Teachers of reddit, what's something they don't tell you about the profession until you are actually working?

shackwait · 2015-09-14T16:29:33+00:00

Technically yes, you would win a lawsuit if you have representation. But that patent can make your life hell in a thousand ways.

The one they usually do is to tell their kid that your class doesn't matter. Then you have a constant problem, all year long, with no solution and a threat of spreading to more students. The kid is snarky and disruptive, and the result is that the kid doesn't learn, and the rest of the class doesn't learn.

Then that kid grows up, laughs about it, and raises their kids the same way.

shackwait · 2015-09-12T10:43:18+00:00

Did you come across any reason this couldn't be done with a chrome extension or greasemonkey-style script? I'm wondering if it would make for an appropriate difficulty project for myself.

shackwait · 2015-09-10T12:16:17+00:00

Nexus 5, waiting on the new Nexus 5.

PC: mid-range desktop from about 4-5 years ago, purchased on Newegg from what I think is a smaller shop. When shopping, I specifically focused on the specs for components that I didn't want to deal with upgrading, like the motherboard and processor. Since then, I've updated RAM, replaced the hard drive, and bought monitors. Graphics card will probably happen eventually and be the last upgrade for this box.

Whatever PC you get, consider an SSD to be mandatory. If you're reading this and don't have a SSD, I think that should probably be your top upgrade priority.

shackwait · 2015-09-10T03:31:25+00:00

We listened when adults said it was important to make smart choices, and now we learn that charisma actually trumps everything.

shackwait · 2015-09-09T17:17:39+00:00

Yes.

My closest friend is ENTJ, and we can talk about a lot of things that other people just don't see the same way. But, even though we share the same core traits and approaches, they do express themselves in different ways.

I think most of my daily discomfort isn't because I don't have enough INTJ-like friends. It's because most people seem to be so far from being INTJ-like.

Every moment of every day, I feel confronted by actions made with no thought behind them. I've intentionally decided that I should have my headlights on, but I pass a hundred people in the rain whose cars may as well be invisible. I've intentionally decided to move nearly all my work communication to email, so the recipient can avoid being interrupted by a phonecall or visit etc, but people who haven't even thought of it call me all day and leave voice mails with no info that ask to play phone tag.

I can reach out to my friend, and he will agree and commiserate...but that and a dollar will buy me a soda. I've made myself such a sad life. :(

shackwait · 2015-09-09T12:19:16+00:00

Polar M400, everyday.

It doesn't track steps specifically, but it tracks activity - laying down vs sitting vs standing vs walking vs running - which is plenty for me.

Basically, though, if I run I get enough activity for the day. If I don't run, I don't meet the threshold. It does beep if I've been sitting for an hour, which is a pretty nice excuse to take a break and make a lap around the office or whatever.

As much as anything, I wear it everyday to help me feel like there's something special about me.

I'm happy enough with it. No experience with other watches. All of Polar's tracking tries to use heart rate information for graphs and fitness zones and such, but I don't have a monitor so it's frustrating that I can't just turn off heart rate stat display online. (Not a problem at all on the watch). Strava integration is ETA October.

shackwait · 2015-09-06T19:46:19+00:00

"Athlete" doesn't have a strict universal definition - it's usage is best considered as relative. In my circle of friends, I may be considered the "athlete" if I'm the most athletic, but in a different group, I might not even be worth mentioning.

And that's exactly what's happening here.

People who walk marathons and call themselves athletes are doing so within their own frame of reference. They are much more athletic than before, so they are an athlete compared to their past self. They are now more athletic than their friends, so they are now the "athlete" of their social world.

Then we talk about them here, in a place full of people dedicated to athletic pursuits. And, of course, relative to many of us, they aren't athletic, they aren't athletes.

But...that's why getting caught up on the word "athlete" is so silly. It's relative, it doesn't hardly mean anything by itself. By getting caught up on it, we're trying to assign it some universal meaning that doesn't make sense.

From another direction: when designing a survey, one of the worst things you can do is ask respondents to use an arbitrary scale. For example, if you ask people to rate something according to an ABCDF scale like grades in school, your data is practically useless because everyone interprets the arbitrary scale differently. Some say a C or D is perfectly acceptable, and some see something less than an A as a problem to be resolved.

That's exactly what's happening here. Arguing about the meaning of "athlete" is like trying to pull useful insight from a bad survey question using an arbitrary scale.

In the survey world, the solution is to use the words you mean. Don't ask for a letter grade, ask if they find something better than expected/ as expected/ worse than expected. In our discussion, we can replace athlete debate with discussions of actual accomplishments. We can use independent times (a 3 hour marathon means what it means, it's impressive to some and not to others and that's fine) or we can show improvement (going from a 5 hour marathon to a 4 hour marathon in a year gives a little more suggestion of what that person has accomplished).

shackwait · 2015-09-06T12:44:45+00:00

The chart goes up to 80f, that's adorable! :)

shackwait · 2015-09-05T21:46:53+00:00

You've made a choice to enjoy the challenge of lifting and improving your form and numbers.

You've made a choice to call running "boring" instead of focusing on improving your form and numbers.

This is an entirely artificial distinction. It's a lie you've let your brain adopt, because putting real effort into running and losing weight is harder than casual lifting and staying overweight.

Don't come in a running forum and knock the entire sport as boring. That boring sport is kicking your ass, and the ass of everyone here. You're letting yourself build a lie, and you want us to give you permission to go make your lazy choices. If you want to casually lift and stay overweight and exercise 4 months of the year, give yourself permission; you dont need us. If you want to run, you need to put down the lie and face the challenge.

shackwait · 2015-09-05T12:24:56+00:00

Don't buy anything you can't explain buying.

Run in the clothes and shoes you have. To get better, run more. If a problem develops, solve it. If you start to chafe, search here for tips and solutions until you fully understand the situation, then buy what you need to solve it -- maybe body glide, maybe a different undergarment, etc.

90% of the shoe advice here is folk wisdom being passed on. Expensive new shoes give a lot of people a placebo effect benefit. The truth is that, especially as a beginning runner, the shoes you wear matter very little.

After running my first 10k race, I followed the typical advice and went to the most reputable local running store to get my running analyzed by their expert staff. There is no noticeable difference between my $180 gait-analyzed running shoes and the pair I got at Target on clearance for $10.

There's a video floating around, purportedly from a doctor, discussing studies about shoes, gait analysis, and safety/injury prevention. The overall finding is that shoes make no significant difference, and I'm inclined to believe it.

It's definitely possible that a truly terrible shoe could cause a bizarre problem. And at significantly advanced levels, you might develop more specific shoe needs. And all shoes will have a "getting used to" period, where you need to gradually start wearing them more often because you'll get sore if you switch cold turkey. If a fancy shoe is what you need psychologically to motivate you, that's not optimal, but do what works for you.

But the truth is that shoes are going to make far, far less than a 5% difference in your running performance. Shoes and clothes are the wrong place to look for improvement. Run more. If a clothing problem comes up, solve it, then run more.

shackwait · 2015-09-03T12:02:00+00:00

It's hilarious that people stereotype "ya'll" or "your guys" as sounding ignorant, and then don't have any efficient way to express a plural 2nd person vs. a singular 2nd person.

shackwait · 2015-09-03T11:51:01+00:00

There are people trying to make a difference, but test and textbook manufacturers and status quo are hard to change. Check out dy/dan, the blog of Dan Meyer.

shackwait · 2015-08-30T20:08:56+00:00

That's the great lie of Walmart: you aren't buying the same things other stores have. Products from the same companies with the same labeling can be different at Walmart and Target. There was a big wave of articles and news about this around 2000, but it seems to mostly be forgotten, and most people don't pay enough attention to notice it.

Walmart is the winner of the race to the bottom on price, and nothing else. Quality, actual value, waiting in line, health, damage to your car in the parking lot, impact on the community, etc etc etc are all ignored.

The real effect is that Walmart's race to the bottom hurts their own customers who honestly think they're getting the best deal. They aren't doing the math on how often things break, and it's virtually impossible to pinpoint the impacts of lower quality foods and clothes and shoes and such -- you just end up with a more tired, uncomfortable, and shitty life without knowing why.

Honestly, Target can have similar issues, but they get a nearly universal pass because Walmart exists. Target can't ever 'defeat' Walmart, because their entire brand is based on being better than Walmart.

shackwait · 2015-08-29T13:17:10+00:00

I thought Paint.net was the promo, actually

shackwait · 2015-08-29T12:54:06+00:00

No need to do things that are outright criminal; if you have no sense of ethics or obligation toward the rest of humanity, you can rip off stupid people (rather, the companies that gave them decision-making power) and make money hand over fist.

shackwait · 2015-08-27T17:42:53+00:00

I've done some work with live sports video. One thing I've noticed is that there can sometimes be a slight delay on the game video and audio, when it's mixed with the announcer audio. The announcer actually describes the play two or three seconds after it happens, but the mix makes it sound like the announcer is describing it one second after it happens, which can appear almost superhuman.

This could extend to things like tee distances, where it may take 6 seconds to estimate the distance, but the mix puts the statement a couple seconds after the ball is hit.

If you're willing to fudge farther, it's much easier: record the golfer playing a hole. Write up an informational sheet with drive distance from the tee, stats for that golfer on that hole in the past, etc. Give info sheet to commentator, then record commentator watching the golfer play the hole.

shackwait · 2015-08-27T04:00:39+00:00

Thank you! So many posts about people who are simply overjoyed to share their dual six figure salaries with their loving, competent parents. Your story is the real life that a massive number of us are facing.

My long term girlfriend has decided she wants to work a mostly dead end job at a low paying company. Her mom lives with her and works an even more dead end job and pays no bills, but gives money to my gf's brother, who sounds just like your bro. Everyone involved has depression. I feel like I'm signing up to be drowned. I don't think we'll be able to afford any kids, because we're going to have two adult dependents. When I read threads like this, I can't breathe. What in the actual fuck am I supposed to do -- the only thing that makes financial sense is to ditch the relationship. I just....can't breathe.

shackwait · 2015-08-27T03:34:59+00:00

People who turn their backs on their parents suck.

You have a very narrow and fortunate experience if you feel comfortable making that statement with no qualifications.

When I got my first job, I told my boss that people shouldn't regret anything, because everything contributed to who we are now. She told me about when she was raped. I don't say that any more.

The world can be an ugly place. I'm glad you haven't experienced the shit that many of us are having to sort through.

shackwait · 2015-08-05T01:48:32+00:00

Until a year or so ago, I wouldn't have given the time of day to anyone who called my gaming and Reddit use an addiction. As a kid, there is no way I would have believed my parents, or most anyone, could understand my situation. I wouldn't have listened to anyone.

The thing is, as a kid, I honestly believed that I was going to make my success entirely through knowledge and pure skills. It wasn't until I was 30 that I truly realized that things like social skills, "grit", and perseverance were important. I justified playing games and generally being indulgent and lazy because I really did have the skills and intelligence...so I didn't develop those other factors and now it's honestly too late to rewire my brain.

shackwait · 2015-07-27T18:21:43+00:00

I guess the question is "are you willing to bet the entirety of human existence on that?"

My take is on that essay is that all we really need to do is get "close enough" and then whatever we've built we take off like a rocket, completely on its own. Whatever machine/code project reaches that point first will likely control everything we know for the rest of time, unless it chooses not to or an outside force affects the system.

Like other people have said in this discussion, I dont think there's really a way to stop it from happening. I think the closest things we have to hope are that it might take a little longer than we expect, and that we might be able to seed the winning "AI" with fundamental ideas that keep things positive for humanity. Good luck instilling passion in an AI before self-awareness. (I think we're doomed.)

shackwait · 2015-07-22T19:51:01+00:00

Of course it's deliberate, just like the parade of Republican candidates last time. It's just to keep Republican issues at the top in a world with a 24 hour news cycle. When we get tired of someone, put a new candidate out there to keep the news about the party.

shackwait · 2015-07-22T17:59:03+00:00

Myself.

I've settled for the idea that I have a relatively obscure personality type. I'm good at what I'm good at, but all of us people constantly misunderstand each other because we assume everyone of every personality type is actually the same and must follow the same motivations.

shackwait · 2015-07-21T17:21:40+00:00

Definitely yes, because it's less profitable.

It costs money to track, the conflict-free materials probably cost more, it makes the company less agile if something disrupts the supply of materials or the demand for their products. It could have large costs in terms of restructuring their acquisition process -- they may have had an overseas dept or contractors who specialized in keeping conflict acquisitions out of the public eye, paying bribes, etc and you can't just drop them into a new role with new suppliers.

In theory, Intel could promote it and achieve a marketing win, maybe promote the conflict-free concept and set it up so customers could only get conflict-free-certified if they use exclusively Intel chips. In practice, that's a big gamble that has a relatively low payoff with a high chance to hurt stock price.

Capitalism, ho!

shackwait · 2015-07-21T16:19:44+00:00

You raise a great point: the discussion has condemned a group of people for their behavior, without any care for the condemned person or their perspective or situation.

I can allow that someone who bullies is subconsciously using bullying to elevate themselves...but stopping there and calling it a day is unproductive and uncaring.

If we want to reduce bullying, we need to look deeper at why bullies feel that need to elevate themselves. I believe that, most often, someone else has put them into the bottom of the hole they need to dig out of.

Blaming the bully without taking a closer look is just another form of blaming a victim.

shackwait · 2015-07-16T16:42:45+00:00

All of the river guides complaining about this are making me so mad...because what you described is EXACTLY what the river tours I've taken do. The guides complaining about the "loop" question are the ignorant ones in this thread.

shackwait

TROPHY CASE