<rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><channel><title>Hacker News: jdshaffer</title><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=jdshaffer</link><description>Hacker News RSS</description><docs>https://hnrss.org/</docs><generator>hnrss v2.1.1</generator><lastBuildDate>Sun, 27 Sep 2026 06:17:42 +0000</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://hnrss.org/user?id=jdshaffer" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"></atom:link><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "Two and a half years without a gallbladder"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>For me, it felt like I was being stabbed through the back, right below the right shoulder-blade. It was unbelievably painful. At first I thought it was bad heartburn, but then it just got stronger and stronger, until I thought I was going to throw up.<p>Had my gallbladder taken out after that, and no more issues at all. I can eat whatever I want, thankfully.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 26 Sep 2026 05:59:02 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49853642</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49853642</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49853642</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "Professor denounces mass AI fraud on an exam at Brown"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I considered that... and in the "worst comes to worse" scenario where they decide to use an LLM and re-write everything by hand, I'm still hoping they'll learn SOMETHING during the copying process... kind of like the old time "copy books" that were once used.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 08:07:06 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48716233</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48716233</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48716233</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "Professor denounces mass AI fraud on an exam at Brown"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Yes. I've tinkered with the idea of non-graded homework, too.<p>Unfortunately, if I give homework that will not be graded, almost no one will do it. But I WANT them to do it for the practice it gives them.<p>The only reasonable answer I could find is to award them full points for simply doing the homework on time, even if it has errors.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 03:57:08 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48714605</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48714605</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48714605</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "Professor denounces mass AI fraud on an exam at Brown"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>The big advantage of writing in cursive is speed and less muscle fatigue. Writing in cursive requires far less lifts of the pen and far less tiny movements... a reasonable cursive script (Spencerian, but with a little less flourish) is quite easy to write legibly and with speed, with just a little practice.<p>The junk that used to be taught in US schools (a type of Palmer cursive) it not fun to read or write.<p>BUT, the above analysis only really applies to people who want to write, and want to write a lot.<p>(Apologies for repeating my reply from above here as well.)</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 02:18:10 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48714047</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48714047</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48714047</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "Professor denounces mass AI fraud on an exam at Brown"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Not disagreeing with your opinion, just answering your question:<p>The big advantage of writing in cursive is speed and less muscle fatigue. Writing in cursive requires far less lifts of the pen and far less tiny movements... a reasonable cursive script (Spencerian, but with a little less flourish) is quite easy to write legibly and with speed, with just a little practice.<p>The junk that used to be taught in US schools (a type of Palmer cursive) it not fun to read or write.<p>BUT, the above analysis only really applies to people who want to write, and want to write a lot.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 02:16:41 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48714037</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48714037</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48714037</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "Professor denounces mass AI fraud on an exam at Brown"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Is it paywalled? I honestly didn't realize that. Sorry. 
I'll edit the comment and change to an open URL and paste the two main ideas here:<p>FORCED SKILL-BUILDING GOALS<p>Where my original purpose of giving homework assignments was to help students build their skills through active engagement, I can no longer trust that all my students will have done it by hand. But I still want my students to feel the need to improve their skills. So, I start by considering which skills I think are most important for that class (writing, for example) and build a forced need for my students to improve that skill. For example, in my writing-focused classes, I now give students in-class hand-written exams. I let them know about the essay-based tests (mid-term and final) on the first day of class and encourage them to practice their writing each week, in-class and at home, thus giving them a very clear reason to practice — to get a good grade. Additionally, I take away the need to get a “good grade” on written homework by giving them full points if the homework is turned in on time, regardless of contents or mistakes. Thus, with the need to practice their writing skills for exams and no need to worry about making a good grade on homework assignments, students are encouraged to try the homework themselves — they cannot fail and they can only benefit by doing it themselves. In fact, using an LLM to complete an assignment will likely hurt them as other students who improved their skills will do better on the exams.<p>Homework once again can be used as a tool for them to improve their abilities through engagement, not just a pointless activity that an LLM can do to help them “get a good grade”.<p>FORCED LLM FRICTION<p>Another method I have found for encouraging students to complete assignments on their own is to purposely create friction to using an LLM. I try to plan assignments that it would be MORE work to use an LLM than to simply do it themselves. Humans being what we are, we often will choose the path of least resistance, especially if a grade is on the line!<p>For example, in one of my classes, I have students write a short story for homework (of about 250 words) about a picture I show them in class. Spelling and grammar mistakes are OK, they are guaranteed to get full marks if they turn it in on time, but the story has to be written BY HAND. To use an LLM, a student would first have to write a lengthy prompt describing the picture in detail and explain the type of output they need (a lot of work), and then they would still have to rewrite the entire story by hand (forcing them to focus on reading, spelling, and handwriting anyway). Thus, by introducing forced friction to using an LLM, especially where there is no danger (no friction) of getting a bad score because of mistakes, encourages students to take the easier path — just do it themselves.<p>The same idea also applies to shorter listening assignments. As long as the homework receives full marks for turning it in on time (low friction against the fear of poor ability) and the exams including a listening element (clear purpose for trying), the hassle of downloading the audio, sending it to an AI to transcribe it, then upload pictures of the homework questions just isn’t worth it. It’s just easier and more beneficial for students to do it themselves.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:39:46 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48713385</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48713385</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48713385</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "Professor denounces mass AI fraud on an exam at Brown"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I've been trying to figure out how to avoid AI fraud in my classes, like many others. While not perfect, I've written down my thoughts and attempts in the hope it might help someone else:<p><a href="https://web.hedc.shizuoka.ac.jp/msg-from-center/creating-meaningful-homework-assignments-in-the-age-of-ai-and-llms/" rel="nofollow">https://web.hedc.shizuoka.ac.jp/msg-from-center/creating-mea...</a><p>Edit: Didn't realize the original URL was paywalled. Sorry. This newer URL is open. Apologies.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 23:30:42 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48712898</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48712898</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48712898</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "The case against geometric algebra (2024)"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Thank you so very much, I'll definitely check them out!</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 24 Jun 2026 03:03:29 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48654583</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48654583</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48654583</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "The case against geometric algebra (2024)"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I've become more and more curious about GA after bumping into it when learning a little 3D programming for fun. I'm looking to learn more, wondering if it would help my understanding of physics.<p>Do you have any resources (books, videos, etc.) you would recommend to someone wanting to learn?</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 21 Jun 2026 23:27:59 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48623678</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48623678</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48623678</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "Japan is gripped by mass allergies. A 1950s project is to blame"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Yes. I developed hay fever after living here in Japan for a couple years. Was fine the first few years, though it was amusing to watch "yellow clouds of pollen" being blown from the trees with random gusts of wind. Now it's not so amusing. My car windows are dusted with a new layer of "light yellow" every couple days now (in season).</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 20 May 2026 11:08:31 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48205877</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48205877</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48205877</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in ""cat readme.txt" is not safe if you use iTerm2"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Is it a problem with "cat" or a terminal problem?<p>If I wrote my own version of cat in C, simply reading and displaying a single TXT character at a time, wouldn't I see the same behavior?</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 17 Apr 2026 22:39:22 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47811334</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47811334</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47811334</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "Is particle physics dead, dying, or just hard?"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I remember back in 1995 or so being in a professor's office at Indiana University  and he was talking about trying to figure out how to use Neural Networks to automatically track particle trails in bubble chamber results. He was part of a project at CERN at the time. So, yeah, they've been using NNs for quite awhile. :-)</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:30:51 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46953704</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46953704</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46953704</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "Jurassic Park - Tablet device on Nedry's desk? (2012)"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Why are people downvoting this? It's just a quote from the movie...</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 25 Jan 2026 21:22:07 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46758376</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46758376</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46758376</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "Ask HN: What are you working on? (January 2026)"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Hey! I've seen bonsai before. Amazing work!</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2026 23:48:41 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46581827</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46581827</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46581827</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "Stop Doom Scrolling, Start Doom Coding: Build via the terminal from your phone"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Thanks for the detailed reply, examples, and links! Yeah, I definitely rely heavily on bash script functions, but had never thought about using git to share or sync my scripts and little programs. Thanks again, I really appreciate it!</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2026 05:20:41 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46537492</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46537492</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46537492</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "Stop Doom Scrolling, Start Doom Coding: Build via the terminal from your phone"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Thanks for the input! :-)</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2026 05:18:22 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46537472</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46537472</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46537472</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "Stop Doom Scrolling, Start Doom Coding: Build via the terminal from your phone"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>If you don't mind, I'd like to hear more about your setup. I have a bunch of bash scripts and python programs I've used to make working in the terminal easier (and more fun). Are you saving your dotfiles are a git project and then just syncing and pulling them down from there? I'm not an expert, just a tinkerer, but I like tinkering in the terminal. :)<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 07 Jan 2026 12:47:28 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46525817</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46525817</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46525817</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "Some people can't see mental images"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Mine was a little 4-wheeled buggy riding along the guardrails as we drove. Really cool to see other people had similar imaginations!</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 30 Oct 2025 22:41:32 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45766252</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45766252</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45766252</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "America Is Sliding Toward Illiteracy"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>So, in the end, I guess only the affluent can read after all...</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 15 Oct 2025 00:15:56 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45586553</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45586553</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45586553</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by jdshaffer in "The Real Reason Endurance Sank"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Interesting article, though I wonder why they didn't mention the Fram -- Nansen's ship that WAS designed to resist the crushing ice, and DID survive a trip across the northern seas purposely trapped in the crushing ice (but just missing the north pole)... If my memory serves, Shackleton knew about Nansen, and even talk with him before his (Shackleton's) expedition. <i>shrug</i></p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 06 Oct 2025 11:45:52 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45490331</link><dc:creator>jdshaffer</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45490331</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45490331</guid></item></channel></rss>