Hacker News: ranDOMscripts

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "She Gets Calls and Texts Meant for Elon Musk. Some Are Pretty Weird"

ranDOMscripts — Fri, 22 May 2020 14:47:00 +0000

I have the same name as an entrepreneur who had a fairly successful exit and is now an early stage investor. As a result, I get a slow trickle of cold intro emails with hot* start-up funding opportunities.

*definitely not hot

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "Using human brain tissue in lab, researchers show herpes link to Alzheimer’s"

ranDOMscripts — Wed, 06 May 2020 19:34:23 +0000

Maybe it's like prostate cancer in that it changes so slowly that often something else kills you long before the prostate cancer has a chance to? [0]

[0]https://www.cancer.gov/types/prostate/understanding-prostate...

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "San Francisco emerged from a lockdown too soon during the 1918 Spanish flu"

ranDOMscripts — Sat, 25 Apr 2020 15:24:20 +0000

"Stored pressure ABC extinguishers are very common, and they often require internal maintenance every 6 years and hydrostatic testing every 12 years. Other types of extinguishers may vary in their internal examination and testing intervals." -https://www.cintas.com/fire-protection-services/fire-extingu...

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "San Francisco emerged from a lockdown too soon during the 1918 Spanish flu"

ranDOMscripts — Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:47:50 +0000

Very few people want to spend $40 on a fire extinguisher every few years until the moment when their kitchen is actually on fire.*

*That is, unless, history repeats itself and we lose ~1-2% of the world population[0] this Fall. That might provide sufficient motivation. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "San Francisco emerged from a lockdown too soon during the 1918 Spanish flu"

ranDOMscripts — Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:32:34 +0000

The same year. What started as a bad flu in Kansas in the Spring of 1918 morphed into a super-killer by the Fall of the same year.[0]

[0]https://www.history.com/news/spanish-flu-second-wave-resurge...

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "New Yorkers consider relocating post coronavirus"

ranDOMscripts — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 20:11:54 +0000

I'm going to venture a guess that lifestyle is a huge factor in the difference. People are generally more active out west (better weather, more open spaces/ parks/ mountains, better beaches, etc.) and smoke far fewer cigarettes.

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "House cats have more impact on local wildlife than wild predators"

ranDOMscripts — Sat, 18 Apr 2020 18:37:39 +0000

Eliminate all of the wildlife in the yard? Some people actually prefer a diverse array of wildlife over a neighbor's pet.

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "House cats have more impact on local wildlife than wild predators"

ranDOMscripts — Sat, 18 Apr 2020 18:31:06 +0000

The butterflies & migrating birds would likely beg to differ.

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "Shopify CTO: our platform is now handling Black Friday level traffic every day"

ranDOMscripts — Fri, 17 Apr 2020 19:16:40 +0000

Everything? Amazon is crushing it and clearing out the space for essentials. Costco Online is selling out of food and sundries as soon as they refresh the web page.

Anecdotally, I'm getting UPS packages delivered at any time between 8am - 10pm. The night driver has to use a headlamp to read building numbers.

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "Why a coronavirus vaccine could take way longer than a year"

ranDOMscripts — Sat, 11 Apr 2020 04:20:20 +0000

HN hive mind: At what point are there sufficient numbers of survivors to establish herd immunity and get some semblance of normalcy?

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "What Armenians should know about life in America (2014)"

ranDOMscripts — Sat, 04 Apr 2020 15:21:27 +0000

Anybody semi-capable can easily modify a stick built house. And Americans _love_ to modify their houses. DIY stores are big business here. I, myself, am adding some recessed LED lights into a couple bedroom ceilings this weekend. When I'm done, apart from the light fixtures themselves, you will never know the work was done 50 years after the house was built because there are no cable raceways and no external plugs.

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "Scientists use ML to find an antibiotic able to kill superbugs in mice"

ranDOMscripts — Fri, 21 Feb 2020 07:14:00 +0000

It is my (albeit limited) understanding that the Gates grants are focused on providing toilets to areas where there previously were none and not on replacing crumbling infrastructure. They're trying to get facilities to the millions of people who have to poop in the bushes because that's all there is.

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "Scientists use ML to find an antibiotic able to kill superbugs in mice"

ranDOMscripts — Fri, 21 Feb 2020 05:35:04 +0000

That's probably because Bill & Melinda issued their grants a few years back. You can see a list of all of the high-tech outhouse makers here [0]. Many of the designs are out in the field for long-term testing.

[0]https://stepsforsanitation.org/innovation-center/

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "Costco Capitalism"

ranDOMscripts — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 07:06:34 +0000

Surely, you're joking?! What if you want to actually see the Flugelfluffer assembled before you purchase it in a flatpack? (maybe you want the white one? no, wait, the natural one) That entails going upstairs and walking around the whole circuitous path through every staged bedroom, dining room, kitchen, living room and bathroom just to find the damn Fluggelfluffer. Which is downstairs. In aisle 47C.

If Costco has the piece of furniture, its either in the middle display area or on the furniture aisle. That's it.

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "Costco Capitalism"

ranDOMscripts — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 03:15:37 +0000

>designed to make you maximize browsing time

Have you never been to an IKEA? If you want to see what maximizing browsing time looks like IRL, you should visit one some time.

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "The word “mafia” is never heard in The Godfather"

ranDOMscripts — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 21:02:43 +0000

Al Ruddy (the producer) describes how this came about in his interview with Malcolm Gladwell[0]. It's quite a story.

[0]http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/39-chutzpah-vs-chutzp...

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "Elizabeth Holmes representing herself in Arizona civil case"

ranDOMscripts — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 03:34:42 +0000

Which is why many pro athletes move their residency to Florida the day they sign their multi-million dollar contracts and buy the biggest mansions they can afford.

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "Coyotes Poised to Infiltrate South America"

ranDOMscripts — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 18:26:31 +0000

There shouldn't be any _outdoor cats_, full stop. I don't think people realize the extent of the bird/squirrel/lizard/frog carnage inflicted by the fluffy apex predator they occasionally get to pet. While I've seen many a cat catch & eat small creatures, I once had a neighbor's cat use my bird feeder as the lure for an all-you-can-eat bird buffet.

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "UBC study links living near highways to risk of neurological disorders"

ranDOMscripts — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 18:05:25 +0000

Mesothelioma, perhaps? Asbestos is still used in aftermarket brake pads.[0]

[0]https://www.epa.gov/asbestos/current-best-practices-preventi...

New comment by ranDOMscripts in "Miscarriage can lead to 'long-term post-traumatic stress'"

ranDOMscripts — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 22:11:13 +0000

I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of women who have tried to get pregnant have had at least 1 miscarriage in their lifetime. Fertile or not, it appears to be part of the child-bearing process given sufficient attempts to reproduce.