onraglanroad (u/onraglanroad)

onraglanroad commented on Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class nytimes.com/2025/12/12/us... · Posted by u/signa11

Kim_Bruning · a day ago

How can I forget Harry Potter And The Methods Of Rationality [1].

HPMOR is written by Eliezer Yudkowsky to promote rationalist concepts, and is somewhat influential in startup and AI circles.

Directly: Emmet Shear {co-founder of Twitch (YC S07)} is apparently superfan and gets a cameo.

So for once I get to post something that's almost on-topic for yc. :-P

[1] https://hpmor.com/

[2] https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/21/what-does-a-harry-potter-f...

onraglanroad · a day ago

> How can I forget Harry Potter And The Methods Of Rationality

If you find out, let me know. I wish I could.

I've never read such self absorbed drivel in my life. To be fair, I've not read any Ayn Rand, so I might be judging harshly.

onraglanroad commented on Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class nytimes.com/2025/12/12/us... · Posted by u/signa11

barbazoo · a day ago

Let the market solve it. If the market requires educated adults the market will create that environment or something, answer is probably private schools. I assume they’d say something like that.

onraglanroad · a day ago

I think you're going to attract downvotes from people who just read your first sentence and assume that's the actual gist of your post.

onraglanroad commented on Efficient Basic Coding for the ZX Spectrum (2020) blog.jafma.net/2020/02/24... · Posted by u/rcarmo

notorandit · a day ago

HN effect:

Error establishing a database connection

onraglanroad · a day ago

Rewind the tape, give the head adjustment screw a tiny turn anticlockwise, and hit play again. It'll load fine this time.

onraglanroad commented on Free Software Awards Winners Announced: Andy Wingo, Alx Sa, Govdirectory fsf.org/news/2024-free-so... · Posted by u/pseudolus

onraglanroad · 2 days ago

Why are the 2024 awards at the end of 2025?

onraglanroad commented on What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you? louplummer.lol/nice-stran... · Posted by u/speckx

OneMorePerson · 2 days ago

I was at a waterpark as a young teen and ended up trying the wave pool, but even being tall for my age I was shorter than a typical adult. When I first went out the waves weren't turned on/going yet, but once the waves started everyone moved forward and the crowded pool compressed even more, plus I got pushed even deeper into the deep end, and basically I sank down because I couldn't really get any space to swim and everyone else was standing. It was so packed with people that eventually (without my realizing at the time) it became impossible to move arms and legs enough to stay up, kinda like a crowd surge but in the water.

I must have been too shy to think of climbing onto the person next to me. My best guess is that I was "jumping" up off the bottom to get brief bits of air while hoping it wasn't in the middle of a wave. After doing this for a bit, could be just seconds, I started to panic (I really couldn't tell you how long, felt like forever). I heard a whistle and somehow this lifeguard was there through the crowd within seconds (they had been standing along the wall of the pool but I was more in the middle).

The people all around me shoulder to shoulder hadn't even noticed what was going on, I still feel amazed the lifeguard could pick me out from thousands of heads and get to me.

(I don't know if this can be considered "nice" cause it was their job, but it's something that has always stuck with me).

onraglanroad · 2 days ago

That "bobbing in the water but not splashing or swimming" motion is what drowning looks like in real life.

See if you can spot the person in trouble before the lifeguard does in this video: https://youtu.be/4sFuULOY5ik

onraglanroad commented on A giant ball will help this man survive a year on an iceberg outsideonline.com/outdoor... · Posted by u/areoform

recursivecaveat · 2 days ago

So when the flip starts you basically have a few seconds to strap in before getting tossed around the capsule as it tumbles down the side of the berg right? Even if you are strapped in I feel like surely you're going to come out very concussed at the least.

onraglanroad · 2 days ago

That is what I was thinking. Are you also strapped down for the toilet? It's going to be messy when it flips while you're evacuating your bowels.

And, overall, it seems incredibly pointless! If you have a survival ball like this, why not just let it float? Why put it on a dangerously unstable surface?

onraglanroad commented on Analysis finds anytime electricity from solar available as battery costs plummet pv-magazine-usa.com/2025/... · Posted by u/Matrixik

Nextgrid · 2 days ago

Problem with Lithium ones is that they tend to be quite flammable. Lead acid is mostly inert I believe?

onraglanroad · 2 days ago

Weirdly, none of the many phones, tablets and laptops I've owned have ever caught on fire.

I guess I've just been lucky.

onraglanroad commented on Gild Just One Lily smashingmagazine.com/2025... · Posted by u/serialx

mirawelner · 3 days ago

I like metaphors. I respect a good “run with a metaphor” post. But I feel like if you have to explain the metaphor this much during the post it’s not worth it

onraglanroad · 2 days ago

True. This particular lily was less gilded than battered and deep fried.

onraglanroad commented on Will West Coast Jazz Get Some Respect? honest-broker.com/p/will-... · Posted by u/paulpauper

onraglanroad · 2 days ago

Betteridge's law of headlines.