a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
dbingham's comments
activity:
Sorry, this comment is private.
dbingham  ·  4290 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Ask Hubski: What every day tool do you consider indispensable that you once did not?
Thanks for posting it! Yeah, you didn't quite do it right. In short form ingredients need to each have their separate line (not be comma separated). If you log in, you can edit it. Just copy and past each ingredient into it's own ingredient field (you can add a new one by clicking "add an ingredient" in the upper right corner of the ingredients area). You can add an image after you've edited by clicking the Fridge to Food logo where the image would normally be and going to the gallery.

Rewriting the submission forms and process is the next big item on the todo list. I'm going to try to find a way to make it easier and more clear. I want to retain the detail I have, but it seems to confuse a lot of people.

dbingham  ·  4301 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Ask Hubski: What every day tool do you consider indispensable that you once did not?
Alright, that took me somewhat longer than I'd hoped. But the bug is now fixed, password retrieval is implemented and the site has been updated. Try it out and let me know!
dbingham  ·  4306 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Ask Hubski: What every day tool do you consider indispensable that you once did not?
Not yet. It's been on the todo list for a while, but I haven't tackled it. I think it's clearly needed though. There's a bug that I feel like I've fixed two or three times that causes people's passwords to be reset when they edit their profiles. I should have password retrieval done by early tomorrow afternoon. And that bug fixed shortly after that.
dbingham  ·  4306 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Ask Hubski: What every day tool do you consider indispensable that you once did not?
You guys should totally post those recipes on Fridge to Food :D
dbingham  ·  4306 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Love the new UI but...
I'm going back and forth on whether I like the new UI. On the one hand it is cleaner, in its way, than the previous list. And it certainly sets Hubski apart from Hacker News and Reddit.

But it's also really busy and a little overwhelming to my eye. I find it a little difficult to focus in on any particular link, or to decide on a reading pattern. I wind up bouncing all over the page in a very ADD fashion.

I'm getting used to it and it's nice being able to see that many more links at once. But I'm still on the fence all told.

dbingham  ·  4307 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Ask Hubski: What every day tool do you consider indispensable that you once did not?
So not quite an everyday tool, but close enough. My Gransfors Bruks American Felling Axe. I was given it as a present after I spent part of a summer working on a trail crew that used axes to clear blow downs.

I loved working with an axe, but for several years after I got it I rarely had the opportunity. Occasionally a friend would ask me to help split wood (which isn't really what it's for, though it does it spectacularly). About a year and a half ago I joined a fledgling eco-village here in town and suddenly I've had opportunity to use it pretty frequently. I helped them clear the land with it and break down the trees we felled. I've used it at home in my own garden when I've needed to do any sort of rough wood carving or shaping. It does spectacularly well. I haven't sharpened it even once since I got it 4 years ago, and I can still shave with it. It hasn't seen a whole ton of use during that time, but it has seen enough to make that astonishing.

As I've used it, my initial fondness for the axe as a tool has developed into a deep love for it. When I've got the time and money I'm thinking about getting some other kinds of axes (such as a smaller carpenter's axe). I'm seriously thinking about building a log cabin style shed just using axes as tools, just to see if I can do it. Also, because it's so much fun to use em!

Clinton instituted Don't Ask, Don't Tell, oversaw the repeal of Glass-Steagal, and failed to completely make any progress on Health Care. He was, also, impeached by his Republican opponents.

And that was all with a Republican opposition that was not nearly so obstructionist, experienced, insane or entrenched as the one Obama faces today. In Clinton's day, Fox News had not yet become the bastion of right wing propaganda that it is today, there were some campaign finance laws in place, Republicans had not yet perfected their use of the filibuster to completely shutdown the government and there was no Tea Party.

I don't think it has anything to do with him being centrist or "leaning" to the right. He's a progressive for sure. But he can only get done that which congress allows. And congress has been pretty damned obstructive.

I would say Obama is a pragmatic progressive. If you don't see him reaching for more, it's because he knows there's no way in hell he's gonna get it yet. So he reaches for less, things he thinks he can get. And then once he gets them, looks for ways to make the next step. He plays a very long chess game. We're criticizing him for sacrificing a bunch of pieces half way through. I'm still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and see what the end game looks like.

dbingham  ·  4359 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Fridge to Food -- My Attempt at a Recipe Sharing Community
Should be fixed now. Thanks!
dbingham  ·  4359 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Fridge to Food -- My Attempt at a Recipe Sharing Community
If you want to add a cocktail recipe, just add it and tag it as "cocktail". That will (should) create the cocktail tag. Eventually, I want to let people with a high enough reputation edit tag descriptions and assign tags to types (if you look through, you'll notice a bunch of "general" tags that really belong as "meal" or "allergen"). Not sure when I'll get to it, but it's on the todo list.

Also, thanks! And yeah, no worries, not beating myself up too much. Releases are always a wee bit stressful ;) I was just venting a bit.

dbingham  ·  4359 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Fridge to Food -- My Attempt at a Recipe Sharing Community
Was that after you'd filled out and submitted the form or just when you hit submit? Man, I spent several days testing this thing before release. And still it breaks. I guess there's only so much I can do when I'm testing my own creation.

Edit: never mind, reproduced and fixed. I created that bug trying to solve another minor bug. I hate putting out release fires. In any case, thanks for catching that!

dbingham  ·  4478 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Hobbit: First trailer
They are making two Hobbit movies because they are telling the story of Gandalf's encounters at Dol Guldur. They're filling in the details around a lot of the stuff that's only alluded to or told in tale form in the books. Hence, Gandalf's discussion with Galadriel before heading to Dol Guldur.
dbingham  ·  4478 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What young people think of copyright.
As a young person, I can safely say that not only does copyright make no sense to me, but I actively want to do away with it.

Look, I'm happy to pay for a live performance or a physical copy of a book. And I will probably continue to pay for both long after copyright is done away with. But once something goes digital it doesn't cost me anything to make a copy of it. It doesn't cost the creator anything either.

It's as easy to make a copy of as 'ctrlc' and 'ctrlv'. And that's a GOOD thing! It's means, for the first time in our history, completely free transmission of information. I think we should be supporting this!

Yes, this means certain industries will have to change or maybe go away entirely. Film and television won't be able to use DVD sales as an extra source of revenue. Films will have to depend on being shown in the theaters and television will have to depend on its first run. Musicians will have to depend on live shows, rather than being able to just float on their albums. Books, well, will have to stay books. I am okay with all of that. I really think that's the way it should go. And I say this as someone who works entirely in the digital and can't figure out how to make money from things that I produce in any way other than asking for donations. And I'm okay with that.

dbingham  ·  4532 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Who do you think are the most overrated/underrated bands/artists of all time?
I'd forgotten how much I loved this band. Their live shows are total blast. This is pretty par for the course for them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VIgFl2OCNg&feature=playe...

Just completely breaking it down in the middle of a song.

dbingham  ·  4532 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Who do you think are the most overrated/underrated bands/artists of all time?
Hmm... I dunno if I have an overrated band. But I know a lot that are... I dunno if they are under rated or just under exposed, because they are more recent regional indie bands that are just incredible.

Case in point: Barefoot Truth - A Folk and Jazz influenced Jam band out of Vermont

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmoBgpko58Y&feature=playe...

http://www.youtube.com/user/barefootTRUTH#p/u/11/kdECvgNgxvY

http://www.youtube.com/user/barefootTRUTH#p/u/10/VJBJPnRJ-bI -- This one has a ridiculous drum solo in the beginning. If that's not your style, go to the 3 minute mark.

dbingham  ·  4539 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: This is a thought revolution and the revolution will not be sanitized.
I did my best to transcribe the back half:

‎'This world is a shit storm of greed that desperately needs mopping up. We're talking about people's homes, people's lives, people's dreams and the media wants to make it about the discomfort of millionaires who live around Liberty Square? The article said mothers have trouble getting strollers around police barricades. God forbid the revolution should get in the way of your evening stroll with pookie wookie. This may not be a revolution in the traditional sense, but this is a revolution of thought. Americans are tired of greed over good, profitable pollution over people, war for wealth over the welfare of average workers. This is a thought revolution and the revolution will not be sanitized. It will be criticized, ridiculed, intentionally misconstrued and misunderstood, but it'll push through. Shit all over it all you want, but the flood gates are open now. The revolution will not be tidy. The revolution will not fit with your pillates schedule. The revolution will not be quiet after ten pm and it will not fit easily into a mainstream media defined paradigm. The revolution will affect your bottom line. The revolution will affect you whether you ignore it or not. The revolution will not be dissuaded by barricades or pepper spray, driving rain, police raids, or ankle sprains. It's like the postal service on steroids. Pepper spraying us is like throwing water on gremlins, the more you do it the more of us show up. The revolution will be annoying to the top 1% and those who aren't open minded enough to understand it. The revolution does not care if you satirize it you still won't be able to jeopardize it. The revolution will not wait until after you hair appointment, your dinner party, tummy tuck or titty tilt. The revolution doesn't care about your lack of intellectual curiosity. The revolution will not be televised, but it will be digitized and available on youtube, facebook, twitter and anywhere real ideas are told. The revolution will not be hijacked by your old, tired, rejected political beliefs. The revolution will make politicians squirm, bankers bitch, elites moan and those with Stockholm syndrome scream "Hippie, punk, criminal assholes! Shut up and do what our captors told you. There's a sitcom on about a chubby guy who hates his wife and we're supposed to watch it. Now shut up and get in line!" The revolution will not monetized, commercialized, circumcised or anesthetized. Good god, don't you get it? Greed is no longer good and it's not god. The thought revolution is here to stay whether you give two shits about it or not. The revolution would, however, like to apologized for shitting all over your apathy.'

My favorite part is definitely The revolution will not be dissuaded by barricades or pepper spray, driving rain, police raids, or ankle sprains. It's like the postal service on steroids.

dbingham  ·  4554 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What kind of community will we be? Hubski Etiquette?
Klein, I'm thoroughly sympathetic to your position. I found his original post to be dismissive and obnoxious and I wouldn't have even remotely categorized it under "civil", "respectful" or "intelligent" discussion. But you did kind of cross the line between responding and abusing in your response. And have continued to do so in your discussions since. You two are just kind of trading punches at this point. I thoroughly understand not wanting to just take the punches -- we on the left have been doing that for far too long -- but at this point I think it's a lost cause. Want to be the better man and just step away?
dbingham  ·  4563 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Occupy Wall Street will Only Grow Stronger
Their platform, I think, is really just to call attention to the vast income, wealth and power disparity that exists in this country. They don't really have any solutions, they're just trying to redirect the conversation to what they see as the primary problem.
dbingham  ·  4564 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What is a Tobin Tax?
You implied this was tried with known unintended consequences. Where and when was it tried and what, exactly, happened? Do you have citations?
dbingham  ·  4565 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What is a Tobin Tax?
What were those 'unintended consequences' of which you speak?
dbingham  ·  4565 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What is a Tobin Tax?
I'd never heard of this before, but now that I have I love the idea. A tax on all financial transactions? Expected to curb high speed trading, speculation and big financial bonuses? Perfect! Sounds like this would be a perfect way the curb many of the excesses of the market. It would increase the cost of trading and make people more carefully consider their trades. It would create an incentive for a smaller volume of longer term trades. Sounds like that's what we want!
dbingham  ·  4565 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: BBC Speechless As Trader Tells Truth
I have friends who are actively doing this. They're doing really well for themselves. Personally I have no instinct for and no interest in the financial markets. I wouldn't even know where to start if I wanted to play that game. But that guy really was telling the truth.
dbingham  ·  4567 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: White House.gov Petition: Direct the Patent Office to Cease Issuing Software Patents
The fact that there are still plenty of software jobs in the states has to do with the amount of demand there is for software.

The primary problem is that people who have no understanding of software are issuing patents for software. And so they are issuing patents that are horribly broad or even repeats of existing patents. Things like "linked lists" or "systems for charging customers with a credit card online" are being patented. Which is just obscene.

But even aside from that, software is a field where it's very easy to invent something new and innovative at the exact same time as someone else. In fact, concurrent invention is happening constantly. It's very difficult to determine what is "non-obvious" because it all depends on the problem you are trying to solve.

Personally, I'm against patents. All patents. Back before the days of big corporations it made sense. But now it's too easy for the big corporations to get patents just for patents sake and then sit on them, or use them as legal weapons against their competition. We're seeing it in software. We're seeing it in biotech. We're seeing it in aerospace engineer. Anywhere where there is patentable stuff and big corporations, patents are ending up stifling innovation and holding us back rather than moving us forward.

Here's a great article on Software patent trolls and the damage patents are doing to the software industry: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/07/26/138576167/when-pat...

dbingham  ·  4575 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: 3D Printing is Advancing by Leaps and Bounds: Replicators anyone?
I, for one, love the simplicity of the minimalist apple design. I hate baroque over design. But that said, each his own. I'm just excited because of the possibility of leveling society this presents. If every home has a 3D printer that can print, well, just about anything. Then suddenly material wealth doesn't matter so much any more. It's still not quite the star trek replicator, in that you'll have to have the proper 'ink' cartridge to print things, instead of just using energy. But even before we get the printer in every home this could lead to huge advances in manufacturing automation.
dbingham  ·  4578 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski Update: Trimming the fat
Awesome, exactly what I was looking for :)
dbingham  ·  4578 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski Update: Trimming the fat
I think I'd still like a way to view all new posts, somewhere. Maybe a hidden feature or something. It's nice to be able to browse through stuff in chronological order of posting.
dbingham  ·  4580 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski Update: Trimming the fat
So how are we going to spot new posts now? How does this single feed work? Do the new posts sit on top for a bit and then gradually drop below the trending ones as they age?
dbingham  ·  4586 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Are jobs obsolete?
"Instead, we are attempting to use the logic of a scarce marketplace to negotiate things that are actually in abundance. What we lack is not employment, but a way of fairly distributing the bounty we have generated through our technologies, and a way of creating meaning in a world that has already produced far too much stuff."

This. I've never been able to put this idea into words. And this phrase doesn't quite capture what I think has been a giant, gaping hole in our economics and society, but it's a great start to putting words to it.

Our society and economics are based around the idea that there is great scarcity and everyone must work in order to create things and prove they deserve to survive. But there isn't scarcity. Quite the contrary, there is an over abundance of the basic necessities of life. There is a scarcity of things to do and produce. We've gotten so efficient that we can produce more than enough stuff. The problem we now face, is figuring out how to distribute that stuff in a way that isn't based on working a job (the one thing that is truly scare) for money and using that money to buy stuff.

dbingham  ·  4586 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Registering the poor to vote is un-american
I'm caught between wanting to share my horror at this essay and not wanting to send them any traffic.