Viewing profile — muffinman26

It's actually pretty simple. "Where I can't interpret the tax code myself" means "where my attempt to interpret the tax code leaves me with two or more possible interpretations." T…

I never hand my taxes off to a tax expert. If I run into a problem where I can't interpret the tax code myself, I'll schedule an hour appointment with a tax expert to get the answe…

From my perspective, writing comments on Hacker News and posting submissions are completely different skills. When there's a topic on Hacker News that I'm knowledgeable about or th…

If you grew up with even the slightest feeling of financial insecurity, dipping in to savings can already feel like the end of the world. I can't imagine living with only 6 months …

Have you modeled to them how to make and develop friendships? Have you tried asking them what they've tried to do to make friends? Limiting negative stimuli isn't enough for people…

I'll start. So far I've gotten my Wilderness First Aid and Wilderness First Responder certification. I've looked into getting CEFR certification in German or studying for the HSK (…

I'm particularly interested in non-technical or niche credentials, but anything folks are interested in is cool.

Do you realize that these laws that are supposed to "protect women" mean that I, a trans guy who was assigned female at birth but now have a full beard and look completely male in …

I would certainly be a better person if I was the sort of saint that can talk to people who hate my guts that badly, but not all of us are saints. It's currently illegal for me to …

I don't quite follow this. Surely each poker player who raises thinks that they will take the pot and the other players will lose. So they don't each think that the raise is mutual…

I think you might be conflating two different skills because you haven't seen good examples. First is the skill of being an effective and persuasive communicator. This is an import…

Maybe it's true that >> There just really isn't anything out there that is remotely close to SWE in terms of comfort, pay, and accessibility. Making the jump from there to keeping …

A variation of this question gets asked semi-regularly on HN, but I think the reason the results so often seem unsatisfying is that the people who actually find a meaningful answer…

For the existing HIV-preventing medications we have, such as PrEP, the treatments are much more effective in men than women. It can easily take a month for PrEP to be effective in …

At the risk of stating the obvious and wasting people's time, it seems pretty self-evident that knowing about the existence of a species we didn't know about before is more interes…

Presumably the phone hasn't actually been wiped, or wasn't when the crooks first got the phone number. Smart phones generally let you add an Emergency Contact number that anyone ca…

There are so many books on learning a programming language, that I'll ignore that topic. Someone else mentioned data structures and algorithms. Algorithmic complexity is particular…

Why wouldn't they? For some more practical reasons, in some styles of British crosswords, there isn't much intersection between words. A horizontal word might cross only 2-3 vertic…

Isn't it mid-skilled desk jobs that are becoming worth less and less? You can't automate a lot of tasks firefighters do. You need someone to actually show up in-person, in an area …

I've been using a Pixel 2 since it came up, and was surprised by the debilitating headache I got when I upgraded to a Pixel 7a. It looks like the Pixel 2 was the last to definitely…

My layman's understanding is that the key to desensitization is that it has to be below the level of a certain kind of reaction. Allergies occur because the immune system incorrect…

If you switch careers, of course you're going to take a pay cut. Why would I expect to be making as much money as an apprentice plumber as I am as a software developer with years o…

I do think the snowball method also makes sense mathematically, depending on the loan terms and what you're optimizing for. If your loans have a minimum payment and a penalty for m…

By hand on paper. I don't really see the point in worrying about data leaks. A CPA who leaked your data would have their reputation so completely destroyed I doubt it would be wort…