Hacker News: sandymcmurray

New comment by sandymcmurray in "Canada's Carney called out for 'utilizing' British spelling"

sandymcmurray — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 19:32:48 +0000

As a Canadian, I describe my country as, "Proudly Not England, Not France, and Not America, since 1867."

New comment by sandymcmurray in "Typepad is shutting down"

sandymcmurray — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 19:40:26 +0000

I think I used every Six Apart blogging tool and I loved Movable Type. It was a shame (for me as a user) when Ben and Mena sold the company.

New comment by sandymcmurray in "Show HN: Tinder but it's only pictures of my wife and I can only swipe right"

sandymcmurray — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 19:49:00 +0000

Wholesome and sweet. Thank you! I'll gladly add to the flower fund.

New comment by sandymcmurray in "Crokinole"

sandymcmurray — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 17:35:54 +0000

And now you need to know about Crokicurl, a mash-up of Crokinole and curling!

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/crokicurl-curling-cr...

New comment by sandymcmurray in "45 years ago CompuServe connected the world before the World Wide Web"

sandymcmurray — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 18:19:48 +0000

You paid by the minute to connect to CompuServe. I eventually found free software - shared in the CompuServe forums - that would dial up, collect messages from threads you had marked offline, then hang up your modem so you could read and reply at your leisure. This was my first exposure to shareware and a huge $$ saving. I contacted the developer and offered to pay him for this and he replied with, "No thanks. Just pay it forward." A couple of great lessons there.

New comment by sandymcmurray in "Losing my son"

sandymcmurray — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 18:29:49 +0000

Thank you for sharing, and for writing so clearly. I just finished Four Magic Words and enjoyed it very much, including the author's note. Just bought your book as well. I wish you joy even in these difficult circumstances.

New comment by sandymcmurray in "Taxonomy of Procrastination"

sandymcmurray — Mon, 15 May 2023 21:07:56 +0000

This is me as well. I don't naturally 'see' that a task is actually a bunch of smaller, easier tasks. It's easier not to start when you're not sure where to start.

New comment by sandymcmurray in "The ‘Twin Peaks’ Theme Isn’t Just a Song. It’s a Portal"

sandymcmurray — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 18:07:30 +0000

The Twin Peaks theme always makes me think of The Locomotion by Little Eva. Play The Locomotion at half speed and compare. https://youtu.be/eKpVQm41f8Y

New comment by sandymcmurray in "Interior AI autofills photo of room with CG furniture/art"

sandymcmurray — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 01:54:51 +0000

upvote for reminding me of the Nutrimatic Drinks Dispenser...

New comment by sandymcmurray in "Ask HN: A job interview you enjoyed?"

sandymcmurray — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 14:55:36 +0000

When I interviewed for my current job, I asked the HR rep and the hiring manager if they were happy working at the company. The question seemed to surprise them. Both smiled, thought for a moment, then responded positively, with some details about why they enjoyed their jobs and this company. That was 11 years ago and we're all still here.

New comment by sandymcmurray in "Zelensky video deepfake"

sandymcmurray — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 16:44:10 +0000

"Stay Alert! Trust no one! Keep your laser handy!" is a quote from Paranoia, the role-playing game. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoia_(role-playing_game)

New comment by sandymcmurray in "A short history of the O’Reilly animals (2013)"

sandymcmurray — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 15:36:56 +0000

The most memorable of these for me, by far, was the Surinam Toad on the cover of Windows XP Annoyances by David Karp. Every problem has another little brood of problems inside it. Brr. https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/windows-xp-annoyances/0...

New comment by sandymcmurray in "Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results"

sandymcmurray — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 22:41:49 +0000

This started in 2018. See https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/02/02/understanding-appl...

New comment by sandymcmurray in "Give your Mac imaginary unlimited storage thanks to Disk Utility’s bug"

sandymcmurray — Sat, 26 Dec 2020 20:58:52 +0000

You can always download more RAM. https://downloadmoreram.com/

New comment by sandymcmurray in "Ultra Safe Nuclear"

sandymcmurray — Thu, 17 Sep 2020 16:18:38 +0000

Summary of discussion in this thread (from The West Wing)

https://youtu.be/7fkMR96I0sw

New comment by sandymcmurray in "State of Self-Serve Website Building in 2020"

sandymcmurray — Fri, 11 Sep 2020 19:16:15 +0000

This. Client wants a "simple" site, but insists on custom themes and plugins that break or are unsupported or abandoned by the developer.

New comment by sandymcmurray in "'Ugh fields', or why you can’t even bear to think about that task"

sandymcmurray — Fri, 11 Sep 2020 19:11:58 +0000

This is me too.

I have learned, slowly and painfully, that I need to wait 24 hours before saying yes to any optional assignment. I'm too optimistic about my available time and wired to be a people pleaser. When I'm asked to help and I recognize a gap I can fill, I tend to volunteer, even if I'm not the right person for the job. Days or weeks later, I realize it was the wrong decision then the Ugh feelings start up in earnest.

It's important for me to realistically assess whether I have the knowledge, desire, and time to do the task. I'm learning to say no more often than I would like, and to be less afraid of the consequences of saying no. Promising to do something I can't or won't do is bad for everyone.

Better to think on the decision and politely say no up front if I don't have the time or interest or enthusiasm required to get the job done.

New comment by sandymcmurray in "Show HN: Fantasy Congress – a fantasy sports website for politics"

sandymcmurray — Wed, 20 May 2020 16:14:47 +0000

Reminds me of a small detail from John Brunner's sci-fi book "Shockwave Rider". If I remember it correctly, citizens who voted were then allowed to bet on who would win the election.

New comment by sandymcmurray in "Security Flaws in Adobe Acrobat Reader Allow Gaining Root on macOS Silently"

sandymcmurray — Thu, 14 May 2020 17:36:54 +0000

I rely on AppZapper for this. One-click delete of apps and all related files. https://www.appzapper.com/

New comment by sandymcmurray in "Zork source code, 1977"

sandymcmurray — Fri, 08 May 2020 16:58:57 +0000

"You are likely to be eaten by a Grue. If this predicament seems particularly cruel, consider whose fault it might be; not a torch or a match in your inventory." https://youtu.be/4nigRT2KmCE