ianw's recent activity
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Comment on Looking for your best men’s pants/trousers recommendations! in ~life.style
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Comment on Suggestions for updating a fitness tracker? in ~tech
ianw LinkSeeing a lot of recommendations for lower-end GPS activity watches, like Garmins, that I’m going to echo. I bought a Coros Apex a few years ago with the intention to just use it during runs, but...Seeing a lot of recommendations for lower-end GPS activity watches, like Garmins, that I’m going to echo. I bought a Coros Apex a few years ago with the intention to just use it during runs, but the step and sleep tracking, along with notifications, are SO convenient. It just has simple notifications, only what you let notify you on your phone will show up on the watch, and no responses. It doesn’t quite have an apple-watch style reminder to move or general day to day fitness feature though, more of a purpose made GPS watch that has some of that stuff baked in. I will say, if you do run/hike/bike/ski/etc, its amazing for tracking those things as well.
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Comment on Wait, should I not be drinking airline coffee? in ~transport
ianw Link ParentThat was my first thought when seeing whose substack the link was from, too. I miss Reply All so much, and was really bummed when that all happened. It really felt like a group of cool internet...That was my first thought when seeing whose substack the link was from, too. I miss Reply All so much, and was really bummed when that all happened. It really felt like a group of cool internet friends every week, and they have some really impressive episodes.
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Comment on The small web and minimalist websites - what are your thoughts and experiences? in ~tech
ianw LinkWorth noting that pinboard is (tragically) basically abandoned. Plenty of discussion on hackernews about it. It sucks, since pinboard was so great and I loved the philosophy behind it.Worth noting that pinboard is (tragically) basically abandoned. Plenty of discussion on hackernews about it. It sucks, since pinboard was so great and I loved the philosophy behind it.
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Comment on How do you organize yourself? in ~life
ianw Link ParentYeah, totally, categorized or not just getting it out of my head and written down in some manner makes a huuuge difference with mental load. No more "oh, shoot, totally forgot I have to do that".Yeah, totally, categorized or not just getting it out of my head and written down in some manner makes a huuuge difference with mental load. No more "oh, shoot, totally forgot I have to do that".
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Comment on How do you organize yourself? in ~life
ianw LinkSomething I've been working on recently is just making sure I dump everything I think of that I need to do into a to-do list. I don't worry at all about setting dates, or categorizing them, or...Something I've been working on recently is just making sure I dump everything I think of that I need to do into a to-do list. I don't worry at all about setting dates, or categorizing them, or anything like that, I just get it in the list. This is great because I know everything is in there, and I can review it once or twice a day.
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Comment on Meta is launching Threads, an app to rival Twitter in ~tech
ianw Link ParentI think they’re probably going to push it pretty hard on peoples instagrams, especially if they have something like “look at all these people you follow here that are already on there”. That could...I think they’re probably going to push it pretty hard on peoples instagrams, especially if they have something like “look at all these people you follow here that are already on there”. That could cause people to try it out, since they know there will be content on there.
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Comment on This feels dumb to ask, but how do you get your news? in ~news
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Comment on What are the summer activities you are looking forward to? in ~health
ianw Link ParentDisc golf is so great. I fondly remember a summer back in high school where a few friends and I would go to a course near us 3-4 times a week. So much fun to just be able to hang out in the woods...Disc golf is so great. I fondly remember a summer back in high school where a few friends and I would go to a course near us 3-4 times a week. So much fun to just be able to hang out in the woods and do a low stress activity.
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Comment on Should retail businesses be required to accept cash? in ~finance
ianw LinkI really think cash should always be allowed. Some podcast (maybe a cortex) had a host put it in a way that really resonated with me, about keeping a 20 on you at all times. It was something along...I really think cash should always be allowed. Some podcast (maybe a cortex) had a host put it in a way that really resonated with me, about keeping a 20 on you at all times. It was something along the lines of:
Cash will always work as a way to get goods or services. Your bank can have a technical glitch and make all your money be unusable for a time, or there can be a bs fraud issue that means your cards won’t work, or the POS can have a random glitch, or a million different things can happen between you tapping your card and it working. But with cash, you can always hand over a $5 (or $10) bill and get a coffee, or some food, or anything else you need. There’s nothing that can come in the way of that exchange, it always works.
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Comment on Fortnightly Programming Q&A Thread in ~comp
ianw LinkIs there a generally accepted series of exercises to brush up on programming knowledge? I took CS classes in college and have been lightly scripting in my career since, but I’ve been much more...Is there a generally accepted series of exercises to brush up on programming knowledge? I took CS classes in college and have been lightly scripting in my career since, but I’ve been much more focused on systems/aws admin type stuff. I’m looking for a new job now, and a lot of them want a bit more programming ability than I have, so I’m looking for a refresher. Thanks!
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Comment on What gaps for content, news, or community currently exist for you? in ~tech
ianw Link ParentUgh, I know! I have gone on reddit only a few times since all this started, mostly to go to r/crossword and look at the discussion.Ugh, I know! I have gone on reddit only a few times since all this started, mostly to go to r/crossword and look at the discussion.
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Comment on Gravel bike on single track? Good idea or bad idea. in ~hobbies
ianw LinkIt is an absolute blast! Like some others have said, if it gets super steep or techy you might have some issues, but on blue/green level trails it’s honestly a great time. If you get into mountain...It is an absolute blast! Like some others have said, if it gets super steep or techy you might have some issues, but on blue/green level trails it’s honestly a great time. If you get into mountain biking, you will have the best line selection ever from it too.
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Comment on What is going on in your city? in ~talk
ianw LinkThe newly elected mayor (only like 16% voter turnout :( ) decided to move the date and location of a beloved local festival, as well as hamstring it by disallowing open containers. It used to be...The newly elected mayor (only like 16% voter turnout :( ) decided to move the date and location of a beloved local festival, as well as hamstring it by disallowing open containers. It used to be right in the city center, with several closed down streets stages, and now it’s in a park with some expensive restaurants nearby. It’s a huge bummer, he’s not having the best tenure so far.
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Comment on Runners - please help me with tempo runs! in ~health
ianw LinkThe way I learned tempo runs back in high school, and something I’ve tried to stick to, is the concept of “hard but manageable” or “comfortably hard”. I believe, according to some traditional...The way I learned tempo runs back in high school, and something I’ve tried to stick to, is the concept of “hard but manageable” or “comfortably hard”. I believe, according to some traditional definitions, it’s something that you really should be able to hold for about an hour for someone who’s properly trained.
This is all very vague, but I really do think that starting out, not looking at your watch and just thinking “this should sting, but I want to be able to hold it for awhile” is a good mindset. If you do this once a week or so for awhile, you’ll start to nail down what that pace is, and more importantly, how to run at the correct tempo pace for whatever your current fitness is.
I can also highly recommend “Faster Road Racing” by Pfitz that someone else mentioned, but be warned that it is not necessarily for beginners, the plans can be pretty tough and they understate the weekly mileage needed to start them.
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Comment on Books that changed your perception in ~books
ianw Link ParentI also loved Anathem, definitely give it a shot! It does take like 200 pages to get into the meat of the plot, but the world building is fantastic, it’s worth it!I also loved Anathem, definitely give it a shot! It does take like 200 pages to get into the meat of the plot, but the world building is fantastic, it’s worth it!
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Comment on Books that changed your perception in ~books
ianw Link ParentI wanted to like Blindsight so badly, but I bounced off of it. I may have just not been in the right place to really focus on a book like that, but man it felt incomprehensible at times! That...I wanted to like Blindsight so badly, but I bounced off of it. I may have just not been in the right place to really focus on a book like that, but man it felt incomprehensible at times! That compared to the vampire was a weird contrast, too. (I don’t think that’s a spoiler, right?)
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Anyone else having a bad day because of the AWS us-east-1 outage?
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Comment on Hackers can steal cryptographic keys by video-recording power LEDs sixty feet away in ~tech
ianw LinkI remember something like from a few years ago! If I remember correctly, that situation was a really niche use case. it would need to be a scenario where you need to get data from an airgapped...I remember something like from a few years ago! If I remember correctly, that situation was a really niche use case. it would need to be a scenario where you need to get data from an airgapped system where you:
- are running arbitrary code on the attack target already
- have a line of sight to the hard drive/power LED
Still a super cool proof of concept, same with this one.
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Comment on Are you using the latest Apple betas as your daily driver? How's it going? in ~tech
ianw LinkI’ve always jumped on the public betas as soon as they become available (iOS and iPadOS only) and have never run into what I would call “Breaking Changes”. There have definitely been some bugs...I’ve always jumped on the public betas as soon as they become available (iOS and iPadOS only) and have never run into what I would call “Breaking Changes”. There have definitely been some bugs here and there, but for me it’s worth it to get access to the latest stuff.
I had been searching for pants that I liked for literal years, and when I found the LuluLemon ABC Utilitech, I knew I had found them! They fit my legs like perfectly, they’re super comfortable, they look really nice. The “utilitech” is much more of a jeans material than the other ones, which are more like techy chinos. I just really can’t say enough good things about them. A little pricey at like $120 new, but you can find them for like half that on sites like poshmark.