Hacker News: helentoomik

New comment by helentoomik in "I almost got hacked by a 'job interview'"

helentoomik — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 20:20:20 +0000

In these cases, where the term is made up of a combination of a simple verb (set, break, shut, log) plus a preposition (in, up, down, out, off, etc): if it's a verb, it's two words. If it's a noun, it's one word.

Another way to look at it: the verb doesn't magically grow together and apart if you use it in different tenses (past, present, future). "I am setting up" (present) is two words - therefore the "set up" in "I set up a script yesterday" and "I did not set up" also needs to be two words.

New comment by helentoomik in "Why I still blog after 15 years"

helentoomik — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 08:13:15 +0000

For my own personal, non-technical blog that I have kept going since 2006, I added an "on this day" feature that shows posts for today's date (or closest matching) for past years. Collapsed version shows posts from 1, 3, 5 and 10 years ago; expanded version shows all 18 years. It's like a little time machine that gives me little gifts of past posts.

New comment by helentoomik in "Germany’s top financial supervisor dismissed a decade of warnings about Wirecard"

helentoomik — Sat, 18 Jul 2020 21:51:31 +0000

It absolutely is the auditor's job to check that what is reported is "correct". The auditor's task is to check that the company's financial statements give a "true and fair" view of the company’s business.

Auditors are expected to confirm e.g. that inventory counts are correct and inventory valuation is reasonable, that accounts receivable represent actual claims on counterparties that actually exist, that bank accounts listed in the accounts exist and have the correct balance, etc.

New comment by helentoomik in "Ask HN: What's the worst piece of software you use everyday?"

helentoomik — Sun, 12 Jul 2020 09:27:42 +0000

The "tap hour, then minute" UI is for setting an alarm. But for timers ("please beep in 5 minutes and 30 seconds") the app still has the old stupid scroll interface.

New comment by helentoomik in "Ask HN: Are there any systematic and scientific ways to develop a habit?"

helentoomik — Sun, 04 Dec 2016 19:40:16 +0000

A book that I have found very useful for both developing new habits and breaking existing unproductive habits is "Self-Directed Behavior" by Watson & Tharp. It's based on scientific research, but the ideas are presented clearly and in a practically useful way. It's also about more than just the introduction or changing of habits - it also helps you analyze them, understand them, measure them, reinforce them, etc.

It appears to be sold as a college textbook so the latest edition is horrendously expensive, but this also means you can easily find used copies of older editions. Mine is at least 15 years old and still very useful.

https://www.amazon.com/Self-Directed-Behavior-Self-Modificat...

New comment by helentoomik in "All My Life I’ve Been Told I Was Special. It Was A Lie."

helentoomik — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:42:40 +0000

tenant: occupant (of an apartment, for example)

tenet: principle, guideline

New comment by helentoomik in "Show HN: We got tired of asking 'What browser are you using?' and created this"

helentoomik — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 21:09:24 +0000

Nice, but it does not work very well for me (Opera on Mac). It reports the browser and OS correctly, but then it claims I do not have JavaScript enabled (which I do). Also when I click Contact support at the bottom, the page gets dimmed out as if for a dialog, but I see no actual dialog anywhere. So somewhere in your JS code there is a bug that makes it fail in Opera. https://aboutmybrowser.com/2079851324

New comment by helentoomik in "Snacking Hierarchy"

helentoomik — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:09:56 +0000

This seems to be very personal: some people are "moderators" while others are "abstainers". If you want to change a habit, any habit, it helps to know which category you belong to. http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2009/01/q...

New comment by helentoomik in "What's a Closure?"

helentoomik — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:04:00 +0000

Agreed! It would have been even more helpful if the unit tests showed both the expected result and the actual result. Now I had to guess at what the problem might be (which led to me giving up on the last problem).

New comment by helentoomik in "The Billionaire Who Is Planning His 125th Birthday"

helentoomik — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 19:28:56 +0000

What if they're both right, but not for the same population? It doesn't sound unreasonable that different people with different metabolisms would benefit from different diets.

New comment by helentoomik in "Have you ever been successful in changing your personality?"

helentoomik — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:40:24 +0000

For any kind of self-modification project, I strongly recommend the book "Self-directed behavior" by Watson & Tharp. It's the thinking man's (or woman's) self-help book, with general all-purpose advice for any kind of change. Very practical and very useful.