If you extend your arms sideways, the distance between the fingertips is equal to your height.
Ask HN: Teach me something new
451–460 of 782 posts
Re: Ask HN: Teach me something new
#452Take a few minutes to learn the NATO phonetic alphabet Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu Gotta spell anything over a voice line? Use it. No more screwing around with "B.. like Bryan, and then U, like .... under". s-c-r-o-l-l-a-w-a-y: sierra charlie romeo oscar lim…
A few minutes? Ha, no way. I think it'd take me at least a few days of short deliberate practice sessions to actually memorize this from scratch. Also, useless outside of the US.
(I'm whining, but I do think this is cool.)
Re: Ask HN: Teach me something new
#453If you habitually try to open the wrong door at a restaurant entrance or wherever where there's a double door and one side is locked, quickly glance for the side that has the keyhole in it. That's the one that's open.
Re: Ask HN: Teach me something new
#454Earlier quoted context omitted.
Men are most often victims of violence generally including murder as well. You wouldn't get that impression reading the news. https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_against_men
Depends on whether you interpret something being on the news as a measure of how common it is. This is often demonstrated with the two hypothetical headlines "Dog bites Man" vs "Man bites Dog". One is expected based on its ubiquity, and so a poor headline, where you want some emotional reaction to hook readers.
True - and a good point - but also a troubling one as the clear implication is that male suffering is really not considered a concern - at least to the news platforms.
Re: Ask HN: Teach me something new
#455Put your non-dominant thumb in the palm of your dominant hand and squeeze it as hard as you can for thirty seconds. Afterwards your gag reflex will be suppressed for about a minute. Enjoy touching your own uvula.
Re: Ask HN: Teach me something new
#456I've described this on HN before; forgive me if you've already seen it. I have chronic migraine. It sounds worse than it is; I rarely suffer attacks anymore, and when I do, they're usually mostly harmless, as in the case I'll describe below. Contrary to popular belief, migraine is not a headache. It's something a little more like an epileptic seizure. Intense headaches are one common symptom, but there are a lot of o…
Steven Pinker in “How the Mind Works” describes a bunch of phenomena that uncover how the brain is structured and how it processes information. The book doesn't quite have a lot of detail, but is pretty interesting nonetheless.
Re: Ask HN: Teach me something new
#457You can select text of links on a webpage if you hold Alt while doing that.
Re: Ask HN: Teach me something new
#458Ordering a typical printed circuit board with components placed on it is so cheap nowadays that this is a viable option for electeonic hobbyists nowadays (e.g. just ordered 50 pieces of audio output amplifiers at 3,49 € per piece (customs and shipping included), where 1.60 € would be the parts cost of the two chips on it. Only thing you need for this is: 1. An idea and some knowledge about electronics 2. An EDA softw…
Story time: Back when I was in school, our introductory electronics class had us make a PCB for a PICmicro programmer on our first day. We got a handout of the schematics. We had to transfer its negative to a copper coated plate using some chemical, used UV light to fixate it, then dissolved the rest of the copper in acid. Finally we got to drill the holes for through-hole soldering points. Next class we soldered all…
I used a 3D printer to draw the schematics onto copper clad with a marker:
Re: Ask HN: Teach me something new
#459When ever drilling or hole-cutting into fiberglass, always use masking tape generously applied over and around the area being cut into. Run drill bits in reverse to get past any gelcoat or paint coatings, then run the drill forward to affect the cut. The same goes for hole saws. Slow speed is best with the proper blade for jigsaws. This will prevent cracking of coatings (especially gelcoats) and splintering of the fiberglass.
Re: Ask HN: Teach me something new
#460One of the most common railway gauges in Brazil is ~1600 mm. Although this seems like a metric designed gauge, it is in fact due to the chance that 5'3" equals 1600,2mm.
This (particular type of broad) gauge is known as Irish gauge, and is also used in Ireland and Australia.