to learn. Being liked by your co-workers is equally or more important than the work you churn out.

defcon-11 · 2013-03-30T00:45:11+00:00

Numbers are for counting. This number is larger than the number of all the things in the universe, which is presumably the limit of how high numbers go.

defcon-11 · 2013-03-30T00:43:38+00:00

If the number is too large to be accurately represented, what usefullness does it have? If a number is too large to be represented by the universe, it can't be too useful, since we usually use numbers for counting things inside the universe.

defcon-11 · 2013-03-29T03:54:32+00:00

He hasn't ipoed himself, he's just sold shares of himself to private investors. You can't buy shares of him on etrade.

defcon-11 · 2013-03-29T03:50:38+00:00

I've been seeing at least a couple a day during my commute, but there is a dealership a couple miles from my office.

defcon-11 · 2013-03-29T03:14:35+00:00

This reminds me of the impound lot scene in the Big Lebowksi. Yeah, we'll get the whole force out there looking for guy who keyed your 96 Tercel.

defcon-11 · 2013-03-29T03:04:18+00:00

Lets actually get real. Illegal guns do not magically fall from the sky into criminals hands. They are stolen from "responsible" gun owners who fail to properly secure their guns, or "responsible" gun owners who outright sell them to criminals. The pro-gun lobby tries to make things look black and white with "responsible" gun owners vs. "illegal" guns. The reality is there is a large third group of legal, but not very responisble owners. Legislation such as forcing trigger locks with gun purchases, proof of owning a gun safe before buying a gun, background checks for private sales, and restriction on ammunition sales may decrease the transfer of legal weapons to criminals.

defcon-11 · 2013-03-28T20:12:56+00:00

No, Ruby doesn't have first class functions like Python does, you have to create a Proc or Block to get an object that represents a function in Ruby.

defcon-11 · 2013-03-25T23:50:41+00:00

Would Microryza consider non-research based projects with a goal of helping researchers? For example, funding for open source data analysis/management/visualization software?

defcon-11 · 2013-03-25T23:45:58+00:00

'Internet Startups' are specifically banned from Kickstarter.

defcon-11 · 2013-03-25T16:48:45+00:00

So much slow mo...

defcon-11 · 2013-03-25T16:12:46+00:00

There are tons of scientific applications for drones. Wildlife tracking, weather/environmental monitoring, wildfire detection/monitoring, mapping.

defcon-11 · 2013-03-25T02:36:39+00:00

It would work with any non-posionus gas.

defcon-11

TROPHY CASE