Hacker News: flint

New comment by flint in "The APL programming language source code (2012)"

flint — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 23:41:34 +0000

I went out to talk with a guy, back in about 1995, in Chicago, fired up APL on his notebook, loaded the JPMorgan Risk Metrics data set, fiddled a bit, and reduced the thing to a one-line formula in an interactive window - like a Jupyter Notebook.

New comment by flint in "Programming Patterns: The Story of the Jacquard Loom (2019)"

flint — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 19:34:01 +0000

I chatted with Gemini about it seems close: """It sounds like you were using the Jacquard J100 or J500 specifically as a "shared-logic" workstation. ... The Software: AM Jacquard "Data-Rite" While Jacquard was famous for its Type-Rite word processor, the spreadsheet-like functionality for bankers was likely a component of Data-Rite. Here is why your description fits so perfectly: Row-Column Text Format: Unlike modern spreadsheets that are "cell-centric," these early systems were often "record-centric." They functioned more like a flat-file database, with each row a record and each column a field. The "Formula Bar": In Jacquard’s system, you didn't usually put a formula into an individual cell. You entered a "Procedure" or a "Calculation Rule" at the top of a column. "Drawing Down": When you "drew the bar down," you were essentially telling the mini-computer to execute a Batch Process on the text file. It would sweep through the records, applying your math (e.g., Col C = Col A * Col B) to every row in the file.""" It was old when I got there. I never saw any manual; they barely let me touch it.

New comment by flint in "Programming Patterns: The Story of the Jacquard Loom (2019)"

flint — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 15:50:34 +0000

I worked on an early spreadsheet and word-processing system at Lehman Brothers back in about 1984. The system was called Jacquard. The investment bankers built comparative financials in this system and printed them out on 14x11 folded paper. The deal was that you could enter formulas into a bar, with a formula for each column, and drag the bar down to apply the formula to the cells.

New comment by flint in "Sumerian Star Map Recorded the Impact of an Asteroid (2024)"

flint — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 13:35:40 +0000

I bought the book "A SUMERIAN OBSERVATION OF THE KÖFELS’ IMPACT EVENT" by Mark Hempsell, and Alan Bond. Tried to do a film adaptation, about 10 years ago. One part in Sumer and another in the Alps.

New comment by flint in "Try to take my position: The best promotion advice I ever got"

flint — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 15:47:45 +0000

My early boss had a different approach. If you want a promotion, you need to have people in place who can do your job. That was touchy. If I had people capable of doing my job, what would happen when we do layoffs (which happened regularly)? But it was also through a period of strong growth, so the boss needed proven people in place to take on new opportunities. Working for a firm during its strong growth phase is very different from trying to climb a 10,000-deep corporate ladder.

New comment by flint in "Estimating the perceived 'claustrophobia' of New York City's streets (2024)"

flint — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 13:34:26 +0000

Obviously, he's never been to Rikers.

New comment by flint in "Is Fortran better than Python for teaching basics of numerical linear algebra?"

flint — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 00:49:27 +0000

I was going to mention APL, then decided to scroll through the discussion.

New comment by flint in "Nothing to watch – Experimental gallery visualizing 50k film posters"

flint — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 15:23:57 +0000

Chrome in Windows 11

New comment by flint in "Nothing to watch – Experimental gallery visualizing 50k film posters"

flint — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 12:02:42 +0000

I had a look, then heard the fan on my pc ramp up...

32.0 GB (27.8 GB usable)

AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS w/ Radeon 780M Graphics 3.80 GHz

New comment by flint in "Personal care products disrupt the human oxidation field"

flint — Sun, 29 Jun 2025 17:49:26 +0000

This is why I get outside and sweat every day.

New comment by flint in "Don't force your kids to do math"

flint — Sun, 20 Apr 2025 13:35:55 +0000

Get a set of dominoes. Make up games with them.

New comment by flint in "Why hasn't commercial air travel gotten any faster since the 1960s? (2009)"

flint — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 14:47:25 +0000

I remember, in the mid 90s getting up at 6:00 am, taking a taxi to LGA and catching a 7:00 am Shuttle to Washingto DC so I could be at a 9:00 am meeting.

New comment by flint in "Why I hate the index finger (1980)"

flint — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 19:50:54 +0000

I play string bass. Many suggest you focus your attention through the thumb of your left hand as you practice.

New comment by flint in "What was the biggest art theft in history?"

flint — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 21:15:35 +0000

Ever seen The Monuments Men? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monuments_Men

New comment by flint in "Reasons to grow and keep big muscles"

flint — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 13:22:05 +0000

I think Mark Ripptoe is the best guy on what and how to do it. His explanation of what to do and the details of how to do it in his book Starting Strength are astonishingly detailed. An engineering process document on how to build strength. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Rippetoe

New comment by flint in "Did English ever have a formal version of "you"? (2011)"

flint — Sun, 24 Dec 2023 21:41:00 +0000

I'm gonna use this: "Thou art a jammy bugger!"

New comment by flint in "Is Bach the greatest achiever of all time?"

flint — Sun, 24 Dec 2023 14:58:24 +0000

Dolly Parton

New comment by flint in "Record global temperatures and U.S. billion-dollar disasters"

flint — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 17:17:14 +0000

A bit of battlefield preparation for the coming massive insurance rate increase for eastern coastal cities? perhaps.

New comment by flint in "How to Work Effectively with Someone You Don't Like"

flint — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 21:45:50 +0000

I live in Nashville now. That job was on Wall Street. I am not religious.

New comment by flint in "How to Work Effectively with Someone You Don't Like"

flint — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 15:28:41 +0000

Years ago, I had an issue with a coworker. My mentor told me to pray for them. I cursed him but did it anyway. About six months later, a different coworker came to me and asked, "How do you get along with X? They really seem to respect you." I told him that I prayed for X. He called me an axxhole.