> In the US, the trend leaders when it comes to having kids out of wedlock are the poorest parts of the population, mostly blacks, where "unmarried" and "unpartnered" tend to go hand-in-hand.
I know you’re talking about “trend leaders”. But you must have forgotten about Native Americans and Latinos. Native Americans and black people tend to have children out of wedlock at about the same rate. Latinos have children out of wedlock at a high but lower rate. But there are more Latinos in the United States than there are black people, so there’s actually more Latino children born out of wedlock. And Latinos have the highest birth rate too.
Same goes for white people in the United States. If the rate for black people is about 70% and the rate for white people is about 30%, there are still hundreds of thousands more white children born out of wedlock than black children each year in the United States.
(Sorry, the whole “trend leader” thing rubs me the wrong. It’s like when people talk about welfare recipients based on race. Someone always says “X percentage of black people are on welfare, tsk.” But then when you look at the numbers, Native Americans have the higher percentage within their own race. But again, most welfare recipients are white so there are literally hundreds of thousands more white people on welfare than black people lol. Why doesn’t that fact get a “tsk”?)
Someone replied to you saying/asking “aren’t black people religious”. Your “mostly black” comment limited the discussion. Imagine if you had said “mostly Latinos” instead. There could have been a discussion about Catholicism. There could have been something more, something else at least.
That didn’t acknowledge anything that I said and was no different than the grandfather comment lol. You just pretty much reworded your original comment.
(Although, I do slightly agree less with this wording. It’s too absolute and doesn’t apply to all situations. But you know this.)
>True, but people tend to act like similar programs don’t exist in red states also when they make statements such as yours…
They don't, at least, not to the extent that they exist in blue states. Texas and Florida do not have programs as extensive as Maryland's. Texas doesn't have a good behavior program for inmates' terms at all.
>(Also, Maryland had a republican governor up until recently)
Immaterial, the governor does not pass laws, the legislature does. Maryland General Assembly has a supermajority of Democrats in both houses.
>That didn’t acknowledge anything that I said and was no different than the grandfather comment lol.
It's only "no difference" if words no longer have meaning, which is in vogue for leftists these days.
>You just pretty much reworded your original comment.
Again, only if words no longer have meaning. You can vote and tolerate differently.
LaPere was openly pro-BLM, which pushed "soft-on-crime" policies all over the US.
This is LeopardsAteMyFace to a T. We all know what would happen if we posted this story on /r/LeopardsAteMyFace though.
(Also, please don’t forget all of the degenerate white people who were also the cause of “Stop Asian Hate” (i.e. the ones who voted for Trump and complained about Chinese people eating bats.) Speaking of CEOs, there was a viral video of a SF CEO who was fired for harassing an Asian person which was at the start of that movement lol.)
Yeah, there are lots of bullshit stories avout fentanyl that are completely implausible given the actual effects of fentanyl, and the vast majority of them are direct deliberate police political propaganda, and most of the rest are paranoid misinterpretations of events from people (mostly themselves street cops) whose understanding of the universe is shaped by being immersed in deliberate police propaganda.
Yeah they’re talking about cops that got some fentanyl on their hand and thought they were having an overdose when really it was just a panic attack. I’ve read a couple of news articles where something along those lines happened.
> There are plenty of stories of the wind accidentally blowing illegal substances into people’s faces…
Yes, there are lots of urban legends! That doesn't make them true, especially when they fly in the face of basic science and can be disproven with even a back of the envelope calculation.
What are the effects? What’s the science? What are the calculations you’re speaking of lol? If they’re so basic and can be done on the back of an envelope, can you provide them right now?
Are you saying that fetanyl is no more deadly than heroin?
Or are you just saying that the “wind blows substance in face” is only a thing seen in movies?
Instead of trying to fact-check the commenters replying to you, maybe instead you can provide any sources/documentation to these stories of "wind blows substance in face" ?
See what I was talking about 4 days ago! Just the name Gebru is triggering to (some) HN users.
My comment from 4 days ago:
“””
Sidenote: HN isn’t all fun and games. Please don’t paint it as that. When I (and peers that I’ve spoken with) talk about HN, it’s usually characterized as a forum where really smart people like to bump heads. A place where people like to outsmart each other. A place where people nitpick article titles. You get the idea.
Your behavior-correcting skills were needed during plenty of more appropriate times. For example, when someone with a username like “koreanguy” said that he wanted to personally kill Timnit Gebru if he could. No downvotes or flag after many refreshes. Want to know why? Because plenty of other men were leaving similar disgusting comments in that post. This is just one example out of many of “weird” behavior on this forum. How many times has the mod here left that “be nice and follow the guidelines” comment on charged articles? (Some) HN users love a good dogwhistle!
“””
Not to say that this recent comment is absolutely negative in any way. But the floodgates are about to open lol
(Context: I left a very innocuous comment about SAT scores on that TI-83 calculator post and someone was trying to reprimand me for it lol. They called it strange behavior. I’m like “wait… huh… but isn’t this Hacker News? These people start acting like apes whenever Timnit Gebru is mentioned!”)
Yeah, I can definitely believe that TikTok is changing the way that books are being recommended. But I’m not sold (haha) that TikTok is changing the way books are being sold.
There are quite a few stories of books going viral through BookTok, Bookstagram, and BookTube. But it does feel like slightly different. On TikTok, a random user can make an unknown book go viral. But on Instagram, it’s usually an already established influencer that makes a book go viral and often it’s their own book lol. YouTube is more for longform discussion and the level of virality has changed. But some influencers do still sell books similar to what the influencers on Instagram do.
Related to books being sold in Britain, I wonder how the demographics of these communities affect the stats. Most of the members are white teenage girls and women that live in the United States.
Also, related to books being sold in general, many of the members of the various book communities have similar opinions to HN’s users. They don’t like ads or affiliate links. They’d prefer to go to the library or buy from a local/indie bookstore. They’re anti-Amazon. They discuss overconsumption. On YouTube, they really dive into the ethics of it all.
I do believe that TikTok has gotten people to read more. But that’s different than recommendations and selling.
(I’ll admit that I started reading Cain’s Jawbone due to TikTok. I had heard of it before for years but never bothered to try it out.)
I follow what independent authors are trying for marketing, and some of them are having great success with TikTok. For them it absolutely is changing how books are sold, as before finding success on TikTok, they literally weren’t selling much of anything.
As the article mentions, romance authors are doing the best, but there are authors like AP Beswick (writes dark fantasy retellings of popular legends) who have gone full time indie off the back of TikTok sales.
Maybe they would have been successful without TikTok, but right now it’s how they find an audience.
I think the person took “do the same” too literally lol. Likely there was no ill intent.
They also might have been asking the question: “Does 0.5px vs 2px matter in any significant way?” The answer to that question is still no. But I could see how someone who’s unfamiliar with the outline property could ask the question.
I’m sure there wasn’t ill intent. And I know the article discusses the author’s reasoning for their choice of outline size, so that might have informed the overly literal response. But in context it’s a kind of pedantry that can be tiresome.
Have you seen the newer calculators? TI does still sell the older calculators but the newer ones have color screens at least. The interface is different (from my 2000s TI-83+ and TI-89) too.
Also, I would have appreciated the app/online version when I was in school. The iPad app looks really nice. I felt a bit of jealousy when I saw it lol. I know you mentioned College Board’s calculator rules and iPads obviously wouldn’t apply but you were also speaking about the calculators in general.
But are the calculators actually “shitty”? I have fond memories of my TI-83 and TI-89. They worked well. I don’t recall being annoyed by anything. But also I don’t tend to complain about things like this. Never have. For example, is a high schooler really complaining that much about battery consumption for their calculator? I don’t recall this at all in middle school or high school.
I can see though how the general student could benefit from something slightly better. I can also see how these calculators would feel outdated to a current high school student. I just don’t think they were or are that bad lol. But again, I’m not one to overexaggerate things in the first place lol.
It's also worth considering their competitors. My experience in the UK system was that TIs were a rarity and most people used graphing calculators from Casio (if they felt the need for an upgrade from a scientific calculator at all), which were cheaper, lighter, widely available in any good stationery section, and appeared more feature-rich (better screens with intuitive menus, built-in SD card slots, and probably better processors). In particular some TIs I saw lacked graphical equation display, which would be a deal breaker, exotically when our existing £15 scientific calculators had made it a basic feature
There was no requirement from the schools or exam board to use a particular brand. In theory you could do everything you needed with a basic scientific calc like the ubiquitous FX-83GT (and many people did), and the only real rule was "no computer algebra systems" (I believe the TI-89 was given as an example of a disallowed calculator). In fact the teachers were somewhat discouraging of graphing calculators at all, saying you can get one if you feel the graphs help you, but you shouldn't need anything more than what you had in GCSE
In the US, students were allowed to use the TI-89, but not the TI-9X, which. Had a QWERTY keyboard but was otherwise identical. The 89 could solve equations, but the 85 and 86 could do the same, if you inputted them in standard form (y = mx + b). It could also solve simultaneous equations, again if you standardized the formatting. This was definitely a useful feature, beyond what scientific calculators could do.
It would have been lousy if the calculator just stopped working without notice. But my recollection is that you could tell when it was getting low on batteries because the display would get faint. Ah, the memories...
Yeah, those things had 9 levels of contrast. With a fresh set of batteries the display would be crisp and contrasty at “3” or something. Then slowly you needed more and more levels to feel normal. Before you know it you’re running at contrast “9” and contemplating your next score. Then you realize, “oh yeah, batteries are on their way out.”
As you snap the final AA place, you sign contentedly as you dial it back down to “3”.
Hmm. I’m not bragging at all but as someone who got a perfect score on the math section of the SAT (since scantron/bubble answers are being talked about) and enjoyed math a lot, I don’t recall this at all lol. Do you mind mentioning the year(s)? I said early 2000s in my first comment. The batteries lasted, at least for me. I recall having to replace them for sure. But it was never a big deal. And I’m speaking as a Black, lower middle class person growing up. It wasn’t that serious to me or the other people with similar backgrounds at my school(s). But still, I can understand why/how it would be serious to others (as I mentioned in my original comment).
I had a TI-81 in 1993, and upgraded to a TI-85 in 1996 I think. I didn't mean my comment to be an indictment of TI calculator battery life. My experience with them matches yours. They were great!
I do remember the ominous feeling every time I noticed the screen getting fainter, checking to see what contrast level I was currently at. But it wasn't actually that big of a deal.
I probably only needed to change them twice a year or something.
No. My goal was to provide evidence/an anecdote to back my thoughts/opinion about these calculators. I didn’t do any of the math competitions like AMC or olympiads or whatever like people on HN talk about on occasion. This would have probably sounded more appropriate: “As someone who did AMC and was really interested in math and used those calculators a lot, …”
But I couldn’t say that. So I came up with the closest thing I could have at 5AM after a night of partying. I did notice that it might sound a little douchey which is why I added the “I’m not bragging” part.
But thanks for assuming the worst! I believe that’s against HN’s guidelines. What I said is not much different from saying “As someone with X years of experience in Y engineering field, I think that…” People say things like that all of the time on HN, right? Many of us have similar X years of experience in Y engineering field. But we still say it.
> (especially because many HNers got 800 on their math SATs, I would imagine).
For sure.
I guess I was also shocked that people who have similar math backgrounds would be complaining the way you were about these calculators, again given my fondness for them. In my first comment, I did also mention that I don’t tend to exaggerate. So maybe that’s partially the disconnect here?
The other part was that I was pretty sure that you guys were talking about calculators from the 80s or 90s. I asked that question also but no one responded at that time. People just kept complaining about problems/issues with the calculators lol. (Someone finally replied and mentioned 1993!)
Sorry, but you guys were starting to turn this into some sort of Texas Instruments bashing circlejerk, which didn’t seem fair to the product.
Sidenote: HN isn’t all fun and games. Please don’t paint it as that. When I (and peers that I’ve spoken with) talk about HN, it’s usually characterized as a forum where really smart people like to bump heads. A place where people like to outsmart each other. A place where people nitpick article titles. You get the idea.
Your behavior correcting skills were needed during plenty of more appropriate times. For example, when someone with a username like “koreanguy” said that he wanted to personally kill Timnit Gebru if he could. No downvotes or flag after many refreshes. Want to know why? Because plenty of other men were leaving similar disgusting comments in that post. This is just one example out of many of “weird” behavior on this forum. How many times has the mod here left that “be nice and follow the guidelines” comment on charged articles? (Some) HN users love a good dogwhistle!
But my little SAT comment is deserving of a reprimand lol?
Hilarious to quote the guidelines at me. I wasn't "assuming the worst" — I was just pointing out that it's very odd to gratuitously mention your SAT scores. (I've been on HN for a decade and never seen anything like it; it looks like you're rather new, so might not have that background.) It doesn't prove how much or little you used your calculator. People who get 650 or 710 use their calculators too, perhaps even more! If you had said "I used my calculator a lot, though not at the level of math competitions," that would have been more enlightening. I appreciate your mentioning the 5 AM partying context, which definitely helps.
I, too, have been using HN for over a decade. I never add my email to the accounts for recovery lol.
> perhaps even more!
And that’s also part of the disconnect here. I don’t believe this to be true fully. Growing up, the people who performed the best were the ones that really delved into the features of the calculator. They also installed more games. Did programming. The ones that did more than what the teacher taught. They would be the ones to remember whether not there were “devastating?!?!” contrast or battery issues. That’s just my opinion and experience (which is also why I provided other relevant personal details for perspective).
I do understand your line of thinking though (e.g. people who perform the worst use the calculator more because it takes them longer to do homework). The question then becomes this. Who has the better, unbiased memory of how the calculator functions: the struggling student or the one who cultivated a fondness and really explored its capabilities?
I did mention that I used my calculator(s) a lot in the same sentence that you had an issue with at least lol
Also, I just searched for HN comments related to SAT. There are a few from high schoolers and adults. Not many. But enough to satisfy me lol!
I know you’re talking about “trend leaders”. But you must have forgotten about Native Americans and Latinos. Native Americans and black people tend to have children out of wedlock at about the same rate. Latinos have children out of wedlock at a high but lower rate. But there are more Latinos in the United States than there are black people, so there’s actually more Latino children born out of wedlock. And Latinos have the highest birth rate too.
Same goes for white people in the United States. If the rate for black people is about 70% and the rate for white people is about 30%, there are still hundreds of thousands more white children born out of wedlock than black children each year in the United States.
(Sorry, the whole “trend leader” thing rubs me the wrong. It’s like when people talk about welfare recipients based on race. Someone always says “X percentage of black people are on welfare, tsk.” But then when you look at the numbers, Native Americans have the higher percentage within their own race. But again, most welfare recipients are white so there are literally hundreds of thousands more white people on welfare than black people lol. Why doesn’t that fact get a “tsk”?)
Someone replied to you saying/asking “aren’t black people religious”. Your “mostly black” comment limited the discussion. Imagine if you had said “mostly Latinos” instead. There could have been a discussion about Catholicism. There could have been something more, something else at least.