Hacker News: nicolethenerd

New comment by nicolethenerd in "'My son spent £3,160 in one game'"

nicolethenerd — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 02:27:03 +0000

Yup - credit cards offer incentives (for example, 2% cash back) - I can't think of any good reason not to get one and have it set up so that it automatically deducts the balance from your bank account once a month - this makes it effectively a debit card where everything you purchase is 2% cheaper.

New comment by nicolethenerd in "Ask HN: How do I explain “startup went bankrupt” to family and future employer?"

nicolethenerd — Sat, 13 Jul 2019 17:30:07 +0000

Startups fail all the time. Just say it didn't work out - you don't need to give all the details.

New comment by nicolethenerd in "The Intelligence Myth – Why I cringe when someone tells me my child is smart"

nicolethenerd — Sat, 13 Jul 2019 16:55:20 +0000

There is a distinction between the pressure that comes from growing up in a "tiger family" and the consequences of growing up with the "smart" label, and I feel like the author is conflating the two. Personally, growing up with the label (but not the parental pressure) was one of the best things that could have happened for me and my education - the fact that others believed (whether true or not) that I was lightyears ahead of the class afforded me numerous opportunities - special classes, programs, etc. And more importantly, the fact that I believed it meant that I was able to operate free of insecurities or imposter syndrome that so many of my peers faced. Did it inflate my ego a bit as a kid? Sure - but I had good role models to look up to who helped me tamp that down a bit, and I had plenty of time to figure out that I wasn't the smartest kid in the world once I got to MIT (which I might not have gotten into had I not so fervently believed I would!).

I can't comment on what it's like to grow up with the extreme parental pressure the author describes - I didn't experience that, and I'm sorry she had to go through that. But I think that's an entirely separate issue from growing up with the "gifted" label.

New comment by nicolethenerd in "Ask HN: I need ideas to impress fifth graders with technology"

nicolethenerd — Mon, 03 Jun 2019 19:03:02 +0000

https://edu.google.com/products/vr-ar/expeditions/

New comment by nicolethenerd in "A Common Blood Test Can Cost $11 or Almost $1k"

nicolethenerd — Wed, 01 May 2019 03:02:58 +0000

With my HSA, auto payment is apparently a setting you can turn on or off. I highly recommend having this turned off if your HSA allows.

New comment by nicolethenerd in "A Common Blood Test Can Cost $11 or Almost $1k"

nicolethenerd — Wed, 01 May 2019 02:58:40 +0000

I keep hearing this "negotiate" thing, but I tried it when I was billed $254 for a strep test (after being quoted $25 at the walk-in clinic), and the provider refused to negotiate. I appealed with my insurance, the appeal sort of disappeared (I received a letter saying it had failed the first round of review, and they were sending it elsewhere, and then I never heard back again) - and after fighting it for four months, I gave up and paid. Should I not have?

New comment by nicolethenerd in "First physiological test for autism proves high accuracy in second trial"

nicolethenerd — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 01:03:57 +0000

I think the trend these days is to use People-first language: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People-first_language (that is, saying "person with autism" - because it puts the person first)

New comment by nicolethenerd in "Does Adding Expensive Housing Help the Little Guy?"

nicolethenerd — Fri, 29 Sep 2017 01:12:15 +0000

"Affordable housing" is a very specific term - it means city-subsidized housing that is restricted to tenants within a certain income bracket (and usually applicants are selected by lottery). There are sometimes requirements that new developments must set aside a certain % of units as affordable housing.

New comment by nicolethenerd in "The First COBOL Bootcamp"

nicolethenerd — Sun, 02 Apr 2017 01:05:13 +0000

Real academy, fake COBOL bootcamp. It's just that one page that's the joke - the rest of the site is about their real JavaScript bootcamp.

New comment by nicolethenerd in "The First COBOL Bootcamp"

nicolethenerd — Sat, 01 Apr 2017 23:08:42 +0000

In case people are confused - the Grace Hopper Program at Fullstack Academy is a real bootcamp. They do not teach COBOL - that's the April Fool's joke.

Anti-Surveillance Camouflage for Your Face

nicolethenerd — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 13:15:46 +0000

Article URL: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/07/makeup/374929/?single_page=true

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13976274

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

What Does 'Middle Class' Even Mean?

nicolethenerd — Sun, 08 Jan 2017 04:04:10 +0000

Article URL: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/what-does-middle-class-even-mean/392471/?single_page=true

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13348170

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

New comment by nicolethenerd in "Why should children program? A review of Seymour Papert's Mindstorms"

nicolethenerd — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 03:18:20 +0000

Thanks! Or a turtle being drawn by a turtle being drawn by a turtle... turtles all the way down! ^_^

Seriously, though - I appreciate the suggestion - I was thinking of triangles drawing triangles, and turtles drawing turtles - but it didn't occur to me to mix the two. Great idea!

New comment by nicolethenerd in "Why should children program? A review of Seymour Papert's Mindstorms"

nicolethenerd — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 00:08:57 +0000

This is a bit of a tangent, but you guys seem like the right crowd. Logo has been on my mind the past few days, as I'm rapidly approaching my 20th "codeversary" (ie. 20 years since my very first programming lesson, in what I believe was Berkeley Logo). To mark the occasion, I've been trying to figure out what a Logo tribute tattoo might look like - the "turtle" is the obvious thing that comes to mind, but in the version of Logo I learned on, the "turtle" was just a triangle. I'm trying to come up with an image that's aesthetically pleasing, doesn't actually include any code, and is recognizable as Logo. So maybe the "turtle" drawing something, but what? (No idea whether I'll actually muster the courage to get this inked on my body, but it's a fun thought exercise either way.) Any ideas?

New comment by nicolethenerd in "Being a Female Developer"

nicolethenerd — Thu, 17 Mar 2016 01:30:09 +0000

Clicked through to her site, and the tagline is "True && False of two Female Developers"... True && False evaluates to False... so, lies by two female developers?

Not a criticism - I get what she meant, but it's amusing.

How I learned to stop worrying and love the code

nicolethenerd — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 21:38:00 +0000

Article URL: https://medium.com/keep-learning-keep-growing/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-code-af1a809457c7#.6fyasslek

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10761148

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

New comment by nicolethenerd in "Show HN: Ponzi.es – Startup sticker ponzi scheme"

nicolethenerd — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 15:56:35 +0000

Or just have people mail you a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE)? Then you can just put the stickers in it and drop them in the mail (plus, you don't have to buy or address envelopes)

New comment by nicolethenerd in "State of U.S. Salaries Report [pdf]"

nicolethenerd — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 20:16:48 +0000

This is great, thanks!

New comment by nicolethenerd in "State of U.S. Salaries Report [pdf]"

nicolethenerd — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 19:39:16 +0000

Interesting analysis, but would have also loved to see a breakdown of salary by years of experience. "Average salary" doesn't tell me much about how much I can reasonably expect to be making in those cities - how many of those data points were senior vs junior people?

New comment by nicolethenerd in "'Escape Rooms' Challenge Players To Solve Puzzles To Get Out"

nicolethenerd — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 20:35:39 +0000

MIT Mystery Hunt - http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/ happens every year in January. Afaik you don't need to be an MIT student to participate