Tag Archives: Reddit

Ulysses vs. Scrivener

In a brief Reddit discussion, users of both writing apps ding Ulysses for relying on Markdown for formatting, while Scrivener uses rich text.

That surprises me. I find Markdown quite natural, which goes a long way to explaining why I do most of my writing in Ulysses.

I’m writing this post in Markdown, and if you’re reading it on Facebook or Google+, that’s how you’re reading it. But I’m not writing this post in Ulysses; I’m composing it directly in WordPress, which is how I do most of my writing for the blog and social media.

Via the Mac Power Users podcast, which compares Scrivener and Ulysses. I’m listening to the episode now.

It’s Tough Being Over 40 in Silicon Valley

Older workers are finding it harder to get jobs in Silicon Valley, say Carol Hymowitz and Robert Burnson at Reuters. So they take steps to seem younger and fit in. They hang around the parking lots of companies to see how their prospective colleagues dress, They study Reddit and other social platforms to get up to date on the latest pop culture references. They hang up their business suits and bowties. And they even go in for plastic surgery and lawsuits.

I’m 55. I haven’t personally encountered age discrimination. I’m fortunate. Or oblivious.

Link

An inspiring and tragic story. This happened at least two years ago.

One particularly chilling note: The hikers initially found the girl when they were taking snaps of each other. You can see the happy hikers in the foreground, unaware that there’s a critically injured young woman in the background. The hikers only found her because she had dyed her hair bright red.

It reminds me of the story I linked to a short time ago about the family dog that mauled and killed a newborn baby.

The people involved made stupid mistakes, and paid an unjust price.

When I read about these incidents, I don’t feel superior, or any animosity toward the victims. I think “there but for the grace of God.” Because I do stupid, dangerous things too. Don’t you?

Link

Apple removed third-party Reddit clients from the App Store because people can use them to access porn. [Graham Spencer – MacStories]

Ridiculous. You can do the same with any web browser. Is Apple going to remove Chrome from the App Store next? How about its own Safari browser? How about Apple Maps, which you can use to guide you to an adult bookstore?

Also, Apple continues to permit the Reddit official app in the App Store, which looks bad for Reddit, although it seems likely that Reddit had nothing to do with these shenanigans.

Ex-Marine describes why he loves Soylent and how it changed his life

Reddit user “lewis0451” says he was a US Marine who let himself go when he left the service, and whose weight went up to 255. He consumes mostly Soylent now, and is down to 180 pounds.

He credits Soylent, a liquid food substitute that supposedly has all the nutrients you need to live. The manufacturers claim you can live healthy on a diet of only Soylent. Some enthusiasts do that, although most, like “lewis0451,” are on a mostly-Soylent diet and have real food for special occasions.

I decided to order some for myself and see how things would taste. After a week, I decided I might want to try to pull off a 30-day challenge of nothing but Soylent, and I tried my best, but stumbled a few times. I stuck with it and used it as much as I could. I knew I could lean on it to meet a weight loss goal, but I never thought it would allow me to reshape my entire life. I’m so much more positive, slightly richer (no senseless food expenditures), and way more responsible. I no longer live to eat. Here’s the best part – I still take time to ENJOY GOOD FOOD. I’m not going to come off Soylent for frozen pizza since I’ve had it about 1,300,543,000 times in my life before, but I will absolutely take time to order a beautiful piece of grilled salmon with fresh veggies that snap when you crunch through them, along with red potatoes or something akin to that. I try to make good choices and when I eat food, I make sure I’m doing it to engage all my senses. I do it for the experience — not to just hide from everything, binging on junk food.

lewis0451 wants to be the Soylent spokesman, like Jared from Subway, but “without all the creeper stuff.”

The fact that he even mentions Jared means he’s going to need some serious marketing training before Soylent signs him on. Heh.

[Soylent: Can I be your Jared? (without all the creeper stuff). I’m the weight loss dude w/ the logo fail. I don’t feel like re-uploading. / lewis0451 / reddit.com/r/soylent]

I tried Soylent for a full day in the summer. I wrote about the experience on Light Reading. [I Ate Soylent for a Day: ‘Food’ Special / Mitch Wagner / Light Reading]

I liked it enough to think that I might want to use it for occasional food-on-the-go and ordered a one-week supply – which is now, alas, sitting in the pantry with the clock ticking toward its expiration date.

I’ve had better luck with MealSquares, which also advertises itself as everything you need to eat healthy, in one package. But unlike Soylent, MealSquares is actual food. It’s a dense, square muffin. To eat it, you need to take small bites, and chew thoroughly.  I find it tasty and satisfying, though it’s very rich and dry. Julie dislikes it.

I often carry a MealSquare or two in my bag when I’m out and about.

I’m going in for a colonoscopy March 30 (nothing wrong, just a routine, baseline check), and might subsist on Soylent for a week prior to the test, rather than go through the confusing and complicated dietary restrictions. MealSquares too, if they’re allowed.

And yes the name comes from the movie. But the manufacturers say real-world Soylent doesn’t have people in it. Which is exactly what they said in the movie!

Reddit Bans One of Most Popular Users for Vote Manipulation

Unidan, aka biologist Ben Eisenkop, maintained five side accounts, which he used to upvote his own submissions and comments and downvote the opposition.

Unidan was almost universally loved on the site. Having participated in at least three AMAs, featured in multiple media profiles (including Mashable), occasionally appearing with Reddit co-founder Alex Ohanian, giving his own TEDx talk and even having his own fan subreddit, it’s safe to say that Unidan was, to Reddit, a stalwart and beloved community member.

Following his ban, many users have expressed disappointment and anger at Eisenkop’s clear violation of Reddit’s rules.

“This is like finding out Lance Armstrong took steroids,”user TheStarryMessenger wrote in a thread.

Reddit Bans One of Most Popular Users for Vote Manipulation